Tag: Zürich

Allgemein, Interviews

Nico Santos steps into the light of the music business

kekoaskorner

Nico Santos released his debut record “Streets of Gold” on Oct, 12th. “Rooftop” immediately resonated with me and it became this spring’s favourite song of mine. But he was already working behind the scenes as a singer songwriter for years. We all know Mark Forster’s “Wir sind Gross” and yes he co-wrote the song. So when I was told that I could have a quick chat with Nico Santos I was really happy and I was super excited to get to know the person behind those songs.

So Nico, you’re not a newbie in the music biz. So why did you release your debut album only just now?
I wanted to have the album just right so that I won’t say in 10 years time „Ahh I should have spent more time on it“. I wanted to have it perfect. I can listen to the record in one go and think wow I love every song so that I don’t have to skip one.
How long did it take for it to be just perfect?
Streets of Gold – the title track I wrote 4 years ago. Since then I wrote 200 or 300 songs. Those are the 14 best songs which transport the best emotions I had at that time.
Streets of Gold – What does the the name mean?
It’s about the time before I started with music, before I found the right people to play music and the desire to play music. It’s about the desire to find the right path in life. Everyone knows that feeling. And for me it was music.
The cool thing was that when I moved to Berlin I find the right guys to build a team and create my new record.
But what does it actually mean?
If you look up synonyms for lucky „Streets of Gold“ comes up so it’s the pursuit of happiness.
(A little side note on that: The saying comes from the time where Europeans immigrated to the US because people would say the streets are paved with gold over there.)
The record is so versatile. This morning you posted outtakes from your video shoot where you danced like Michael Jackson. So I assume his one of your idols but who else are your musical inspirations?
My parents, definitely. My Dad’s a Jazz musician and my Mom does rock. But other than them Chris Brown, Justin Timberlake.
Did you see them live?
Yes, both. 🙂
Prince and Stevie Wonder are inspirations too. My parents gave me a lot of music to listen to.
I think songwriting is so exciting. I saw John Legend on Saturday…
John Legend, really? That is so cool I was just googling Gigs John Legend 2019 and found nothing! Where did he play?
At the Baloise Session. It’s a very cool venue with 10 gigs over 3 weeks and you are sitting at tables with candle’s on them. It has a Jazz club vibe.
Wow that sounds really cool!
It is. Anyway John Legend mentioned that he starts with a melody and then finds words that fits the melody. What about you? How do you write your songs?
It’s different every time. I think if you had a recipe how to write good songs everyone would want it. There are certain tips or ways how it’s best to write songs. I usually sit at the piano and transport my feelings into chords. Quite often a little lyrics slice comes up and then I use my phone to write it down. I think I have like 1500 voice messages! 🙂 A lot of ideas…
But most of the time I sit at the piano like 40 / 50 % and see what happens.
Sounds a lot like John Legend! 🙂
Your stage name is Spanish and you are German. So why did you choose English as your language of music?
I grew up with English music. Back then I wasn’t interested in Spanish music and I wasn’t familiar with German music because I grew up in Mallorca. My parents inspired me with English music and that’s why English is the language I felt most comfortable with when I write songs. Now I’d gotten used to it and I feel like I can get across my feelings better in English. When I’m at songwriting sessions I see that my German isn’t as good as others. They grew up in Germany and went to school there. That’s why I’m happy to be able to sing in English and there are not many German artists singing in English.
That’s why my blog is in English too!
Kekoas Korner and Nico Santos
Your – I call it “spring hit” – was „Rooftop“. When I heard it the first time I knew I loved it immediately!
Very cool! Thank you that makes me happy 🙂
Sometimes you have those songs that you know that you love them immediately. Do you have this too and if yes, which one’s are yours?
From others or my own?
From others.
At the moment I love the record by Khalid that just came out. I just loved every song… „Better“, „Saturday Nights“… I like R’n’B a lot. 6LACK is really cool. He’s got some cool features too. Amazing record!
And now your songs?
With „Rooftop“ I had a good gut feeling. If you jump up in the studio and you’re really happy that you wrote the song then it’s a good sign. Sometimes you think it’s good and then it’s bad but if you get up…
Oh yeah, I know that feeling!
I googled and I found this Filipino actor Nico Santos. How often do you get mistaken for him? 
When „Home“ came out a lot of people wrote and tagged him by mistake because I didn’t have Instagram and Twitter. So he wrote on Twitter: „I’m not Nico Santos the singer“. It started to annoy him so he tweeted: „Nico start your own IG and Twitter account!“ And I think OK, now I really have to.
So you two are in contact?
No. He wrote it and others sent it to me and so I knew I had to something now. I’ve never met him but I think it’s funny how two complete different people have the same name.
3rd of May you’re back in Zurich at X-tra for the final gig of your tour. What do you expect from the Swiss audience?
I was in Berne at Energy Air and I had one of the coolest shows ever! The energy was unbelievable, it was a lot of fun. It’s weird because in Germany people say they’re a bit aloof and you Swiss say it too but in Berne I thought I was Justin Bieber! 😀 I pointed at something and everyone completely lost their minds. It’s not like that in Germany. I tried a few different spots and the energy was the same!
Really? I had a very different experience the last few years? Maybe it’s the front rows I’m too old for that! 🙂
Ha, no! Maybe it’s that but you know during the „ohh ohh ohh“ part I thought the whole football stadium sang with me!
Cool, so the same at X-tra in May! 😀
The same at X-tra in May, yes 🙂
Last question:
What needs to happen that you say „Yup I made it“ with my music?
I don’t think this exists. I never want to have this thought. Music is ambitious as well as your whole life. I don’t think there’s ever a point where I say „Now I have 100 golden records“ I made it. I think my wish is that I can make music my whole life and be happy and then, yes, then I made it 😀
Fan questions: 
Daniela who’s joining us at the gig in May asked: What made you step in front of the mic and not only write music for others anymore?
It always was a bit of a wish for me. When „Home“ worked in Germany with my voice, a song that I wrote in my when I was little, I thought it be cool to do my own music. The song was a bit too deep house for me so I wanted to do my own and perform them. That was the first moment I thought OK now I gotta start doing it.
Then I wrote „Safe“ and after that „Rooftop“.
Kellin asked: What’s your dream location where you want to perform?
Madison Square Garden. Every artist wants to play there 🙂
True. I heard it before in my previous interviews.
I heard that Stromae is the only French singing musician that sold out Madison Square Garden twice. If you managed to that, that’s not too bad!
And I’d love to play Plaça de toros de Palma in Mallorca.
Oh wow, yes that’s a great location 🙂 I think that’s where the show „Wetten dass“ was filmed. Have you been in that location?
Yes, I actually watched “Wetten dass“ and another programme where Melanie C performed her hit „Never be the same again“.
Last Fan Question from Anna: What’s you favourite dessert?
It changed recently! Now it’s cheesecake.
What was it before cheesecake?
Everything with ice cream. It didn’t matter it just needed ice cream. I ate like 3 ice creams a day and now it’s cheesecake. Princess Cheesecake in Berlin is awesome. People might start saying „Nico stop it“.
I totally get what you mean I don’t know how people can have summer bodies! I have the best ice cream guy around the corner called Gelati am See and I’m there every lunch time.
Yeah, everyone talks about summer bodies but I don’t know how they do it either.
So that was it! Thank you so much Nico!
Cool, thank you!

