Imi doream sa vad un concert Porcupine Tree inca de la In Absentia — un album pe care l-as pune fara nici o ezitare intr-un top 5 al celor mai bune albume scrise vreodata. Intr-o vreme aveam o lista cu trupe pe care as vrea sa le vad live. Pe primele 3 locuri apareau Porcupine Tree, Pain of Salvation si Neal Morse. Am reusit sa-i vad pe toti, asadar nu pot decit sa fiu satisfacut din punct de vedere concertistic :) Biletele pentru PT, le-am luat din primavara chiar la citeva zile dupa ce s-au pus in vinzare. Deschiderea unei ramuri Eventim in Romania a facut cumparatul de bilete foarte la indemana la aproape orice eveniment concertistic din Europa. O alta posibilitate a cumpararii biletelor ar fi fost prin intermediul membership-ului la Residents of a Blank Planet prin care teoretic ai fi avut ceva avantaje cum ar fi permisiunea de a intra inainte ca sa poti sa-ti alegi unde sa stai etc. Cu toate ca intentiile celor de la Porcupine Tree sunt sigur ca sunt cele mai bune pentru ca membri fanclubului sa fie avantajati, s-a dovedit ca la partea practica pot exista probleme din partea organizatorilor. Cei care aveau e-ticket-uri  primite de la fan-club au asteptat practic cu toti ceilalti unii fiind chiar ingrijorati ca e-ticket-urile nu le vor fi acceptate. Au fost lasati inauntru insa cu citeva minute inaintea celorlalti deci avantajul biletului cumparat prin intermediul fanclubului era practic nul.

Inaintea show-ului ne-am plimbat putin prin parcul unde este plasat Petofy Csarnok, si am dat chiar peste Colin Edwin care venea spre Tour Bus. E genul de tip care se pierde asa de usor prin multime, fara fite si figuri de mare muzician, genul de om care “tace si face” daca e sa ma exprim cliseistic.

Initial m-a dezamagit raspunsul organizatorilor cu privire la permisiunea de a face fotografii (cu aparate foto compacte) in timpul show-ului: “photographing is absolutely forbidden, even by mobile phone.” M-am impacat insa cu ideea de a pastra amintirile doar in memorie si de a ma bucura de fiecare secunda a show-ului, fara alte griji. Din pacate au fost destui (romani chiar) care nu au vrut sa inteleaga mesajul organizatorilor si au avut loc mici incidente.

Merchandise-ul a fost destul de subtire, poate si pentru ca turneul The Incident a trecut deja de prima jumatate si multe item-uri erau deja sold out. CD-uri nu au fost deloc cu exceptia a doua albume semnate Gavin Harrison sau Colin Edwin. Mi-am cumparat totusi doua tricouri.

In deschidere au cintat francezii de la Demians, o trupa care mi-a atras atentia anul trecut cind au scos un album de debut absolut fantastic, Building An Empire. In opinia mea a fost trupa cea mai potrivita pentru a deschide un show Porcupine Tree. Demians au cintat cam 5–6 piese, citeva de pe Building an Empire dar si de pe urmatorul material programat pentru lansare la inceputul anului 2010. Din pacate au cintat fara clapar nu stiu exact din ce motive.

Show-ul PT mi-a placut cel mai mult dintre toate concertele la care am fost pina acum (am mai vazut Dream Theater, BB King, Neal Morse, Toto, Pain of Salvation  etc.) -  si intr-un fel ma asteptam sa fie asa. Prima parte a show-ului a fost interpretarea creatiei conceptuale The Incident. Am subliniat interpretarea, pentru ca a fost mai mult decit un concert. Proiectiile video complexe din punct de vedere grafic nu te puteau lasa indiferent. Te puteau ajuta sa te identifici cu mesajul, sau dimpotriva sa te revolte, sa te intrige, sa te deranjeze dar in nici un caz sa te lase fara reactie. Gavin, the perfect drumming machine, plus Colin, un bassist extrem de tehnic si melodic, formeaza o sectie ritmica uluitoare. The Incident a fost cintat intr-o bucata, dar cu multe schimbari de instrumente si treceri de la acustic la heavy.

live photo by Alina Vadean, used with permission.

Partea a doua a constat in interpretarea a piese de pe albume anterioare, enumar citeva din memorie: The Sound of Muzak, Lazarus, The Start of Something Beautiful, Russia on Ice, Anesthetize pt 2 — The Pills I’m Taking, Way out of Here, Trains, Blackest Eyes, Normal. Cam acesta a fost playlistul la care nu am ce sa comentez. Oricum pentru mine ar fi fost bun orice alt playlist, imi place totul de la Stupid Dream incoace. Armoniile vocale (steven wilson + john wesley) au fost incredbile la fel si partile de chitara ale celor doi. Partea cea mai spectaculoasa a fost fara dubiu Anesthetize (The Pills I’m Taking).

