Milow – Zeltfestival Ruhr, Bochum; August 24th, 2016
Again it was time for me to see Milow at Zeltfestival Ruhr and I could hardly believe it had been two years since the last time. The preconditions were almost the same too – I owned the latest album this time, but had hardly listened to it and therefore didn’t know the songs (except for Howling at the Moon that is). What I did know though was that Milow I always fun and that his music would lift me up. I was not disappointed. It was a fun concert and for sure one of the hottest ever (30+ degrees outside heated up the tent we were in).
When arriving the doors to the festival area were still closed and I was surprised by the number of people. I didn’t recall so many from Milow’s past shows here. The sun was out and it was so warm that we were happy to be waiting in the shade at the venue. Two hours later we ere finally inside and I settled down in front row. Chatted a little with the people next to me and got lost in my thoughts wondering what to expect. Had talked with a friend and long time Milow fan recently and she pointed out the newt album was “too elektro”. It occurred to me then that I hadn’t really listened to it and I wondered if that would bother me. I like the Singer/Songwriter Milow, love the first two albums and the songs he rarely seems to play, not necessarily those you can hear on the radio every day. Yet, I do enjoy a good, catchy pop song and has plenty. So there was nothing to fear, really. 😉
He was a bit late, but shortly after 8 pm we could already see the band by the side o the stage. they walked out, were greeted loudly and launched straight into ‘Lonely One’ followed by ‘Howling at the Moon’. I had not expected the hit song this early. It almost seemed like he wanted to get it over with and the audience wasn’t quite ready yet either. For me, the concert really kicked off with ‘Against the Tide’ and when ‘ Really rich’ rolled around I had a happy smile on my face and a lump in my throat. “If I ever grow up, I wanna know the value of things and not the price. What I wanna say is that it’s a lie that you’ve got to compromise. There’s always an excuse. Stop telling yourself those white lies. You aren’t really rich until you have something that money can’t buy.” these lines hit home – this is the Milow I love and the one I keep coming back for. And yes, by this definition I am really rich. :’)
He talked a lot that night and made us laugh. The funniest story was the one about carpooling with Nina to get to the concert, having to drive all the way. When they ended up in the wrong parking lot they were expected to pay and even announcing “Wir sind Künstler für heute Abend” (We are the artists who play tonight) didn’t leave an impression. 🙂 During the acoustic part he mused about a costume change – due to the hat in the tent he was sweating so much it was dripping off of his arms and guitar – literally. Tom joked about being cooler, because he didn’t look like he was sweating at all. 🙂 The songs during the set were all beautiful. ‘Echoes in the Dark’ was carried by Nina’s beautiful voice, for ‘Building Bridges’ Tom joined them and for ‘She might she might’ it was only Tom and Milow. A perfect three song set where Tom didn’t only play guitar but got to play a drum as well. 🙂
While the band walked back on stage, Milow ran off briefly and was back with a fresh shirt for ‘Runing blind’ commenting that this was the first costume change of his career. 😀 Later he talked about getting invited again and again by “Zeltfestival Ruhr” joked he should make his band pronounce that tongue twister of a name and once again was amused by the pillar/pole right in front of the stage. During ‘Little in the middle’ he went into the audience to climb said pillar. That as certainly unexpected and much fun to watch. 🙂
‘The Fast Lane’ was a chance to take a breath before ‘Ayo Technology’ and ‘You don’t know’ had the entire place singing along. The tent was packed and it had gotten rather hot by then, but that didn’t keep anyone from having fun. I was dancing, jumping, clapping, singing and smiling happily, having reached the point where neither the heat, nor my soaked shirt mattered. Luckily the security people at the front were giving out water, so nobody passed out. 🙂 with ‘No No No’ the main set ended and we were yelling for more.
Soon Milow walked out again, telling us he would start with a darker song called ‘Way up high’ about his father who passed away some years ago. Then he announced “our last song” and waited for us to properly lament the fact with everyone yelling ‘ooooh’. Of course we would only have to be loud enough and they’d come back. 😉 He introduced everyone in the band, then everyone in the crew thanking them for their work. <3 Somewhere in between he told us the story about winning an award for biggest summer hit in Belgium, only that he was announced by mistake and as he described already jumping up and down and crying happy tears when they told him he really didn’t win. OOOH!
‘Famous singer’ was only Milow and Tom. At first the audience didn’t quite get it right to sing “You used to be so cool” so he explained that we were his therapists and had to do that. Tom sang one verse as well. It was so much fun! Now the show was almost over with only one song left. To my surprise they started ‘Howling at the Moon’ again. Really? Granted, it is a good closer, by why play the same song twice when you have five full albums of songs to choose from? It would have been more than enough to play the song only at the end of the show. The band taught everyone to jump along, bouncing first, then slowly getting into real jumps. Pretty much everyone did it too. It was great. In the end I left smiling and very sweaty. Until next time!
Setlist
Lonely one
Howling at the Moon
Against the Tide
Really rich
You and me
Echoes in the Dark (with Nina)
Building Bridges (trio)
She might she might (with Tom)
Running blind
We must be crazy
Little in the Middle
The Fast Lane
Ayo Technology
You don’t know
No No No
Way up High
Love like that is easy
Famous Singer (duo)
Howling at the Moon