#1161 / How Could I Possibly Forget

Fisher is no more. The band played their last concert last night in a huge tent in front of the Helsinki Klub. It was a pretty emotional but still beautiful night. Fisher played two sets with a lot of old songs as well as newish songs that they were playing in the last months. Between the two sets, they auctioned a few items like a demo, a display dummy with Fisher shirts on and a signed guitar. My personal favourite was 'My Oh My', a song that many things have started with.

#1160 / Sophie Hunger

Last night, I went to see Sophie Hunger, the singer of Fisher. She played a one-hour long set at the Schiffbaufest which was absolutely great. I had already seen her a few weeks ago when she was opening for Anna Ternheim and Lunik in Winterthur but this show yesterday was even better than the first one. The future of Sophie Hunger is gonna be great, that's for sure. The rest of the party was so-so. There were pretty strange people, a lot of drama actors and a bunch of high-society people of Zürich. You could really smell the money.

#1159 / Le Bruit De Fribourg

Last night, I went to Winterthur to see The Young Gods and Kasabian. Well, I was really looking forward to The Young Gods because I wanted to see them for a long time. However, I was pretty disappointed. In my opinion, they sounded like a migraine. It was quite okay in the beginning but it got very boring after a while. Anyway, Kasabian were ace again. The Leicester band delivered a great, dynamic and powerful show with lots of lights. They also seemed to enjoy it.

#1158 / 12586 Kilometres & 3 Weeks Later

Well, it's been a pretty long time since my last blog. And to be honest, I don't really know what to write now. The most interesting reading parts were in our holiday blog which was big fun to do. So Lili and me are back from our vacation in Scandinavia which was absolutely great in every way. It was pretty hard to get back to work and all that other stuff after such a long trip.

Three weeks have passed since we've come back and not really a lot has been going on. On Wednesday, I'm going to Turkey for a week and pretty soon, university is starting again.

#1157 / Scandinavia

This blog won't be updated until 10.08.2007. You'll find all about our Scandinavian adventures on http://scandinavia-2007.blogspot.com. See you soon.

#1156 / Open Air St. Gallen

I've just come back from the Open Air St. Gallen which was amazing once again. However, when we got there on Thursday night I swore to myself that this will be the last time. I was tired from carrying all the stuff, furthermore, I would have had lots of other things to do than to be away for another four days. Well, it all looks different now. We were a group of six people and I really think that this is much cooler than with twenty people that you barely know. We had quite a great time, we enjoyed ourselves, the fantastic bands and the beautiful weather. My personal highlights were Maxïmo Park, Kaiser Chiefs, Arcade Fire, The Frames and especially Lunik who replaced Mika. He had to pull out due to an ear infection. Lunik played probably the best show I've ever seen by Lunik. The band as well as the audience seemed to enjoy it a lot. Also Bright Eyes had to cancel their appearance. They were replaced by Art Brut. We didn't get to see Snow Patrol, unfortunately, as the weather was getting worse and wet. All in all, I would say that this was the best Open Air St. Gallen I've ever been to. And definitely not the last..

Last Wednesday, we also went to Bern to see Herbert Grönemeyer who delivered a great show. He and his band played for almost three hours. It's always amazing to see how one person is able to get 40'000 people under control. The atmosphere in the stadium was unbelievable.

Setlist
Leb in meiner Welt
Kopf hoch, tanzen
Stück vom Himmel
Musik nur, wenn sie laut ist
Halt mich
Bochum
Alkohol
Ich versteh
Marlene
Ohne dich
Spur
Der Weg
Mensch
Bleibt alles anders
Männer
Liebe liegt nicht
---
Demo (Letzter Tag)
Was soll das
Zum Meer
Land unter
Du bist die
Selbstmitleid
Flugzeuge im Bauch
Zeit, dass sich was dreht
Ich will mehr
Zur Nacht

#1155 / No Southside

What a turbulent time. Too much is going on at the moment, it seems as if everything is culminating these days. The whole stress and pressure is easy to bear, though, as we know that we'll have plenty of time to relax when we embark on our journey in a bit more than two weeks. I decided to leave the Southside Festival aside this year. I really need the time to do other things for university, Scala, our trip and so on. I want all the stuff to be done by the time we're going to the Open Air St. Gallen in two weeks. By the way, a new tour with Film is in the pipeline. Right now, we're negotiating with some promoters to bring the band back to Switzerland. Look out for some dates in early October.

#1154 / On Sunday You Won't Return

Yesterday, we played our first big festival show at the Open Air Hoch-Ybrig. We didn't expect a lot at 1 PM, however, there were still some people that turned up. They even seemed to enjoy the music. The reactions were pretty cool, we didn't think that it was a good gig, though. Some things went pretty good, the stage sound was great, but our performance - especially mine - could have been better. I was feeling pretty weird during the concert, my stomach was aching and I just wanted the concert to be over as soon as possible. I lost a few words and I guess I was not in tune sometimes. The whole thing still was a cool experience.

The best thing happened when we wanted to drive home. We had loaded our equipment and went to the backstage area to have lunch. When we got back to the car, I took the key and wanted to unlock the van. The key broke and we were stuck at the festival. Fortunately, my girlfriend could arrange the second key and helped us out. A broken key is probably the worst thing that can happen after such a rainy and cold weekend.

#1153 / Paolo Nutini

Last night, I went to the Paolo Nutini concert which was unspectacularly great. I really liked the atmosphere, however, I wouldn't have thought that there will me so many teens. The standing area was full of girls singing along to every song. The audience as well as the band seemed to enjoy the show. His stage performance was a bit strange, though, something must have been on the floor.

Setlist
Alloway Grove
New Shoes
Rewind
These Streets
Autumn
Natural Blues
Million Faces
55 To 1
Dolphins
Last Request
Rainbows
Loving You
Jenny Don't be Hasty
---
Northern Skies
I Wanna Be Like You
Funky Cigarette

#1152 / Acoustic

Last night, we played our first ever acoustic set. I was surprised how much I liked it after being afraid for weeks. We played 'You Never Had', 'Devils Around Us' and 'Inner Strife'. We re-arranged the songs a bit so that they would fit to the cosy atmosphere of the event. The audience also seemed to enjoy it, the feedbacks were pretty good. Moonsnake won the contest, we were second. However, the difference to the winners was only two points. Our next concert will be plugged again, in ten days, we'll play at Open Air Hoch-Ybrig.

#1151 / 36 Days To Go..

What a beautiful weekend! It's great to have some time off. I didn't really do a lot this weekend. I spent most of the time with my girlfriend. Lili and me are counting down the days until we can finally go on holiday. In 36 days, we'll be sitting in our van driving towards Scandinavia. Last week, we bought some boxes and a wood plate to build a table.

On Wednesday, we're playing our first (and probably) last acoustic show. It's a contest with five bands. Each band has to play three acoustic songs. We'll be playing without our drummer so that the 'new' arrangements don't get too loud. And in two weeks, we'll be playing our last show before the summer break.

#1150 / :-)

:-)

#1149 / The Second Great Depression

What happened to Travis and Manic Street Preachers? Both bands delivered two absolutely great records. They both sound like the late 90's. Travis are back at their best, the album is almost as good as 'The Man Who' and far better than their last output '12 Memories' which was a bit lame if you compare it to the new one. Great melodies and beautiful harmonies get mixed with the finest lyrics in pop music nowadays. When I first heard the album a few weeks ago, I knew that this band will get big again. It's the same with Manic Street Preachers. After their latest release, 'Lifeblood', I expected another album full of electro-inspired pop songs, however, what I got instead was another one of those 'This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours' stuff. Their punk attitude is back. The Manics have been the sort of political band for years now that is able to write intelligent and critical music and doesn't need the Bush-bashing crap. The album is full of anthems and some nice lyrics. I assume that both bands, Travis and Manic Street Preachers will play some big shows around Christmas in London. I'll be there.

Last week, something pretty weird happened to me. I was writing this new song, 'Sleeping At Last' when I thought about googling the title up to see if there's a similar band with the same title. I'm not very much into song titles that are omnipresent. Although, 'Supersonic' and 'Live Forever' sound great, indeed. I didn't find any song that was named 'Sleeping At Last', however, I found this band from Wheaton, Illinois which is absolutely great. I've just downloaded their album 'Keep No Score' (I will also buy it). It's a masterpiece with beautiful songs. My iPod has been playing Sleeping At Last for five days now and it's even getting better and better. I really like the idea of writing only songs with titles that emerge from great bands.

This week is rather a busy week. Yesterday, I had a speech about the history of London from 1648 to 1848. It was pretty interesting, however, as I'm not very keen on having speeches, we prepared a big powerpoint presentation with lots of photos and graphics. After that , we started rehearsing our three acoustic songs that we're going to play at the end of the month. Two of them start sounding pretty cool, the third one is a bit of a mess. Unfortunately, we'll be doing the gig without drums. The whole event is an acoustic and unplugged session so the drums would have been too loud. By the way, we got the results from the concert we played at Gaswerk Winterthur. We didn't really win, in fact, the audience as well as the jury thought that we were the weakest band that night. We should change our name to Lightworst. Haha.

Anyway, that's it for now. I just wanted to write a short entry about the two records and now it has gotten a pretty huge text. Hasta luego.

#1148 / 72 Days To Go..

Summer is here with temperatures around 25 °C. I can't remember April being so warm in the last few years. I'm already thinking about our great trip later this year. I've got a cool countdown add-on in my Firefox browser. Right know, there are still 72 days to go until we depart. We still have to work on our van and prepare some boxes and stuff.

Last week has been another great concert week with gigs on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. On Tuesday, we went to the Abart to see Midlake. The band delivered an absolutely great show, it was pretty cosy and one of those concerts where you forget everything around. On Thursday, we played our first gig since the tour with Film in February. We took part in a contest with four other bands at the Gaswerk in Winterthur. Unfortunately, we didn't win, however, it was big fun to perform there. On Friday, we went to the BSK, asleep. and There Goes My Quiet Life concert which was pretty cool and especially cosy as well. On Sunday, I wanted to go to the Strozzini concert, however, I didn't really feel like going out.

By the way, on Saturday I went to the movies with a friend to see 'Stranger Than Fiction' by Swiss director Marc Forster. The film is pretty cool and absolutely worth watching. C'est tout..

#1147 / Girls Who Play Guitars

This week was probably my best concert week ever, apart from the festivals. On Friday night, we had Brothertunes from Bern at the Scala. Unfortunately, there were only about 25 people, however, the atmosphere was amazing. The band played an acoustic set with lots of highlights. It was even better than I had imagined. It's great how the voices of Rich and Philly harmonise. The band as well as the audience seemed to appreciate the intimate atmosphere.

On Saturday, we had one of our last rehearsals before our concert on Thursday. Everything is going well and we're really looking forward to playing again. It's been a long time since the show in Bern and I'm glad that there's this one as well as two other gigs before the summer. In fact, it's already summer with temperatures rising close to 30 degrees. Anyway, after our band session, we went to the Mascotte to see Maxïmo Park. It's always so fascinating to see them perform. They're one of the best live bands at the moment, not only as musicians but also as entertainers. Although the show was announced as a showcase, they played a whole set with 19 songs from their two records. The concert was pretty charged and energetic and the band seemed to enjoy playing at a small venue after getting used to bigger ones in the last year. The atmosphere was brilliant and sweaty. The only bad thing were The Delilahs. I still don't like them. It's okay to see them but it's not okay to hear them.

Setlist
Graffiti
Girls Who Play Guitars
Now I'm All Over The Shop
Our Velocity
Postcard Of A Painting
Karaoke Plays
Russian Literature
By The Monument
I Want You To Stay
A Fortnight's Time
Books From Boxes
Apply Some Pressure
Nosebleed
The Coast Is Always Changing
Parisian Skies
Going Missing
---
Kiss You Better
Unshockable
Limassol

Last night, I went to Luzern with a friend to see Sophia. It was absolutely worth driving there. Sophia is one of those bands that you have to see once or twice a year. They played a set that was pretty similar to the one in December when they played at the Abart. However, it was far better last night. Everything was just perfect, the band, the audience and the sound mix. Unfortunately, Robin didn't seem to be very talkative this time.