Recomandarea mea este sa nu-i ratati daca ii prindeti prin zona.

Aici puteti citi un interviu cu Richard Barbieri realizat de Alina Vadean, iar aici gasiti mai multe poze din concert.

Setlist

1. Occam’s Razor
2. The Blind House
3. Great Expectations
4. Kneel and Disconnect
5. Drawing the Line
6. The Incident
7. Your Unpleasant Family
8. The Yellow Windows of the Evening Train
9. Time Flies
10. Degree Zero of Liberty
11. Octane Twisted
12. The Séance
13. Circle of Manias
14. I Drive the Hearse

***10 minutes break***

15. The Start of Something Beautiful
16. Russia on Ice (first part)
17. Anesthetize (middle part)
18. Lazarus
19. Way Out of Here
20. Normal
21. Blackest Eyes

***Encore***

22. The Sound of Muzak
23. Trains

Promotional band photo: PorcupineTree.com.

In ultima perioada unelte ca twitter sau facebook sunt din ce in ce mai folosite pentru social media sau microblogging. Acesta a fost si cazul meu motiv pentru care am abandonat acest blog aproape un an. Nu vad nici un sens in a posta aici texte scurte sau link-uri spre youtube (cum erau cele de la “tune of the day”) in conditiile in care imi este mult mai la-ndemana sa fac chestia asta pe twitter de exemplu. Totusi pentru texte mai lungi de 140 de caractere [:)], recenzii de albume, filme, carti, concerte, voi continua sa scriu aici chiar daca mai rar. Doar in limba romana de-acum incolo.

Stiu ca o sa fie dintre voi persoane care vor spune “Imi placea mai mult tema veche” sau vor intreba de ce am schimbat-o, asa ca in cele ce urmeaza o sa va spun cite ceva despre noul layout si motivele pentru care l-am ales. Am schimbat tema pe care o facusem eu, cu o tema premium de la Elegant Themes din mai multe motive. Am nevoie de o tema tip magazine, cu featured posts, integrare social media, ad management, SEO, twitter stream, threaded comments si in acelasi timp simpla si functionala. Integrarea acestor optiuni in tema mea ar fi presupus mult timp de lucru si consum de resurse plus ajutorul unui programator asa ca am preferat sa folosesc una gata facuta.

Am facut curatenie la postari, iar pe cele pe care le-am pastrat le-am adaptat noului layout. Am instalat un modul de comentarii care permite postarea lor direct cu ajutorul contul de facebook, twitter sau yahoo. Asta sper sa va dea mai mult curaj la comentarii :) Ca suport Social Media sunt butoane sub fiecare postare care va ajuta sa o dati mai departe. Deocamdata doar pentru twitter si facebook, nu cred ca va fi nevoie de altceva.

Feedback-ul legat de layout, sau legat de ce credeti ca e in plus sau dimpotriva ca nu este dar ar fi nevoie, este binevenit.

1. insurgentes by steven wilson

2. experiments in mass appeal by frost*

3. building an empire by demians

4. who’s the boss in the factory by karmakanic

5. lifeline by neal morse

and some other great albums as well [in no particular order]:

the garden by unitopia
mercy falls by seventh wonder
watershed by opeth
pure by pendragon
the RPWL experience by RPWL
slaves for life by amaseffer
the tall ships by it bites
sleeping in traffic pt. 2 by beardfish
the bedlam in goliath by the mars volta
final conversation of kings by the butterfly effect
payment of existence by communic
kingdom of comfort by delirious?
opposite way by leeland
schoolyard ghosts by no-man

RO

Intitial am oscilat intre bucuresti si budapesta. am ales insa budapesta din mai multe motive. ungurii vindeau deja demult biletele in timp ce romanii nici nu alesesera locatia concertului. nu se stia nici unde va fi concertul nici daca va mai fi. asta spune multe despre cum stiu romanii sa organizeze concerte. plus ca budapesta e ceva mai aproape. la ora asta nu am idee cum a fost concertul de aseara de la bucuresti cit de bine a fost organizat si cum a sunat, dar incerc sa aflu cit de curind.

