Warsaw Ursynalia May 29th 2015: The Small Stage

My last shots from the Warsaw Ursynalia Festival are from the small stage.

Haven't got a clue who the band were on stage here, but they definitely weren't my kind of thing.

Warsaw Ursynalia Festival, 29th May 2015: The Beer Ticket Office

Here's another shot from the Warsaw Ursynalia Festival on Friday night, this time of the place where the beer tickets were sold:

Just wish they'd been selling tickets for Perła or Leżajsk rather than Lech.

Chemia Live at Warsaw Ursynalia Festival 29th May 2015: A Few Pictures

Here's a few shots of Polish band, Chemia, from the Warsaw Ursynalia Festival:

Had never really listened to Chemia before.  Wasn't listening that attentively, but they seemed to be in that Nickleback, Three Doors Down kind of groove, which I can listen to without it really being my kind of thing.

Skindred Live at Warsaw Ursynalia Festival 29th May 2015

Arrived just in time, shortly after eight o'clock, to catch Skindred at the Warsaw Ursynalia Festival.  Admittedly, Skindred are not really my cup of tea, but I wanted to catch them out of curiosity.

At the end of the Skindred set, I asked my mate Romek what he thought about Skindred, and he said that they weren't his kind of band, but that the vocalist, Benji Webbe was a good laugh and had created a great atmosphere:
  

Yeah, couldn't have put it better myself, Skindred are the perfect band for revving a festival up, and soon after hitting the stage, they had more or less everybody jumping up and down.

In between a couple of songs, Benji Webbe made a point of making the crowd fully aware of Skindred guitarist, Mikey Demus:
 

But of course, the centre of attention was always going to be Benji Webbe, whether singing or chatting between songs:

As expected, he shared the centre of the stage with the customary Union Jack:

Don't know much by or about Skindred, to be honest, but did recognise 'Warning' so I guess this may be a bit of a signature tune.  Also just read that Benji Webbe was the frontman of Dubwar who I kind of remember from the early/mid-1990s.

Epica Live at Warsaw Ursynalia Festival, May 29th 2015

Another candidate (alongside Delain; Archive; Ozric Tentacles; and Def Leppard) for my concert of the year here, as I finally got round to both seeing Epica and visiting the Warsaw Ursynalia Students' Festival for the first time.

Really enjoyed Epica, as they have many interesting things going on in their music: Simone Simons' amazing operatic voice; recurring male grunts (not usually my cup of tea but it works with Epica); alternations between pulsating rhythms and melodic tender spots; and interesting use of synthaxe.

My favourite tunes of the evening would have to be 'The Second Stone' and 'The Obsessive Devotion' (my favourite Epica song), but all the songs just seemed to develop into a beautiful soundscape (e.g. all the songs harmoniously followed each other - my sense of a fantastic gig), and the whole set perfectly merged in with a wonderful, balmy, spring evening.

And, finally, the light show accompanying the Epica set was great.  Been paying more attention to the role of light shows in concerts since seeing the amazing Def Leppard light show at Warsaw Torwar a couple of weeks ago (what I'm getting at here is that a good light show nicely complements great-sounding bands, the audio and visual dimensions being in perfect harmony).
 

Warsaw: A Walk in the Dark

Couldn't sleep one night last week, so at about one in the morning, I simply got up and went for a walk around outside.  Enjoyed looking at the streetlamps in the tree tops:

And the white blossom in the dark:

Also took notice of how prominent road signs appear in the dark:

Became more aware of how much of human behaviour is actually governed by simply reading, interpreting and following the meaning of symbols:

Yeah, I'd never really thought about the significance of road signs that much before:

Also loved the lone traffic light permanently flashing on and off to signify nothing:

And the enchanted houses of the neighbourhood, they look better, more mysterious in the dark:

Yeah, this was my dreamy walk in the dark, it did the trick, as I slept like a log after it.

Faro (Algarve): King Afonso III Statue

Probably my last picture from Faro in the Algarve here.  This statue of King Afonso III can be found in Faro Old Town.

Of course, King Afonso III is a much loved figure in Faro for having liberated the city from the Moors in 1249.

Faro (Algarve): The Emblem on the Fire Station Wall

When I saw this emblem on what appeared to be the fire station wall next to Faro Marina, I just had to get a shot of it. 

Faro (Algarve): A Small Church

Heading towards the last few of my shots from Faro in the Algarve here with a picture of an interesting-looking, small church in Faro city centre.

Found Faro well worth a daytrip, as there's interesting things all around the city centre, not just the Old Town (although the Old Town is fantastic).

Faro (Algarve): The Secret Garden

Wish I'd had more than an hour or two to properly explore and digest Faro Old Town.  Took this shot of a beautiful, enchanting garden through peering over a wall in Faro Old Town.

