Dirty Weather Project's tour 2015: Frank Vollmann and Lucas Lanthier live in Milan

As you may have noticed, live music inspires my writing a lot. On 10^th October I drove with my husband to Milan to attend the live performance of Dirty Weather Project: the duo formed by Frank Vollmann and Lucas Lanthier.

Both the artists have their own careers: Frank Vollmann is the frontman of the band Frank theBaptist and has a solo project called Telegram Frank and Lucas Lanthier is the leader of Cinema Strange and Deadfly Ensemble. Being their sound near Post Punk and Dark Rock (but not limited to), they happen to play at the kind of festivals I like to attend. That is why I got to know their music in occasion of different editions of Wave Gotik Treffen (and thank to a dear friend of mine, who always suggests me great bands!).

Dirty Weather Project live in Milan

From time to time Frank and Lucas tour together as Dirty Weather (last time was 2011) and bring on the stage a selection of their respective songs reinterpreted. The cities chosen for 2015 Italian part of the tour are Genoa, Milan and Modena. We decided to opt for Milan, as it was the easiest for us to reach.

The location, Ligera, is a wine bar on two floors: on the first there are tables for customers who wish to drink something in a typical atmosphere of the 70s, whereas in the basement there is the actual concert area. What I found a bit disappointing was the confusion about the time the event should have started. We arrived quite early. Too much early. However, never mind, good things are worth waiting!

Once we entered the concert room, we immediately had a look at the merchandise desk, where cds and gadgets of both artists where exposed. Lucas friendly welcomed us describing the various articles on the table. Few minutes later we saw also Frank and it was a pleasure to greet him.

Lucas Lanthier

Frank Vollman

The evening was opened by Los Cabrones Profanos, a band from Milan playing some “spicy” country blues. Immediately after, the Dirty Weather jumped on the stage. Frank Vollmann played songs by “Telegram Frank”, whereas Lucas Lanthier played songs by Cinema Strange, Deadfly Ensemble and from his new solo album.

"And now my game will be holding this glass with my foot during the song"

They were musicians and storytellers at the same time, two men with their voices and their guitars, no further instrument, as nothing more was needed. Each of them with his own style, they proved their virtuosity: Frank with his warm sound, Lucas with his perfect eclecticism. My attention was totally caught. Though I did not know all the tracks they played, I enjoyed every note.

It was not the kind of music you can hear on the radio, at least not in Italy. I appreciate a lot when bands innovate and “save” us from the flat monopoly of mainstream. Moreover, in this case I am not only talking about alternative artists, but also of a high level performance.

Dirty Weather Project

Unfortunately we had to leave before the end of the concert, so we missed the final part. I hope they will come back for a future tour. Check them out if you have the chance!

Take care,

Mary

A ghost at the seaside / Un fantasma al mare

(Segue testo in italiano)

One of the dichotomy in my person is being Italian and having a controversial relationship with seaside spots. I know it sounds a bit like a stereotype and a cliché, but if you are Italian or live in Italy, you perfectly know that, when summer holiday approaches, people ask you the usual question “where at the seaside are you going exactly?” instead of “where are you going to spend your vacation?”. Because in summer going to the seaside is a must, no other choice is taken in consideration. This attitude is so deep-rooted that when I answer “well, I am actually going to Berlin”, the possible reactions are usually the following:

“Oh, do they have sea too up there?”

Or

“Oh, ok, you have family there, haven’t you?”.

Once and for all: the answer to both questions is no.

I do not blame anybody for this behavior, it’s a sort of tradition and traditions are hard to be changed and maybe they shouldn’t at all. By the way, my friends do have this idea that I hate the sea. What I usually say is that it’s not me who hate it, but it is the sea itself which hates me. Being as white and pale as a ghost, I have considerable skin issues when it comes to laying in the sun and sea salt water plus wind make it worse. Like almost everybody else in this world, I do not like physical pain and even less I like people asking me what kind of disease I suffer from (aaaarrrghhh!!!).

Furthermore, in my early twenties I fell in love with Germany, where I feel at home and my fair skin is nobody’s business except mine. Sum up all this situations and you will easily understand why I do not spend my summer on the beach.

Last weekend my husband’s band (check them out! Klangstein, Rammstein's cover band) played in San Bartolomeo al Mare, a small town in Liguria, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian sea, and we took the chance of enjoying a weekend out, a little vacation.

The place was really lovely. Vegetation is luxuriant there, citrus trees, aloe plants and wisterias were everywhere, spreading sweet perfumes. We had a little balcony in our hotel room, from which we had a wide view both over the low hills and the sea. I spent several hours sitting there, just enjoying open air, the blue sky above, seagulls (not Steven… :D ) flying over my head and silence.

