Warsaw Good Friday 2013

As the picture above shows, a few days ago, spring was trying to break out of the prolonged winter here in Warsaw.  Alas, today, Good Friday afternoon, it started snowing again:

Perhaps this is appropriate weather (e.g. offering a symbol of purification and atonement) given the religious significance of Good Friday (I'm a half practising Catholic, wish I had the strength of conviction to be a full practising one).

However, behind this white background, like other Slavs such as the Ukrainians, many Poles are busy designing their own wonderful ornate eggs at Easter time:

Got this picture off an advertisement hoarding, but this is really what the Slavic Easter eggs look like, as people spend hours gradually decorating and building up the colour of the eggs.

Finally, must find something interesting to do on Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday this year, but what shall I do?

Swans at Warsaw Stodoła on 16-03-13

Must admit that I enjoyed this gig a lot more than I'd expected, both the concert itself and the special kind of anthropology that occurs at a Swans concert (e.g. many people quite wisely having cotton wool in their ears; people avoiding being in the immediate path of the main speakers; some people finding something sublime in the music while others look bemused etc.).

First up, Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xui) walked on stage in a suit and tie; stiffly opened up his guitar case; got his guitar plugged in; got a background tape of birds singing going; and finally sat down to play and sing (many times as a faint whisper):

At the time, I found all of this a bit bizarre, but. later on, after seeing Swans, I could see some coherence to the whole evening as Jamie Stewart's mellowness offered a nicely balanced contrast to the constant (albeit sometimes beautiful) thud of the Swans set.

In all, Jamie seemed to utter four words in between songs:  "Excuse me" while tuning his guitar, and 'Thank you" at the end of the set.  Nothing wrong with behaving enigmatically, I guess.

How about Swans, well I was just in the mood for the grinding mixture of sometimes discordant and other times hypnotic sounds that they gave out.  Glad to say that they did (or seemed to do) 'The Seer'.  Not being able to drink much these days, I was happy to be whipped into a trance-like state through the often repetitive but equally beautiful sounds served up. 

To protect my ears, I stood on the borderline between the concert hall and central bar area at the Stodoła, which, having not brought any cotton wool, was a real wise move.  Moreover, when the band came on stage, doing their final tune-up, I (like a few others) took the opportunity to go down one of the channels to near the main speakers to get a few shots with my small mobile:

While these are only poor quality shots from a small mobile, I think they do at least convey something of the excitement and tension that was there before the great band got going.  Glad to see that somebody has put a kind of montage of sounds from the Swans' Warsaw show on Youtube below:

Also managed to get a couple of mobile shots of the band during one of their quieter moments below:

Of course, I didn't hang around long enough for louder moments to arise, and soon retreated further back.

Yeah, overall, I can think of much worse things to do on a Saturday night, and, at times, I found myself getting genuinely hypnotised by the music.  Dare I suggest that Swans have a 'rugged Gregorian Chant' kind of quality?  Well, they do for me, and that's what matters, I guess.

The Franciscan Church at Radecznicy, Eastern Poland

This is an interesting place in eastern Poland called Radecznicy.  It's a small place that has a shrine dedicated to St. Anthony; and a huge Franciscan church that is in some way connected to a psychiatric institution, both being perched at the top of a hill overlooking the shrine at the bottom.

First off, there is the shrine on the pond dedicated to St. Anthony:

Was really happy that I managed to get a reasonable shot of the altar inside the wooden shrine building.  There's a certain peacefulness both inside and all around the wooden shrine, especially in the winter snow around Christmas time. 

In the picture below, I'm looking back down at the steps that I've just climbed up to get to the Franciscan church on top of the hill. 

As for the Franciscan church itself, it sits in grandeur at the top of the hill:

Inside, the church is rather big and contains some impressive religious artwork:

At Christmas time, a small model of the church and steps leading up to it is positioned near the Nativity Scene:

Yes, this can be a place of quietness and stillness where you can get away from it all and encounter your self.  Tied in with this, the area around the altar is incredibly beautiful:

Sometimes, for various reasons, I'm not sure if I believe in God anymore, but, still, this church is a magical place, an enchanted place:  it offers something away from the increasingly God-less secular world where I must exist.

Perched just behind the Franciscan church and in a slightly higher position, there is the psychiatric institution:

At the moment, the patients are looked after by trained medical staff, but I guess that in the past, they may've been taken care of by the Franciscans.  One story I've heard is that shortly after the end of the 2nd World War, the patients were brought here covered with blankets on the top of horse and carts.  Thus, this place has a lot of interesting history.

Threshold and Enochian Theory Live at Warsaw Klub Progresja 6-03-2013

Been another hell of a busy week, but thankfully got out Wednesday evening to see Threshold and Enochian Theory at Warsaw Klub Progresja.  The latter holds some great Prog evenings with the small intimate crowds often making for a really good evening, and such was very much so on Wednesday.

