The beaver is a proud and noble animal
Notes from a bemused canuck
Been wanting to treat myself for a while and I finally pulled my finger out and got a hifi for Christmas. It’s second hand, older then Ben, but sounds really nice. Denon amp and CD charger and Bose speakers :) It’s got knobs and buttons and lots of cabling. In a nod to modernity, I also got a BT receiver so that we can stream from our phones. Now I just need to make sure Ben doesn’t nick it from me.
Katy, Mira and I had tickets to go see Roger Waters in his farewell tour at the Hallenstadion in Zurich.
I’d previously seen The Wall in 2010 in Montreal and 2011 in London, so it’d been a really long time since I hadn’t seen a live show. It’s impressive to remember that the man is 80 years old and still putting out a mean show!
Putting aside the bolshy politics and the fact that the newer material is not even subtle in its in-your-face attitude, the show was – as Katy described it – powerful. I still really do prefer the older Floyd-era material and that did not disappoint. There are a few of the recent ones I’ll give another listen to though.
We drove up there and back, ending up back home at 230am. It’s been a long day.
While we were there, Gino and Lizzie were taking care of the chonk. Seems like they all had a good time, except for one detail…
Setlist
Comfortably Numb
The Happiest Days of Our Lives
Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2
Another Brick in the Wall, Part 3
The Powers That Be
The Bravery of Being Out of Range
The Bar
Have a Cigar
Wish You Were Here
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-IX)
Sheep
In the Flesh
Run Like Hell
Déjà Vu
Déjà Vu (Reprise)
Is This the Life We Really Want?
Play Video
Money
Us and Them
Any Colour You Like
Brain Damage
Eclipse
Two Suns in the Sunset
The Bar (Reprise)
Outside the Wall
Friends had a spare ticket to the Riverside festival in Aarburg, to go see Adam and the Metal Hawks and Status Quo.
I didn’t know I’d seen AMH clips on Facebook, he’s the guy that got a shout out from Jack Black. It looked like a fun time ahead.
The venue was really cool. The festival is paired with an Oldtimers’ Route 66 festival – think rockabilly, classic cars, pinups, tophat & tails, big moustaches and epic beards.
The AMH show had a good energy. The beer, for a Swiss festival, was very reasonably priced.
After the act, we had a bit of food (goot burger, decent price) and went to walk along the river, waiting for the headline show.
This is when we realized that this was probably the most Swiss festival ever. The air was already rich with the smell of melted cheese, but then we noticed that the festival ground was right next to a dairy farm. The cows, if anything, were incredibly not bothered.
Then it was time for the Quo. This time, along with the smell of raclette, the air had a distinct tinge of cannabis. Bit surreal.
The main stage area was packed. I don’t generally mind crowds, but even my urge to kill was rising, with people always jostling you to go back and forth – being polite about it, but still annoying.
Mira and Emo went up in the ferris wheel and took a picture of the crowd. Amusingly, you can spot Gino and I.
The show was really good. I only knew a couple of songs going in (In the army now, Rocking all over the world), but Katy had commented that all the songs kind of sound the same so I should enjoy it. One or two songs didn’t quite age well and aren’t really PC anymore (The Oriental, I’m looking at you). For gray-haired old dudes, they still put on a great show. I really enjoyed it.
As I’ve previously mentioned, certain (many) songs make me cry when I hear them, even if I’m in an otherwise good mood. It’s been known for years. So I’m going to keep a list of the ones I can remember from recent times:
Anywhere away from here – Rag’n’bone man and Pink
Bring him home & Finale – Les Miserables
Too much love will kill you & Love of my life – Queen
Your song – Elton John, covered by Lady Gaga
All of me – John Legend
Ave Maria – Marc Martel
So, fact about me: some (many!) songs will make me cry at the drop of a hat. Les Miserables? Waterworks. All of you by John Legend? Floodgates. Love of my life by Queen…. you get the picture, but I digress.
It’s too hot to run right now so I went for a power walk to get some air and VitD. Beautiful sunshine along the lakefront. I’m bopping along to ZZ Top and Van Halen, when boom! Tear song!! Still power walking, still lip singing, bawling my eyes out. Didn’t give two shits. Then Grandmaster Flash and the Wheels of Steel came on, and everything was OK.
Yo-Yo Ma has been playing with the music of Bach for 58 years, and in 2018 released his third recording of the composer’s suites for solo cello. Before this performance, the cellist told us that the composer he first encountered aged four, has become something of a best friend to him. “It’s like having a great best friend in each chapter of your life” her said. “…a great companion, a person that is there to help you go through sticky wickets in life. He feels your pain, he feels my pain, he feels everybody’s pain and everybody’s joy. People go through illnesses, exams and difficult periods…and somehow it’s supportive.”
Yo-Yo Ma performed the suite in one of London’s most beautiful Baroque buildings, the Christopher Wern-designed domed church of St. Stephen Walbrook.
Edit: This is another instance of the post-so-nice-I-did-it-twice: https://www.flubu.com/blog/2013/05/01/yo-yo-ma-bach-cello-suite-no-1-prelude/
… but I agree with it.