Then we headed to the beach. Wow. That was my actual idea of beach life! No one was around. It was still chilly, so we had our jackets on. The atmosphere was so peaceful and sun harmless. In April, at 18 C°, you are not really supposed to bathe, but I couldn’t care the least: I rolled up my trousers and entered in the water up to my knees. It wasn’t that cold after all!

Dear sea, we’d better keep our relationship for us only and meet privately, when other people are away and sun too weak to interfere. Winter-spring should suit, do you agree? Done!

Love

Mary

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Una delle dicotomie della mia persona sta nell’essere italiana e avere un rapporto conflittuale con il mare. Lo so che suona un po’ come uno stereotipo e un cliché ma, se siete italiani o vivete in Italia, sapete bene che, quando si avvicinano le vacanze estive, la domanda più frequente è “Dove andrai al mare?”, invece di “Dove andrai in vacanza?”. Perché d’estate s’ha da andare al mare, non c’è santo che tenga. Questa convinzione è talmente radicata che, quando rispondo “beh, in realtà andrò a Berlino”, le possibili reazioni sono sempre queste due:

“Ah, ma a Berlino c’è il mare?”

Oppure

“Ah ok, hai familiari là, vero?”

Una volta per tutte, la risposta ad entrambe le domande è: no.

Non biasimo nessuno per questo comportamento, è una sorta di italica tradizione e le tradizioni sono difficili da modificare, o forse non bisognerebbe proprio farlo. In ogni caso, tra i miei amici è diffusa l’idea che io non ami il mare. Quello che dico solitamente è che non sono io ad odiarlo, è lui che odia me. Essendo bianca e pallida come un fantasma, ho serie difficoltà con la pelle quando si tratta di esporsi al sole e il vento e la salsedine non fanno che peggiorare la situazione. Come la maggior parte delle persone a questo mondo, non mi piace la sofferenza fisica e ancora meno mi piace sentirmi chiedere di quale malattia soffra (grrrrrrrrr!)!

Inoltre intorno ai vent’anni mi sono innamorata della Germania, dove mi sento a casa e la mia pelle pallida è solo affar mio. Sommate tutte queste condizioni e comprenderete perché non trascorra l’estate in spiaggia.

Lo scorso weekend il gruppo di mio marito (i Klangstein: andateli a sentire!) ha suonato a San Bartolomeo al Mare, in Liguria e ne abbiamo approfittato per fare una mini-vacanzina.

Il paese é davvero carino. La vegetazione è rigogliosa, ci sono alberi di agrumi, piante di aloe e di glicine ovunque, emanano nell’aria un profumo fantastico. La nostra stanza in hotel aveva un terrazzino, con vista sia sulle collinette circostanti, sia sul mare. Ho passato diverse ore seduta la fuori, godendomi l’aria aperta, il cielo azzurro, i gabbiani che volavano sopra la mia testa e il silenzio.

E poi siamo andati in spiaggia. Wow. Quella era la vita da spiaggia che intendo io! Non c’era nessuno. Faceva ancora fresco, quindi avevamo ancora i giubbotti. L’atmosfera era molto tranquilla e il sole innocuo.

In Aprile, a 18 gradi, non è realmente previsto fare il bagno, ma poco mi interessava: mi sono arrotolata i pantaloni e sono entrata in acqua fino al ginocchio. Dopotutto non era poi così fredda!

Caro mare, io penso che dovremmo tenere la nostra relazione per noi, incontrarci in privato, lontano da sguardi indiscreti, quando il sole è ancora debole. Inverno-primavera dovrebbe andare bene, d’accordo? Andata!

Ciao

Mary

"Torino incontra Berlino" / Turin meets Berlin

(English text follows)

Ciao a tutti e buon 2015!

La settimana scorsa è stato pubblicato un mio nuovo post per "Berlino Cacio e Pepe", il cui tema è la rassegna "Torino incontra Berlino", che avrà luogo tra gennaio e marzo di quest'anno proprio a Torino. 

Inutile dirvi quanto mi faccia piacere che questa serie di eventi si svolga proprio nella mia città! Spero di poter prendere parte a molti, vediamo cosa mi concederà il tempo :)

Intanto vi lascio il link all'articolo:

Torino incontra Berlino (per Berlino Cacio e Pepe) 

Buona lettura!

Mary

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Hi Everybody! Happy 2015!

Last week I wrote a new post for the on line magazine Berlino Cacio e Pepe, it is about the series of exhibitions and events which is taking place in Turin (from January to March 2015) and that is called "Torino incontra Berlino" (Turin meets Berlin).

As my article in the magazine is in Italian only, I'm more than glad to provide you with an English version here.

9th November 2014 was the 25th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall (I wrote a couple of posts here too: "25th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall" and "Fall of the Berlin Wall: my little memory") and the city of Turin celebrated it with a special evening at the Teatro Regio, with music, readings and pictures. This was not an isolated event, but one of the main focuses of "Torino incontra Berlino".

