Zürich lies exactly on the way back from Bern anyway, but honestly, it didn’t really matter to me, I would have gone to that show anyway even if it had been in the complete opposite direction. *g* The special thing about this concert was the complete contrast to the show before – yesterday they played in front of no more than 300 people in a “living room”, today suddenly in a huge hall that has room for 1800 people. I guess there were about 800-1000 people there, and it even looked quite crowded, as they were smart enough to close the gallery. =;-) And the contrast to the Bern concert was really impressive. While it was basically impossible yesterday to stand on the barrels, it was impossible today to somehow touch the ceiling, even by throwing the axe handles up into the air. While it was (almost *g*) possible yesterday to hand over a beer from the stage to the front-of-house, I didn’t even SEE the front-of-house from the front of the hall. And so on, I could enumerate more points but… you get the picture.
Of course I also did some sightseeing in Zürich before the show, but somehow I didn’t like the city that much, Bern was nicer and cozier. But it’s possible I judge it differently on the next visit, at least I can’t think of any reason why Zürich should be less interesting. =;-) And the sun was shining all day, so it was a nice and calm day to relax, very nice. *g*
OK, but as I basically have no time right now to write the report, I should probably get to the concert now. Nothing special during Geoff Berner’s gig, a very nice show again, people were laughing, and the talking was funny. And the songs were great, of course. *g*
Then Kaizers, and while I thought in the beginning that there were many people there who just wanted to see what’s happening and didn’t know any songs, it got better and better from song to song. The old songs were much better known than the new ones, but there was a lot of dancing during the new songs as well.
I was a little further in the center than “normally”, so I didn’t get as much of what was being done on stage, but I got to move a little more. *g* And I have to say, the atmosphere was really really nice.
The setlist: KGB, Delikatessen, Knekker deg til sist, Container, Senior Flamingos Adieu, Blitzregn Baby, Bøn fra helvete, Di grind, Kontroll på kontinentet, Christiania, Evig pint, Dieter Meyers Inst., Maestro. Encore Ompa til du dør and Gypsy Finale, second encore 170.
I’m too lazy to sort out my notes again, so here’s the rough sketch of what I remember, not ordered at all:
- “Who’s here from Finnland? Naah, you’re not from Finnland. Prove it! Say something in Finnish – except for sauna…” – “Who’s here from Denmark? You’re from Denmark? What’s the name of the prime minister? Naah, you’re not from Denmark…” – “Who’s here from Sweden? Now, get out! Or no, you’re a pretty blond lady, you can stay. Indeed, you can come backstage after the show…” – “Who’s from Norway? Why do you stand all apart? You should stand together, you should all come together, this is what it’s all about! Come together, do… you know… make some neutral babies!”
- During Sigøynerblod: “What is ‘faster’ in Swiss? ‘Schneller’? Just like German? Is it the same as in German?!?” And then a girl in the front row had to speak it into the mike.
- To get to the front row, the Jackal always had to do some stunts… there was an aisle of probably around one and a half meters, and just some very narrow beams between the stage and the barrier. But Mr. Kaizers managed to balance on the beams without problems (I want that equilibrium sense, and in the middle of the concert… wow!). He got out of step only one time, but started to complain at once: “This catwalk is too narrow! Next time I want a real one.” And he really got me with this “this catwalk is too narrow”, this was so completely unexpected in that situation, I spent the rest of the show laughing. Probably you won’t be able to understand just from this report, but it was just coming from nothing, so dryly, I still start laughing when I think about it. *rofl*
- At the end of the concert, the Jackal didn’t want to get off stage, so he posed on the barrel, put on his gloves theatrically and jumped off the barrel. *g*
- “Say yeah” – Audience: “YEAH!” – Jackal: “Uh… wow!” *rofl* And yes, it really WAS loud, but well, there were a lot of people there. *g* Jackal: “You are great! But are you the best? Are you better than ME?”
- Something about us being there at the show and not in the cinema… so, what’s on at the moment, “war of the earth” or something? Jackal: “I have no idea what’s on at the moment. Hellraizer?” Hellraizer: “Me neither.” Starting to stutter inbetween, but he explained that easily: “That was Swiss!” =;-)
- Elvis is back! (What did they do with him yesterday? *g*) “We wanted Roy Orbison, but they said he was dead, so we got Elvis.” And of course they were treating him as bad as somehow possible. And while the Jackal was busy explaining: “A childhood dream, to have Elvis working on stage for you and to be able to send him off.” there was an anry “Fy faen!” from the left side of the stage when Hellraizer was busy scolding Elvis. *g*
- Then there was a song just for the girls (Christiania, with lighters in the audience…), and after that one for the guys (Evig pint).
- The final part of Dieter Meyers Inst. was absolutely, and I MEAN absolutely, perfect this time.
- During Resistansen, the Jackal was once again all artist, that guy is completely crazy. *g* And Killmaster was the target again when he tried to play along when the Jackal was freestyling the last verse: “Hey, this is art. I’m doing my art here, and you’re doing your art there. And now shut the fuck up!”
Well, somehow I have the feeling that my reports have a less enthusiastic tone if I write them 24 hours after the show. But that’s not the intention, the concert was amazing, and I drove all the way home with a broad grin on my face. And after not even five hours of sleep I went to work, with a broad grin on my face. Well, you gotta do what you gotta do…
Tags: Kaizers Orchestra, Review, X-tra/Zürich, Zürich