'The Wedding' by Diary of Dreams

Great Gothic-type tune, 'The Wedding' by Diary of Dreams, a song at the centre of my mental jukebox at the moment.

Warsaw: Why the Tile Art of Istanbul?

At Metro Politechnika, there is some tile art of Warsaw itself which I fully understand, but there is also some tile art of Istanbul, which I find difficult to understand as I see little/no thematic connection between the two cities.

However, I've just looked on the internet and seen that Istanbul is one of 23 cities twinned with Warsaw (some of the others being Budapest; Coventry; Moscow and St. Petersburg).
 

Another Good Polish Beer

For a while, I kind of ignored Tatra, but recently I've given it a go, and have come to like it.  For a lager, Tatra is surprisingly frothy with a nice, subtle bitter taste.

Warsaw: Mokotow Shopping Centre

Hadn't been down to Ulica Puławska in Mokotow, not far outside Warsaw city centre, for a couple of years.  But when I got down there last week, I was greeted by this incredible (post-) modern-looking shopping centre building.

Can't remember this building having been there the last time I visited Ulica Puławska, but I could be mistaken.

Anyway, for a (post-) modern building, I found this place surprisingly beautiful: the strange and yet unexaggerated shape seemed to offer something:

Warsaw: Europa League Cup Final

Was walking down to see Def Leppard at the Torwar on Tuesday evening, when I saw this sign.

Didn't have a clue that the 2015 Europa League Final is going to take place in Warsaw (at the National Football Stadium).  Just looked up that the Final is between Seville and Dnipro.  Hope that Seville win as I had a great afternoon in this fantastic Spanish city last month.

Warsaw: Art on the Side of a Building

Not sure what to think of the art on the side of this building in lower Wolska, Warsaw.  Having said this, it does seem to offer a colourful contrast to the dark clouds in the background.

Soley Live at Warsaw Basen 21st May 2015

On Tuesday night, I was watching Def Leppard at the Torwar, and last night, it was the Soley gig at the Basen:  two concerts poles apart in style, but both equally impressive (for my eclectic taste in music).

Just find Soley's music quirky and relaxing, and she has a great dry sense of humour in her short chats between songs.

My favourite tunes of the night?  Well, I was always going to enjoy 'Pretty Face' and 'Smashed Birds' (my two favourite Soley songs), but for pure atmosphere, I thought 'Deeper' was the tune of the night.

Below, there's a shot of Albert from Soley's band setting up his keyboard equipment before the gig:

And an honourable mention must go to the opening act, Obo, who were also great:

The female violinist seemed to play the role of a lead guitarist:

There was also a male keyboard player and vocalist, but I couldn't catch him, as four big amplifiers were blocking my view.  Still, this allowed me to focus on the photogenic violinist:

Seville: A Bright Sunny Day

This shot of Seville captures a group of tourists striding towards the Cathedral.  This was in mid-April and the temperature was a wonderful 32 degrees celsius. 

Def Leppard Live at Warsaw Torwar 19th May 2015

Massive hats off to Def Leppard here for a great gig at Warsaw Torwar last night.

Must say that I mainly went to the gig for a bit of nostalgia, having seen Def Leppard a few times 'back in the day' (at Manchester Apollo in 1980, 1981 and1983; and Castle Donington in 1986).

But was completely bowled over by the band's high energy and enthusiasm (and the amazing light show too).  Indeed, the band were no less energetic than when I'd first seen them at Manchester Apollo on the 'On Through the Night'; 'High n' Dry' and 'Pyromania' tours back in the early 1980s.

And my favourite tunes of the evening?  Well, 'Bringin' on the Heartbreak' is possibly my favourite Def Leppard tune, so I was always going to enjoy that, and the band nailed it.  Besides this, it was good to hear the 'Hysteria' ('Love Hurts'; 'Hysteria'; 'Pour Some Sugar on Me'; 'Animal') tunes live.
 

Moreover, the band were always going to do the anthemic 'Rock of Ages' (don't usually like anthemic-type tunes but this one is fine) and bow out with 'Photograph' (like the way the band pictorially look back in/on time here):

So once again, hats off to Def Leppard today, as I thoroughly enjoyed the show last night.

Lisbon: A Building that Caught My Attention

On my quick sprint round Lisbon, the building above caught my attention.  But why?

Well, I couldn't help but zoom in on the insignia:

And the cross above the door below:

And from there, my imagination started to take over as to what the building actually represented.  Was it just an everyday (maybe council-type) building?  Or did it represent something more interesting from Portugal's great Catholic past?  Well, it was difficult to tell, and I'm still none the wiser.