Leona Lewis for Christmas?

So what’s this year’s best Christmas album going to be? Each year top artists drop their Xmas albums in November. Usually there are not too many new songs on there but basically the same well-known tunes from “White Christmas” to Silent Night” and back. But does that matter? No! Don’t we all want to hear the same old songs in the pre-Christmas period? I guess Christmas is so much about traditions and so much about our fond memories of past Christmases, that new songs are kinda unnecessary. Only those old songs can create that cozy, warm atmosphere and make you feel home.

So what’s new this year? I’ve been listening to Mary J. Blige’s “A Mary Christmas” already (yes, admitted, before the first Sunday of Advent). My favorites are her version of “Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer” (very jazzy) and “When you wish upon a star” together with Barbara Streisand. The latter is actually not really a Christmas classic but it has that Christmas feel to me. And I just LOVE the melody and the lyrics. Altogether a very nice, never boring record which could become my Xmas favorite this year.

But then there will also be Leona Lewis‘ album “Christmas, with love”, which will be released on November 29th. Leona has already posted an album sampler with previews of each song.

Check out “Ave Maria”. I bet nobody would have guessed it’s her on that tune. I’m looking forward to really listening to it.

That reminds me… I do have some nice pictures of Leona (supporting act: Alexander Klaws) from her concert in the Philharmonie am Gasteig earlier this year. I had been looking forward to seeing her since “Bleeding in love“, which used to be one of my heavy rotation tunes before it became big everywhere. I looooved her first album, too. I kinda lost her a little on later albums, but she’s still an amazing singer. As the concert was in the Philharmonic Orchestra building I had huge expectations concerning experiencing her live vocals. Unfortunately it was a huge let down. Not because Leona suddenly couldn’t sing anymore, but because the sound was horrible. I had a seat in the second row and Leona’s vocals could barely be heard. Please, sound engineers, also people in the first rows want to not only see the show but also hear it! Unfortunately this was not the first time I experienced the sound being incredibly bad in the first rows. It’s always a huge disappointment and I can’t really enjoy the concert as much as I would have wanted to. Anyway, put on your favorite Leona song and enjoy these pictures!

Bruno Mars – The Moonshine Jungle Tour

As my friend talked me into getting a ticket for Bruno Mars, I saw my next concert sooner than I had originally planned. So this Tuesday it was like: “Hello, again, Olympiahalle!” Of course it was damn cold again during waiting time. Isn’t it always? We were happy to spend some warm, cozy moments in the entrance hall of the Olympic swimming pool in between. Anyway, the wait again paid off and we were the very first inside and so got the best spots right in front of stage.

Supporting act was Mayer Hawthorne. He brought a really tight band and some great songs. I especially liked “The Walk“, which has a real cool old-school flair. I listened to his albums yesterday and found that he has some more songs like this one (e.g. “Hooked“), so he is a nice new discovery for me. Unfortunately I don’t think his stage presence is the best, but his band makes up for that.

Then it was finally time for Bruno Mars.

Favourites:

• I loved his performance of “Treasure“, one of my favourite Mars-songs.

• It was awesome to hear ten thousand people sing songs like “Just the way you are“. I just love that! And just imagine what it must feel like when you have written a song in your bedroom and suddenly people from all over the world sing it back to you!

• He really impressed me with his drum solo at the beginning of the encore.

• His brass section is killer.

• His vocal performances on “When I was your man” and “If I knew” (together with his bandmate Philip Lawrence) were ace. BTW: Phil also has released a solo album recently called “Letters I never sent“, also worth listening to!

• His moves were smoooooth and pretty Michael Jackson. 😉

Not so favourites:

• Security was really strict with cameras – well, at least in the first five rows! Nobody was allowed to take any picture or video, not with a camera and not with your mobile. I haven’t experienced this since many, many years and I’m not sure what to make of this. Rumour had it that Bruno had just returned from the EMA’s in Amsterdam and was “a little bit under the weather” and that’s why he didn’t want any pictures taken. Dunno… but I thought it was quite unfair that those at the front were not allowed to take pictures and everyone else was because security couldn’t reach them. So unfortunately, I cannot post any pictures this time.