Get your tix for Nico Santos’ show on May 3rd at X-tra via Ticketcorner. Check out “Streets of Gold” and leave a comment below which song is your favourite or head over to Instagram and let me know there 🙂

P.S: Please vote for Nico Santos to win this year’s Bambi award: https://www.bambi.de/nico-santos

Allgemein, Concerts

Max Giesinger: Vom Eichhörnli über Kuschelrock zu Tretbootfahren

kekoaskorner

Letztes Jahr durfte ich Max Giesinger an der Baloise Session zum ersten Mal live sehen. Ich hatte total falsche Vorstellungen und innerhalb von weniger Minuten hatte Max Giesinger mich zum Fan gemacht. Natürlich wusste ich, dass ich mir die Chance ihn im Dynamo zu sehen, nicht entgehen lassen kann.

2018-09-09 20.40.53
Chris James – der Support – ist Deutscher macht aber Musik in Amerika. Er hat echt toll Lieder und war super sympathisch. Die Leute wurden super aufgewärmt und ich würde mir den Namen merken 🙂
2018-09-09 21.30.42
Kurz vor 21.00 Uhr dröhnte plötzlich Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic” aus den Lautsprechern. Die Leute fingen schon an zu Tanzen. Das Licht wurde ausgemacht und Max’s Band kam auf die Bühne. Nach einem kurzen Intro kam Max Giesinger auf die Bühne und sie fingen mit “Roulette” an. Aber zuerst wurde die erste Reihe per High Five gegrüsst und dem Rest wurde zugewunken. Aber das war noch nicht alles! Max besuchte die Party People in der Mitte, in dem er kurzerhand über die Schranken ins Publikum sprang. Ein kurzer Remix mit Pharrell Williams “Get Lucky” lag auch noch drin 🙂
2018-09-09 21.31.12
Die 5 Jungs spielten am Tag vorher am Energy Air for 40’000 Zuschauer und natürlich ging die Party Backstage weiter. Deshalb war am Sonntag ausschlafen und chillen angesagt. Da der Sommer in die Verlängerung geht, konnten die Jungs in der Limmat schwimmen – Ja Max der Fluss heisst Limmat nicht Rivella 😀 Nach dem kurzen Wintereinbruch letzte Woche sind wir wieder im Sommer. Der beste Song dafür hat Max Giesinger natürlich im Gepäck: “Kalifornien”. Die Jungs haben sich natürlich nicht eingecremt und nen dicken Sonnenbrand eingeholt. Also bitte Leute immer eincremen auch im September! 🙂
Einer meiner Lieblingssongs im Moment ist “Legenden”. An der Weltklasse Zürich wurde das Lied am Schluss gespielt und für mich war das einfach der perfekte Song im perfekt Moment. Eine Stadiumhymne, die auch im kleinen funktioniert. Wie Max gestern erzählt hat, man möchte ja als Künstler immer grösser werden, aber es ist genauso schön in kleinen Clubs zu spielen. Man spürt die Energie und sieht die Leute. “Ultraviolett” von seiner zweiten CD war als nächstes dran. Während “Für Dich, Für Mich” sangen wir “Ohhh ohhh ohh” und bei “Nicht so schnell” wavten wir mit den Armen 🙂 Ein wunderschöner Song bei dem man genau auf den Text achten sollte.
2018-09-09 22.07.48
Max sass dieses Jahr in der Jury von The Voice Kids und fand ein Schweizer Talent: Flavio Rizello. Natürlich hat er ihn jetzt eingeladen, mit ihm zu singen. Die beiden sangen “Feeling Good” und ich hatte echt Gänsehaut. Ich hätte nie gedacht, dass Flavio eine so tolle Stimme hat. Max meinte, dass nicht mal er mit 14 so gut gesungen hat – vielleicht nicht mal jetzt 😀 Nach einem kurzen Umbau stellte Max mit viel Witz seine Band vor. Die 5 sassen nun nebeneinander und spielten eines meiner Favoriten: “Die Guten Tage strahlen”. Das Lied hat einen Country-Music-Touch und ist einfach nur super toll.


