George Ezra, X-Tra Club, Zürich, 22.06.2015

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Rhodes, 20h-20h30

To open George Ezra‘s concert there’s Rhodes, a young British lad who kinda looks like George Ezra himself, sort of same hairstyle and colour and all dressed in black. He plays a short set which is enough to convince the audience that this artist has a lot of talent. On stage he is accompanied by his band, a girl who switches between cello and piano, a drummer, bassist and guitarist. Rhodes has a magnificent and powerful voice which allows him to reach pretty high-pitched tones. Some of the songs he plays start really slow with a guitar intro backed up by the piano or the cello and then suddenly the other instruments come in rendering the tune more rock and aggressive. He plays the single “Close Your Eyes”. He also plays a couple of songs on his own, just him and his guitar but that’s enough to fill the room with beautiful sounds. Definitely an artist worth checking out and follow, his debut album Wishes is due to be released on 18th September 2015!

George Ezra, 21h-22h05

The hall darkens but as soon as George Ezra comes in, with a bright smile on his face, it feels as if a ray of sunshine has entered the venue! He starts off, guitar on the hand, with one of his most well known songs: “Cassy’ O”, to which the audience happily sings along. His powerful baritone voice fills the room entirely and live is even more impressive than on the album!
George Ezra introduces the songs by saying its title and “I hope you enjoy it”, of course we do! He is not alone but has his band formed by three guys: a drummer, a guitarist and a bassist.
Smiling through each song he brightens up even more when the audience sings along.

Throughout the set he sings three songs on his own, just him and his acoustic guitar. One of which is a cover of Bob Dylan‘s song “Girl from the North Country” which he introduces by saying “I wish I had written this song but I didn’t”. The gentle picking of his guitar together with his amazing voice make you stand there in awe. Then, still on his own, he plays the beautiful “Leaving it up” saying that he’ll try his best to sing it also on behalf of the choruses, the public joins in in the refrain transforming itself into the missing choir! At the end of the song he claps and thanks the audience saying “That was the choir!”!
The band comes back and there they go with “Blame it on Me” where George Ezra can show off his deep voice!

He says he has written his album Wanted On Voyage while travelling around Europe on his own for a month (with Interrail), so if you were wondering why so many of his songs have cities’ names as titles here’s the answer. When he plays “Barcelona” you can truly feel the Spanish vibes in the music itself and the warmth and colourfulness of the city. His voice takes you with him in the crowded streets.

One song in particular has a really interesting story behind it, he recounts he was invited to spend a few days in Malmö visiting two Swedish girlfriends. The two girls wanted to see the Eurovision song contest but he didn’t want to be sober for it and bought a rum bottle from a man in the park. The next day he was supposed to leave for Budapest, he never got there as he didn’t wake up. And here’s the funny anecdote on how he found inspiration to write the amazing “Budapest”. Already from the first notes the audience is hooked on his words and sounds.

George Ezra and his band come back for an encore playing a short “Blind Man In Amsterdam”. They end the concert with “Do you Hear the Rain” a great song which also has some good old rock guitar riffs and powerful drums in it. Overall a great concert a bit a pity for the rather short set, just little over an hour but since he has only one album that´s probably the reason why…

Setlist:

Cassy O’
Stand By
Listen to the Man
Benjamin Twine
Song 6
Over The Creek (on his own)
Girl from the North Country (on his own)
Leaving it up (on his own)
Blame it on Me
Spectacular Rival
I Try
Barcelona
Budapest

Encore:
Blind Man in Amsterdam
Do you Hear the Rain

Kodaline live @ Tunnel, Milan (Italy), 7th December 2013

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21:25-22:30

This is my second concert in Italy, the first was Biffy Clyro the day before in Trezzo Sull’Adda (MI). This means, two concerts in a row in  nearby Italy! I must say that the Italian crowd is pretty amazing and participation is impressive!

Me and my friends were pretty excited about seeing Kodaline. They had to cancel their show in Lausanne where we were supposed to go. We were so bummed, but in the end we figured out they were playing in Milan and we decided to go there!

Before the concert we went to a restaurant close to the venue and there was no one except for … Kodaline and their crew!!! We played it cool though and just sat at our table. Before leaving we went closer to them and said we were looking forward to see them later at the concert. My sister with the thumb up and a big smile exclaimed: “Big Fan!” and they responded with the same gesture. So then we bid goodbye and left them enjoy their meal and went towards the Tunnel.

The Tunnel, as its name suggests, looks like a proper tunnel, with an arched roof and nice decorations. It’s a small venue but very cozy! It reminded me a lot of another venue called ‘The Tunnel’ in Aberdeen, Scotland!

A bit of Indie-pop with a touch of Irish folk, multi instrumental, great and touching melancholic lyrics, plus add to this Steve Garrigan’s angel-like voice and you’ve got Kodaline, a quartet made up of young talented Irish guys. Their first album In A Perfect World came out in June 2013, go and get it because it’s definitely worth it!

 At 9.25pm the Tunnel falls into the darkness, as Steve Garrigan (Vocals, rhythm guitar, harmonica, keyboards), Mark Prendergast (Lead guitar, vocals, keyboards),  Vinny May (Drums, percussion, vocals) and Jason Boland (Bass guitar, vocals) make their entrance from a side door of the venue, just about where we were standing and get on stage one after the other.

The first notes to be played are those of  ‘After The Fall’, setting the right atmosphere for the fans to happily cheer them and sing along! It must be said that live their sound is much more energetic than on their album, so if you think the album is too quiet just crash to one of their gigs and you’ll change your mind. The second song they play is ‘Pray’, a sad song with a rather quiet rhythm kept by the drums in the background with the rattle appearing in between the beats.

