Jim Kroft – Trafostation Münster; October 29th, 2022
The concert in Münster was Jim’s and my last show on this tour and I could not have imagine a better ending. The venue was nice, filled with a great audience and the band gave everything they had, providing an awesome show. <3
Arrived by train, took a quick Covid test, because it said so on the ticket and headed to the venue. Two people arrived before me, but most others didn’t come until shortly before the doors opened. We heard soundcheck, chatted and were happy when they let us in. It was a small venue, but I immediately felt at home and the people running it were super nice. They had put up all the chairs, but a few people preferred to sit and as soon as they had taken chairs, many others followed. I, however, remained standing and some more did too.
They did a little introduction and then Jim was on stage together with Laura on keys, Lucas on bass and Dan on drums. Jim told us he was still wondering what to name his band and started off with ‘Obstacles’. I immediately had a great feeling about it. People were singing along from the start and I was swaying with the music. 🙂
Jim tried out talking to us in German. He speaks well, but it still lead to lots of laughter. He asked if English was OK and not at all and someone replied “doch!” so he went on a rant on what that word means, because it sounds like a heckle, but is actually affirmation. He continued joking about not being able to see the people at the back of the stadium and decided to give us some rock ‘n’ roll with ‘Birthrights’. Since Berlin, more of the lyrics have come back to me, but it’s still mostly the chorus I can sing along to. I had fun either way.
The wonderful ‘I hope you know’ was next and that one really got people to sing, which we then continued with ‘Bahnhof Friedrichstrasse’. Before ‘Beautiful Ways, Jim had to retune his guitar and then mentioned that “it’s always the G-string, immediately noticing that that sounded wrong.” 😀 He then spoke about the tough times that are currently happening and have been going on for a while and how much of a joy it is to be playing again. Afterwards he drank to love, because a couple was kissing during the song and it “made my heart leap”.
‘Through my Weakness’ was perfect, with a great sing-along. <3 Jim requested more beers and immediately got them delivered. So we all applauded the venue staff. He spoke about the collective experience of the pandemic and how it is still very different. It was a time of heartbreak for him and he found himself living alone. All that lead to the ‘Isolation Diaries’ being born and how he tried to keep an appreciation of life at the heart of it. It also lead to meditating about the dead and wondering what they would want the ones left behind to do. His conclusion is that they’d want us to live on as best as we could. ‘Elegy for the Dead’ was gorgeous wit Laura’s beautiful piano at the front and subtle sounds from the drums and bass to support it. <3
‘Memoirs from the Afterlife’ is one of those songs that I didn’t appreciate much at first, but have come to like over the years. It makes a great live song. 🙂 Next up was ‘The Jailer’, one of my all time favorites and it start d with a kick drum to clap along to. Everyone sang along to the “Yes I’m searching, still I’m searching…” part and Jim conducted us in singing more quietly, almost down to a whisper and then louder again. 😀
Then Jim decided it was a good time to get drinks and joked how “the Billionaire Bruce Bergman” (Lucas) would buy everyone a shot or at least five people. 😉 More Bruce Bergman jokes came along, including telling everyone, how Dan screwed up the name in his Insta story. Also, Laura is apparently merging into one of the aliens from “Mars Attacks” and Dan is now named “Chuck Norris Telander”. 😀
‘You’re gonna be someone’ followed and Jim explained that it is about learning to be instead of doing. It definitely something I experienced during the pandemic as well. He was really talkative that night and I was there for it! ‘The Great Doomsday Story’ followed and rocked the house. Some people even got up out of their seats and I expected everyone else to follow, but they didn’t. It took Jim asking us to come forward and get rid of the chairs before it happened. 😀 He then took the opportunity to clink bottles with the people at the front and told more stories, this time about M., a guy from the audience, who left New York City for love.
He told us about his documentary about the 2016 US election and the country and its people greeted him and ow the “Dream of America” is still important to us. I’m glad he still has hope for the country I have long given up on. I agree though that we have to be willing to listen and learn from each other. All that was the intro to ‘What will you decide America?’ Jim wanted to continue talking about it or rather about M. – for some reason the conversation turned to coffee, but I have no idea how. 😀 Then, the band launched into ‘Redemption’ and we were all singing again, especially when Jim walked down into the crowd. I think it might have been here that he grabbed his film camera and filmed, then handing it off to someone in the audience to continue.
Somewhere during the show, Lucas grabbed Jim’s camera and took a picture of him, so Dan took a picture of Lucas and I took a picture of all three. 😀 Next up was ‘Guess that’s what the Gods said’ and once again we took the sing-along down to a whisper and back up again to loud at Jim’s command. Afterwards he dedicated ‘Tell me’ to all of us supporting live music and we sang along some more. I loved everything about this show. <3
‘Favourite type of Sinner’ rocked and made the smile on my face even bigger. When Jim announced the last song we “awww”-ed. He thanked us and all the staff again and dedicated ‘Love, Smile and go on’ to them, explaining what the song is about. The song is so beautiful that I felt tear in my eyes and looking over at Dan I saw he was the same. 🙂 I really wanted to hug him.
We all cheered for more and of course they came back. We got ‘Waiting for a Healing’ with a great sing-along. It was a joyful celebration. Then, they send us of with ‘I haven’t dreamed my last’. It was the perfect end to a wonderful show!
Afterwards I got a drink and joked with Laura and Lucas about the situation where everyone took pictures of each other and she said she thought about taking a picture of me taking a picture of the guys. 😀 I chatted with Dan for a while and finally gave him a hug, then stood with Jim and many others, listening to stories until it was time for me to say goodbye and head home. One last hug and that ends the tour for this year. Thank you, hope to see you soon.
Setlist
Obstacles
Birthrights
I hope you know
Bahnhof Friedrichstraße
Beautiful Ways
Through my Weakness
Elegy for the Dead
Memoirs from the Afterlife
The Jailer
You’re gonna be someone
The great Doomsday Story
What will you decide America?
Redemption
Guess that’s what the Gods say
Tell me where to begin
Favourite type of Sinner
Love, Smile and go on
Waiting for a Healing
I haven’t dreamed my last