 
Wieder ein kurzer Umbau und da ich ganz links war, sah ich ein weisses T-Shirt hinter dem abgetrennten Teil nach hinten rennen. Ich wusste, dass muss Max sein 😀 Niemand sah ihn zum Sound laufen. Die meisten schauten mich komisch an, weil ich immer nach hinten schaute… Als das Licht dann auf ihn gerichtet wurde, war es den Leuten klar warum ich nach hinten schaute, anstatt nach vorne wie sie 😀 “Der Junge, der rennt” sang Max Giesinger in Mitten des Publikums. Ich finde es einfach toll, wie nah Max Giesinger am Publikum ist. Man merkt einfach, wie viel Freude es ihm macht und er einfach nur dankbar ist, dass er nun vor grösserem Publikum spielen darf.
2018-09-09 22.12.51
Dieser Hit durfte natürlich nicht fehlen und alle erkannten ihn sofort als Max Giesinger das Harmonium in die Hand nahm. Nach “Wenn sie tanzt” hatte Max noch etwas vorbereitet. Er spielte einige Takte z.B. von Lambada auf dem Harmonium und wir sangen sie nach. It was a lot of fun! 😀 Dann meinte Max, er möchte bei jedem Besuch einige Wörter auf Schweizerdeutsch dazu lernen. Dieses Mal waren es zwei: Erstens Chuchichäschtli – was natürlich jeder Schweizer als Paradebeispiel benutzt – und zweitens und jetzt kommts Eichhörnli! Flavio hatte ihm das beigebracht 😀 So ein nützliches Wort, nicht wahr?!
2018-09-09 22.49.50
Der nächste Beat kannten alle und da wir so ein musikalisches Publikum waren, fingen wir sofort an “We Will Rock You” zu klatschen und zu singen. Max liess sich sofort darauf ein und sang die erste Strophe und der Refrain bevor er dann ins nächste Lied “Vielleicht im nächsten Leben” einstieg. Max Giesinger erzählte nun von seiner Jugend. Er besitzt jede Ausgabe der Kuschelrock-CD vor allem die Nummer 18 bedeutete ihm viel 😀 Deshalb spielte die Band und Max ein Medley aus 90’s Songs: Can’t Stop von den Red Hot Chili Peppers, Don’t let go von En Vogue und eines meiner Lieblingslieder – das normalerweise nur Pink covern darf – What’s up?! von den 4 Non Blondes. Einfach nur toll!
2018-09-09 23.03.42
Im November kommt die neue CD und “Wir Waren Hier” wird da drauf sein. Es ist die Geschichte von Max Giesinger, der sich vom  Strassenmusiker zum Berufsmusiker durchkämpfte. Ein toller Song mit tollem Text! Natürlich geht Max nächstes Jahr wieder auf Tour. Er wird am 10. März im Kaufleuten spielen. Tickets sind ab Freitag auf Starticket verfügbar. Leider war es nun schon Zeit, dass sich die Jungs von uns verabschiedeten. Aber natürlich nur für ein paar Minuten. Mit seinem Mega-Hit “80 Millionen” meldeten sie sich zurück. Nachdem wir als Background-Chor ausgedient haben, holte sich Max 3 kleine Mädchen auf die Bühne. Ein mega süsser Kinderchor und sicher ein Erlebnis, dass die kleinen nie mehr vergessen werden! Max Giesinger sang mit den super textsicheren Kiddies und wir waren ganz still und lauschten 🙂
Nach 2 Stunden war das Ende nah und die 5 Jungs spielten “Für immer”. Der perfekte Abschluss für einen tollen Konzertabend der mit dem folgenden Text endete:

Du hast gesagt du bleibst für immer, für immer
Du hast gesagt du bleibst für immer
dass wir die Lichter sehen, bis die Musik ausgeht

Ach ja, was noch zu sagen bleibt. Lieber Max, natürlich kannst du in Zürich Tretboot fahren aber hier heisst’s Pedalo fahren! 😀
Möchtest du deine Erinnerungen deines letzten Max-Giesinger-Konzertes teilen? Dann schreib doch unten die Kommentare oder schau auf Instagram vorbei 🙂

Check out my latest gigs: Billy Talent, Sons of the East, Selah Sue

 

