Tag: Zürich

Allgemein, Artist2watch

Artist to watch: Jacob Banks

kekoaskorner

I have to tell you guys about this amazing artist called Jacob Banks. I’ve heard his name before but never really had a listen. This changed this week! I listened to “Chainsmoking” and it blew me away. It is powerful, soulful and Jacob Banks’ voice gives it the right intensity. It sounds like it’s coming from the deep south in the US but with a modern twist. But listen for yourself:

 
Good, right? But let me correct you he is not from any southern state in the US. He is actually from Nigeria and moved to Birmingham, England when he was 13. This came as a surprise to me after listening to this powerful song. But Banks has not only an amazing voice he also writes his songs himself. He is the complete package and a wonderful singer songwriter. Apart from “Chainsmoking” he released two other singles of his EP “The Boy Who Cried Freedom” and they are similar in style. He also got two previous EP’s and obviously they are well worth to listen to. But let me show you how he sounds live:

 
Amazing right?! He has been on tour with Emeli Sandé, Sam Smith and Alicia Keys all around the UK. Lucky for us he is on a world tour right now and tickets are going fast. The first few shows are already sold out. Just because is bringing him to Zurich on 23rd October! I bet he will fill Mascotte with his incredible voice and transform us into the south. Another great gig at this club after Welshly Arms played there. Me personally I cannot wait to see him live. Get your tickets here. Check back into Kekoas Korner after the concert to read about the gig and leave your opinion too.
Please check his homepage for other tour dates.
What do you think of Jacob Banks? Let me know in the comments below.

Allgemein, Concerts

Justin Nozuka brought the summer back

kekoaskorner

I discovered Justin Nozuka 10 years ago and I’ve been a fan of his soft voice and singer songwriter style ever since. Yesterday evening he kicked off his European tour with an intimitate show at Eldorado in Zurich and let me tell you it was one of the hottest gigs I’ve ever been to. It was already very warm when he started but after a little over an hour of dancing and jamming the bar temperature felt like 60 degrees.
Justin Nozuka took the stage at 8.30 accompanied by 3 musicians and started with “Down” and “Be Back Soon” which I really loved because they were up-tempo, had a summer feeling to them and I was already dancing. “Be Back Soon” was my favourite song of the night because it was so surprising and it had a nice country vibe. I adore this track especially played live.

He then announced new music and that the next one is the first single. “All I need” continued to be in the country music genre. By then it was clear that this would turn out to be an amazing concerts which will bring back the summer – even if it’s just for the duration of the concert. The tempo slowed down for the next three songs “No Place in Mind”, “Unwoken Dream”, “Swan in the water” and we got to hear those amazing ballades. The drums were played very innovatively and you could see that the four musicians harmonised perfectly on stage.
The set continued with “Gray” – a very rocky song – and you could literally see the passion for music on stage. I loved “Golden train” too because it has such a catch melody. One of the crowd’s favourite was next “After tonight” got everyone singing and dancing even more. “Woman put your weapon down” is a very intense song and is the complete opposite to the next two songs “Carried you” and “right by you” which were an easy breeze compared to the other song 🙂


With only one encore “Heartless” Justin Nozuka finished a beautifully performed set. During the last song the whole bar was singing together with Justin and his guitar. It was wonderful. After last week’s massive Rolling Stones gig at Letzigrund I enjoyed this intimate set in a small bar a lot. I only have one small thing which I was disappointed in he didn’t play my two favourite songs “Criminal” and “Mr. Therapy Man” but I get it they are 10 years old and you cannot always catch everyones favourite 🙂
As mentioned above Justin Nozuka and his band are on European tour right now. Make sure to check him out if he comes to a town near you. Click here for dates. Say hello too he is a really nice guy.

Justin Nozuka and me
Justin Nozuka and me
Allgemein, Concerts

Katie Melua @ Live at Sunset 20.07.17

kekoaskorner

This is the 2nd concert of the festival series Live at Sunset which I am attending. It’s been already 2 weeks since I’ve seen Naturally 7 and Mary J. Blige there. Thanks to a good deal we were able to afford a 2nd concert.  Katie Melua hasn’t been very active lately and this is one of only 5 concerts this year.
To be honest with you I was very sceptical about this concert since I really don’t like her song “9 million bicycles”. I’ve realised now it’s because if I hear that song just once a day it will be stuck in my head forever!
For the 3rd song “Crawling Up A Hill” I decided to sit down and listen to the song with my eyes closed. I think it was a great idea so I could listen to her voice without any distraction. I did this because Seven asked us to do this at his set at the Gurtenfestival and I really enjoyed it so I had to try it with her too.

oznor
Katie explaining stories

Before every song she would explain the story behind it and this is something I really enjoy. So her concert consists of 21 little stories told by a silky voice. Katie Melua is one hell of a songwriter who turns a story into a song. She stood there with her guitar with 4 other awesome musicians and turned this into a wonderful quiet concert. (I was really glad since I had a massive headache that day)
After the “Plane Song” it started to rain or should I say pour down! So Katie said “Ohh has it started to rain? Should we wait until you put your ponchos on?” I loved that! We went to sit in the back because I wasn’t particularly keen on getting soaked since I’m battleing a cold anyway. As soon as I sat down I got a text by a friend telling me that Chester Bennington committed suicide and I didn’t know why but I suddenly felt really sad and Katie’s next few slow song increased that feeling.

sdr
Katie Melua with a beautiful sky

Luckily she decided to cover Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart” and this lifted my spirit. I love this song and Katie Melua should be doing more up-tempo songs. It really suits her. I think this was my favourite song of the night. Then there was a little break so people could use the restrooms and stock up on drinks.
“Thank you Stars” is a wonderful song and my favourite of the 2nd part of the show.

Some call it faith, some call it love
Some call it guidance from above
You are the reason we found ours
So thank you stars

Aren’t these beautiful lyrics?
After “Perfect World” she sang her hit song “Nine Million Bicycles” and the audience “Ahh’d” and “Ohh’d” and I thought please don’t be singing this song 🙂 And of course this song stuck in my head all night!

oznor
Me and my guitar

For the two encore songs she stood alone on stage just with her guitar and her beautiful voice. She covered Shirley Bassey’s “Diamonds are forever” and sang “I Cried For You”. A very slow and quiet finish but it suited her and the whole concert. I enjoyed the concert but I don’t think I would see her again. She is a cute girl but I don’t particularly fancy her music even if I loved a few songs of her.
P.S: Have a look at the title of the set list. THE greatest set list ever!! Isn’t this too funny? 🙂

cof
Katie Melua set list

 
How did you like the concert? Please let me know in the comments below!