Leaflet of "Torino incontra Berlino"

 The idea at the basis of the connection between the two cities is the path they have been following to overcome two difficult historical and economical moments: post war reconstruction, for Berlin, and industrial crisis for Turin.

The history of the German capital and the one of the main Piedmont's city are different, but both have decided to combine urban requalification to a cultural regeneration of the territory.

"Torino incontra Berlino" is offering a wide variety of meetings, exhibitions and performances, which cover music, art, science, philosophy, cinema, theatre dramas, language and literature. Moving from Goethe to Wim Wenders, from Tobias Rehberger's and Rebecca Horn's lights to Sven Marquardt's personal exposition, the viewer will experience German art and knowledge, shown in the cultural locations of Turin.

In occasion of "Torino incontra Berlino", Turin's Goethe Institut will offer an ad hoc German class, addressed to people who already have a good basic knowledge of the language, focussed on Berlin.

The logo and billboard of the event are also worth special attention: a bull, symbol of Turin, and a bear, Berlin's icon, which seem to walk one towards the other. Under this image, it is quoted one of John Kennedy's best known sentences: Ich bin ein Berliner.

Personally, I am really happy that my city is hosting such complete cultural exhibition about my favourite city, I hope I will be able to attend as many events as possible. 

If you are interested, you can follow this link to the programme: 

"Torino incontra Berlino" programme .

Enjoy!

Mary

Blutengel fly to Italy for their new video: Asche zu Asche

Today I would like to talk to you about one of my favourite bands, Blutengel, focussing on their last single “Asche zu Asche”. 

For Italian speakers: you can find my article for the magazine “Berlino Cacio e Pepe” at the following link

Da Berlino a Roma fra atmosfere gothic: i Blutengel volano in Italia per girar un nuovo videoclip 

I strongly believe that most of the readers of this blog know the band quite well but, anyway, I think that a short introduction is due.

Blutengel are one of the most famous German dark-gothic bands. They were founded in 1999 by the frontman, Chris Pohl, who had already been member of Terminal Choice and Seelekrank. After the turnover of several female singers, at the moment the only woman sharing the microphone with Chris is Ulrike Goldmann, who has been part of the band since 2005.

Chris and Ulrike are not alone on the stage during concerts: dancers and performers (at the moment: Viki Scarlet, Nicola Heinrich and Nadine Schneiderat) create a catching show, which recalls the topic of each song played.

 Photo by Marco Tridente

Blutengel have many fans here in Italy too: they follow the band in tour and at festivals in Germany, because unfortunately they have not been playing in our country for a long time. However, last month, we have had a clear sign that Blutengel are quite attentive to what happens in Italy too: Chris Pohl announced (via Facebook) that Ulrike and he would have flown to Rome to shoot the videos of two songs which will be part of their new album Omen (expected for February 2015).

In Germany there are several agencies for video production, but this time Chris Pohl was looking for something new compared to what they had shown until then with their videoclips (though they being very good). He had the chance to see the works of the director Carlo Roberti and he was quite impressed by the cinematographic style that Roberti creates, thus Chris decided to collaborate with the director’s agency: Solobuio Visual Factory. This last is not new to the dark-gothic scene, as they had already worked with bands like Kirlian Camera, Spiritual Front and L’Âme Immortelle.

The two Blutengel’s videos were shot between Rome and Tivoli in less than a week. The first result shown to the public is “Asche zu Asche”, uploaded on line on 13^th November by Out of Line, the band’s label. The German-Italian collaboration was immediately appreciated in the web, scoring more than 55.000 views in the first three days.

The effect that both Chris Pohl and Solobuio wanted was fully achieved: “Asche zu Asche” looks like a thriller movie synthesized in the 5 minutes length of the song. The sexy killer, played by the Italian actress Claudia Salvatori, is hired by Ulrike Goldmann, acting the part of an icy dark lady, in order to kill some men. The turn of events is reached when the killer changes her mind: to put an end to her violent destiny, she shoots Ulrike, instead of murdering the chosen victim. In the last scenes we see Claudia Salvatori appearing, weapon in the hand, behind Chris Pohl, who had been watching everything from the top of a high building until that moment. The immediately following image shows the woman in her flat, trying to wash away blood from her hands. The viewer feels the suspense and asks himself if Chris could have been the real instigator and if he ended up by being killed too.

It is surely peculiar, especially for those who usually follow the German band, to hear one song of theirs and seeing it played by Italian actors under such an Italian style direction. It is a “fusion” which has satisfied both Solobuio and Blutengel. Furthermore it is nice to see fans’ comments in the several social networks: Italian ones are happy to see their idols appreciating the work of their compatriots at the point that they did not hesitate to come over to Italy to start a collaboration, the German ones, on the other hand, like the news introduced by the video in terms of idea and directions.

Deutsch-Italienische Freundschaft perfectly succeeded!