Allgemein, Concerts

Freedom Child Tour Diary: Zurich – Six Degrees of Emotions

kekoaskorner

The Swiss The Script Family has been waiting for this for three years and finally on March 8th we were blessed with a gig or so we thought. Unfortunately the flu made the rounds and Danny caught a chest and a viral infection so the gig was cancelled. However the outcome I had an amazing day with lots of good friends. Let me share some emotions with you.
I woke up feeling very excited which is very unlike me before a The Script gig. I couldn’t wait to get to Hallenstadion and meet everyone. So at 2.30 I walked to the venue and met already people I know on the way. I felt really happy and excited. It was like a big family reunion. Two of us stood at the other end of the venue and tried to catch a glimpse of the band. The majority gathered in front of the entry. So what to do for the next 3 hours? Two of us found 2 Lime Bike’s laying around so they circled the venue.
The 2nd time they came around they brought bad news. The gig is cancelled. Our first thought: Yeah right. I don’t believe it. Then I got a text from the 2 on the other end. Security went home. Gig cancelled. No way?! Let me call the venue. Yes, gig cancelled. Seriously? This can’t be happening?! We decided to stay and wait for the lads to tell us or tweet us. Again people started circling the venue to get more info. We don’t believe it. Finally we found Matt – one of the roadies – Yes, gig is cancelled. Unbelievable…
We all started getting texts from people at home. We heard rumours that the gig is cancelled is it true? Do you know more? It was 3, 3.30 and more and more sources started to confirm it. However Good News the organiser still told people they don’t know anything while the venue confirmed it right away. I think they were already trying to reschedule the gig. I’ve heard they tried to do it on Saturday but I am glad that they didn’t do it. People forget that performers are still human. Yes, they get most likely super great care but still a chest infection hurts and takes weeks to heal. We love them and we want them to be healthy and happy to perform. A cancelled gig is never fun but we understand.
I completely understand if people are upset about having paid accommodation and travel fees but then again would you really want someone sick performing? Put yourself in their shoes and then ask yourself would you be able to perform a two hour gig? No. I read a few comments when Lady Gaga and Helene Fischer cancelled their gigs of people saying they should pay for their travel expenses. They were angry and didn’t even consider another persons health! That’s why I am glad they The Script didn’t reschedule to Saturday! In fact I would have understood if they cancelled Milano and Vienna too. This would have given them a week of rest and they’d be ready to rock out the two sold out shows in Amsterdam and Paddy’s day in Brussels.
But you know them they don’t cancel gigs lightly. So I’m actually sitting on the train to Milano not knowing if the gig tonight is going ahead or not. But you know what?? I am not even the slightest bit worried. If it doesn’t go ahead I still had a nice day out and I’m meeting another member of our The Script family! How great is that?!
Back to yesterday’s events. Like I said we all had messaged floating in from people at home and we all told them to stay at home and wait for the announcement at 4! At 4 The organiser finally announced that the gig was cancelled. So it was finally official plus the lads posted a video which got deleted shortly after for whatever reasons and got replaced by an official message. So if people traveling from far away didn’t have someone at the venue who told them to stay home by the time the cancellation was official they would have been already on their way. That’s why we saw lots of people with sad faces later that night.
All 18 of us stayed at the venue because we wanted to quickly speak to Glen and Mark. Me personally I wanted to know about Milano and what they were planning about tomorrow’s gig. So a little while later someone managed to see Glen and he was quite positive about Milano so let’s see! I will keep you posted. At 7 Mark came out and spoke the ones left however I was too cold and too hungry so we left right before. But seriously can I just say how cool it is that they come out at this huge venue and talk to us? How many artists do this? Not many…
And what did Ella Eyre do? She went to the zoo and enjoyed her day off like the other guys from the crew. They finally had some time to get a drink in Zurich. So to some it was a blessing, to some it was devastation and to others it was a fun day out. To finish this article with words of the Script: All we heard is nothing… but at least we got a poster! 😉
Want to share your experience? Leave a reply below.

Allgemein, Concerts

Galantis lit up Halle 622

kekoaskorner

Thanks to me winning Gadget‘s concert pass 2018 I am able to choose gigs and experience different kinds of music for free. So I decided to give Galantis a shot at winning me over even if house dance music is really not mine. I went to the concert completely unprepared and was ready to just be open minded.
Luckily I found two good concert buddies. One has seen them before (Check out Loads of Music) and one is a pro in this genre. At 9 the two Swedish lads took the stage and the party started. However my party didn’t start. I realised that it really wasn’t my music and I only liked the songs where they remixed “Rather Be” and Katy Perry’s “Feels” into it. Of course the only two songs I knew “Runaway” and “No Money” were pretty cool too. Galantis had also a pretty cool feature with a guy called Wrabel. He’s got an amazing voice! You should check him out. After a little more than an hour Galantis left the stage we were quite disappointed. My friend said that they weren’t good at changing songs and the messed up the drop. So I won’t be going into much detail here and let short videos on instagram and pictures speak for themselves:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.


P.S: I loved the confetti! 🙂 And my Loads of Music concert buddy wants me to add that “Peanut Butter Jelly” was just the best and believe me it obviously was her highlight. My highlight of the evening was being together with two incredibly lovely ladies and having a good time! So Galantis did make us have a good time which I think is so important.
Have you seen Galantis live? Leave a reply below and let me know your opinion! 🙂

Wanna check out my latest gigs: Tom Grennan, Alt-J, Dermot Kennedy

 

Allgemein, Concerts

Ich bin ein Marteria Girl / I am a Marteria Girl

kekoaskorner

I go to concerts a lot – even more now since I started this blog. I knew that this concert would be special and just f****** amazing so I was excited since July after the Gurtenfestival gig. The review of his new record Roswell was one of my first blog posts because let’s face it he is one of my favourite artists.
I went to the venue early and luckily I made it to front row! This is the only place at the Marteria gig for me 🙂 The support act Kid Simius is Marteria’s buddy and bass player but it was just not for me.

DSC05884
Pic by Denise Stocker

Finally at 8.50 the familiar sound of “Roswell” rang around Samsung Hall! The concert started and my excitement levels went through the roof. Everyone was already all in and many concerts don’t even reach that kind of atmosphere during the last songs. On it went with “Aliens”. We are all Aliens! And obviously Marteria addressed the seats on the balcony.

This is a Marteria concert. Nobody is sitting down. Everybody is standing up! All Hands!