Setlist
I Left You
Swept Back
Where Are You Now?
Pace
Oh My Love
Big City Rot
Ship In The Sand
The Desert Song No. 2
Every Day
P1/P2
Lost (She Believed In Angels...)
Woman
The River Song
---
So Slow
The Sea

Tomorrow, I'll go to the Midlake concert which I think is going to be another highlight. We'll see..

#1146 / Loud & Clear

Last night, I went to the Roger Waters concert. I was waiting for this one for a long time and I was glad that he brought his show to Zurich as well after he had played in Locarno last summer. The show was exactly how I imagined it to be. A great band, some stunning visual effects, a large screen and the timeless songs of Pink Floyd among others. That was probably the closest I could get to Pink Floyd right now. However, I still hope that Roger Waters and David Gilmour get together again.

The concert was something that can't really be described. No review would do justice. It was all about atmospheres and emotions and sometimes, it was pretty political, too.

Setlist:
In The Flesh
Mother
Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts II - V)
Have A Cigar
Wish You Were Here
Southampton Dock
The Fletcher Memorial Home
Perfect Sense, Parts 1 and 2
Leaving Beirut
Sheep
---
Speak To Me
Breathe
On The Run
Time
Breathe (Reprise)
The Great Gig In The Sky
Money
Us And Them
Any Colour You Like
Brain Damage
Eclipse
---
The Happiest Days Of Our Lives
Another Brick In The Wall, Part II
Vera
Bring The Boys Back Home
Comfortably Numb

#1145 / The Good, The Bad & The Queen

This has been a really nice weekend, the sound of MiNa still is in my mind. It was absolutely great.

The Good: Last night, I went to the Hey in Zürich to see asleep. and BSK. It was nice to see them again after such a long time. I think the last time I saw them was in October which really is a long time ago. I realised yesterday how much I missed being at an asleep. concert. Also BSK were great. It was the perfect sound for a Sunday night. I'm somehow swimming on an electro wave right now and BSK were just the kind of band that could deliver these sorts of atmospheres. Both bands are playing together again somewhen in April. By the way, my little project is going pretty well. I'm trying to spend as much time as possible, however, some Roman soldier issues as well as marketing strategies also take up plenty of time.

The Bad: I don't understand why Martin Scorsese was awarded with Oscars this year for such a boring film. He made so many great films but this one was just boring. I really have expected a lot more.

The Queen: A queen regnant (plural "queens regnant") is a female monarch who possesses all the monarchal power that a king would have without regard to gender. This is in contrast with a queen consort, who is merely the spouse of a reigning king, and on her own has no official powers of state.

#1144 / Living In Between

Last night, my friend and me went to the Papiersaal to see MiNa and William White. The Papiersaal is a new venue at Sihlcity which is like a small city within Zurich. In fact, it's a huge shopping mall with lots of stores, a multi-screen cinema, plenty of restaurants and some clubs and concert venues. It's pretty big but the architecture is quite fascinating. The concerts were absolutely great, especially MiNa which is the new project of Lunik singer Jael and Lunik guitarist Luk. It's unbelievable how many different atmospheres they created. The only thing that was annoying were the people standing in the back and talking extremely loud. I don't understand why people pay for something that they don't want to see.

Right now, I'm writing about the veterans in the Roman Republic. I need to hand in the paper next weekend. Tonight, we're going to the movies to see 'The Departed' finally.

#1143 / Go Tell It On The Mountain

Today was one of those perfect days. To escape writing our papers, we went skiing. To run away is always the best solution to avoid work. According to the weather forecast, it was supposed to be snowing and cloudy, however, it was quite wrong yesterday so we hoped that it would be wrong again today. The first hour was exactly how they said it will be. But after that, the weather changed and the sun came out. It was pretty warm and the snow was awesome as it was snowing until yesterday. And the best thing was that there were hardly any people. But somehow, they still managed to be a pain in the ass. Anyway.

In the afternoon, we went deep snow skiing, well at least, I tried. It wasn't exhausting at all.. I would say that we successfully avoided work today. And tonight, we're going to Zurich to see Nils Althaus. Some well-earned beers are waiting for us..

#1142 / Lack Of Sleep

This weekend was pretty exhausting. On Friday night, I went to the movies with a friend to see 'Azul oscuro casi negro', a Spanish film which was quite good. When I came home, I continued writing on the paper we had to finish until today. After 4 AM, I drove my brother and his girlfriend to the airport - London calling - before I went to our bandroom for a few hours to start working on some new songs for my electronica project. I didn't really expect anyone at this time, however, when I unlocked the door, I heard a loud noise from our neighbour. Someone was composing house music, the worst thing that can happen so early in the morning. Well, in fact, it's the worst thing that can happen always. I was glad that he left after a few minutes, maybe his magic mushrooms weren't effective anymore.

At 8 AM, I had laid down a few bass lines and some samples. It was a nice and promising start but somehow, I didn't feel like continuing so I went home. After breakfast, I continued writing. It's always a never-ending story. I started to feel pretty dizzy and tired and I felt even worse when I realized that it still was pretty early. My work was more or less done at 5 PM and I went to Zurich to meet my Kiwi friends. Sitting in the train and facing the warm sun rays didn't make me feel tired at all. It's a wonder that I didn't fall asleep.

Our Kiwi party took place at the Oliver Twist pub. As yesterday was St. Patricks Day, the place was crowded out. Happily, our table reservation worked out and we occupied a little corner. We were about ten people and it was pretty nice to see all those faces again after such a long time. We all met in New Zealand five years ago. It's unbelievable how fast the time passed. We had a few drinks, enjoyed ourselves and talked about how we got older and how this was the only thing that had changed since last time we saw each other. After that, we went to another pub. At about 1 AM, I was ready to take off. I was more than happy when I was at home one hour later. I went straight to bed after being awake for more than 42 hours. Yawn!

#1141 / Rousseau & Friends

I can't think of a better way to spend this day than to read and to study. Right now, I'm trying to understand Rousseau's social contract and Rawls. Those guys were pretty smart. I'm glad that the test is tomorrow, so it will be over pretty soon. The three papers I got to write until the end of the month will be a piece of cake.

I'm also thinking about the little project I'm due to start within the next few weeks. I'm trying to record a few songs on my own. Piano, synths, drum samples and simple bass lines, it will be pretty much in the style of Air. It's all about melody and especially atmosphere, there will be no or hardly any lyrics. We'll see what it will be like.

I think my little break is over. Time to go on.

#1140 / Back From India

I've just come back from India where I spent the last two days. The whole thing was kind of spontaneous and short but still I managed to get to see a lot. Yesterday, I went to a pretty cool restaurant at lunch. The choice was so big that I didn't really know what to order. It took the cook about ten minutes to explain all the dishes. He was pretty proud of what he had created. There were huge pictures of all the other dishes that he didn't prepare yet but which he could prepare if I had wanted. He also explained me why there was an empty black frame hanging on the wall. There used to be a photo of a dish but the photo faded so he had to take a new one. Next to the counter, there was a little desk with all sorts of papers. A woman tried to sort the sheets, I assume she was the wife of the cook. I decided to take a tandoori chicken with rice and naan bread and lassi to drink. The special of the day was a hummer that the cook had caught himself in the morning. You should have seen the smile on his face when he told me about his little adventure. Unfortunately, I'm not very much into hummers and all that seafood stuff except for fish.

In the afternoon, I strolled around one of those hundred markets. I bought quite a lot of spices, some of them are pretty weird and I still don't know yet what stuff they go with. Anyway. What I really learnt in India was to stay alive. It seems as if there are no traffic rules, the fittest survives. They have sidewalks but nobody really uses them, everybody's in the street. All was a bit more quiet in the side streets where there were loads of restaurants, food stands, vegetable and clothing sellers. The prices were extremely low and everytime I bought something, I had the feeling of giving them more than they asked for. They all seemed pretty happy, though.

Unfortunately, the whole trip was over too fast. To go to India for only two days is in fact quite stupid. It's easy to travel around but everything is so different over there that it really takes you more than that to completely indulge in the Indian feeling. I opened my eyes this morning and didn't really know where I was. Obviously, I hadn't been to India. It seemed pretty real, though. I mean, I've never been to India but in my dream, all the things looked so familiar and it was as if I've already been there lots of times. The dream was a sequel to another dream that I had the night before. I wonder what made me dream about India. It's always pretty special when a dream is going on the other night. A few years ago, I had a story that continued during at least three nights. It's pretty much like a movie. You wake up in the morning and try to get back to sleep again so that you can dream on. I don't know but most of the time, that doesn't work. But as soon as you fall asleep, the story continues at the exact same place with the exact same people. The coolest thing is that not everything gets mixed up like it does in almost every other dream where you're at hundred places at the same time with hundred people that you know but mostly they don't know each other. You can be at Piccadilly Circus, walk down to the tube station and suddenly, you're lying on the beach. It's really weird sometimes. It'd be cool if my journey through India would continue tonight, however, you can't force it. I think, I'm gonna have a lassi now. You never know.

#1139 / Full Of Paint

I've just come home from our bandroom. Instead of rehearsing, we decided to paint the walls for once. The old colour and especially the childish drawings were pretty shabby, great to see them fading. One coating is done, we'll need to do another one to cover everything. We're looking for a new carpet as well. And when everything is done, we will decorate the room in feng shui style. A little zen garden and a small pond would be great. I guess, I've been inhaling too much paint ;-)

#1138 / Sandra's Getting Wild

There have been quite a few people that complained about me not writing enough blog entries. Well, give me some great stories and I'll write about anything, even castings shows. This one goes out to Sandro and all the other guys that are keen on reading some stories about my life. ;-)

It's unbelievable, but hell yes, it's true! The last thing I wrote was more than three weeks ago. Not really a lot has happened since then. I'm enjoying a few weeks off from university. In fact, that's the worst joke ever told. I have to write three papers, furthermore, I'm working a lot these days. It's all about the money, I know, but I have to cover the expenses of our great trip this summer somehow. My friend and me are going to travel around Scandinavia for six weeks, including Hamburg and Berlin. I bought a few street maps today so I hope we don't get lost. The next thing we're gonna do is make our Ford Aerostar ready for the trip. We need some boxes to put our stuff in, a huge bed, some curtains and a table. The whole thing is going to be quite adventurous and I'm really looking forward to it.

What else has happened? Last week, I went to Zermatt to go skiing. It was absolutely amazing! The weather was great, the snow was perfect (and white) and the night out at the Vernissage bar pretty amusing. Then there were some concerts as well. For me, that's something like the air we breathe. Without it, I'm nothing. Brian Molko was damn right. Guillemots, Shakira and Jet in a row. The shows were all quite cool, I guess, the most beautiful was Shakira.

Today, I read about something pretty interesting in the newspaper. Sandra, one of the wanna-be popstars taking part in MusicStar, has apparently already released three records in the past. Sun'Dra - yes, that's her name in Japan - also releases a best-of album this week in Switzerland. The producers knew about that but waited until now, the last few days before the final show. Nah, I don't think that's PR gag. Anyway, MusicStar's not really worth watching, especially since Börni (the Swiss Avril Schlawiner) was dismissed. The best thing on the show is the hour between the actual show and the decision.

That's it for now. Writing about MusicStar made me kind of tired. See you next year. Or maybe sooner..

#1137 / My Favourite Film

It's been more than a week since I last wrote something in my blog. A lot has happened since then. Let's start at the Diebesbande/Strozzini concert at Scala which was pretty cool. The atmosphere was very unique and there were quite a lot people, some of them might have never heard something about the bands before but obviously they liked it. The only thing that wasn't so good was the butterfish we had at dinner. It seems as if this fish is pretty indigestive. Anyway.

On Wednesday, my friend and me went on tour with Film, the Greek indierock band we've been putting the tour together in the last few months. We were pretty nervous when we got to the aiport in Basel because we didn't know what to expect with this whole tour thing. The band landed on time and we welcomed them. They seemed to be pretty tired and unfortunately, the rest of the night wasn't supposed to be easier. We drove to Zurich where we had the first gig at the Hafenkneipe. We had to load in the backline in a hurry and also dinner was pretty fast. In fact, I was so nervous that I couldn't really eat.

Just before we went on stage at about nine o'clock, the promoter told us that the show had sold out. With a great feeling, we played our show. It was the first time that we played our new songs 'Demons In My Head' and 'Oh Yes, Absolutely!'. The audience seemed to enjoy it and our set was over too fast. After a short break, Film stood on stage and delivered a perfect show. We hadn't seen the band live before so we could hardly wait. Film were just amazing! And to see all the people going along with the music and having a great time really made us feel proud. Our agency was founded at the very same place about three months ago and now it was the first night where we could see what we had been working for. Astounding!