Steve cheers the audience and says they are all very happy to be in Milan, it’s their first concert there! They certainly don’t take anything for granted, cheerful smiles and true happiness are pouring out of their souls throughout the entire concert.

Some fans scream ‘Gailge, Gailge, Gailge!’ to ask the guys to say something in Gaelic. Mark does say something in Gaelic but it does not seem to be enough for them. Steve, smiling, tells them to keep calm when their screams become louder.

Steve is on the stage playing the harmonica, he plays the intro of ‘Dirty Old Town’ which takes us all in a crowded pub in Dublin as he audience joins in by singing the words to this popular song. Then from there, ‘Lose Your Mind’, unfolds with its delicate drums’ beat and Steve’s almost spoken voice on top drifting into what sounds like another world.

We are back in folky Ireland with ‘Love Like This’ and ‘Way Back When’. In ‘Love Like This’ Steve’s voice goes through different vocal ranges as the mandolin and harmonica appear. The best bit is when, almost laughing, he speaks out ‘But I, I don’t really mind, I don’t really mind at all’. While introducing ‘Way Back When’, Steve explains how him and his band mates met. This is done intentionally, for in this song Kodaline reminisce about their past at the rhythm of their acoustic guitars singing “I hope that I can say when all my days are done that I had my fun”. This concert will certainly become part of it!

When introducing ‘High Hopes’ Steve says he has been sick the past days and still has a sore throat. He apologizes to the fans in advance and asks them to help him sing. You ask, we do! Already in the previous songs you could hear that he did not do his usual acute notes but these were filled by the faithful audience.

Steve plays the piano as the Tunnel sings back to him the refrain of ‘High Hopes’. Kodaline look delighted about the audience’s great participation!

They announce the end of the concert with the brilliant song ‘All Comes Down’. This song sounds magic, a perfect blend between voice, choruses, drums and piano. The chorus doubles as the audience joins in once more.

Thanking the audience once again for their presence and enthusiasm, Steve also points out that fans are the reason why they can play music. This shows that they don’t take anything for granted and really cherish the moment.

But there is a great song missing: ‘All I want’. Yes, Kodaline do come back on stage for an encore. They only play ‘All I want’ but it is enough to make the public happy because it is a long version of it. When its notes start, here come the goose bumps! Its beginning could have been slightly changed to ‘All I want is nothing more than hear you playing once more’ for this occasion.

We were pretty lucky to see them in Milan! They had to cancel their other concerts before and after this one because of Steve having bronchitis! So get well soon and take care of your voice, because we certainly want to hear it again very soon!

Setlist:

After the Fall

Pray

Brand New Day

Lose Your Mind – Dirty Old Town Intro

Love Like This

Way Back When

One Day

High Hopes

Big Bad World

All Comes Down

Encore:

All I Want

Charlie Winston, live @ Les Docks, Lausanne, 31st October 2012

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Support band: Dude (CH) 20:15-20:50

Dude is a Swiss-French trio made of two guys (guitarist and drummer) and a girl (singer + guitarist). They have a folk-pop sound. They are really friendly and engaging with the audience. The ambiance they created was nice and warm and a great pre-Charlie Winston show!

Charlie Winston and band (UK) 21:15-23.30

At 9.15 pm Charlie Winston finally hits the stage! I was afraid that the concert wouldn’t take place because he had to cancel the previous night’s show due to illness. Luckily he was fine that night. He told the audience that he didn’t want to cancel his Lausanne show for any reason because it was his last show for the Running Still tour and, quoting him,mainly because “Lausanne it’s where it all started” 🙂

During his concerts, Charlie Winston, doesn’t play alone but with other four guys who play the piano, guitar, bass, drums and some other instruments.

That night Charlie and his band entered the stage, holding some kind of mirrors which in reality turned out to be zooming windows. They sang “Speak to me” with a background music. It was fun because they were dancing and when they put these windows in front of them, their faces looked bigger.

While singing the song “In Your Hands”, Charlie went down the stage and walked among the crowd!!! He went right down to the end of the room and jumped on the bar and sang from up there. It was amazing!!! Then one of the technicians took him back on the stage on his shoulders.

Since this was the last tour for the album Running Still the technicians decided to surprise Charlie and his band by performing “My Life As A Duck”. The technicians were respectively singing, playing the guitar, playing the bass and playing the drums. This was certainly one of the funniest bits of the concert also because it was very original, it doesn’t happen very often that the band is replaces by a fake one! After this song Charlie introduced all his crew and told some funny anecdotes.  Since it was also Halloween some of the crew members entered the stage dressed up.

Charlie is also a stunningly great pianist,  while playing “Boxes” his fingers caressing the piano so softly and his pure voice created a magic atmosphere in the concert hall. In those moments the audience just stares at him in awe.

At the end of the concert, the public was asking for one more song, so Charlie and his band decided to play a new and inedit song!

Charlie is amazing with the audience, he interacts, jokes, asks questions, listens to the screaming ladies and so forth.

This was the 4^th time I had seen him, and it won’t be the last, I can’t get enough of his concerts. He and his band are truly brilliant live.

Here’s the long set list:

Speak to me

Kick the bucket

Wild Ones

Making Yourself So Lonely

Where Can I Buy Happiness?

Tongue Tied

Hello Alone

–Encore–

In Your Hands (went down the stage, jumped on the bar)

Until You’re Satisfied

My Life As A Duck (played and sung by the technicians)

Boxes

I Love Your Smile

piano solo

Rockin’ In The Suburbs

Hobo

Bis→ End: One Day (new song)