Played scissor paper rock, I’d run till I was caught, games end but nothing stops

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Indica – Zeche, Bochum; October 31st, 2010

The first time I saw Indica was in 2009 when they played for the annual “Helsinki in Berlin” concert. I had really enjoyed their set then and was looking forward to seeing them again.  Their latest album was an English one, while all the older ones are in Finnish. I like them either way and expected a mixture of both languages.

Since the concert took place on Halloween the stage was appropriately decorated with spiderwebs. By the time the concert started  at 8:00 p.m. a pretty good crowd had gathered.

The stage was unlit as singer Jonsu walked out wearing a cape with a chain of lights around the hood. The effect was a little spooky, but very beautiful. They played the entire first song in the dark, creating an eerie atmosphere.  The fans loved it, singing along enthusiastically.

The five women played mostly the English songs off their current album ‘A way away’, but threw in two finnish songs as well. They joked with each other, bantered on stage and showed how tallented they are playing multiple instruments. Singer Jonsu plays the violin and keyboarder Sirkku plays the calrinet too. Laura on drums, Heini on bass and Jenni on guitar complete the band.

It was clear to see how much fun they were having with each other. At one point Jonsu ran off stage, just to be caught and carried back by Laura. Then Heini talked her into playing a guitar solo and she did it well too.

One highlight of the night was the beautiful cover of Kate Bush’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ followed by two of  my personal favorites ‘In Passing’ and ‘Straight and Arrow’. It’s interesting how these songs have the same melody as their Finnish counterparts ‘Valoissa’ and ‘Pahinta tänään’, but the lyrics are completely different.

This song ended the set and they came back for only one encore, ‘Eerie Eden’, before they left for good.

I enjoyed the gig, but it was much too short for me to get into it. I was left with a feeling of “not enough” and would have enjoyed to hear more of their Finnish songs. All in all a nice night, that was over before it started feeling like a real concert.

Setlist

A way Away
As If
Islands Of Light
Children Of Frost
Nursery Crimes
Scissor Paper Rock
Precious Dark
Mykkõ
Outside In
Wuthering Heights
VALKOKEILAT
In Passing
Straight & Arrow

Eerie Eden

Here’s looking at you, kid

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The Gaslight Antem – Cologne, October 26th 2010

I had been waiting for this concert for quite some time and yet I was a little bit scared, because last year in New York I had come away bruised and could not really enjoy it. Anyway, this time around I was prepared for the jumping and dancing that would be going on around me and it didn’t matter at all.

Arrived around 5:30 p.m., immediately met some friends and joined them outside. We got in at 7:00 p.m., easily made it to the front and then waited. The first band, Sharks were very young, but fun to watch. The second act, Chuck Ragan, was really good. Nice guitar music that I liked so much I bought his CD after the show.

Then it was time for The Gaslight Anthem. ‘High Lonesome’ from the album ‘The ’59 Sound’ was the opener and latest with the chorus everybody was singing. My Springsteen-fan friends and I belted out the lines “And at night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet. It’s a pretty good song, maybe you know the rest…” 😀 ‘Boxer’, ‘Bring it on’ and ‘The Diamond Church Street Choir’ followed, introducing the current album ‘American Slang’ to those who didn’t know it yet. However, most people at the front did and many sang along every word. I did my best to remember the lyrics and loved every song they played, new as well as old.

I was happy to hear ‘Blue Jeans and White T-Shrts’, ‘Great expectations’ and ‘Film Noir’, my friend N. enjoyed ‘The 59 Sound’ most and all around people were having fun. Brian Fallon loved the fact that people knew more than just the current songs and spent a lot of time at the front.

They put on a great show, played many (but not all) of the songs I wanted to hear and had everyone jumping and singing along by the end of the night. Lots of energy was coming from the stage, lots of fun in the audience. Everyone went wild and I sure was exhausted when the gig ended. Thanks to my friend T., who stood behind me, I didn’t get the worst of the pushing and shoving from the back and had some room to breathe.

The encores finally brought ‘American Slang’ the title track of the new album, and one of my personal favorites ‘Here’s looking at you kid’. I just love the somewhat ironic story of the disappointed lover who tells all his former girlfriends what they are missing “And even if that’s a lie, she should’ve given me a try.” They left us with ‘The Backseat’ and while we were still “trying to find some room to breathe” the show was over and everyone left happily. What a wonderful night! I’m glad I decided to give them a second chance.

Setlist

High Lonesome
Boxer
Bring It On
The Diamond Church Street Choir
Old White Lincoln
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues
1930
We Came to Dance
Stay Lucky
The Queen of Lower Chelsea
Miles Davis and the Cool
Film Noir
Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts
Great Expectations
The Spirit of Jazz
I’da Called You Woody, Joe
Meet Me by the River’s Edge
Wooderson
We Did It When We Were Young
The ’59 Sound

Encore
She Loves You
American Slang
Say I Won’t (Recognize) (w/ The House Of The Rising Sun snippet)
The Patient Ferris Wheel
Here’s Looking at You, Kid
The Backseat