On Thursday, we showed the band around Zurich, went to the Niederdorf to do some shopping and having lunch. The guys are amazing! In the afternoon, we drove to Basel where we had booked the second show. The Kaserne is a great venue and it has an amazing backstage area. I could even study a bit. The show was pretty cool. There were about 50 people who enjoyed Film very much. Unfortunately, we didn't have any CDs to sell because they all had sold out the night before so we only sold a few t-shirts. After the show, we went to the hotel with a few beers where it got pretty funny.

Friday started off with a visit to the zoo in Basel which was also quite funny. After that, we drove to Bern. Again, we were pretty surprised to see what cool venue the Gaskessel is. The stage is so big that it was kind of intimidating. We set up our instruments and did the soundcheck which sounded amazing. It was cool to see how many friends found the way to Bern and supported us at our first gig outside the canton of Zurich. It probably was our best show so far. Also Film delivered a perfect concert again. I couldn't get enough, they are such a great live band. After the shows, we drove to Basel and returned to the hotel to get two or three hours of sleep.

Saturday morning was awful! We did not only had to little time to sleep, we also had to say goodbye to our new friends which was pretty hard. The last three days had been very intense and extremely great. I would never have imagined that this will be such an affective experience. Also the band seemed to have enjoyed the short tour and didn't want to leave. I'm sure that they will come back soon.

When we got home on Saturday, I had about an hour before I had to go to the Scala where I had Open Season and Alaska. Well, there couldn't haven been a more perfect night for this concert. I was so exhausted that I didn't really care about it. The concert was sold out and the atmosphere was great. Unfortunately, there are always some really stupid people that think it's funny to leave their mark by throwing away bottles and stuff. Anyway, everything was done by 4 AM and I was really ready for bed.

Sunday was the last day where I could read and study a bit for my test yesterday. In the evening, I went to the Abart to see The Rifles who were okay but not breathtaking. And well, yesterday I had this test. I can't really say if I might have passed although I think so. We'll see in a few weeks. In the evening, I went to the Mascotte to see My Name Is George and Stevans, however, I wasn't really in the mood for another concert - the sixth concert night in a row. We left quite early although the bands, especially My Name Is George, were pretty good.

So here I am, having a cold, being tired as hell, feeling pretty uncomfortable and listening to the Film CD over and over again. The guys are looking for an indie label in Switzerland so they can release it over here as well. In Greece, it has just been awarded as one of the ten best records of last year. That's it for now.

#1136 / Finally, It Is Done

It's Saturday morning, four days before the release of our live record. Well, release always sounds so big with all those marketing strategies and campaigns, in fact, Wednesday is just the first day where people can buy it. It's high time I finished the mixing. The songs sound quite good, not perfect but raw and it gives a nice impression of what we sounded like in the summer of 2006.

We'll play two shows next week, one in Zurich (Wednesday at Hafenkneipe) and one in Bern (Friday at Gaskessel) which will mark our first show outside the Canton of Zurich. Tonight, I'm having Diebesbande and Strozzini at Scala. I'm sure this will be a pretty cosy night.

#1135 / Idiotomatic

I've just come home from The Automatic concert. Well, I wouldn't describe it as the best thing I've ever seen. In fact, it was quite boring. The support acts, The Carnation and Stevans, were better, especially Stevans were pretty cool. I was glad that The Automatic have only released one record so far so their set was rather short. Sometimes, it was so monotonous that it seemed that they play two or three songs over and over again.

#1134 / Perfect

Last night, we went to Luzern to see Büne Huber, Mimmo Locasciulli and Greg Cohen. It was one of those perfect concerts. Both singers performed some of their songs with new arrangements and new instruments. The audience was extremely quiet when the trio was playing and there was a highly fragile atmosphere. Büne Huber sang 'Schlangenäscht', 'Honigmelonemond', 'Brachland', 'Vo hinger u vo vor' and '9-10-100-4' among others. The 'band' is playing another three shows these days.

#1133 / The Opposite Of Dead

I'm not really a diligent blog writer, I know. That's because I have lots to do right now. I'm trying to keep this one short so that I can concentrate on the other 215 things I'm doing.

I don't know if I already mentionned it but the Film tour has finally been confirmed. The band will play three shows (Zurich, Basel and Bern) and this tour will be the first one my friend and me are doing with our booking agency. I'm looking forward to that week, I'm sure it's gonna be big fun but also loads of work. By the way, Lightburst are supporting in Zurich and Bern.

Another thing that we're doing with the band now is try to complete our live record until the end of the month. Mixing is pretty tough 'cause no one really knows how to do it. It doesn't sound too bad, though, however, it could get better. At least, we've already decided on the artwork and that sort of things. The album will be entitled '10 Lives & Tuned Guitars'.

Last night, I went to the El Lokal to see Wolke, Kristofer Åström and Maria Taylor. It was a great evening with loads of great songs. It made me kind of creative. I had about ten thousand ideas for new songs.

Well, that's not what I call a short blog. Anyway, I think I should get back to work now.

#1132 / New Year's Eve

Welcome to the new year! 2006 is over, well, that has been a fast year.. I was celebrating New Year's Eve with friends in a cosy little room with lots of food, wine and games. It was a pretty nice evening.

I'm glad to have some days off until next Monday. I'm not really looking forward to that stressful month. Anyway.

#1131 / Lunik

Last night, we had Lunik at the Scala. They delivered a great show, especially the light and visual effects were very special. It was probably the biggest production we've done so far. Lunik played the same set as at their Kaufleuten gig one month ago.

#1130 / Watch Your Language, Young Lady

I've just come home from my annual trip to London which was absolutely great. My friend and me had a great time with cool concerts, some nice pubs and some interesting sightseeing stuff. It's a pity that the last days have passed so fast, it was pretty cool to have some days off and just relax.

On Saturday, we arrived in the afternoon. Our hotel was located at Lancaster Gate across Hyde Park, very close to the place where we stayed three years ago. In the evening, we went to an Indian restaurant which was pretty good, especially the service couldn't have been nicer. After that, we went to the Astoria to see Ocean Colour Scene. It was quite cool, far better than I had expected. The beer was good and we also got to know two Londoners. It seems as if we had the same taste in music. Ben and his pal/dad/grandfather/whatever also gave us some cool pub hints. After that, we spent some time at the hotel bar. The best thing was when a young and obviously wasted girl came to the bar and asked for some food: "Djaffsomefood? Wazzenumbaftheroomservizz? Ohfuck, lezzgo." The lady at the bar told the girl to watch her language. Well, we thought that this was funny, however, I'm just realising while I'm writing this that it's not that funny. Anyway.

Sunday was a relaxing day. We went to the cinema to see 'Déjà Vu' which was pretty cool. After that, we walked around Bayswater and Paddington looking for some cool restaurants before we decided to try out an Italian place called 'Bella Italia'. Well, the name might sound like a cheap tourist spot, however, the food was really good. After dinner, we made a new friend. He worked for the police. He told us that it was an offence to drink alcohol in the streets of London. However, he let us go after I told him we were tourists. We spent the rest of the evening at the Mitre pub, a local place round the corner.

On Monday, we started mixing our live record which we want to release in January. It sounds quite good so far. We want the recording to be raw and direct, there won't be any overdubs and stuff. In the afternoon, we went to the Science Museum to see an IMAX film about the deep sea which was pretty interesting. In the evening, we went to the Wembley Arena to see Snow Patrol. The gig was pretty spectacular and the atmosphere great. Concerts in England are so much better than in Switzerland. Elbow and Fields were supporting Snow Patrol. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see a lot of Fields but Elbow were great. I'm looking forward to their new album which will come out in April, according to the band.

Tuesday began with another full English breakfast at the hotel. The food was quite okay. We then went to the Tate Modern, however, the exhibitions were quite boring and the slides so busy that it was only a short visit. In Holborn, we went to one of those pubs that Ben had recommended us. Suddenly, we felt back in time when we entered a pub that was on a site where there had been a pub since 1430. I assume that the owner has changed several times since then. The Fish'n'Chips were pretty good and we headed back to Oxford Street to do some shopping. We took the bus back home and got stopped by the police. I didn't know that even bus drivers can be stopped. That was pretty funny. In the evening, we went to Earls Court to see The Fratellis and Kasabian. Both shows were absolutely great, Kasabian played a 90-minute set with lots of highlights and a great visual show. The atmosphere was phenomenal. Singer Tom swore that it was their greatest gig ever. Later in the show, the band paid tribute to Oasis. "I'm not often lost for words but tonight I am. We were here over 10 years ago and we wanted to be in a rock'n'roll band. If it wasn't for the likes of Noel and Liam Gallagher we wouldn't be here now. If you wanna be in a rock'n'roll band it will happen. You will have your time!" According to the NME, the show was watched by Noel. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see him.

Wednesday was another shopping day. There really should be some HMV and Next stores in Switzerland. We didn't do a lot in the evening, we watched a lot of telly. The news about the fog at Heathrow Airport were a bit worrying, however, it seems as if our flight was one of the few European flights that were not cancelled. I understand now why there are two terminal buildings in Heathrow, one is for the people that fly, the other one for those who don't.

Setlist Kasabian
Brown Acid
Shoot The Runner
Reason Is Treason
Sunrise/Light/Flies
Cutt Off
Me Plus One
By My Side
Empire
Seek And Destroy
British Legion
Processed Beats
The Last Trip
The Doberman
Apoena
---
Club Foot
Stuntman
L.S.F.

Setlist Snow Patrol
Spitting Games
Wow
Chocolate
It's Beginning To Get To Me
Headlights
Starfighter Pilot
How To Be Dead
You Are My Joy
Grazed Knees
Chasing Cars
Shut Your Eyes
Olive Grove
Set The Fire To The Third Bar
Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking
Make This Go On Forever
Ways And Means
Run
You're All I Have
---
Finish Line
Open Your Eyes
Tiny Little Fractures

Setlist Ocean Colour Scene
Riverboat Song
So Low
The Circle
Blown Away
Just Got Over You
Man In The Middle
Oh Collector
Golden Gate Bridge
Profit In Peace
I Told You So
Lay Line
Free My Name
This Day Should Last Forever
July
Go To Sea Boy
Travellers Tune
Drive Away
One For The Road
Get Away
---
Robin Hood
100 Mile High City
Day We Caught The Train

#1129 / Muse

Amazing!

Setlist
Take A Bow
Map Of The Problematique
Butterflies & Hurricanes
Supermassive Black Hole
New Born
City Of Delusion
Plug In Baby
Forced In
Hysteria
Citizen Erased
Feeling Good
Invicible
Time Is Running Out
Stockholm Syndrome
---
Hoodoo
Starlight
Bliss
Knight Of Cydonia

#1128 / Casino Royale

Last night, I went to see 'Casino Royale' which I think is one of the best Bond movies so far. I can't understand what all the bad reviews on Daniel Craig were about. There has never been such an ideal actor for the role of James Bond, in my opinion. Also the story was quite interesting and exciting.

Right now, I'm writing two speeches that I'm giving next week. The first is about company culture as a marketing strategy, the second one about trade companies in the last century. For once, the subjects are pretty interesting. I'm looking forward to the end of the week when my university duties for this year will be done.

#1127 / Lord Don't Slow Me Down

On Thursday night, I went to see the Oasis documentary 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down' by Baillie Walsh. It was filmed during the band's world tour last year. The 90-minute film is highly entertaining with lots of funny backstage scenes and also quite a lot of concert snippets. Furthermore, it includes the new Noel-sung 'Lord Don't Slow Me Down' which sounds like an acoustic version of 'Turn Up The Sun' and 'Lyla'. The DVD is said to be released somewhen next year, the Swiss TV channel StarTV is going to broadcast a one-hour edit in the next few weeks.

#1126 / Tour de Suisse

I'm back from my Tour de Suisse. At the moment, we're jazzing up the backstage area at Scala Wetzikon. We bought some really nice furnitures from eBay and today was the big day where we had to collect all those things. I've just come back from a hell of a trip. I drove 524 km and I was on the road for more than 14 hours. I'm kind of tired now. I've seen places that I think I'll never get to see again. Well, actually, Switzerland is quite small but when it comes to driving around it can be a monstruous country with all those ups and downs, long and winding roads, congestions and all those people that are blocking the streets in the middle of the afternoon. Don't they have anything better to do? Why don't they work or take care of their kids?

