“Let’s be real” – Art Brut, Rye Coalition, Death

“But for now love,
Let’s be real”
(G. Lightfoot)

Phew – glad they finally did it. Sort out the problems in the Middle East, I mean. Who? ART BRUT. At least they said so when they were asked that by a guy in the audience at last night’s show. When we arrived at E-Werk I couldn’t imagine I would like it cause there were far too many people for my liking. 600? 800? I don’t know but enough people to make me look for a place with a wall at my back. Crowded places can make me feel really insecure. That was forgotten as soon as the “Enter Sandman” riff with which Art Brut started their show filled the room. It soon changed into “Formed A Band”, followed by “My little brother” and the crowd loved them. I really enjoyed their show. They are a really good and mucho sympatico indierock band with a great sense of humour. Oh, and a friend surprised us with spotting they had Dickie Hammond as soundguy. Apropos fine punk rock: Tomorrow the fabulous RYE COALITION play at the K4 in Nuernberg! Woohoo!

RYE COALITION
+ GHOST ROCKETS

Wednesday, 18.January Zentralcafe K4 (opposite from the main station, Nuremberg, Germany)
09:00 p.m. / 8 euro

“A well-crafted ode to cock rock, minus the cliches” is what somebody wrote about their explosive mix of classic 70s rock, heavy punk rock, raw emo rock and ‘modern’ noise rock – you get it, eh? R.O.C.K. in the footsteps of Kiss, Grand Funk Railroad or Spinal Tap, or The Strokes heard through the meatgrinder of Shellac, or as if Fugazi are about to lose a drinking contest against AC/DC. RYE COALITION have existed for more then 10 years. Dave Grohl turned out to be a big fan of them (he even produced their upcoming album on the fine GERN BLANDSTEN label) so they will support the Foo Fighters on their Europe Tour. RYE COALITION added some club shows to that schedule and if you get to be in Nuernberg tomorrow you can witness the first of those shows. They will be supported by GHOST ROCKETS who play oldschool speedrock in the vein of Corrosion Of Conformity or J.F.A.
www.ryecoalition.com
www.musikverein-concerts.de
www.myspace.com/musikverein

“I will never be set free
As long as I’m a ghost that you can’t see.”
(G. Lightfoot)

On my first night out last week I somehow got stuck in various conversations about death: First tabloid style with a friend who had known an archaelogist who was beheaded in India one or two weeks ago. One of those stories you’d really shrug off as urban myth when you read about it. Then, what really touched me, he started telling me about the slow death of his cat a few months ago. The cat had died of cancer. He said he hadn’t suffered a loss of a family member or any other close person before, so the cat’s death really got to him. It’s weird how we look for excuses when the loss of a pet makes us deeply sad, while the death of a remote relative we hardly ever met is supposed to make us sad. As if it was healthy to control grief.
I remember having a really hard time when I was expected to mourn my father. When he died I had hardly any positive memory of him. Still I was expected to forgive him cause you don’t think nor talk bad of someone who is dead. Crap. Why shouldn’t we? I guess, having been left alone to cope with that affected me much more than I consciously am aware of. Maybe I’m still not really done with it. I picture such experiences as cruising our minds like Vanderdecken’s or Jack Sparrow’s ghost ship. Any thought that gets too close to it flees in fear or gets mutilated.
Later that night another friend poured out his grief about yet another loss: A close friend of his girlfriend had died in an accident only a couple of days before. She had been one of 15 people that didn’t survive when the roof of an ice skating hall broke in Bad Reichenhall, Germany. Her little daughter was saved from the debris. Death is the hardest thing to understand and to handle anyway, but such a sudden loss that hits you from out of nowhere can really question anything you thought you were sure about. It’s as if you suddenly realize on which a shaky and weak and ‘relative’ foundation your world and world view are built. Things seem to become threatingly real in such moments.
The following day, with those shared thoughts of loss and how it can affect you still on my mind, I watched the last four episodes of the final SIX FEET UNDER season. Can’t remember when I last cried that much. It felt good though.

“Safety and happiness are contradictory anyway.” (Bella Block)