His favourite sentence is: “Alle Hände!” and everyone complies. With “Endboss” he performed one of his earlier tracks which I only got to really love during this tour. My bad I know 🙂 When I say he performed it’s not quite accurate. Marteria has 3 background singers (one of which is pregnant and still gives her all on stage), 1 rap buddy Pete Boateng and four musicians playing various instruments on stage. With two new Roswell tracks “Scotty beam mich hoch” and “El Presidente” the show continued.
 


During “Bengalische Tiger” someone smuggled in a red pyro and lit it up in the back of the hall. It looked amazing however I understand that it is very dangerous! And another two of Marteria’s Roswell “Tauchstation” and “Blue Marlin” were next. They are slower but still full of energy and obviously ALLE HÄNDE were up high. Next we had to do the peace sign and the old “Skyline” of New York was shown on the screen.
 

For “Neue Nikes” Marteria always asks: “What shoes are you wearing tonight?!” and yes, of course there a few guys wearing Nikes and had to show them up high. During the whole song lots of Nikes were bouncing in the air. When the first chords of this next song started I knew that this concert is going by much to fast and I really really don’t want it to end. One of my favs “Marteria Girl” came on and if you wondered No I didn’t find a big  dude to carry me for this song. I know I failed but thankfully I was front row and had still good views. 😉 So yes people: Ich bin ein Marteria Girl / I am obviously a Marteria Girl but who wouldn’t be? Have you looked at him?! 🙂

DSC05854
Pic by Denise Stocker

The three background singers each got a solo part. The girl from Brazil Solange did an amazing job rapping during “El Presidente”, the blonde newbie Madeleine Rauch during this song “Verstrahlt” and the pregnant lady Hanife will be doing hers later. After “Grosse Brüder” the band turned it down and Marteria sat down to sing a song for his son “Louis”.
 


It was a really lovely quiet moment but now the beat came back and we splashed some virtual money around for “Das Geld muss weg”. “Links” followed” with the words spread across the huge LED screen in the back. Marteria left the stage only to come back as his Alter Ego Marsimoto.
2017-12-09 23.24.18
Marsi is a green alien coming from space with lots of smoke… which made it quite hard to breathe for the security and the first few rows. He was allowed 4 songs “Grüner Samt”, “Kleine Bühne”, “Nazi” and the last song of Marsimoto “Döner”. Marsi went back to space and Marteria came back with the three hits which made him known to the mainstream. First up “OMG” and everyone went crazy for it. If you thought this was loud and crazy then you were wrong. With “Kids” the crowd went bonkers and literally EVERYBODY was singing along. The atmosphere was just full of energy and of people who were there to have a good time.

Alle haben ‘nen Job — ich hab Langeweile!
Keiner hat mehr Bock auf Kiffen, Saufen, Feiern
So ist das hier im Block, Tag ein Tag aus
Halt mir zwei Finger an den Kopf und mach:
Peng! Peng! Peng! Peng!

“Lila Wolken” is still one of my favourite songs ever and the pregnant singer Hanife straight from Hamburg city sang the part of Miss Platnum. Pete Boateng did the male singing part and Marteria his rap part. Just a beautiful song which will always remind me of the set at Gurtenfestival when we stayed up until the clouds really were purple again from the morning sun. I guess it was just a special night back then and it couldn’t be topped by this one. However I am not saying that last night wasn’t great because it was f***** awesome! The sound was amazing, the audience were brilliant, the band was incredible so this will deffo make my top 10 of the best concerts this year.
 


The band left the stage for the encore only to come back to sing “Welt Der Wunder”. Everyone in the audience lit up their phone or the lighter and a beautiful sea of lights made a wonderful background to this amazing song. Marteria raps:

Denn wir leben auf einem Blauen Planeten
Der sich um einen Feuerball dreht
Mit ‘nem Mond der die Meere bewegt
Und du glaubst nicht an Wunder
We live on a blue planet
Which is turning around a fireball
With a moon that moves the seas
And you don’t believe in wonders?!

If you haven’t looked at Marteria’s lyrics you should definitely do so now. He always has very smart lyrics and each time I listen to a song carefully I discover new little rhymes which I love. During “Feuer” everyone has to jump and this song is just full of party and energy and after two hours Marteria still got everyone under control. Everyone’s hands are up and singing/rapping along. Okay and now:

Welcome to the last 20 seconds of this song

Those 20 seconds last about 7 mins and it really is the last song of the night. Everyone should take of their shirts and wave them in the air during the 20 seconds of the song. Me as a pro Marteria girl I always take a scarf with me 😉 During the next 20 seconds the boys who took off their shirt will throw them through the air and this is done repeatedly. And again welcome to the last 20 seconds of this song Marteria walked through the crowd into the mosh pit in the middle. And again it’s jumping and waving and pushing time with Marteria right there in the midst of his crowd. Yesterday he wasn’t even able to get back so he just crowd surfed back during another last 20 seconds of the song. And finally the concert has ended. Marteria walks through the first row and high fives everyone. Back on stage he says thank you for coming out and always supporting us since the early days in Abart, Komplex 457 and now tonight 5000 people!
 


 
In his Instagram stories you saw that he was struggling with a flu and he still went on stage and you didn’t see a thing. He and his band gave us 200% of energy and we did our best to give it back to them. Again I have to say those kinds of artists are well worth supporting! Thank you to Mainland Music for bringing me to this awesome gig! Lastly I want to say thank you Marteria and Ich bin ein Marterial Girl forever! 🙂
Indicated pictures by Denise Stocker: http://www.kaulphotographs.com/
Have you been to one of Marteria’s gigs? Yes?! Share your story here in the comments or on my social media accounts Facebook, Instagram, Twitter!

