New Model Army Live at Warsaw Proxima 8th October 2013

Now seen New Model Army four times over the years:  first time at Reading Festival in 1989; second time at Manchester Academy in early or mid-1990s; then a few years ago at Warsaw Stodoła; and last night at Warsaw Proxima.

So how was last night different from the previous times I'd seen New Model Army?  Well, more than anything, the band did far more of their newish stuff than the old favourites last night, and this kind of had a fresh impact.  From the newish stuff, there was a nice balance between hard crunchy (often experimental) tunes and more subtle mellow ones.  As I'm now getting on in age, being nearly 48, I now have a liking for the more subtle mellow tunes so 'March in September' (well done to the good person who videod this at Sheffield below) from the new 'Between Dog and Wolf' album was right up my tree:

Having said this, I also really enjoyed the significantly crunchier title track from the 2009 album 'Today Is a Good Day':

Again, well done to the good person who put the video above from Nottingham Rock City on Youtube.

Thus, the New Model Army set was generally fresh and crisp, but the Proxima, a small student club, is far from the best place to see a concert in Warsaw, thus, there were, at times, a few inevitable problems with the sound, especially down near the front, because of the far from perfect accoustics of the place.

Anyway, as the 90-minute or so set drew nearer to the end, we started to get more of the old classics such as 'No Rest'; 'Stupid Questions'; '51st State'; and the final encore, 'The Green and The Grey'.  Still, it would've been nice if the band had done my two favourite NMA tunes:  'White Coats' and 'Love Songs', but I guess you can't have everything in life, can you?

Still, one nice surprise of the evening was that I bumped into an old workmate, Steve, who I hadn't seen in about 3-4 years, probably since when NMA played Warsaw Stodoła 3-4 years ago. 

Warsaw University Library Roof

So what was it like up on Warsaw University Library Roof, then?  Well, as you can see below, it started looking very interesting as I made my way up the stairs there.

First, I was able to look down on the majestic, grey, Gothic-looking building below:

After this, I managed to get a panoramic shot of the National Football Stadium in the distance (where I'd seen Roger Waters do 'The Wall' a few weeks ago:

But the Library Roof itself was also quite picturesque, as the juxtaposition of red autumnal leaves and glass ceiling below shows:

As it was a beautiful clear day, I was also able to get some decent panoramic shots across the river into the Praga district of Warsaw:

Finally, to put the icing on the cake, I managed to get a kind of 'Magnum Opus' shot up there:

Of course, I wish the happy couple all the best for the future.

Warsaw University Library Gardens

After 10 years living in Warsaw, I finally got round to having a proper look at the incredible Warsaw University building (in the picture above) yesterday afternoon, and I wasn't disappointed, that's for sure.

First off, I checked out the Gardens (above) round the side of the building, and there was more than enough just there to keep my eyes occupied.  However, it was the autumn-coloured leaves growing round some incredible tree-shaped metal frames below that really caught my eye:

For me, the above frames are a simple but well thought out piece of artistic genius, and I simply couldn't take my eyes off the things.

Go-Karting in Warsaw

Went watching my friends from EIP ('Everything Is Possible') go-karting in the Praga district of Warsaw on their Integration Day on Friday.  To get to the go-karting place above, you go over the river Vistula from Gdanski metro station and then veer left to ulica Jagiellonska 82, although the place itself is a bit detached from the main road. 

I have both higher and lower back problems, so there was no way that I was ever going to get into one of the go-karts below:

Still, my friends from EIP had a great time zooming around the racetrack, going back repeatedly for more turns, and getting better each time they did so.

Warsaw in Autumn

Had always wanted to get a few shots of the leaves turning colour in autumnal Warsaw, and, this year round, I finally got round to doing this.  After the dramatic and often beautiful changes in colours, things inevitably wither away, and this is why I much prefer the American word '(the) fall' than the British 'autumn'.  Yes, I love the association of the Adam and Eve 'fall from grace' story and the association of autumn with human mortality.

Also can't help but think of Justin Hayward's canonical 'Forever Autumn' whenever I think of and experience this time of year:

Found this interesting version of Justin Hayward doing 'Forever Autumn' inside Canterbury Cathedral with what appears to be Ian Anderson on flute:

What a magic juxtaposition of song, place and performers.  I absolutely loved visiting the Cathedral when I lived in Canterbury for three or four years at the back end of the 1990s and start of the 2000s, really good times.

Mum Live at Warsaw Basen 2nd October 2013

Had the absolute honour of seeing Icelandic band, Mum, at Warsaw Basen last night.  Like fellow Icelanders Arstidir who I saw at the Klub Progresja in Warsaw earlier this year, this turned out to be something of a beautiful, epiphany-type experience, it was simply that good.

With me, the thing about Mum is that their songs are such beautiful, dreamy, relaxing soundscapes that despite recognising the songs themselves, it's difficult to remember any of the titles (with the exception of 'Green Grass of Tunnel' - from the Latitude Festival below - many thanks to whoever put this on Youtube):

A classic example of this is 'Land Between Solar Systems' (from ATP Iceland below - thanks a lot to whoever put this on Youtube) which, despite having to look for the name of this tune now, I fully expected the band to come on with last night, and they didn't disappoint:

Besides their obvious musical proficiency (love the versatility of the members playing several different instruments), I also love the sense of innocence and goodwill that the band effortlessly evoke from the stage:  all the elfine-type quirky smiles and nicely 'strange' dances, I find all this really refreshing, almost mystical even.  In a nutshell, the band just naturally create a wonderfully subtle but also highly intimate rapport with the audience, and, last night, at one point, had the audience gently whistling like birds for some time.  Yes, sometimes it's just good to feel captivated by the beautiful subtlety of it all, the gentle sense of some kind of transcendence.

Yes, this was one band that was well worthy of a healthy round of applause at the end of the evening.  The band modestly thanked the audience for sharing the evening with them, and I felt it an honour to experience such a subtly beautiful presence.

Another Interesting Streetlight/Streetlamp in Warsaw

A kind of small obscure interest I've acquired over my years in Warsaw is that of taking note of some of the beautiful streetlights/streetlamps in the city.  These streetlamps/streetlights seem to compare favourably with those that I used to see in my native north-west England which seemed to lack a certain aesthetic quality.