#1125 / Lunik

Last night, I went to the Lunik concert at Kaufleuten. It was absolutely amazing. Although the new songs are pretty melancholic, it was not only a sad show. The band managed to mix the set up with some trip-hop classics as well as some rockier tunes. My favourites were 'Let Go', 'Fall', 'Rumour' and 'Constant Tourist'.

Zorg opened the show with a short set including 'Ashes To Ashes' and 'Weeds'.

Setlist
Bad Timing
The Rest Is Silence
Life Is All Around You
Weather
Let Go
Fall
Snelle Pig
Size
The Most Beautiful Song
Summer's Gone
Preparing To Leave
Constant Tourist
Last Night
---
Rumour
Care
Little Bit
Candle
Through Your Eyes

#1124 / Untitled

It's time for another blog entry. I met a friend at university today and he said that I should be writing more blogs. Well, I really like to but although a lot is going on at the moment, there are hardly any interesting things I think I should share with you. I've been thinking all day what I could write about. Mondays are always pretty nice but boring at the same time. I have to stick around at university for the whole day although I'm having only two lectures. The first one starts at 10 AM and it's quite an interesting one. Well, it was pretty boring today and I nearly fell asleep. Then I'm having a four-hour break until 4 PM. Usually, I'm reading a bit. I write some mails, I eat a bite and I do some shopping. The last two hours of the day are so-so. In fact, it's pretty interesting but doing nothing can be pretty tired so it's hard to keep my eyes open.

I hope my friend is happy now. ;-) And I hope that I've got to write about more interesting things soon.

#1123 / Yawn

Time is wearing away. I'm sitting in my office right now. I've got lots to do but I'm not really taking delight in it. I spent the night lying in my bed with my eyes open and watching the ceiling. I just couldn't fall asleep. At about half past four, I could finally go to sleep only to get up a bit more than an hour later. Well, I'm pretty tired at the moment. I know, a black TV screen would be more interesting than this..

Oh yes, I forgot to write about the gig we had on Saturday. I think there might be a reason why I swamped it out. The venue was pretty comfy with a cosy atmosphere and some really nice and caring people. It was the first show of our Tour Project with Trice and Régime Spécial and I'd say that it was a cool beginning. There were loads of people, I really wouldn't have thought that there will be so many after already a lot of friends showed up one week ago. We played a short set compared to the one in Adliswil, unfortunately, we didn't play any new songs. The stage mix was awful, some of us could barely hear themselves. I felt pretty insecure. Watching the recording made me feel better, we were quite alright, however, the sound definitely sucked, it was beyond good and evil. We're taking a short break now until the end of January 2007. We try to work on new songs, improve some of our old tunes and prepare for some really cool shows next year. By the way, we're also mixing a live record due to be released in January. Yawn, we still got loads to do. But not today, I'm too tired..

#1122 / The Kooks

Last night, I went to the Volkshaus to see The Kooks. The concert was pretty good, however, it was far too short. The band only played for about an hour. The support act, The Mondrians, was okay. The first time that I saw The Kooks was more than two years ago where they and Thirteen Senses supported The Open at Academy 2 in Liverpool. That was a hell of a great night..

Setlist
Seaside
See The World
Matchbox
Eddie's Gun
Ooh La
Time Awaits
She Moves In Her Own Way
Luby Lou
I Want You
If Only
Naive
Always Where I Need
---
Jackie Big Tits
California
You Don't Love Me
Pull Me In

#1121 / Cave Germinal

On Friday night, we had a concert at Cave Germinal in Adliswil. We played our longest set which included the new song 'On Sunday You Will Burn' as well as 'Mother On A Trip' which we didn't play since Greifensee. It was big fun and unfortunately, the 95 minutes were over pretty fast. We'll play our last gig this year at Café Romand in Zürich next Saturday.

Yesterday, I went to the Patent Ochsner concert which was absolutely great. Highlights were 'Bälpmoos' and 'Vo hinger u vovor'. That's all for now.

#1120 / Yeah Man

Well, a lot is going at the moment and I'm hardly getting any sleep. University has started again and I'm taking it pretty serious (I don't mean that ironic). Okay, it's the second week now. We'll see if it's still the same in February. Right now, I'm also working on the Film tour in January/February 2007. It looks quite good and I think that I can book four shows (Zürich, Luzern, Bern and Basel). More news as it happens..

This afternoon, I had my interview with Liam. I can say that I was kind of nervous. However, Liam seemed to have a great day. He was quite talkative, funny and interested. The interview is on students.ch as well as in the interview section of this website.

Last night, I went to the X-Tra Limmathaus to see Archive. It was an absolutely amazing concert. 'Again' was brilliant. I won't try to write more about it 'cause it's hard to couch. Really really great!

Setlist
Lights
Numb
Bridge Scene
Veins
I Will Fade
Headspace
You Make Me Feel
Fuck U
Black
Sane
Sit Back Down
Again
---
Programmed
Sane

#1119 / Interviews

In about ten minutes, I should have been talking to Liam Gallagher. Well, the interview has been called off and postponed until next week. It's a pity but maybe it's okay. Liam has been doing interviews the whole day, they were running late and I think that he wouldn't have been very interested in doing this interview anyway.

Yesterday, I did an interview with German band Silbermond at the Salzhaus in Winterthur. It was pretty cool. The band seemed very interested in answering the questions and was quite talkative.

#1118 / Concerts..

This week has been a heavy concert week again. After Snow Patrol on Wednesday, I went to see asleep. and Acapulco Stage Divers on Thursday as well as Lovebugs and The Paces on Friday. I hadn't seen asleep. for a while now, I think the last concert was in the beginning of June. They played a cool set with lots of great songs including 'Move', 'Black/White' and also two new tunes. Acapulco Stage Divers were also good, however, I didn't get to see a lot of them.

On Friday, I went to see the Lovebugs again after visiting a Scientology exhibition which was very interesting but stupid as well. In fact, people must be pretty naive to believe this stuff. Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh yes, Lovebugs. The support act, The Paces, was okay, however, they were kind of monotonous. Nice songs, nice melodies, could have been a British band but it was nothing special. The Lovebugs delivered a great and powerful show. They had again some problems with the amps, some cables and the lyrics but it was pretty cool anyway. The audience as well as the band seemed to have a great time.

Yesterday, I pre-celebrated my birthday. In fact, I'm not very much into birthday parties and stuff. That's why I invited some friends to the Divus to have a few drinks and do some talking. It was cool that so many showed up, we had a pretty good time. Don't want to get too personal, that's it for now.

#1117 / Snow Patrol

The Snow Patrol concert last night was pretty good. Well, they still sound better and clearer on CD but they delivered a cool show with lots of light effects and emotions. The set featured several songs off their latest record 'Open Eyes' as well as a few classics off 'Final Straw'. The audience seemed to enjoy the gig, the atmosphere was sensational, especially when the band sang 'Run' and 'Chasing Cars'. Before the concert, I had an interview with drummer Jonny Quinn which was good as well.

Setlist
Spitting Games
Wow
Chocolate
It's Beginning To Get To Me
Headlights On Dark Roads
Grazed Knees
Chasing Cars
Shut Your Eyes
How To Be Dead
Somewhere A Clock Is Ticking
Make This Go On Forever
Ways And Means
Run
You're All I Have
---
Open Your Eyes
Tiny Little Fractures

#1116 / Madsen

Last night, I went to the Madsen concert at Abart which was quite cool. The support act, Welken from Basel, was pretty boring but Madsen delivered a great and dynamic show. Highlights were 'Perfektion', 'Du schreibst Geschichte', 'Goodbye Logik' and 'Der Moment'.

#1115 / Oasis

Yesterday was quite a nice day! I was at work so I didn't have to think about my paper that I'm still writing. I really hope that I can finish it in the next two days, however, I doubt it.

Anyway, I was coming back from lunch yesterday when I got a text from telaphonian Sandro. He asked me if I wanted to do a phone interview with Oasis. Was he joking? Of course, I wanted to. Sandro had an interview with Liam and Andy in February when they were playing in Winterthur. Well, I'm already getting pretty nervous when I'm thinking about this interview. The one with The Kooks last night was pretty cool. We talked about hype bands and Jackie's big tits (that's the title of a song!). On Wednesday, I'm having an interview with Snow Patrol.

In the evening, I went to see White Blues with two friends. White Blues is the band of our roadie. They have been rehearsing for about four weeks and played their first show last night. It was pretty good, we didn't sound like that after four weeks. The best thing was the last song. Michael, our guitar player, and me joined our friend who sat behind the drums. We did an impromptu version of 'Devils Around Us'. That was pretty cool..

Tonight, I'm going to see Pandemonium and Bluestone. Tomorrow's another concert day with Madsen at Abart.

#1114 / Film

I should be writing another paper about some medieval stuff. In fact, I wanted to finish it until the end of the week. We'll see. I hope I can write a lot today. At the moment, I'm trying to book a tour for Greek band Film in January/February 2007. Some shows are nearly set, others are being booked now. If everything goes well, the band will play in Zürich, Luzern, Bern and Basel. Details are to be announced as soon as everything is confirmed.

#1113 / The Placebo Effect

The Placebo concert last night was pretty lame and boring. Well, there were about three or four songs that were pretty cool but I didn't really like the rest. It could be that this was because they played at Hallenstadion which I think is far too big for this kind of music and ambiance. Placebo and two additional musicians stood on stage and seemed to have a great time, however, there was hardly any emotion that came over to the audience (or to me at least). Anyway, they had a great show with lots of lights and visuals. The sound mix was also pretty okay.

Setlist
Infra-Red
Meds
Because I Want You
Drag
Space Monkey
Soulmates
I Know
Song To Say Goodbye
Follow The Cops Back Home
Every You Every Me
Special Needs
One Of A Kind
Without You I'm Nothing
Bionic
Blind
Special K
The Bitter End
---
Running Up That Hill
Taste In Men
20 Years

#1112 / Hafenkneipe

Last night, I went to the Hafenkneipe to see Danish newcomers Campsite. The Hafenkneipe is a new club in Zurich. It's pretty cosy and ideal for small indie shows. The atmosphere as well as the band were great. They reminded me of The Strokes, in fact, they sounded exactly the same. The audience and also the band seemed to enjoy the show. It's great to have a new place to spend a good time. I guess, I'll be there quite often..

#1111 / A Little Portion Of Mando Diao, Please

I've just come home from the Sugarplum Fairy concert. It was pretty cool, it sounded a bit like Mando Diao, Oasis and The Beatles. They were far better than last time when I saw them in February 2005 where they supported their brothers Mando Diao.

Setlist
Last Chance
Soul Of The Sun
Morning Miss Lisa
Marigold
Visible Karma
Godfever
Left Right Black White
Don't Wake Us Up
Illusion of Confusion
It Takes Time, It Takes Two
Stay Young
Back Where We Belong
Day One
Sail Beyond Doubt
---
Sweet Jackie
She

#1110 / Back From France

Last night, I went to the Lovebugs concert at Kaufleuten Zürich. The concert was pretty good, especially the audience seemed to have a hell of a great time. They played several new songs as well as old classics.

Today, I had to get up at 5 o'clock because I had to drive my brother and his girlfriend to the airport in Basel. I was pretty tired, especially on the way back. But listening to Jet's new record, 'Shine On' made it bearable. It's a great album.

Setlist
The Key
Back To Life
Beautiful You Are
Angel Heart
Rise Up, Size Up
Broken smile
72
Listen To The Silence
Tonight
A Love Like Tides
Music Makes My World Go Round
A Wonderful Thing
Boys Of Summer
Under My Skin
Everybody Knows I Love You
Flavour Of The Day
---
Avalon
Crush
Pop 'Til You Drop

#1109 / About The Boy Who Hurt His Balls

I've just come home from The Feeling concert which was absolutely great. I had already seen them at the Southside festival where they were good, but this show at the Abart was phenomenal. It was one of those concerts that explain why I like going to see bands live so much. The atmosphere was cool, it was their first show in Switzerland and they seemed to feel pretty comfortable. Also the support act, Phébus from Basel, did a great job. I'm planning to bring them to the Scala next year, however, I'm a bit afraid that nobody will show up.