Check out my last gigs: Xavier Naidoo, Mando Diao, Texas.

 

Allgemein, Concerts

Xavier Naidoo – A little heaven on earth / Ein bisschen Himmel auf Erden

kekoaskorner

Xavier Naidoo and his angelic voice brought his “Nicht von dieser Welt” tour to Zurich. On Monday I got a message that I’ve won in the advent calendar of Hallenstadion and so I was able to spend “Samichlaus” day in my 2nd living room 🙂 I really want to thank Hallenstadion for this amazing gift!
When I arrived at the Hallenstadion it was chaos. The people arrived by car and had to wait for a parking spot and then they were waiting in front of the venue to get in. Xavier Naidoo even had to delay the start of his set because half of the audience wasn’t in yet. This very quiet reflective concert was perfect after this troublesome start. We took our seats very close to the stage which was set in the middle of the Hallenstadion.
2017-12-07 00.20.07
At 8.20 Xavier Naidoo and three other musicians took the stage. They started with one of my favourite songs “Wo Willst Du Hin?” and I was totally in awe of these incredible musicians. I knew that I would love Xavier’s voice but this being an acoustic set the instruments were very prominent too. The drummer had lots of different instruments around him and it was incredible to see how easily he switched from one to the other. I loved the yellow egg thingy on the floor. I loved the sound of this very special drum instrument.


Xavier spoke a lot before and after every song. He explained why he wrote the song and why it’s important to him. I really really loved that. He was also quite funny. The musicians played “20’000 Meilen” and “Alles kann besser werden” which is another beautiful song and inspired me to this blog posts title. Xavier’s voice is a God given talent and listening to him brings a little bit of heaven to earth.

Alles kann besser werden
Holen wir uns den Himmel auf Erden
Alles soll besser werden
Holen wir uns den Himmel auf Erden
Alles wird besser werden
Wir holen uns den Himmel auf Erden
Und keiner muss sein Leben mehr gefährden
Einer der kostbarsten Schätze auf Erden

He sang a few songs which had various views of people in war and others were criticising our society. Xavier took a stand and the Swiss audience applauded ferociously. One of my favourite moments of the night was the song called “Still” (“Quiet”). You could hear a pin drop and I’ve never heard so many people being this quiet. We were all listening to Xavier’s pure angelic voice. I had goosebumps and closed my eyes to enjoy this very special moment. “Hört hört” (“Listen listen”) followed after being quiet for a song. And just before the 20 minute break a really special and beautiful love song was played “Sie Sieht Mich Nicht”. This song was the title track of the Asterix & Obelix movie in 1999.
2017-12-06 23.52.59
After the break the slow meaningful songs continued. Lots of lyrics to learn and I think this is why Xavier had a song book in front of him to help with the words. However you never ever had the feeling that he needed to look into it. He can put so much feeling into his songs. It is just WOW! He then said that it is always special to perform in front of amazing musicians who are sat in the audience. I wondered who it was but I didn’t need to wait long for the introduction of Seven! The two met a few years back at the brilliant Blue Balls festival in Lucerne and they participated in the VOX show “Sing meinen Song” and tonight they sang Sam Cookes “A Change is gonna come”. Absolutely stunning!
2017-12-06 23.48.49
And just before the encore one of the most amazing love songs was played “Ich kenne Nichts”. The whole Hallenstadion sang along and at the end we were split into two choirs. First up were the women singing the chorus but as Xavier said this song was written by a man to serenade a woman he asked just the men to sing. Surprisingly a very strong sounding men choir sang “Ich Kenne Nichts, das schön ist wie du”.
2017-12-06 22.09.31
Xavier Naidoo asked us if we need to do this silly game of him going off stage just to come back to do a few more songs. Obviously the answer was no and so he stayed and gave his encore just like that. “Dieser Weg” was his last song and the whole Hallenstadion stood up and sang together with Xavier. He finished the concert with the words:

Thank you for coming! Have a safe journey home.

2017-12-06 21.55.21
I love artists who do that. Again I want to thank the Hallenstadion for this amazing gift of an incredible night and a lot of special moments with my concert buddy. And finally I want to thank Xavier Naidoo for three hours heaven on earth. Gott schütze dich!
Have you been to Xavier Naidoo’s concerts? Please let me know how you felt about it in the comments below or on my social media accounts Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
Take a look at my last three concerts: Mando Diao, Texas, JP Cooper.

Allgemein, Concerts

Wakey Wakey Zurich! It's Mando Diao!

kekoaskorner

On Tuesday night I got to see Mando Diao at Kaufleuten thanks to Mainland Music. The venue was sold out and it was quite packed. Luckily I found a good spot on the balcony. The Swedish lads have been around for ages but I never managed to see them live so I was super excited to cross them off my bucket list.
Razz
First up were a German band called RAZZ who reminded me of The New Cities. I liked their music but they couldn’t fully catch my attention. Nevertheless it was a good warm up and the sound suited Mando Diao.
Mando Diao
At 8.30 the lights went off and a long intro started. Finally the 5 musicians came on stage and the energy immediately radiated off them. With “San Francisco Bay” and “All the Things” they literally tried to wake us up and Björn the lead singer asked the crowd to come even closer to the stage. So his first words to us were:

Wakey Wakey Zurich!

