Fields of the Nephilim Live at Warsaw Progresja 1st February 2014

The Klub Progresja has now moved  from Stare Bemowo to a much bigger place on several floors at Fort Wola called the Progresja Music Zone, and I was at the new place for the first time last night to see Fields of the Nephilim (above).

Before last night, I'd only seen Fields of the Nephilim once, many moons ago, during a sunlit Friday afternoon at Reading Festival in 1987.  The line-up that day had included All About Eve; The Godfathers; The Fall; and headliners The Mission. 

Back in 1987, I hadn't really known Fields of Nephilim at all, and roll on 27 years to the present, and I still only really know them in passing, 'Psychonaut' and 'From the Fire' being my two favourite tunes, much preferring these to 'Moonchild', to be honest.

However, when the band did 'Moonchild' as the encore last night, they just seemed to nail it:

Thus, it's really good to see that a fantastic person has put part of 'Moonchild' from last night on Youtube already:

Must also say that Carl McCoy is a great performer, effortlessly oozing an almost mystical, enigmatic presence on stage.  At some point in the past, I read about him being interested in shamanism, the Crowley-type occult etc. which, at times, must shine through the lyrics, so I guess that Fields of the Nephilm can be appreciated at a much deeper level than the purely aesthetic level that I'm taking them in at.

Also must mention that I enjoyed the Polish support band Cloisterkeller (below) last night.  I was already familiar with Cloisterkeller, who have been around since 1988, through seeing them on Youtube, and that's why I got to the Progresja early to make sure that I caught them last night.

So what about the main stage room at the newly located Progresja?  Well, it's much bigger than the old place at Stare Bemowo, and the sound seems okay.  Just one thing I didn't like, the frisking by the security going into the place did seem to be over-the-top (never had this at the old Progresja).

Clannad Live at Warsaw Stodoła 31st January 2014

Got to see Clannad again at Warsaw Stodoła last night (above), roughly  a year after seeing them at the same place.  This time round, the band came on with about 5 new tracks from last year's 'Nadur' album.  Before last night, I hadn't heard any of the latter, but the opening 5 tracks were really fresh and vibrant with 'Transatlantic', in particular, immediately sticking in my mind.

Of course, later on, the band went through more familiar territory doing 'Newgrange'; 'Theme from Harry's Game'; 'I Will Find You'; the 'Robin Hood' medley etc. and 'Dulaman'  (I recognise most of their Gaelic tunes, but, for obvious reasons - not knowing Gaelic, this is the only one I can name). 

Finally, the band inevitably finished off with the foot-stomping 'Teir Abhaile Riu' (just had to look this title up, of course, but, somehow, without understanding a word of Gaelic, this song has been firmly planted in my jukebox over the years and love singing along with it:

Above, the band are taking a well-deserved round of applause, while below, Pol is the last member of the band to leave the stage:

Today, with the concert from last night still resonating in my mind, I've looked up a few of the new tracks off the 'Nadur' album and can't stop playing 'Brave Enough' (below from 'The Late Show' in Ireland):

Must also say that I admire Clannad for coming over to Poland in late January when the temperature is often -10 and colder.

Was passing the Stodoła yesterday afternoon, as I was working near there, and it was bitterly cold.  Guess that the coach below may well have been the Clannad tour bus:

Tree Roots in the Snow

Love this shot I got of some tree roots in the snow while walking through Polemokotowskie Park in Warsaw earlier today. 

The moral of the story here is to always have your mobile with you for its camera lens, as you never know when the ordinary will suddenly appear extraordinary.

Whalley Abbey Catholic Church: Catholic Martyr Saints Being Honoured

Love the way Whalley Abbey Catholic church honours the memory of the Catholic martyr saints, St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More (well, that's who I think they are - I didn't check to make 100% sure), in both statue form (above) and stained glass form (below):

But this isn't the first time that I've seen these two great saints being honoured together, as I saw statues of them both (one on each side of the High Altar as it happens) when I used to go to the Old Latin Mass at the traditional Catholic chapel (first run by the traditional Redemptorists, then by the Society of St. Pius X) at Herne village, Kent in the late 1990s/early 2000s.  This was when I was living in the beautiful cathedral city of Canterbury nearby (the most beautiful place I've ever lived in).

Trying To Keep Warm during Winter in Warsaw

The picture above is of me trying  to keep warm in freezing winter weather in Warsaw this morning. 

The coldest weather I've ever experienced in Poland was -32, it was one Sunday afternoon while visiting the Society of St. Pius X church in Wielowieszka, near Radość, on the outskirts of Warsaw about 10 years ago.  Also had it really bad walking to work at about 7 o'clock in the morning last year when it was about
-26. 

However, the most shocking piece of weather I've experienced was when I was working in Nowy Sącz (in the foothills of the Tatra Mountains) in 1997 and the temperature literally dipped from about +10 Celsius in the morning to about -27 Celsius in the early evening.  As a result, I got frostbite which always returns at the first sign of any seriously cold weather.

Below, there is a plane sitting in an airfield at Stare Bemowo where I was working yesterday:

Just hope the snow/winter freeze doesn't stay long with us this year, as we had to endure it from October 2012 to April 2013 last winter.  Having said that, the real winter weather only arrived here a couple of weeks ago, but, still, let's hope it doesn't stay too long.

Deciding To See Tangerine Dream in Warsaw in June 2014

First came across Tangerine Dream in the late 1970s when I heard the 'Encore' live album (a track from this album is above), but only being 13 or 14, I just viewed the band as offering some kind of inaccessible 'long-winded' synthesiser music. 

Then, in 1980, I heard the newly released 'Tangram' album (below) which I found more accessible, but not enough to consider seeing the band live:

By the mid-1980s, I'd completely lost touch with Tangerine Dream (having only known them in passing anyway), although my good friend, Phil Taylor, who really liked them, almost begged me to see them at Manchester Apollo (of course, out of curiosity, I should've gone to this, but didn't).

Then, roll on almost another 30 years, and a couple of months ago, I saw that Tangerine Dream will be playing the Hała Ursynow in Warsaw on June 4th, and that this will be the band's last ever tour.  Thus, in response, I checked out recent live performances by the band on Youtube, especially the ones in Berlin and Zurich below:

Must say that I love these two concerts, and, of course, have now got a ticket for the Tangerine Dream Warsaw show in June.  Thus, being nearly 50 now, the music of Tangerine Dream is perfectly accessible for me.

Warsaw Winter Cold

Heavy snowfall here in Warsaw today as the picture above shows. 

However, people are still managing to get out and about to places like the Arkadia shopping centre below:

Moreover, earlier in the week, temperatures dropped to almost as low as -20  which starts to get bitingly cold.

Nevertheless, life goes on and the tall glass buildings, such as the one below on the left (near the Gdanski metro station) still continue to pop up all over the city:

Yes, despite the awful cold, Warsaw remains a city in a state of dynamic change.