First, I got up to the Klub Progresja at eight, bang on time for Enochian Theory beginning their set. 

Of course, as usual, I had fun with my small mobile camera.

I just take loads and loads of shots, and a law of averages allows me to get a few reasonable ones.

Like I guess some other people, I've become aware of Enochian Theory through their videos on Youtube and generally like their stuff:

My favourite Enochian Theory track is 'Movement', and I'm glad to say that the band did it on Wednesday (the video above is from Germany a couple of years or so ago - well done to whoever put this on Youtube)

Actually seeing Enochian Theory live, their music had a more 'powerful edge' than I'd imagined, while their on stage presence and rapport with the crowd was subtle, good-natured and positively humble.  The picture below shows the band getting stuck into packing their gear up immediately after finishing their set:

Second, I really enjoyed Threshold as they did a lot of tunes from their recent 'March of Progress' album, such as 'Ashes' and 'Staring At The Sun'.  Glad to say that somebody has quickly put a few tracks from Threshold at the Klub Progresja on Youtube, including part of 'Staring At The Sun':

Must emphasise that throughout the set, vocalist Damian Wilson was an absolute star and gent with the crowd:

What really impressed me was that the band were really up for the gig, and when Damian said that they liked playing on small stages so they could actually see people's eyes, he really meant it.  Moreover, Damian provided some good fun by stagediving backwards in the middle and at the end of the concert, after making sure that there were enough strong people ready to catch him (magical stuff).

Also good to see that the same good person who videod part of 'Staring At The Sun', has also put 'Light and Space' and 'Long Way Home' on Youtube:

Moreover, I was happy to see that the band did my favourite tune of theirs 'Pilot In The Sky Of Dreams'.  Below there are a couple more pictures of Threshold from Wednesday which seem to capture something of the great atmosphere of the evening :

Thus, again I had another great night of Prog up at the Klub Progresja in Stare Bemowo.  Really looking forward to seeing Pain Of Salvation in early April and Riverside in mid-April there. 

The Residents at Warsaw Stodoła 2008

Saw what may well be the last snowman of winter near where I live in Warsaw today:

From here, I don't know what it was, but I suddenly went back to my Secondary school years in north-west England over 30 years ago, as I recalled the quirky American band, The Residents, often being on the front cover of music papers such as Sounds, Melody Maker and NME.  This was when The Residents generally dressed up in top hat and tails with eyeballs on their heads.

In November 2008, The Residents played Warsaw Stodoła and I went to this gig out of pure curiosity, spurred on by my visual memories of this band from many moons ago.  What I got was what I kind of expected:  some kind of great whacky stage performance (well done to the guy who put the two small excerpts of this concert on Youtube): 

Yeah, I really enjoyed this concert as it was 'something a bit different'.

Which are my favourite Residents' songs?  Well, by a massive mile, 'Gingerbread Man' would have to be my top favourite:

Yeah, for me, this track just seems to get to the heart of the matter:  the wheel of fate/life; the ageing process; there seemingly being no rhyme or reason to it all etc.  What about my second favourite Residents' track?  Well, being a bit of a Prog-type person, this would have to be another 10-minute epic:  'Bad Day on the Midway':

Yeah, these are very interesting and often thought-provoking videos that these guys put together.

Recently found out that The Residents will be playing Warsaw Basen on May 10th so this looks like another concert to look forward to in 2013.

REM at Liverpool Royal Court Theatre on May 21st 1989

This was the one and only time that I ever saw REM, but I absolutely loved the show.  Like any concert, there was a massive context to the event.  In terms of the band itself, REM had broken into widescale recognition through the 1987 'Document' album and, in particular, the single 'The One I Love' had made a lot more people stand up and take notice of the band:

Thus, the 1988 'Green' album was building on this success, and when REM announced their 1989 UK tour dates, still at relatively small venues, the tickets for the Manchester Apollo show sold out almost immediately.  Fortunately, me and a few mates, now affectionately known as the Gumbies, somehow managed to get tickets for the Liverpool Royal Court Theatre show on May 21st thanks to one of the Gumbies as it happens.  Of course, the show was dominated by the 'Green' material which was fine with me, as still today, 'Green' probably remains my favourite REM album.  My enduring image from the show is of Michael Stipe wearing a kind of almost fox hunting come straightjacket outfit, and singing quite a few of the tunes through a loudspeaker (the picture below is taken from a review of the REM Royal Court gig that I found on the Internet):

One of the tracks I remember Stipe singing through a loudspeaker to is 'Turn You Inside Out' from 'Green':

It was great that 'Tourfilm' (from the US leg of the 'Green' tour) was released, as it has obviously helped me to reminisce on the Royal Court gig over the years.  From 'Green', my favourite two tracks have always been 'World Leader Pretend' and 'Orange Crush':

The first video above is from REM's appearance at the 1989 Pink Pop Festival in Holland from the European leg of the 'Green' tour, while in the second one, the band are on Top of the Pops  (can only just remember this happening from the back of my now vague memory store).  Absolutely love the lyrics to 'World Leader Pretend', as they seem to deal with the complex landscape of being introverted/ introspective: 

                  "I sit at my table and wage war on myself /It seems like it's all, it's all for nothing". 