Setlist
Want You Now
Helicopter
Never Be Lonely
Strange
Anyone
Rose
Fill My Little World
Join With Us
Sewn
Love It When You Call
---
Blue Piccadilly

#1108 / See La Vie Called Off

Today, we got some bad news. Our concert with My Name Is George at See La Vie Horgen on Saturday had to be called off. Well, we're trying to find an alternative date in November but it's harder than it first seemed. I really hope that we can arrange something soon so that we can make it up.

We're well on the way to getting Switzerland's band with the most cancelled or postponed shows in comparison with the shows we've played so far. This gig in Horgen was originally scheduled for 17th January 2004 but had to be moved a few times. It would have marked our first ever gig. The promoter then closed the venue and it took a pretty long time until it got reopened. In 2005, we couldn't find a date because they only organised a few concerts. Furthermore, our band was not complete for most of the year and the Scala gig was the only thing we did.

This year, it was planned that we play in the beginning of September. The concert was moved to 30th September. I'm not writing this to slag someone off. Mistakes can happen. In fact, we're still pretty glad to have this opportunity, especially because we can share the bill with My Name Is George who are doing pretty well at the moment. Their song 'Supermarket' is getting a lot of airplay and there are interviews all over the place. The band played a few gigs in the UK earlier this year where they were well received.

There's something about this one gig that makes it impossible for us to play there. I'm just thinking about 'Devils Around Us' which is exactly about those situations where nothing seems to work out. Anyway, I hope we all get it done somewhen. I'm sure we will.

#1107 / Mmh..

I'm getting pretty lame at writing my blog entries. Too much is going on at the moment. Gotta go..

#1106 / The Morning After..

Last night, we played at Sternenkeller Rüti. The concert was absolutely cool, we really enjoyed it and also the audience seemed to have a great time. We played our longest set (approximately 75 minutes) including two new tracks, 'Inner Strife' and a new version of 'Accident', as well as five cover songs. Right now, I'm pretty tired.

We'll be back on the road on 30th September 2006 when we're playing at See La Vie Horgen with My Name Is George. We hope to introduce some new songs again..

#1105 / Sarah Kuttner

I'm back.. Last night, I went to Sarah Kuttner's reading at Kaufleuten Zürich. It was pretty funny. The almost 150-minute show was a mix between her show she had on MTV and a normal reading. She really seemed to enjoy it.

Turkey was great. I was glad to have the time to do nothing but just relax. When I came home yesterday, I had a thermal shock, it's so freezing right now.

#1104 / Amsterdam

It's quite good to take some time off and really do nothing but sleep, swim in the sea, solve sudokus and write songs. Right now, I'm working on 'Amsterdam' and 'The Fear'. It's pretty easy with the MacBook. Furthermore, I've discovered a song that I wrote about three years ago. It's called 'The Key', however, it has nothing to do with the Lovebugs song.

The journey to Turkey was quite messy this year. We were delayed a bit more than an hour in Zurich and due to technical problems in Istanbul, we were not able to land there. Our flight was diverted to Ankara from where I took the plane to Izmir. Anyway, the lady who managed it was brilliant so we didn't lose a lot of time. That's it for now.

#1103 / Open Air Gampel

I've just come home from a great weekend. My friend and me went to the Open Air Gampel. As the weather was nice, we decided to take our time and visit some nice places on the way to the festival. After sitting at the lakeside in Flüelen and a stop on the top of the Furka pass where there is a cosy restaurant and an impressive view, we visited the Rhône glacier. I already visited this place during my summer holiday in 1992. A lot has changed since then, you can literally see how the glacier is melting.

The festival was pretty cool as well. It was the first time we went there and we absolutely had a great time. We had backstage passes so we were a bit more important the last three days ;-) We had a short talk with Juli's drummer Marcel as well as with Mando Diao who gave us some tipps for our Northcape trip next summer. Highlights were Muse, Mando Diao, Juli and Franz Ferdinand. After the festival, I went to a friend's party which was quite cool.

Tomorrow, I'm going to Turkey for a few days. I'm pretty creative at the moment so I hope that I can write some new songs. That's it for now.

Setlist Muse
Knights Of Cydonia
Hysteria
Supermassive Black Holes
Showbiz
Map Of The Problematique
Forced-In
Citizen Erased
Bliss
Apocalypse Please
Invincible
Plug In Baby
New Born
---
Time Is Running Out
Stockholm Syndrome
Take A Bow

#1102 / Everything In Its Right Place

The Radiohead concert last night was absolutely amazing. The band delivered two hours of great music, a stunning light show and a beautiful atmosphere. The Roman amphitheatre in Avenches is still one of the most beautiful venues in Switzerland. The band played two new songs as well as my favourites 'Karma Police' and 'Street Spirit (Fade Out)' among other classics. The only song that I missed was 'Exit Music (For A Film)'. I really hope that Radiohead come back to Switzerland next year after releasing their new record.

Setlist
There There
The National Anthem
Lucky
Kid A
Bangers And Mash
My Iron Lung
Karma Police
Morning Bell
I Might Be Wrong
Street Spirit (Fade Out)
Climbing Up The Walls
Myxomatosis
The Pyramid Song
Down Is The New Up
Just
Idioteque
Paranoid Android
---
Like Spinning Plates
Airbag
The Bends
True Love Waits
Everything In Its Right Place

#1101 / Pajala, Sverige

This week was quite a cinema week. I went to the movies four times. There was 'Romance & Cigarettes' on Tuesday which started very funny and special but unfortunately lost its great style in the second half. 'Pirates Of The Carribean 2' was funny and entertaining, not less and not more. On Thursday, I went to see 'The Break-Up' which could have been a good movie, however, you didn't get to know the main characters very well and there was barely anything that made you want them to come together again. And last night, I went to see 'Populärmusik från Vittula' which was far the best film this week. A decent story, great actors and cool music. Pajala, the village were the story is set, looks boring and fascinating at the same time. A friend and me are planning to go to the Northcape next summer and I guess it would be worth a visit.

Next week will be another great festival week with Radiohead on Tuesday and Muse, Franz Ferdinand and others on Friday and Saturday.

#1100 / Stone Hill Festival

I've just come home from the Stone Hill Festival which was quite good. Well, the weather could have been better. We were soaked to the bone and it was pretty cold. However, there were loads of cool bands, unfortunately, we missed pretty much all of them. Highlights were Mañana and Whysome. After the concert, Mañana invited us to the backstage area where we had a great time for the next four hours. It was pretty cosy with all those heaters, sofas, the bar and the buffet.

I'm going to rehearse with Mañana in the next few weeks as they're looking for a new pianist. Last night, it was Stefan from the Lovebugs who helped them out. Tonight, he and his band are supporting the Rolling Stones in front of 70'000 people.

#1099 / Nada Kasabian

Yesterday, a friend called me and asked if I wanted to do an interview with Kasabian prior to their gig in Dübendorf where they will be supporting The Rolling Stones tomorrow. Well, of course I wanted to and so I prepared some questions. Unfortunately, the interview has been called off now due to "access problems". It seems as if the Stones don't want anybody in their empire. We'll be doing a phoner instead somewhen in the next few weeks.

#1098 / Lummy!

I've just found out that I used to have a blog where I wrote entries on a daily basis. Those were the days! Well, I'm back. Though, I can barely remember what has happened in the last two weeks. There was this paper about Halloween that I had written a few days ago. And some cool band sessions where we worked on new songs such as 'Inner Strife' and 'Accident' (which is a pretty old song, actually). Oh yes, last night I went to an open air cinema to see 'Pink Floyd - The Wall' which was one of the best things I've ever seen. What else was keeping me awake? There is this tedious thing called work. Well, at least I get some money in return. This weekend, I'm going to the Stonehill Festival to see Mañana, Whysome and Favez. That's all for now.

#1097 / I'm Taking A Ride With My Best Friends.. And I'm Knackered!

What a great week this has been! On Monday, I had to write my (hopefully) last test at university. After that, my friends and me got on the car and drove to Lugano. We stayed at a lovely little house just above Lugano. In the evening, we went to Locarno to see Depeche Mode at the Piazza Grande. The concert was great and comfy, especially the old songs. The band delivered a great show with lots of light effects and live footage. We spent the other two days lying at the lakeside, swimming, going to Italy for a short walk, eating, drinking and watching some Friends episodes.

On Thursday, I travelled to Bern with a friend to go to the Gurtenfestival. We had quite a great time. Highlights were David Gray and James Blunt. Both delivered very beautiful shows. Today, my friend and me strolled through the streets of Bern. We went to see the bear pit and had lunch at one of the most special restaurants in Switzerland. I've just come home now. I'm pretty knackered and I feel very drained. Relaxing can be so exhausting..

Setlist James Blunt
Breathe
Billy
High
Cry
Goodbye My Lover
'Cause I Love You
Tears & Rain
I Really Want You
Out Of My Mind
No Bravery
Wisemen
So long Jimmy
---
I Can't Hear The Music
Where Is My Mind
You're Beautiful

Setlist Depeche Mode
A Pain That I'm Used To
A Question Of Time
Suffer Well
Precious
Walking In My Shoes
Stripped
Home
It Doesn't Matter Two
In Your Room
Nothing's Impossible
John The Revelator
I Feel You
Behind The Wheel
World In My Eyes
Personal Jesus
Enjoy The Silence
---
Leave In Silence
Photographic
Never Let Me Down Again

#1096 / Open Air St. Gallen

I've just come home from the Open Air St. Gallen which was again a highlight. There were loads of cool bands, my favourites were Maxïmo Park, Lovebugs, The Shell, Massive Attack, Franz Ferdinand, The Kooks and Fettes Brot. Manu Chao's show was pretty boring, not comparable with the one three years ago in Avenches where he and his band were great.

Unfortunately, Rodrigo y Gabriela had to cancel their appearance on Saturday and got replaced by The Shell which delivered a powerful show in the middle of the night. I would say that this year was maybe the cosiest and most relaxing time at the festival. Furthermore, the weather was phenomenal.

#1095 / Southside Festival

The last three days have been pretty good! We went to the Southside festival in Germany and had a marvellous time. There were loads of highlights like Muse, The Cooper Temple Clause, The Strokes, The Cardigans, Archive, The Kooks, Arctic Monkeys and Maxïmo Park, too many to name them all, but there was one band that outshone everything, Sigur Rós. It was probably the best thing I've ever seen, everything was just perfect. I'm thinking about going to Montreux next week where they'll be playing their only Swiss show this year.

Setlist Muse:
Map Of The Problematique
Bliss
Butterflies & Hurricanes
Starlight
Assassin
Plug In Baby
Citizen Erased
Soldier's Poem
Feeling Good
Apocalypse Please
Stockholm Syndrome
Invincible
Supermassive Black Hole
Hysteria
New Born
---
Time Is Running Out
Knights Of Cydonia

Setlist The Cooper Temple Clause:
Head
Been Training Dogs
Connect
Blind Pilots
Talking To A Brick Wall
Waiting Game
Damage
Film Maker
New Toys
Isn't It Strange
A.I.M.
All I See Is You
Homo Sapiens
Promises, Promises
---
The Same Mistakes
Panzer Attack

#1094 / Phew!

What a weekend this has been. On Friday, we had our first gig in about eight months. It was quite cool to play all these covers as well as the two new tracks. It was a company party, so it was too loud and inappropriate for many but there were also some people that liked our stuff and appreciated it. All in all, I think we've developped a lot since the last concert. I'm glad that we won't have a long break until the next gig which will be in three weeks.

There's also a lot going on at the moment at university. In the next few weeks, I'll have to prepare 2 speeches, write 3 papers and learn for another exam. I'm hardly around because of all the open air festivals. Well, I shouldn't be complaining. It's always the same twice a year. All of a sudden, you need to do a lot and the rest of the year you're chilling..

#1093 / I'm Sitting Next To Lois Lane

We've just had our last rehearsal before our concert on Friday night. It was quite cool and I'm pretty much looking forward to the gig. It's been a while since the last one and I'm pretty keen on standing on the stage again. We're doing a lot of songs that we've already played at Scala in October. 'Red Wine' and the instrumental track 'Mother On A Trip' will be the only two of our new songs.