• The show was pretty short, only about 70 minutes. Apparently for the same reason mentioned above. He didn’t even sing “Gorilla“.

• Security also really put up a fuss after the show. We waited at the backstage entrance, as we had a present for Bruno and just wanted to say hi. There were about 20 people there. I have been waiting at that entrance for hours and hours already and it was never a problem. But this time they suddenly declared it as a construction area and asked us to move away. They made us walk all the way back up to the Olympiahalle and roped off the area. I really wonder who gave that order, but as I’ve never experienced anything like that there, I assume it must have been Bruno or his management. Anyway, all that kind of leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

But in the end it was a great show, worth waiting for and we had a lot of fun! So to make up a little for the missing pictures, at least here is a  video by some youtuber, which gives a good impression of the concert imho, especially as it was filmed just a few rows right behind us.

Robbie Williams – Take the Crown Tour

I’ve just listened to Robbie Williams’ new song “Go gentle“. I’m really looking forward to his new album “Swings Both Sides”, which will be out on Noveber 15th. To shorten the waiting time, I decided to put up some picture from Robbie’s last concert her in Munich.

The show was awesome, we had so much fun – despite the burning sun and the long queue time. Somehow concerts get less stressful, there is no real crush anymore, not even for Robbie Williams. I remember the time when it was complete madness from eight in the morning until the concert started, with no chance to use any toilet, get something to drink or even sit down for a minute. Well, could be that we just grew up with our stars and this kind of hype is still going on for these new teen stars. Oh, I’m not talking about “Take That”-concerts here btw. I’ve never been a fan of “Take That”, not at all, actually, I couldn’t understand how girls liked them so much, so I never went to any of their shows. But when Robbie started his solo career, his music began to reach me. I have to admit I’m still not very “Robbie-literate”, I kinda know and love a lot of his famous songs but I’m not very good with album tracks. Basically I mostly love his live shows! You can’t deny that he is an amazing entertainer! He manages to create that special kind of energy without any spectecular effects; this atmosphere where you just forget about everything around you and you sing along, jump up and down and enjoy the moment; where you are just happy to be right there at that very second and thankful that you are able to experience this and even more thankful that you simply are ALIVE!  And that’s exactly what I look for in concerts, this sense of escapism, where you are IN that very moment, completely yourself but somehow a part of others, too, and also a part of the music. That’s when you want time to stop and just stay in that state forever. And that’s what Robbie can do!

David Garrett – “Teufelsgeiger” Cinema Tour

I have this friend. Somehow every time we meet, there is some “star action” going on nearby. We’ve even been running into people like Usher just by chance. Last time we met, it was in a little town in the region Harz, where nothing ever happens… well, kind of… And lo and behold, George Clooney was filming his new movie “The Monuments Men” on that very day in that very place. So we had the chance to observe some of the shooting, which was really interesting. Now this time we met yesterday in my hometown Kassel, where I was for a visit. We actually just wanted to chill and talk in some nice restaurant or something, but again: two days before, my friend messaged me that David Garrett would be in town that very evening. What a coincidence again! He is touring cinemas right now to advertise his new film “Teufelsgeiger” (“The Devil’s Violinist”), a movie about the life of Italian violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini. Unfortunately, of course, all tickets for the premiere were already sold out. We decided to go anyway and see whether we could get tickets right before the show. Although that was not possible, we still had the chance to see David Garrett, who came out into the foyer to sign autographs and pose for pictures before the premiere.

I was able to experience David live last year because a friend of mine had invited me to his concert in Munich. So I thought it was fair enough that I would get her an autograph now that I had the chance. David was very patient with the about 500 people who had come to see him. Although he obviously was sick with a bad cold, he tried to fulfill every wish his fans had. So I cannot say anything about the movie (yet), but I really though Garrett himself was a very nice guy.