“Sweet Ride” was next and one of my favourite songs of the night was “Good Times”. I loved the vibe and the good feeling the song transported. It will deffo make my playlist. We were asked to put our hands up and everyone complied. This was the perfect way to get everyone clapping. It looked amazing from the balcony and the Kaufleuten was buzzin’. “All my senses”, “Dancing all the way to hell” and “One two three” followed and by then I knew I should have seen them live sooner. Mando Diao is an absolute force on stage and they are making sure that you will have a good time for around 100 minutes of your day.
Mando Diao
The lights were amazing and different for every song. During “Mr. Moon” and “The Band” I looked around the audience and everyone had a smile on their face and were dancing. During “Break Us” only Björn Dixgard and the first Mando Diao member Daniel Haglund were on stage. Together they played this beautiful ballade – moment to just enjoy. Björn’s voice is quite remarkable. It seems like he drinks Whiskey for breakfast to get this beautiful raspy voice.
2017-11-28 22.00.08
The three others came back and the rock show continued with “Voices on the radio”, “Watch me now” and “Down in the past”. The guys did an amazing job to include everyone. Even the people on the balcony were involved. Mando Diao created a great atmosphere! Suddenly it felt like Kaufleuten turned the heating on. The warmth was rising from the people below or maybe it was just because Björn took of his shirt? 😉
2017-11-28 23.09.58
Before we were all looking for that special girl in the audience we rocked to “You got nothing on me”. And there she was “Gloria” – a huge hit and everyone knew it so we were asked to sing the chorus. So everyone shouted “Gloria” but the rest of the lyrics were quite a mumble which made even the band smile. So here are the lyrics for next time:

So Gloria steps out from the prison
Gloria’s no longer the wasted disco girl
You’ve been dreaming about
Gloria, alone now forever
Gloria, away in the air now
Gloria, she’s no longer your slave, no, no

The Swedes left the stage after they played “Ochrasy” but of course they were brought back thanks to a continuous very loud cheer of the Kaufleuten audience. “Child” was the first encore but obviously they hadn’t played two of their biggest hits yet. So “Shake” was next and literally everybody was shaking their body and singing as loud as they could. During the song Björn went off stage and Jens Siverstedt took the mic. He introduced the bass player Carl-Johan Fogelklou, the drums Patrik Heikipieti – the beast from the north! – and Daniel on the keys.


Björn rejoined the band to sing one last song: “Dance with Somebody”! The energy level rose to the max and I guess this is why Mando Diao plays the smaller clubs. This kind of energy is quite hard to reach in bigger venues. I could see everyone’s hands in the air and we were all singing along. Patrik joined the four musicians in the front and the 5 stood there to orchestrate the Kaufleuten crowd. So the gig ended with a choir of

I’m falling in love with your favorite song
I’m gonna sing it all night long
I’m gonna dance with somebody
Dance with somebody
Dance, dance, dance

I absolutely loved this end to an amazing rock gig. Björn said they were proud to sing in front of us and thanked us for coming out to see them since without us they’d still be a band playing in a garage. These are the kind of artists I want to support with my hard earned money. A Mando Diao Fan is born – I know I’m a bit late to the party but hey better late than never! 😉 Hopefully they’ll be back for some festivals in the summer so I really have to start listening to their newest record “Good Times“.
Did you enjoy yesterday’s gig as much as me? Leave a comment and share your opinion below or on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Allgemein, Artist2watch

Artists2watch: Tom Grennan & Jake Isaac

kekoaskorner

Just Because is bringing two amazing artists to Zurich in December and you can still get tix for both shows. Both musicians are born in England and very talented. In any case if you love amazing music from artists who will make it big one day but are at the start it is well worth to check out other shows of Just Because. They have a talented in booking brill musicians like Jacob Banks or Angus & Julia Stone.

Tom Grennan

Let’s start with Tom Grennan. He made it onto the BBC sound of 17 list which is a huge indicator that he will make it big soon. Previous nominees are Ellie Goulding, Adele, Hurts and the list goes on and on. Tom Grennan already had a hit as the voice of Chase and Status’s song “When it all goes wrong” which was named as the hottest record by Annie Mac. Before that he was busking on the streets of London and now he is working with the producer of Florence & the Machines for his debut record. All of this sounds super promising but as you know I can only judge someone after seeing him live.
Tom Grennan plays the Papiersaal on Dec, 17th and tickets are available on starticket. But of course YouTube allows us to check his music out before the show and boy he sounds really really good and I totally understand why he made the sound of 17 list. But have a listen for yourself:

 
His voice is amazing, innit? 😉 Tom Grennan has a nice raspy voice and seems very down to earth. And like I already mentioned I think he is a super talented singer songwriter and I am very much looking forward to see him in December.

Jake Isaac

Jake Isaac is playing the Papiersaal on Dec, 10th and tickets are also available on starticket. He’s played Glastonbury and supported Ella Eyre and Paloma Faith. To me that shows he must be very good and it is well worth to spend a few quids on a ticket to his gig. After a few EP’s Jake Isaac released his debut record this May called “Our Lives” and he was signed to a record label called Rocket Records which is owned by the legendary Elton John. But enough about his background, let’s listen to some music:

 
Jake has a very warm deep voice and I know that I will be clapping my hands a lot. He’s just got that rhythm and soul that I love and he really does remind me a bit of Jacob Banks. Since he has already been on tour I’m expecting a good show and lots of good music.
Sometimes it’s the smaller shows that will be in your mind for quite a long time. Do you know why? Because the musician can actually see the people and even a small conversation can arise. JP Cooper or The Coronas are good examples for that. So if you decide to go to these gigs please let me know and say hi. I’d love to get to know my reader’s opinion 🙂