Yeah, these lyrics have been omnipresent near the front of my mental jukebox since the release of 'Green' in 1988 (I think that for anyone who is or has been painfully shy/self-conscious, these lyrics strike a deep chord).

Besides the above, there was a tragic context to the 1989 REM Royal  Court gig, as many Liverpool fans had lost their lives at the Hillsborough football disaster the month before.  At the REM concert itself, Michael Stipe seemed to be keenly aware of this, as in between songs, he was continually imploring the crowd to take a step back so that nobody got crushed there.  Furthermore, there was a more ideological/political dimension to the concert, as Stipe kept encouraging the crowd to take an interest in Greenpeace and Amnesty International (now well-known causes, but less so at that time).

Finally, REM are obviously much more than just their 'Document' and 'Green' material, and I love a lot of their pre-'Document' and post-'Green' material, but I just wanted to locate this post at a particular time when the band were breaking through into the mainstream and getting set to become something huge (it's great to have the value of hindsight here, of course).

Reading Festival 1987

This was my first out of three Reading Festivals (the others being 1989 and 1995) when I was 20 or 21 at the time.  It was a great eclectic line up roughly equally divided between Alternative-type and more Classical Rock-type bands. 

The Friday was definitely an Alternative/Gothic type of day as The Mission headlined with the Fall being second from the top of the bill as Spear of Destiny dropped out.  Other key names on the Friday were Fields of the Nephilim; The Icicle Works; and The Godfathers.  Quite liked The Mission; The Fall and The Icicle Works, while the others were okay (I've always been more of a Classic Rock man and used to love Tommy Vance's recordings of the Reading Festival from the late 1970s and early 1980s when it was mainly a genuine Rock Festival). 

Still, there was one massive revelation on that Friday in 1987, the opening act, All About Eve. On the Friday morning, me and my mates had just woken up and we just sat genuinely spellbound listening to Julianne Regan's angelic-type voice.  Went on to see All About Eve five times in the late 1980s including once at Glastonbury in 1989, and last saw them at the wonderful Canterbury Fayre in 2002.

Saturday was much more a day for Classic Rock at Reading 87 as I saw Magnum for the last time on this day.  However, the revelation of the day were The Georgia Satellites, second from the top of the bill on the night, and proving that Southern Boogie (-type) bands are always great for jiving up a Festival (remember Blackfoot doing this at Castle Donington in 1981).  Sadly, there doesn't seem to be many videos of the 1987 Reading Festival flying around.  In fact, the only things I've come across on Youtube are an interview of Alice Cooper the day before he headlined Sunday night; a few tracks of MGM (Bernie Marsden, Mel Galley and Neil Murray from Whitesnake) shot side on, on stage; and a kind of documentary on Vow Wow, a Japanese band who played on the Sunday in 1987. 

Just for the record, the Saturday headliners, Status Quo, were great on the day (not my cup of tea usually), although having 10 pints of fresh scrumpy and spinning round to well-known tunes may've had something to do with this.

So what about the Sunday?  Well, it was the first time I'd seen or heard The Bolshoi who had the unenviable task of following eccentric Reading favourites The Enid.  Yes, you may've already guessed it, The Bolshoi got lots of plastic bottles aimed in their direction.  Came to really like The Bolshoi, but, sadly, only ever saw them again once more, supporting All About Eve at Manchester Apollo in the late 1980s.  Still, it was amazing that a quirky Prog Rock band like The Enid could've drummed up a 'Last Night of the Proms' atmosphere on a late Sunday afternoon at Reading Festival back in 1987. 

My other memories of the Sunday?  Well, I remember The Stranglers being second from the top of the bill and coming on with 'No More Heroes', and if my memory serves me right, an ice cream van getting rocked over (or nearly rocked over).  The Stranglers played a great set, and thankfully this got played somewhere on Radio 1 a few weeks later, so I was able to record it.  As an introduction to 'Always The Sun', Hugh Cornwall announced something like: 

"I hear that over 30,000 condoms have been handed out this weekend  . . .  so some of you have been lucky, and some of you haven't been so lucky!  . . .  so there's 'Always The Sun'"

Yes, this was back in the day when bands had real character and humour.  As for Alice Cooper, he was okay, but it was the third time I'd seen his 'gory' stage show in the past 18 months or so, so it was somewhat predictable (best time, I ever saw Alice Cooper was on the 'Special Forces' tour at Manchester Apollo in 1982, when he was absolutely awesome).

So, there you have it, some of my memories of the 1987 Reading Festival.  Hope to get back with posts on the 1989 and 1995 Reading Festivals.