Furthermore, we'll be doing five covers including Oasis' 'Supersonic', 'Break The Night With Colour' by Richard Ashcroft, 'Superman' by Stereophonics, Coldplay's 'The Scientist' as well as 'Side' by Travis. I'm not sure exactly how the atmosphere will be because it's a private company party. I have no idea how many of these people know our songs or at least the three tracks on our demo. Well, we'll see..

#1092 / Electric Shock

Two weeks have passed now since I wrote my last blog entry. Well, I had plenty to do with studying, reading and rehearsing with the band. Yesterday and today, I was at the Open Air Hoch-Ybrig with a friend. We had a very great and chilling time. It was nice to take some time off and just relax and do nothing. Highlights were our BBQs, spilling both our drinks 2 minutes after buying them, acting snotty because of being kind of townies, Patent Ochsner, Lovebugs and the Telaphones. The weather was brilliant, in fact, it was even too hot so that we got a sunstroke and a headache. Striping a charged fence and getting an electric shock even made it worse..















On Friday, the Lovebugs played a secret gig at Scala which was pretty cool. About 200 people showed up, the atmosphere was great. The band played several old songs as well as some covers and of course new songs from their forthcoming new album. They really sounded amazing, especially 'Back To Life', 'Avalon' and 'Listen To The Silence'. 'Avalon' is a duet with Lene Marlin, a Norwegian singer/songwriter. The band really seemed to enjoy the show.

Setlist:
Hard To Find
The Key
Rize Up / Size Up
Angel Heart
Beautiful You Are
Smalltown Boy
Avalon
Back To Life
Music Makes My World Go Round
A Wonderful Thing
The Boys Of Summer
Flavour Of The Day
Free Reeling
Everybody Knows I Love You
Coffee & Cigarettes
---
A Love Like Tides
Listen To The Silence
Under My Skin
Pop 'Til You Drop

#1091 / The Spirit That Moves Us

The last two nights, I was at the Vorstadt-Sounds Festival in Zürich which was quite cool. There were loads of great bands. Highlights were Elfish, BSK, Diebesbande, Fisher and most notably Strozzini and asleep. I hadn't seen Strozzini before but I'm sure that I will see them more often now. They delivered an absolutely cosy concert which lots of beautiful and emotional songs. asleep. played their third show as a four-piece since the departure of guitarist Nicolas. A few musical things have slightly changed but they're still an astoundingly eclectic and dynamic band. My personal favourites were 'Move', new song 'Black/White', 'Smile' and 'Crack'.

Setlist asleep.
34
Song To Be Me
Sing Sing
Kitchen Floor
Black/White
Beatrice (A Star Is Born)
Air Sickness Bag
Smile
Move
Vanilla Blue
---
Crack

#1090 / Hello Miss Evening

Last night was absolutely amazing. It was probably the best and funniest night I have done so far at the Scala. Well, let's leave the financial aspect aside - it could have been lots better - but as an event, it was awesome. Cool people and cool sound. It seemed as if they liked it as well. After the gig, we sat backstage and nobody wanted to leave somehow.

Björn Kleinhenz opened the night at about half past nine with a mellow acoustic concert. His set consisted of many songs from his latest record, 'Trans Pony' as well as a few old ones. During the songs, he talked about growing up in Sweden and told some stories about throwing microwave lasagnas out of the window.

At half past ten, Mañana came on stage and started off with their 'Wirbel Song'. They delivered a great, dynamic and pretty loud show.

Setlist Mañana
Wirbel Song
Somewhere In China
Time/Gently
Fast Days
Is Happiness What You Expected?
Some Kid
Monster
Miss Evening
---
Psycho
English Garden

Setlist Björn Kleinhenz
Out Of Style
Better Company
Starlit Queen
The Strongest Machine
Diana
Into The Gloom
On Time Tonight
Keep Your Stars
Leipzig Lover

#1089 / Hasta Mañana

Tonight, we'll be having Mañana at the Scala. I'm already looking forward to this. I'm sure it's going to be a great night with lots of cool music and people. In a few minutes, I'll have to go to the supermarket and buy some catering stuff and prepare two deli platters. That's it for now, more's to come after the concert.

#1088 / Tell Me About Your Day

I finally got round to writing another blog entry. Too much is going on at the moment. I've just come home from the Skye concert. She played her first solo show in the German part of Switzerland since her departure from Morcheeba. The Kaufleuten was sold out and packed with too many people so it got quite hot and wet. Skye was in a very good mood and seemed to enjoy the show. She fooled around with the public and turned the audience into one big choir. The atmosphere was absolutey great. She included a jazzy version of Gorillaz' 'Feel Good Inc.' in her set. What surprised me was that she also played three songs from her Morcheeba era, all being off 'Big Calm'. I can imagine that this is because of legal reasons. The only negative thing was that the show was already over after a bit more than 75 minutes.

Setlist:
Stop Complaining
Solitary
Calling
Blindfold
What's Wrong With Me?
No Other
Tell Me About Your Day
All The Promises
Feel Good Inc.
The Sea
Love Show
---
Over And Over
Jamaica Days
Say Amen

#1087 / I Know A Girl Called Elsa..

Yesterday, we had another great band session. We're trying out a few covers. So far, we've done three and we're thinking about some other stuff as well. They sound pretty cool. I'm so much looking forward to playing some concerts very soon. Our last one was in October. I really hope that we can get into a more regular concert schedule. We've got four concerts lined up so far, more are to follow.

Last night, I went to see Theatersport at the Scala. It was not the best ad-lib show I've seen but it was still funny at times. After that, we went to the Funk Night in Bubikon. However, I was not in mood to dance or just hang around there. It's been one year now since my grand-parents have passed away. Today, we've been commemorating the anniversary.

Right now, I'm doing some stuff for university. Well, in fact, I'm just seeing through some paper stuff. I wonder where these junk comes from.

#1086 / The Sun Always Shines On TV

I’m so glad that it’s Saturday and that I can take the things easier now. This week has been quite packed again. On Tuesday night, I went to the movies again to see ‘Nachbeben’, a Swiss film about investment bankers and their life which is constructed on lies and ensnarements. The film was not bad, especially the actors were quite alright, however, the film was a bit boring at times.

On Wednesday, we had a great band session. At the moment, we’re rehearsing some cover songs so that we can enhance our set at our concerts. It’s big fun and it’s also sounding pretty cool. After that, I went to the Abart to see Mañana and Mew. Mañana will play at the Scala on the 20th May so I had to get rid of some flyers. They delivered a great and powerful show, I’m already looking forward to their gig in two weeks. Mew were kind of disappointing and tedious after a while.

The next highlight was last night. After a whole day of work, I went to the movies with a friend to see ‘MI-3’ which was a great film full of adrenaline, speed, action and excitement. It was far the best of these three films and it’s always fun to see such highspeed action movies for a change. After that, we had dinner at a kebap place before going to the Les Halles for a beer. We thought about going to the M4Music festival, however, they didn’t let us in for free so we decided to go clubbing and to shake a leg. We had our next beer at the Gloria’s before we went to the ‘Back To The Eighties’ party. When we were younger, we went there quite often. However, I would say that I haven’t been there for at least five years now. It was pretty cool..

Here's a photo that a party picture weirdo has taken.

#1085 / Snow Patrol

Well, it seems as if it's hard to put my plan into practice. I intended to write more blog entries than just on a weekly basis. Anyway, here we go. A lot has happened in the last seven days.

After a packed concert weekend, I went to the Europa-Park in Germany with two friends on Monday. It was a pretty cool day with lots of fun and adrenaline rushes. They got the highest rollercoaster in Europe. It's about 70 metres high, the maximum speed is 130 km/h. After this one, all other rollercoasters are kind of boring and slow. We were quite tired in the evening.

The rest of the week was pretty dreary, oscillating between university and work, between bed and desk. On Friday night, I was invited at a birthday party which I had to leave at about 9.30 pm in order to rush to Baden to see the final concert on Adrian Stern's club tour. The venue was packed with almost 300 people. The show was sold out and the atmosphere was great as usual. On Saturday night, I had to go to a wedding. I still don't know what the hell I was doing there. Anyway, we left quite early and I wasn't unhappy because of this. However, there were also two positive aspects. I could finally wear a suit again and I do really know now what my own wedding shouldn't be like. After that, I went to a friend to save the evening and to stash away my boredom.

And last night, I went to the movies to see 'Grounding' finally. This was probably the best Swiss film I've seen so far. It's highly interesting, exciting and shocking at the same time. I know too little about this grounding but I can imagine that it was quite the way as it was depicted in this film.

At the moment, I'm listening to some new records. Right now, I've got the new Pearl Jam, Snow Patrol, Mew and Wolfmother albums. They're all great, especially the new Snow Patrol album.

Okay, this is it for the moment. I hope my next entry comes before next Monday.

#1084 / dEUS

I've just come home from the dEUS concert which was amazing. I really liked the atmosphere and especially the decent light show which supported the sound. Also the support act, Absynthe Minded, were great, quite special and weird, though, but still a great opener.

Setlist dEUS
Bad Timing
Stop-Start Nature
Instant Street
Fell Of The Floor, Man
Nightshopping
The Real Sugar
Worst Case Scenario
Sun Ra
Theme From Turnpike
Freaks
Nothing Really Ends
Roses
Cold Sun
What We Talk About (When We Talk About Love)
Suds & Soda
---
Pocket Revolution
Little Arithmetics
If You Don't Get What You Want
Via

#1083 / Hands Up!

Yesterday was another cool concert day. I went to Wädenswil with a friend to see Diebesbande and Adrian Stern. The venue was pretty small and cosy. I wouldn't have thought in the beginning that the sound mix will be so great. Diebesbande opened at about half past nine and played a lot of new songs off their debut album which was released in March. According to the band, an English album is going to follow in Autumn. It was the first time that I saw them and I really liked them. It was pretty snuggish.

Adrian Stern and his band delivered another awesome show. I know, it's getting quite unbelievable but this concert was even better than the one in Stäfa two weeks ago. It was maybe the first time that there were more men singing along to the songs than women. Furthermore, the concert was 18+ so there were no teens.

Setlist Adrian Stern
S'Blaue vom Himmel
Alles chunnt guet
Werum denn eifach?
Immer scho mal
Min Absturz
Ha nur welle wüsse
Nei
Einisch meh
Mängisch
Hey Novämber
So ganz ohni Dich
No chli da
Es Läbe lang truurig
Wunder
Das alles bruchts
Alles was Du wotsch
---
Summer bi Dir
Sie isch furt
Wer hetti das dänkt?

Setlist Diebesbande
Rägewätter
Morphinischte
Herbscht
Am Morgetau zue (im Morgegrau no zue)
Dänn wänn
Mit ihm und ihre
Jewels
Tag für Tag
Rächnig
Vesuv
Sympa
Ich wird toll
---
Whose Cats

#1082 / Sophia's World

Last night, I went to the Sophia and Vito concert at El Lokal. It was the third time now and it still was absolutely great. Vito, a Cardiff-based band, opened the night. I think I haven't seen such a great support act in a very long time. Their sound is highly influenced by instrumental post-rock bands like Mogwai or Arab Strap. The Welsh band delivered an intense and very dynamic show.

After a short break, Robin Proper-Sheppard came on stage and performed a first set of Sophia songs in rather acoustic and low key versions. Vito joined him for the second half which was very dynamic and loud again.

In a few minutes, I'll be off for the Adrian Stern concert in Wädenswil. Support will come from Diebesbande.

#1081 / Mount Flums

What a beautiful day! Today, I went skiing with a friend. It was the first time this season and very probably also the last time. The weather was gorgeous and there were hardly any people. Well, the snow could have been better, it was pretty soft and wet. I'm back home now and quite tired. Anyway, it was worth it..

#1080 / Splendid!

The last three days were quite packed with lots of things. On Thursday night, a friend and me went to the Gaswerk Winterthur to see my friends' bands asleep. and Telaphones. It was a contest for a headlining slot at the ZHW party this summer. Frantic, another cool band, won the contest. All in all, it was a quite cool evening, especially stopping at a service area in the middle of the night.

Setlist asleep.
Smile
Song To Be Me
Beatrice (A Star Is Born)
34
Kitchenfloor

Setlist Telaphones
Undateable
The Girl On MTV
Science Fiction
My Secret Love
K*A*T*Y
I Love You Baby
Go For Gold
Full Of Grace

On Friday, we had a cool band session in the afternoon. We're rehearsing both old and new songs for our upcoming gigs in the summer. I'm quite looking forward to this. In the evening, I went skittling with two friends. It was pretty funny as usual and another long night..