Am ajuns la petofy pe la 18:15 [concertul era programat sa inceapa la 19:30]. Dupa ce am intrat insa, am reusit destul de usor sa ocupam loc chiar in primul sau al doilea rind, chestie care mi-a permis sa fac si citeva poze. Concertul mi-a placut mult desi ascult delirious de putin timp, nu prea le stiam albumele sau piesele. Ce m-a atras insa la trupa asta au fost influentele puternice U2 din muzica lor. Vocea lui Martin Smith chiar aduce a Bono de multe ori. Show-ul de vineri a fost o experienta fantastica. Soundul, jocurile de lumini, proiectiile de pe ecranul gigantic din spate, toate au fost de exceptie. Mi-au placut mult: “Solid Rock”, “History Maker” sau cele de pe cel mai recent disc [care zice-se ca n-ar fi asa bun; mie insa mi se pare foarte bun] “All God’s Children”,  “We give You Praise”, “Kingdom of Comfort” . Avind in vedere ca asta este ultimul lor turneu, ma bucur ca nu i-am ratat. Oricit de bombastic ar suna, vineri s-a facut istorie, asta ca sa ma exprim “deliric”:)

mai multe imagini de la acest concert puteti vedea aici. am mai gasit si un clip pe youtube, filmat din public destul de departe si cu sunetul cam distorsionat dar totusi surprinde ceva din atmosfera de-acolo: enjoy! Am gasit inca un scurt clip documentar cu scene din backstage facut de cei de la upzone productions. puteti sa-l vedeti aici.

EN

First I oscillated between Bucharest and Budapest. I chose Budapest for many reasons: they have been selling tickets for some time while Romanians didn’t even have the location. Nobody knew where the concert was going to take place or if it will take place at all. This says a lot about how Romanians know how to organize concerts. Plus, Budapest is closer. Right now I have no idea how the concert in Bucharest was last night, how well was organized and how it sounded, but I’ll find out soon.

We arrived at Petofy around 6.15 pm [the concert was supposed to start at 7.30]. After we got in, we managed to stay in the front and I was able to take some photos. I liked the concert a lot, even though I‘ve only been listening to Delirious quite recently and I didn’t know their albums and songs. What really attracted me was the U2 influence in their music. Martin Smith’s voice really sounded like Bono’s many times. The Friday show was an amazing experience. The sound, the lights, the screen projections, all was exceptional. I liked a lot: “Solid Rock”, “History maker” and the ones from their newest album [which is said to be not so good — I really like it]: “All God’s Children”, “We give You Praise”, “Kingdom of Comfort”. Taking into consideration that this is their last tour, I’m glad I didn’t miss them. As bombastic as it may sound, history was made on Friday, deliriously speaking.

You can see more pics from the concert here. I found a youtube video, filmed from the public; quite far and the sound is a bit distorted, but you can get the vibe. Enjoy! I found another  short documentary video with backstage scenes, this one is made by upzone productions and you can watch it here.

I saw on some website unitopia presented as a christian prog rock band. i found this interesting and I asked Sean Timms about it. He was really kind and replied; I’m gonna post his words here:

“Thanks for your kind words regarding our new CD. Greatly appreciated!!!

Even though Unitopia has been presented as a Christian Prog band, we don’t really see ourselves as such. That’s not to say that we don’t hold Christian values very highly. We do. I’m a Christian and so is Monty our drummer. (Although he’s a bit wayward at times!) As far as I know, the rest of the guys are not, but they are very respectful of other people’s beliefs. As I write or co write all of the lyrics, my Christian viewpoint is never far away. I like to provide a really positive outlook in our lyrical content. This is very important to me. Mark, my song writing partner although not a Christian as such, is still a very spiritual person who believes in a higher power, therefore we don’t have a conflict when I bring something overtly Christian in meaning to the lyrical table.

I hope this has answered your question.”

Thank you Sean!

“Rock guitarist Joe Satriani has sued Coldplay, accusing the Grammy-nominated stars of plagiarizing one of his songs.

Satriani’s copyright infringement suit, filed on Thursday in Los Angeles federal court, claims the Coldplay song “Viva La Vida” incorporates “substantial original portions” of his 2004 instrumental “If I Could Fly.”

Read the entire report from Reuters.

hm… IMO they sound too similar to be a coincidence:/

Manchester Orchestra
“I can barely breathe”

Design + Direction:
Clay Lipsky & Jason Bognacki
(aka DestroyRockMusic)
destroyrockmusic.com

“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.”

multumiri lui rarut, flaviu si cristi.

The music was great, neal had some amazing guitar solos. on sing it high he performed some extended mind blowing guitar solo. Amazing! He told us again his testimony , this time it was in words and in music as well. I actually made a request [heaven in my heart], that was a pretty funny moment, Neal said “let me try it, i haven’t played it in a while, will you help me sing it?” well, unfortunately i didn’t know the lyrics too well either, so neal played it with Will after all and it was great. So i guess i missed my chance to sing with neal on the stage lol. Maybe next time:) Here you can see more pics from that great evening. Before we headed home Neal said “may God protect you on your way home”. He did. After two amazing evenings it was time for us to go home. milu said to neal “you won’t see us tomorrow in salsburg:))” LOL.