Railway Bridges in Zamość

 Came across a couple of wonderful, new-looking railway bridges next to the city walls in Zamość:

Love the spherical shape of both bridges:

Always discover something interesting in Zamość.

Mermaid Symbol in Warsaw Old Town

 

The Warsaw mermaid symbol can be spotted in quite a few places in Warsaw, and the one above can be seen above a shop doorway in the Old Town.

Dragonfly Picture

 

An incredible picture of a dragonfly taken by my wife in eastern Poland, she said that it followed her inside from the garden.

When I press on this picture to enlarge it, I find the intricate design of the dragonfly's wings amazing.

Riverside + Collage + Mick Moss (Warsaw Progresja Outside Stage, 21st August 2021)

Continuing with my summer concert binge, it was the turn of Riverside, doing a 20-year anniversary show, on Saturday:

As always, Riverside were great and I enjoyed Addicted; Lament; The Depth of Self-Delusion etc.

Enjoyed watching Riverside near the back of the crowd with a few nice beers.

Must admit that I equally enjoyed Collage, the first time I've seen them live:

Songs like Man in the Middle and Baśnie went down a treat.

 

At times, Collage reminded me of Marillion or IQ, and other times, of classic (Kerry Livegren) era Kansas. I really found them amazing.

Also really enjoyed Mick Moss, who has a fantastic voice, of course.

 

Have seen Mick Moss a couple of times before with Antimatter, and his accoustic solo set on Saturday worked well. He also had an intriguing backdrop:

Not sure if my highlight of the set was Leaving Eden or the great version of Alphaville's Big in Japan.

All in all, Saturday was another good day out in the summer concert season, hope to see another gig or two before the talk of another lock-down hots up in the media.

Wigwam-Shaped Tents

 

Saw these wigwam-shaped tents at the Wianki nad Wisłą festival in Warsaw earlier this summer.

Passing the Citadel Pond

 Passing the Citadel pond:

And seeing patriot monuments to the many Polish victims of the 2nd World War, while heading towards the riverside in Warsaw:

Night-Time Runners

 

Came across this mass of night time runners in Warsaw a few weeks ago. Everything was officially organised:

All the young people looked serious and enthusiastic. It looked like some kind of charity event:

Expanding Beer Bottle Top Collection

 

The picture above shows that my beer bottle top continues to grow. 

This interest in trying lots of different beers has had a surprising positive effect: I'm now drinking 4.5-5% beer rather than 5.5-6%.

Tangerine Dream at Warsaw Progresja Letnia Scena (17-08-21)

 As always, seeing Tangerine Dream was a great audio-visual experience.

Despite it being a nippy evening, it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience listening to Tangram Section 1; Dolphin Song; Love on a Real Train; Stratosfear etc.

Being 55 years old, it was also nice sociology to be sat with a mainly middle-aged (and sometimes older) audience.

Below, the band are taking in well-earned rounds of applause at the end of the show:

The show lasted about two hours, but went by in a flash, that's how much I enjoyed it.

African Beats Festival (Warsaw Progresja Outside Stage 14-08-21)

After being greeted in a genuine friendly way on the gate entering the African Beats Festival, I soon came across a drum clinic:

Unfortunately, I only caught the last couple of minutes of Groove Baza:

But what I caught was good.

And not long after it was the turn of El Mezouaria:

Mustapha really does have an incredible voice. In my over 40 years of regularly going to all kinds of gigs in mainly my native England, plus Poland of course, for me, Mustapha has one of the best voices I've ever heard.

Saw Mustapha previously on stage with Dikanda about three years ago at the Progresja.

Next up, it was Ayoub Houmanna:

Who quickly revved up the crowd with his incredible energy. Got the sense that Ayoub had played a big part in getting this festival together.

Then, The Afronauts were, for me, the surprise package of the festival, absolutely loved their kind of Jazz-Prog-World music mix, they reminded me a bit of early Santana:

And finally, things were rounded off nicely by Mamadou and Sama Yoon:

 

Love the kind of mix of Reggae, Jazz, and Psychedelia in this band's music.

Then, after the festival had kind of ended, there was even time for a nice nightcap listening to musicians from the bands jamming on stage inside:

 Which was a fitting close to a great day.

The Vet's Place

 The vet's place in eastern Poland where Kotek had his teeth cleaned last week.

When you visit the vet's here, there's usually one or two dogs inside who the vet looks after because they've just been dumped outside the place. Full credit to the vet for helping the dogs out, of course.

Jerry & The Pelican System - Warsaw Plac Defilad (12.08.21)

 

Not being able to get to Britain for summer, I find myself going to see a lot of interesting, experimental music around Warsaw, and Thursday night it was the turn of Jerry & The Pelican System.

Jerry & The Pelican System seem to be an intriguing revolving door of talented young musicians coming into and out of the band, and on Thursday night, it was perfect for me, as I found the intriguing blend of subtle Jazz and ethereal-type music perfect.

In particular, I found some of the drum work riveting:

Was also happy to have a couple of nice beers on tap from the outside bar, which went down a treat while enjoying the Jerry & The Pelican System set. 

Roll on more interesting, experimental music over the weekend, that's what I say.

Craft Ale Bars in Warsaw Old Town

In Warsaw Old Town, there seems to be 2-3 craft ale bars just before you reach the Barbican in Warsaw Old Town:

They look like a good place to have a potentially unusual beer in a beautiful setting.

Must have a beer in one of these places before the summer is out and another lockdown is upon us.

Exhausted Kotek

 Kotek was exhausted after being under anesthetic to have his teeth cleaned at the vet's today.

Kciuk Fusion Band: Warsaw Old Town Jazz Festival (7th August 2021)

As usual, I was at the Jazz Festival in Warsaw Old Town on Saturday night, this time to see the Kciuk Fusion Band:

Found the musicianship incredible, especially the bass guitar work of Tomasz "Kciuk" Jaworski.

Like many others present, I found myself getting dreamily absorbed in lengthy tunes that seemed to pass like a shot.