Allgemein, Concerts

Angus and Julia Stone brought a whole lotta love from down under

kekoaskorner

A few weeks ago I wrote about their newest album Snow in my New Music category. So I was quite curious how Angus and Julia Stone sounded live and lucky for me Just Because made it happen. I was quite afraid that I wouldn’t like Julia’s voice since it’s quite mellow and usually I don’t like that kind of voice. Little did I know that I’d be a fan by the end of the night.
Isaac Gracie
Isaac Gracie opened the night. He has a special voice and it was nice listening to him. However it seemed like he didn’t click with the audience even though he seemed super nice. Maybe it was just because the venue was too big for him.
Finally just after 9pm the siblings took the stage and I immediately was super impressed. They had a huge LED screen in the back where beautiful pictures were shown. In front of that screen Angus and Julia Stone had a totem which had LED lights included too. A smoke machine run wild with a lot of smoke coming off the stage. All of this created a mysterious atmosphere.
Angus and Julia Stone
The two were accompanied by four other musicians coming together from all over the world. They started with “Baudelaire”  and “Make it out alive”. Then they directed a few words towards the crowd and I could see that they loved to be here and enjoyed being on stage. Next we heard “Cellar door” and “Heart beats”. By then I was in love with them. The artists created a beautiful atmosphere with their music, their stage and spreading the love all around Zurich.


The new song “Chateau” came on and I loved it! It is such a beautiful song and live it was even better. The voice of Angus is much stronger and deeper live and Julias is just incredibly beautiful. My worries that I wouldn’t like her voice were blown away in an instant. I enjoyed every song 🙂
IMG-20171027-WA0015
Julia then said that she loved writing love songs which the next song “Wherever you are” is. In “Bloodhound” Angus took the lead with his raspy voice and I adored it. Their harmonies were incredible and you could sense that the two of them know each other since they were kids. All guitar lovers were made happy too with the wonderful guitars (including a banjo) Angus and the other musicians played.

“Private Lawns”,”Who do you think” and “Nothing Else” were the songs before the big big hit “Big Jet Plane”. Everyone seemed to know the it and sang along. Julia asked the audience to get out ours phones and light it up. This created and incredible sight to a beautiful song. They seemed to enjoy it as much as we do. Being at concerts as often as I am I mostly enjoy the concerts where the artist loves to be there too. So this was definitely one! For the next song “For You” Julia explained the story behind it. She was dating a guy for 8 years when they broke up. She realised later that she was still in love with him so she wrote this song on guitar hero (How adorable! :-)) and sent it to him in an e-mail.

If I talk real slowly
If I try real hard
To make my point dear,
That you have my heart

It took him weeks to write back but eventually he did. It said “Cool song!” and attached was a random song he wrote which was a mix of metal and hip hop. My heart flew out to her.


The duo introduced the next song “My House” by saying:

We are in your house and you are kinda in our house

So this is what the next song is about. Such a lovely song and we had to help them sing the chorus which created a unifying atmosphere full of love. For the title track “Snow” they brought out the big guns. In the middle of the song it literally started snowing and it wouldn’t stop. What a wonderful idea! This seemed like the last song to me but they only disappeared for the encore and came back to sing 3 more songs. “A Heartbreak” and “Uptown” of their own songs. But they finished with a shanty called “Stonecutters” since they grew up with sailing parents and grand parents. I love those kinds of songs and it was the perfect end to a wonderful evening.
2017-10-26-22-27-09.jpg
If you can make sure to check out Angus and Julia Stone live. Click here to check out their  tour dates!
Were you at the concert in Zurich or in Geneva? Let me know how you liked Angus and Julia Stone in the comments below.
 

Allgemein, New Music

New Music: Angus & Julia Stone's Snow

kekoaskorner

The Folk/Pop Duo Angus & Julia Stone are siblings from down under. They started out in 2006 and have released four albums so far. The latest one called “Snow” came out in September. This gave them a good excuse to go on a world tour which also stops in Switzerland twice. They play the Samsung Hall on Oct. 26th and Arena Geneva on Oct. 28th. Get your tickets here.
But I get it. You need more info before you get your tickets. Okay! So let me introduced them. They wrote and produced their “Snow” album completely by themselves but they had a good teacher. Their previous self-titled album was produced by Rick Rubin. Who is a magician in his job and has a long list of artists he has worked with to prove it. Let me name just a few: Justin Timberlake, Adele, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lady Gaga, Ed Sheeran and Eminem. But let’s stop with the chatter and listen to some music!

“Chateau” is their newest track off their album. This song transforms you back to a warm summer day where you’ve been driving with the windows down. You can literally feel the warmth of the sun and the wind in your hairs. It’s a light breeze and just a perfect day. The perfect song especially now that the cold temperatures are back. The title track “Snow” has a similar feel. So if you are in need of some warm summer moments make sure to go see them!
Their biggest hit from 2010 is called “Big Jet Plane” and has done quite well in a few countries. However the only charted title in Switzerland I could find is “Grizzly Bear” from 2014. If you are a fan of the singer songwriter style and two lovely Australians with cute voices then they are your thing. 🙂 But again talking about it is not as good as listening for yourself that’s why here’s the YouTube link to “Big Jet Plane”:

And since nothing beats a good live video I’ve got “Grizzly Bear” for you on VEVO Discover:

So. You’ve heard three songs now and heard a bit about their story. Does it sound good to you? If so, please support these two siblings in their musical journey and go see Angus & Julia Stone live. Scroll up to get your tickets or if you are as lazy as me click here 😉 I’ll be reviewing the concert as well so I’d love for you to come back on Kekoas Korner and let me know how you liked the concert!
Want to let me know your opinion about Angus & Julia Stone in the comments?