Getting up on Saturday was quite hard. I woke up at ten o'clock knowing that this was going to be another long and exhausting day. I had Zorg at the Scala. After shopping and preparing two nice deli platters, the band arrived at about half past four. We changed the grand hall to a small and cosy snuggery by arranging some candles and lights. The soundcheck was overwhelming. The concert was highly cosy and beautiful although we only had about 50 people. The band was pretty amiable and seemed to enjoy the show, the people and the atmosphere. I went to bed at about three o'clock and I'm glad to have a short rest today.

Setlist Zorg
It's Time
Mirror
Tarantino
Evidence
Ashes To Ashes
In My Heaven
The Weight Of The World
Empty Box
Cupid
Healing
Daisy & The Shell
Lettre Des 2 Amants
Along The Way
Queen Of Nothing
Weeds
---
Hope
Joys & Pains
Stars
Dark Eyed Angel

#1079 / A Long Long Time Ago..

Well, it's been a really long time since I wrote my last blog entry. A lot has happened since then. We had Baschi at Scala Wetzikon which was a great night with about 350 people and a cool atmosphere. Then, my father celebrated his 50th birthday. We went out for dinner in a fancy restaurant with lots of good food. And yes, university has started again. It's pretty easy so far.

Last Friday, I went to the Adrian Stern concert with a friend. It's still amazing to see the development in the band and in their sound. They played a very long set with some 'new' songs off the first record as well and added a lot of guitar solos and new little parts. You'll find something new at every concert.

#1078 / Carpark North

The Carpark North concert last night was absolutely amazing. They played a bit more than an hour and ecstasised with songs like 'Human', 'Best Day' or 'Fireworks'. Their music is a mix between Saybia, some 80's band à la Depeche Mode and some heavier stuff. The audience as well as the band seemed to enjoy it and I hope that the band will return to Switzerland in Autumn after their success last night.

Well, I have to admit, also The Delilahs were better than last time I'd seen them. They have improved a lot and were well received yesterday.

#1077 / Lord Of War

Here it is, finally, my new website. The old one was a bore. This one is looking a lot better, in my humble opinion at least. Last night, I went to see 'Lord Of War' which was not bad, but not outstanding, either. The actors were great and there were some pretty rad quotes.

Tonight, I'm going to the Rote Fabrik to see Carpark North. Support comes from The Delilahs. I haven't seen them since last October where they were opening for the Stereophonics. I'm quite curious about how it will be. The media coverage of The Delilahs is fairly a pain in the neck. We'll see..

#1076 / Stop! Don't Do It!

I haven't been to the cinema on Friday. I wasn't feeling good so I stayed at home. Last night, my friends and me went to the Chollerhalle in Zug to see Adrian Stern, Baschi and Dada (Ante Portas). Support came from a local band called Eyelash, a wanna-be Garbage-like band. They probably found the best way to say hello. "Hi, we're Eyelash and we're happy if you like our music. However, this will be the last gig in this formation." Boom! Anyway, they played some more songs and well, garbage is quite adequate. To quit was probably not the worst decision. Furthermore, they had a song called "Stop! Don't Do It". Isn't that ironic?

Adrian Stern's concert was one of his best on this tour. He and his band were full of energy and the audience really seemed to enjoy it. It was great to see them again after more than two months. Baschi and his band were quite lame and boring. I was quite disappointed after seeing them at the Mascotte in January where they delivered a cool show. The last act was Dada (Ante Portas). Their show was again full of power. The new songs are quite loud and the band seemed to be very happy.

#1075 / Bomb Alert

Yesterday, there was a bomb alert at a train station in Zurich, however, no bomb has been found. People are wondering now if this was only a joke or even a PR gag. I wouldn't understand it if it was. Anyway, everything seemed to be okay after a few hours. One suspect was arrested but released soon as there was no link between him and the bomb alert. I would have thought that this bomb thing is a major thing in the media, however, there was hardly any coverage.

Tomorrow night, I'm going to the movies to see 'Lord Of War' which is not a film about George W. Bush. I'm expecting a pretty interesting film with Nicolas Cage and Ethan Hawke.

#1074 / Patent Ochsner

The last weekend has been quite good. On Friday and Saturday night, I went to the Patent Ochsner concert which was great as usual. I have seen them eight times now since last Summer and I still can't get enough of them. They played more or less their usual set, however, they included 'Jänner' as an encore.

On Friday, I had a phone interview with Boyan of The Zutons. It was quite cool. We talked about their new record which is coming out in April, the media - especially the NME - and their impact on success and George Harrison. The interview is in my new interview section or on students.ch (in German).

Right now, I'm sitting in my office. It's quite hard to work five days a week, I don't know how to make it when I grow up ;-)

#1073 / Otitis Externa

It's been a long time since I wrote my last blog entry. The last couple of days have been stuffed with work. I wish I had some more days off to sit around and do nothing. Furthermore, I've been suffering from an infection in the external acoustic meatus which is somewhere in my right ear. This means no concerts, no band sessions and no iPod. I hope that it's over very soon.

We talked in our band last week about playing a low-key gig at a birthday party tonight, however, we would have had to play without my brother and arranging all the songs for one guitar would have been too time-consuming. And with all this infection stuff, it would have been painful anyway. So we're not playing tonight and I'm going to the movies instead. Today, it's 'Munich', yesterday, it was 'Syriana', a highly complex film.

#1072 / Soul Meets Body

I've just come home from the Death Cab For Cutie concert. It was quite good and pretty loud, however, there were some annoying 15-year old girlies in the crowd.

Setlist Death Cab For Cutie:
Marching Bands Of Manhattan
The New Year
Title And Registration
Soul Meets Body
Lightness
Photobooth
Different Names For The Same Thing
For What Reason
Company Calls
Expo '86
Styrofoam Plates
Brothers On A Hotel Bed
Movie Script Ending
We Laugh Indoors
Crooked Teeth
The Sound Of Settling
---
I Will Follow You Into The Dark
Transatlanticism

#1071 / Once Upon A Time..

I've just noticed that I haven't written a blog entry for almost two weeks. Well, not really a lot happened since then. I am on a 7-week break at university, finally. This means that I've got time to work more and earn some more money. Tonight, I'm going to the Abart to see Death Cab For Cutie and on Wednesday night, I'll be at the Abart again to see Arab Strap.

#1070 / Boys Aloud

I've just come home from The Cooper Temple Clause concert which was absolutely great and especially loud. Telaphones played the first set and introduced several new songs like 'The Girl on MTV' or the Franz Ferdinand-like 'K*A*T*Y'. They are even better than their 'Go For Gold' songs.

At half past ten, The Cooper Temple Clause came on stage and started their show. They delivered a great and dynamic (and short) 70-minute set with loads of new songs. Unfortunately, they didn't play any encores. However, they said that they are coming back very soon, so I guess that there's another European and/or festival tour in the pipeline which would be amazing

Setlist The Cooper Temple Clause:
One More
The Same Mistakes
A.I.M.
Connect
Waiting Game
Damage
All I See Is You
New Toys
House Of Cards
Great On Paper
Been Training Dogs
Promises, Promises
Homosapien
Panzer Attack

Setlist Telaphones:
Science Fiction
Go For Gold
Out Of Control
The Girl On MTV
My Secret Love
Lovesong #1024
Undateable
K*A*T*Y
Rainbow
I Love You Baby
So Why

#1069 / It's Done!

I'm glad that my test is over now. It wasn't that hard so I think that I will pass. Finally, I've got some time to do other things.

The Patent Ochsner concert last night was quite cool. The band played its fourth gig in a row so they were pretty tired, however, they still seemed to enjoy the show.

Setlist Patent Ochsner:
El Picador
Grüens Liecht
Früecher
Fischer
Ludmilla
Kater
Villechlanisolasy
Echo
Blues
Brandschtifter
Ochsetuur
Seemann's Wärmuet
Heimat
Vohinger u vo vor
Zucker
Trybguet
Bälpmoos
---
Am Schärme
Weischwienimeine
W. Nuss vo Bümpliz / Füdlifinger Fritz
Fogaraccia
Scharlachrot

#1068 / Adaptation - Goal Attainment - Integration - Latent Pattern Maintenance*

I'm glad that today is finally over, well, the hardest part at least. I've been revising, reading and studying a lot and I hope that the exam won't be too hard tomorrow. This will be the last exam for a while.

Tonight, I'm going to the Patent Ochsner concert with two friends. I'm already looking forward to this, I'm sure that this will be a great night out before that silly test tomorrow morning.

* These are four functions that every system should fulfill. ;-)

#1067 / Zorg

Zorg last night was absolutey cosy. And dinner at Les Halles is always fine, really worth checking out, especially the red wine.

#1066 / Live Forever

I've just come home from the Oasis concert which was absolutely brilliant. The audience really enjoyed the show and also the band seemed to be in a good mood. They played the same set as in Scotland which consisted of a load of new songs as well as many of their first two records. No songs were played from 'Be Here Now' or 'Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants'.

The support act, Yeti, was not bad, however, they were pretty lame compared to Oasis. I guess, they're much better in a small club.

Setlist Oasis:
Fuckin' In The Bushes
Turn Up The Sun
Lyla
Bring It On Down
Morning Glory
Cigarettes & Alcohol
The Importance Of Being Idle
The Masterplan
Songbird
A Bell Will Ring
Acquiesce
Live Forever
Mucky Fingers
Wonderwall
Champagne Supernova
Rock 'n' Roll Star
---
Guess God Thinks I'm Abel
The Meaning Of Soul
Don't Look Back In Anger
My Generation

#1065 / Appendix

I totally forgot to put the setlists of the last two concerts online. Last weekend, I went to the Baschi concert at Mascotte Zurich which was sold out (!). On Saturday, I saw Pandemonium at the Classroom Pub in Wetzikon. It was their first show since February 2005 and they played a pretty long set with lots of new stuff.

The last week, well the last three days have been quite packed. A lot of working, a lot of studying and a lot of reading. I'm having an exam on Monday and I really have to put all these political things in my head.

Tonight, I'm going to see Oasis in Winterthur. I am so much looking forward to this. I'm also quite curious about Yeti who replace the Stereophonics. Unfortunately, they had to cancel their European tour due to a family illness.

Setlist Baschi:
Love & Piis
Nur zue (Liebed mi)
Alls um Dich
Dis Lied
Dr Mond schiint nur für eus
Dr einzigartig Held
Vorwärts
Schnällzug
Himmelgränzelosschön
Ändlich
Alles anderscht
Roberto Baggio
Uf d'Chnü
Chum mit mir
Gib mer ä Chance
---
Du fehlsch
Irgendwie wunderbar
Leider nein

Setlist Pandemonium:
Illusion
Kashmir
Road To Nowhere
To Brown
Since You're Gone
Tell Me
Dirty Heart
Listen To Yourself
---
I Wish You Could Stay
Nobody's Wife
Der zum Funk wird
Fly
Dä dräckig Blues
Brown Sugar
Skin
Deadly Feelings
Children Of The Revolution
---
Spend It All
Want You

#1064 / The Winner Is..

This weekend has been pretty busy. On Friday night, I had an event at Scala Wetzikon. It was pretty cool, there were more than 200 people and the ambiance was great. I came home at about 5 o'clock but it was worth staying up so long.

A few hours later, I had to get up again and do some stuff for university. After that, we had a nice band session and in the evening, we went to the 'Battle Of The Bands' final at Volkshaus Zürich. There were eight bands, however, most of them were crap. The only ones that are worth mentioning were 11am, Weep and of course asleep., not only because they're friends of us but also because of their inventive and emotional music. Their show outshone everything last night. There were some friends of the band that lit some flame torches during 'Move' which looked absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately, another band won the contest although it was pretty obvious that asleep. were the best band of the night.

#1063 / James Blunt

Last night, I had to work at the James Blunt concert. It was much better than I had thought, in fact, it was an excellent concert. The show was sold out and it was the biggest venue James Blunt played on this European tour. The atmosphere was great, especially during 'High', 'You're Beautiful', 'Cry' and 'No Bravery'. My personal highlights were 'Goodbye, My Lover' and the Pixies cover 'Where Is My Mind?'

