Flight Brigade – Blue Shell, Cologne; May 11th, 2017

After the amazing tour with Poets of the Fall in December last year, I was happy to hear Fight Brigade were coming back to Germany and soon after the Cologne gig was announced made plans to go there. While the timing wasn’t perfect, I was sure it was going to be fun, especially because J., D. and A. would come as well. Little did I know I’d have my left arm in a cast for the occasion, but that could not keep me from going. I wasn’t able to clap, but I sure did have fun!

The Sunday before I’d been swimming in Reykjavik, slipped and fell in the shower and ended up with my left arm possibly fractured. It isn’t fully broken, but I got a cast anyway and am off work for a week. Sleeping in the morning after the show sure sounded good to me. 🙂 Left Dortmund a few hours before the show, met J. in Cologne for dinner, hung out, ran into Tom and Thomas from Flight Brigade, went inside the Blue Shell, left our towels (read: jackets) in front of the stage and waited for A. and D. to arrive. Meanwhile, the band was signing my cast.

At 9 pm support Rews started playing. Two women, one on drums and one on guitar, both singing and they surely knew how to rock. I loved their set, had much fun and only felt sorry that I could not clap properly. That did not keep me from dancing though and I swayed with the music, clapping my hand against my thigh. The band had fun, the audience had fun, it was a good start. I loved how powerful they were. My favorite song was ‘Violins’. They played and sang well and the music fit with Flight Brigade. They were a good choice for a support act. People clapped and cheered for them a lot, but sadly they did not play an encore.

Setlist

Let it roll
Can you feel it
Violins
Death yawn
Miss you in the dark
Shake shake
Your Tears
Shine

Quick change of stage and just before 10 it was time for Flight Brigade. Woohoo! It was great seeing them again. As usual they started in high gear, kicking off the show with ’39 Steps’. I got into it immediately. How can you not move along to this music? Miriam was missing and Ollie soon told us why: She is very pregnant with their second child. Congrats to both of you!  I was not the only one who enjoyed it from the start. Everyone else in the audience was drawn in as well. Watching the is just so much fun, I couldn’t get enough. Thomas was right in front of me and played a few solos at the edge of the stage so close I could have easily touched the guitar.

‘Housefire’ was next, followed by ‘Where Eagles dare’. Yeah! The four of us smiled at each other, sang along, danced. There were not all that many people in the audience so we had lots of room to move and used it too. It is always fun to actually have a chance to dance. The band smiled at us and we smiled right back. 🙂 Ollie asked who had been on the Poets tour and said we were a familiar sight. It had been a good decision to come, the music really made me happy. 🙂

The awesome double of ‘U kill me’ and ‘Hurricane Season’ was next. It led to great cheers and clapping along. If there was anyone in the audience who had not been drawn in yet, it surely happened right then and there. I could listen to those two songs for hours on repeat without getting bored. So much ebergy, it is impossible to stand still when listening to them. Flight Brigade didn’t have that much room on stage, but made the best of it. They just jumped up and down instead of moving back and forth. 😉

I had kind of expected they’d just play the whole album front to back, but they treated us to some new songs  instead. The first one of those was ‘Chased by Wolves’ and I instantly liked it. ‘Our Friends our Enemies’ brought some eerie atmosphere. I love how claustrophobic the song feels. It really sticks out with all the effects that make me think of war.

The next new song ‘Your River runs through me’ was a lovely ballad, much softer than the other songs so far and beautifully sung. <3 ‘Tearaway’ kicked the show into higher gear again and ‘Brainwave’, another new song kept it right there. Wow, just wow! If these songs are an indication of their next album I already love it. Beautiful melodies, high energy and lots of variety. Perfect!

When Ollie announced their last song I did not want to believe it and especially I did not want it to be over already. I was having so much fun and really I was just warming up. No matter how much I wanted time to stand still, it moved on and they closed the show with ‘Thick as Thieves’. Granted, it is a great closer, but I was not ready to let them go just yet. Everyone else seemed to agree, because we all clapped and cheered until they asked us if we wanted one more. The answer was a resounding “YES!” and they were really happy to hear that. It was ‘When the Water whispers’ and it was a great rendition. A piano and violin driven ballad with a highly energetic finish of drums and guitars. An awesome end to a fun show!

We said hello and goodbye quickly, before J. and I had to leave to catch a train. The band had loved the show just like we had and I sure hope to get to see them again soon. Thomas thanked me for the Agent Fresco CD I gave him that he really liked. I told them I enjoyed the new songs and that it was fun! Briefly talked to Rews too and bought their EP. Thank you all for the great night! 😀

Setlist

39 Steps
Housefire
Where Eagles dare
U kill me
Hurricane Season
Chased by Wolves
Our Friends our Enemies
Your River runs through me
Tearaway
Brainwave
Thick as Thieves

When the Water whispers