Stammessen 1¶
493 words on Live
Thanks to the wonders of corporate events/sponsorship there was a big concert with four rock/metal bands in the seemingly unlikely place that is the enterance hall of the university restaurant in Göttingen tonight. We gave Gandalf a ticket for his birthday because he likes the headline band and Jan-Philipp and myself joined in for the fun.
Actually, we didn't at first as there was a large 'sold out' sign when we arrived. Bum. Fortunately, after a lot of patience, they sold the few dozen remaining tickets to those of us who had waited in the cold. By that time we had missed the first band.
Electric Eel Shock (Japan) were that first band. Judging from what we heard from the outside they make fine noise. I picked up their single and a colourful badge with their fun 'double peace' logo when leaving.
The firs band we actually saw were The Flaming Sideburns (Finland). Frankly, I wasn't too impressed. They were a bit funky, they were a bit noisy and they even tried to be a bit glam – although the singer was a it too old and overweight for that, in my opinion. I had downloaded a few songs off the net to get an idea beforehand. While I didn't think those were extraordinary, I did like them better than the gig.
Third was Danko Jones (Canada). This man loves to entertain and at some stage I thought he should be a preacher instead of a singer. Still, while being the main person on the stage, he took his place singing and playing from the side of the stage – leaving the centre to the drummer. I liked the drummer. Some of the songs were really good, particularly those with a lot of percussion.
I didn't think Danko's singing was too great, though, and also thought there wasn't 'enough sound' (whatever that means) at times. My friends disagreed with that, but they didn't see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs or The White Stripes, both of which I found to sound more impressive with only two instruments.
The final and headline band were Sepultura (Brazil), who must have been around for ages. I'd rate them 'military grade', from their singer's sheer physical presence to the impressive percussion to the noise they produce and the way they make people freak out. Very impressive and a bit too agressive for me. I can appreciate the sentiment but I may be getting too old for this.
All these bands can probably be classified as 'Rock' or 'Metal'. While I don't actively dislike metal, I never got the hang of it either and don't listen to it at home.
Random observation: If you're blond(e) and don't have scars, it doesn't matter how hard you try, how long you grow your hair, how many runically decorated metal band shirts you wear or how long your black coat is – you just won't look like a dangerous metal person...