Setlist James Blunt:
Breathe
Billy
High
Cry
Goodbye My Lover
Dancing Days
Tears And Rain
Out Of My Mind
I Really Want You
No Bravery
Same Mistake
Wise Men
So Long, Jimmy
---
Where Is My Mind?
You're Beautiful

#1062 / Fisherman's Friend

Last night, I went to the Fisher concert. It was very cosy and I really liked their music. It was a CD release party so they played pretty much all songs of the album among others. They remind me of The Cardigans and Lunik and sometimes also of Alanis Morissette.

Today is a very special day for my friends' band Telaphones. They have been invited to spend one week in China and record two songs for a Chinese New Year show on CCTV3 which has about 30 to 50 million viewers. Telaphones is the first Swiss band ever to appear on the Chinese TV. It was amazing to see how many newspaper articles as well as radio interviews there were in the last few days. The whole story is so crazy but pretty cool at the same time. I'm already looking forward to the first reports from China..

#1061 / Strawberry Fields Forever

Today, I finally received the pre-amp for my record player. And it works! At the moment, I'm listening to some old singles. They sound quite cool.

I've been working a lot this week and I'm kind of glad to get back to university next Monday, however, this month is going to be stressful again as I'm having an exam in February. I'm already looking forward to our holiday break.

#1060 / Happy New Year

Last night, I went to the Adrian Stern concert in Bülach. It was quite good, however, the band seemed to be quite burnt out after so many gigs in the last three months.

Setlist Adrian Stern:
S'Blaue vom Himmel
Alles chunnt guet
Werum denn eifach?
Immer scho mal
Min Absturz
Ha nur welle wüsse
Nei
Einisch meh / Sie weiss es
Mängisch
Hey Novämber
So ganz ohni Dich
No chli da
Es Läbe lang truurig
Das alles bruchts
Alles was Du wotsch
---
Summer Bi Dir
Si isch furt
Wunder
Dr Sidi Abdel Assar

#1059 / 7"

This week has been kind of tiring. I've been out every night and had to get up early for work. I really need some sleep. I'm glad to be at home tonight. Last night, I went skittling with my friends. It was quite funny, however, I was pretty bad. After the game, we ended up at the Divus as we sort of always do.

Today, I finally got my record player. I bought some 7" vinyl singles in London and also some at eBay. Unfortunately, I couldn't listen to them so far because my hi-fi only has a 'normal' line input and not a phono input. This means that the sound is not amplified and therefore quite silent. I had to order a cheap pre-amp. I hope I'll have everything by the end of next week. That's it for the moment.

#1058 / Long Weekend

It's great to have a few days off. Yesterday, we had our first band session with our drummer in a while. It was quite cool. I hope there will be some concerts in the new future, I'm pretty keen on playing live again. We got a new tune which has no title yet, but it sounds absolutely great.

Tonight, I went to the movies with my dad to see 'Harry Potter'. It was not bad, however, it was not a highly entertaining film, either. I hope there's something cool on the telly now.

#1057 / Cardiff Afterlife

The last few days have passed quite fast. On Sunday, we went to Cardiff. Nothing has really changed since I've last been there in September 2004. Monday was a very sunny and warm day. We went to Cardiff Bay which was great. There were hardly any people so it was quite cosy. In the afternoon, we walked through the city, took pictures of the Millennium Stadium and the castle before we went to the movies to see 'King Kong'. I really liked the film. It was quite long, though, but pretty amazing how real everything looked.

On Tuesday, we went on a tour at Cardiff Castle which was even more interesting than I had thought. I didn't remember which parts of the castle I had already seen.

Right now, I'm on my last shopping spree in London. In about an hour, I'll have to get to the airport. That's it for now, pictures are to follow.

#1056 / Roll Up And Shine

Last night, we went to the Stereophonics concert at Ally Pally. It was again a great show with lots of highlights, one being 'Jayne', a new song that sounds quite similar to 'Devil'. 'Maybe Tomorrow' was again one of the best things last night. I'm glad to see the Phonics again in February sharing the bill with Oasis. That's gonna be such a great night!

The next two days, we're going to be in Cardiff..

Setlist Stereophonics:
Superman
Doorman
A Thousand Trees
Madame Helga
Pedalpusher
Brother
Mr. Writer
The Bartender And The Thief
Devil
Jayne
Traffic
More Life In A Tramp's Vest
Carrot, Cake And Wine
Deadhead
Maybe Tomorrow
Caravan Holiday
Vegas Two Times
Local Boy In The Photograph
---
Roll Up And Shine
Just Looking
Dakota

#1055 / Just Looking..

The Coldplay concert last night was good, however, it was more a musical than a concert and it reminded me of U2. There were hardly any emotions and everything was too perfect, unfortunately. Furthermore, it was the third concert with more or less the same set. Highlights were 'How You See The World', 'Square One' and 'Fix You'.

Tonight, we're going to the Stereophonics concert at Alexandra Palace which is going to be my last gig in the UK this year. Today, we went to Camden Market which was fascinating as usual. There's one store, 'Cyberdog' where you can get all sorts of trance, house and techno stuff. I can imagine that a heavy drug trip won't be worse than visiting this store.

Setlist Coldplay:
Square One
Politik
Yellow
Speed Of Sound
God Put A Smile Upon Your Face
X & Y
How You See The World
White Shadows
The Scientist
'Til Kingdom Come
Don't Panic
Clocks
Talk
---
Swallowed In The Sea
In My Place
Fix You

#1054 / Shopping Spree

I'm back in London, at the moment I'm on a shopping spree with a little break in this internet cafe. The Embrace concert last night was quite good, it was their biggest London show so far and there were about 10'000 people who sang along and made it a great night. The Frames and The Bees were also quite good, however, the public didn't seem to be interested at all.

Tonight, I'm going to the Coldplay concert which is going to be my second last concert in the UK this year. That's it for now, the shops are waiting..

Setlist Embrace:
Exploding Machines
All you Good People
Someday
No Use Crying
Keeping
Gravity
New Adam, New Eve
Contender
You Will Hit Te Target
Come Back To What You Know
Save Me
Natures Law
Out Of Nothing
---
I Believe In Father Christmas
Ashes
The Good Will Out

#1053 / Madferrit

The Oasis gig last night at the SECC was absolutely phenomenal, even better than I had imagined. After browsing through some shops the whole day, doing some sightseeing and preparing myself for the concert in a pub, the moment had finally arrived. I collected my ticket at the box office and went into the hall. At 9 o'clock, the intro started with 'Fuckin' In The Bushes'. The crowd went mad from the first tone and it was amazing. We were jumping, singing, shouting and squeezing. Bathing in sweat has never been so funny. Everybody was celebrating together, no matter if they knew you or not. When I came to Glasgow, I was all alone. Now I'm leaving and I've made about 10'000 friends.

The band seemed to be in a very good shape. They joked with the crowd, Liam's voice was better than ever and Noel's solos just gorgeous. It was definitely one of my best all-time concerts. British people are so much more into the atmosphere. After the concert, I went to a pub with some guys that I didn't know before. We had quite a good time.

In a few minutes, I'll be heading to the airport and I'll be flying back to London. Tonight's concert will be Embrace at the Alexandra Palace. It's a bit sad that I had only one day in Glasgow but I'm sure that I'm coming back to Scotland in the near future.

Setlist Oasis:
Fuckin' In The Bushes
Turn Up The Sun
Lyla
Bring It On Down
Morning Glory
Cigarettes And Alcohol
The Importance of Being Idle
The Masterplan
Songbird
A Bell Will Ring
Acquiesce
Live Forever
Mucky Fingers
Wonderwall
Champagne Supernova
Rock 'N' Roll Star
---
Guess God Thinks I'm Abel
The Meaning Of Soul
Don't Look Back In Anger
My Generation

#1052 / Welcome To The North

I've just arrived in Glasgow one hour ago. Right now, I'm at the youth hostel. The language is quite differrrrent up here but I got already used to it. People are friendly, the sun is shining and it doesn't feel like winter here. This really is a place to be. The hostel is probably the most beautiful, clean and friendly I've ever been to. It's situated next to a huge park and you've got a nice view over the whole city.

The David Gray concert last night was superb. He and his band played several old songs as well as most off his latest record. Concerts in the UK are always so special, the people are much more into the music and the ambiance is better than in Switzerland. Furthermore, concerts seemed to be much better organised.

I'm staying at our drummer's place in Acton which is pretty cosy. The tube station is only a short walk away and there's even a Wetherspoon pub about ten minutes from there. I've already had my first portion of fish'n'chips yesterday. This Glasgow trip is only a one-off. Tomorrow, I'll be back in London.

Okay, that's it for now. I'm off for a sightseeing tour and in a few hours, I'll be at the SECC to see Oasis. Finally!

Setlist David Gray:
Alibi
The One I Love
Nos Da Cariad
My Oh My
Sail Away
Disappearing World
Lately
Please Forgive Me
Nightblindness
Ain't No Love
Hospital Food
Baltimore
Now & Always
Silver Lining
Freedom
---
Shine
This Year's Love
Babylon
It's Friday I'm In Love

#1051 / Mission Complete

The last few days have passed quite fast and I'm pretty exhausted now. Three shows in a row are too much, however, all were good and it was big fun to do them. The bands were cool, there were always loads of people and the ambiance was good.

Last night, Adrian Stern and his band played at the Scala. They played for more than 90 minutes and the atmosphere was pretty cool. Especially the teenie girlies in the first two rows seemed to have great time.

S'Blaue vom Himmel
Alles chunnt guet
Werum denn eifach?
Immer scho mal
Min Absturz
Ha nur welle wüsse
Nei
Einisch meh
Wunder
Hey Novämber
So ganz ohni Dich
No chli da
Summer bi Dir
Das alles bruchts
Mängisch
Alles was du wotsch
---
Si isch furt
Es läbe lang truurig
Dr Sidi Abdel Assar

#1050 / 03:17 AM

The first two days of my Scala week are over. Patent Ochsner delivered two great and very emotional shows. Their 150-minute set consisted of many old as well as all songs from the latest record. The ambiance was pretty special. We had two sold out shows and the band really seemed to enjoy it.

El Picador
Grüens Liecht
Früecher
Fischer
Ludmilla
Kater
Villechlanisolasy
Echo
Honigmelonemond
Blues
Brandschtifter
Ochsetuur
Seemann's Wärmuet
Schlächte Verlüürer
Heimat
Vohinger u vovor
Zucker
Trybguet
Bälpmoos
---
Am Schärme
Weischwienimeine
W. Nuss vo Bümpliz / Füdlifinger Fritz
Fogaraccia
Scharlachrot
Diener & Chnächt
Danke schön

#1049 / On The Run

The next fews days are going to be quite busy and stressful. In fact, the last few weeks have already been quite stuffed. Tonight and tomorrow night, we're having Patent Ochsner at the Scala. I'm already looking forward to these shows, the last two gigs in December 2003 were marvellous. I gotta go now, I need to make some sandwiches and prepare some stuff for tonight..

#1048 / December dates

asleep. won last night! They will be playing at Volkshaus Zürich on 21.01.2006. Futhermore, they're going to put two songs on a compilation. They delivered a great twenty-minute show with a lot of energy and power! 'Move' was absolutely perfect as well as 'Smile', 'Duffy' and 'Kitchen Floor'.

This month will be my craziest concert month so far.. I'm especially looking forward to the gigs in London (David Gray, Embrace, Coldplay and Stereophonics) and Glasgow (Oasis). This next week will be a very stressful week as well because I'm having three events at Scala Wetzikon. On Wednesday and Thursday, we're having Patent Ochsner for a double-gig and on Saturday, we're having Adrian Stern. Both shows are selling quite well, the two Patent Ochsner shows have in fact already sold out, a few tickets will be available at the box office.

#1047 / Moviestar

This weekend has been a cinema weekend. On Friday night, I went to the movies to see 'Broken Flowers' which was quite a nice film, however, it reminded me too much of 'Lost In Translation'. Yesterday night, I went to see 'Corpse Bride' which was a special movie and very entertaining. Tim Burton's movies are always pretty different than all the other stuff that's in the cinemas now.

Tonight, I'm going to support asleep. at their semi-final gig at the Abart's 'Battle Of The Bands'. If they win, they're going to put two songs on a SonyBMG compilation and they will also have the possibility to play at Volkshaus Zürich.

By the way, I've changed my Weblog to a real blog..