| Jan. 29th, 2008 @ 05:42 pm Es trinken ausser mir echt nur alte Tanten Sherry... |
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Another year, another Wise Guys gig at the German School in Richmond. After a load of stress over who was going and who wasn't, and who was meeting whom where and when, The Fireman and I arrived at the school on Saturday evening to find the Russian Aristocrat (neither actually Russian nor aristocratic) outside the school. We found some seats directly behind the tech desk (sound and lighting), and the view was fine.
I don't have a setlist, unfortunately, but most of the concert's programme came from the new album, which comes out on 15th February. I think the one that made me giggle the most is "Seemann", though that may just be my own predilection for basses emerging. It ended (as I found out on asking) on a bottom C. The Russian Aristocrat claims I disapprove when he sings that low, which is patently untrue. "Die ersten warmen Tage" is a pleasant bossa nova sung by a lovely, lovely voice (no points for guessing who) and some very interesting chord progressions (probably the usual chord change that makes me swoon - from one chord to one a sixth below/third above it - but I'd need to hear it again properly to be sure). There were quite a few other songs that made me giggle, including the slightly older-new ones (i.e., ones that they already presented at last year's gig, such as Relativ, Schiller, Jeden Samstag and Paris). "Wir hatten eine gute Zeit" was one of the very new ones, which was very moving indeed - no further comment. Also, I really noticed more elaborate choreography this time around. Is it because the choreography is actually getting more elaborate, or because I am more conscious of it after being involved in dancing fairly regularly for over a year now? The second half was possibly a bit more interactive, and included some cathartic singing-along to "Nur für Dich" and "Wo der Pfeffer wächst" (they're not just breakup songs, they're just plain cathartic to sing), much bopping to the Tekkno, etc. Anyway, I hope The Fireman (who hadn't really been previously exposed to the Wise Guys to any great extent) enjoyed the gig. He had to dash off relatively quickly.
Afterwards, I completely failed to talk to anyone, because I Am Totally Chicken. Fail. Oh, actually, I managed to convey greetings from Miss Tina (who had an essay of doom thrown at her, so decided she couldn't come to the concert) to Sari, and collect photographic evidence for her. But other than that I was too timid to actually say hello. I managed *marginally* better on the Sunday, but... Why on *earth* do I go so timid at post-concert meet-and-greets? I'm certainly not like that the rest of the time! I'll have to think on that at some point. (Theory: I want to ask an interesting question that would actually spark some half-decent discussion, but then get really scared at the thought of my question being stupid after all. Meh.)
After the gig came an epic trek across London because the Russian Aristocrat and I had crashspace chez ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) dave_t_lurker, whom at this point I will once again thank for putting us up. I was very, very worried for a while as it had seemed at one point that trains in that direction had stopped, but in the end it was all OK. We took mostly overland trains back to Richmond for the Sunday gig because I didn't relish another hour-plus-long tube journey with replacement buses.
The Sunday gig was very nearly the same as the Saturday gig, but with slightly fewer people, the subtraction of The Fireman and the addition of a shortcipher. I think a few items were also moved around in the set order, if memory serves. Managed to ask Clemens about singing for them after some other gig, about two seconds before he had to leave. I'm so chicken - yes, it took me THAT long to bring up the courage. Singing's so much easier than talking ;-) Anyway, got a lift back home with shortcipher, with a detour via Watford Junction to drop off the Russian Aristocrat there in an effort to shorten his journey home. Much bread- and cake-baking was plotted on the drive back. Nom.
Summary: Two jolly good gigs, and I'm still chicken when it comes to talking to people. No change there then. |
