Update of the Rhein-Main-Neckar-Isar concert section (thanks to Catherine):

25/10 METRIC, F, Nachtleben 29/10 Klangweltenfestival, MZ, Frankfurter Hof 30/10 TOM LIWA, F, Das Bett 31/10 VIKTORIA TOLSTOY, MZ, Frankfurter Hof 02/11 LAMBCHOP, F, Dreikönigskirche 02/11 SHEARWATER, DA, Oetinger Villa 03/11 OREGON, DA, Centralstation 08/11 NINA NASTASIA, OF, Hafen 2 11/11 NOUVELLE VAGUE, F, Mousonturm 11/11 NICK CAVE, MZ, Phönix-Halle (75€ a seat!) 12/11 ARAB STRAP, HD, Karlstorbf. 15/11 CONSOLE, WI, Schlachthof 19/11 LISA GERMANO, F, Brotfabrik 21/11 CASSANDRA WILSON, F, Jahrhunderthalle 24/11 YO LA TENGO, HD, Karlstorbf. 09/12 CAT POWER, M, Bavarian Open

Feel free to add gigs around Frankfurt/Main in the comments.

Im Pissoir im Cooky's gestern abend. Die Ohren dröhnen vom Gitarrenlärm, wenn man die Tür aufmacht. Drinnen am Anfang völlige Stille. Nach ein paar Sekunden plötzlich so seltsame leise Geräusche. Was spielen die denn jetzt da draußen? Hat sich The Wedding Present plötzlich in ein Violinquartett verwandelt? Dann die späte Erleuchtung. Aus den Klolautsprechern tropft klassische Musik der dezenten Sorte. Eigentlich schade. Die Idee hätte mir gefallen.

The Wedding Present gig in the Cooky's was fine. Much better than I had imagined beforehand. I only saw them once in the warehouseish Terminal Export in Nancy around 1993 and the sound wasn't too good. This time it was probably even louder because of the tininess of the place, a night club cellar close to the Hauptwache in the heart of Frankfurt. Where they apparently already had played in 1985 as a totally plastered fiftysomething Brit with short grey hair told me. TWP were the band he had seen most in Frankfurt, five times or something. I was at the bar about three meters away from the lead guitarist and five meters from Gedge. Whose vocals I could understand most of the time. They played at least three songs from their chef d'œuvre Seamonsters, I remember Corduroy, the brilliant Dalliance which builds up from a gentle dreamy tune to devilish guitar noise and the closer Octopussy (no encores of course). Gedge was strumming his life away on his guitar. Most of the songs I didn't know were slower and kind of folkrockish. Gedge in songwriter mode. Not bad but not thrilling either. Probably from more recent albums I don't know. When Apple Pie came on the above mentioned Brit in exile who had been shouting incomprehensible song wishes or whatever in between the songs obviously had to join the dance stage. The audience was rather old altogether. Hardly any twentysomethings, on average it looked older than the band.

Friday night I will be in the Cooky's. David Gedge and his good old band The Wedding Present will be there. They have reformed after that rather unsuccessful Cinerama interlude. For the first time after ten years or so I listened to Hitparade 1 with the six January to June singles from 1992. They still sound terrific. His deep throaty voice, those noisy guitars, the straightforward songwriting. Indie rock'n'roll from Leeds in the vein of Velvet Underground with a dash of The Buzzcocks and The Fall.

After twenty-four days of work in a row Catherine invited me to go out for some live music. I didn't expect anything from the Welsh part of the Velvet Underground. The last record I bought and listened to by him was Music for a New Society which I saw him touring for more than twenty years ago in the Bochumer Fabrik. I was disappointed at the time. The concert was a little bit too bittersweet and opera-like but okay. The expectations were too high though.

When I arrived at the Mousonturm I had to smoke a cigarette before entering the hall. Smoking was prohibited inside. That reminded me of something I heard about John Cale on the radio a while ago. He was producing a band which was taking drugs all the time. I think it was the Happy Mondays. And he didn't allow them any drugs when they were recording in the studio. No ecstasy, no spliffs, not even a beer. What a tyrant!

In the beginning we were next to the speakers and the music coming out of them was some distorted viola stuff. I bet it was him. Then the band arrived on stage, John took his viola and they played the only song I recognised immediately tonight. It was Venus in Furs. Cold shivers were running down my spine. It was totally unreal. As if the last 40 years had never happened. John had this grumpy old man expression which didn't leave his face up until the end. The other band members could have been his grandchildren. A curly bassist moving in a 70s way, totally immersed in his playing. A handsome blond guitarist with jeans which were too large for him who created sounds you wouldn't think of coming from a guitar. And a bold black ferocious drummer who was getting bored during the slower numbers.

John Cale doesn't have a style. He switches between styles like chamaeleons alter their colour. Down on the back of his white sweatshirt it said Change. Probably his motto for life. After the hard-rocking, tight pieces in the beginning, he and his band played some extremely funky songs in the vein of Prince. Even John sang in falsetto. Then they performed Gideon's Bible from 1970s Vintage Violence in a long atmospheric planante version. My fave of the night. The kind of new age which doesn't age. After there was a song which sounded like a cover of Randy Newman's You Can Leave Your Hat on. It wasn't though, I guess, it was stolen, or unconsciously inspired if you wish. Then they played two progrocky pieces from Hobo Sapiens, they sounded like concept songs, I found them annoying. The new material on the other hand was extremely hard-rocking, especially the second last song which turned into a jam session finishing with the line "Good Night." Like a Sister Ray of today.

The first concert ever where I missed some kind of ear protection. How can this guy's ears bear the noise he and his band make? I don't know what he sipped out of his cup after each song but it must have been something strong. Strong and non-alcoholic.

Endlich mal ein Konzert bei dem ich nicht der Älteste im Publikum war, wahrscheinlich habe ich den Altersschnitt sogar gesenkt. Heinz Sauer, das Jazzurgestein am Saxophon, und Michael Wollny, der Jungspund am Klavier, die altersmäßig Großvater und Enkel sein könnten, harmonierten miteinander wie ein schon ewig eingespieltes Team. Die Stücke waren recht kurz, meist zwei bis fünf Minuten und hörten oft gerade dann plötzlich auf, wenn ich mich gerade reingehört hatte. Musik zum Abschweifenlassen der Gedanken. Recht freier impressionistischer und teilweise minimalistischer Jazz, der zu ECM passen würde. Virtuose Klavierpassagen, die z.T. sehr stark an Keith Jarrett erinnerten, Wollny nutzte den Innenteil des Flügels auch als Schlaginstrument, zupfte die Saiten und erzeugte quietschende bzw. scheppernde Klänge mit einem Glas, das er über die Saiten rieb bzw. auf sie stellte und dann die Tasten anschlug. Sauers ausdrucksstarkes Saxophonspiel changierte von sehr leisen, lyrischen Phrasen, die mich an einen Windhauch denken ließen, der durchs Schilf weht bis zu vollen, satten Sound-Eruptionen. Ein schöner Jazz-Abend, zu dem auch die mich durch ihr Understatement gelegentlich zum Lächeln bringenden Zwischenansagen des in seiner Sprödheit mir unglaublich sympathischen Sauer beitrugen. Die Duo-CD heißt Melancholia (Zeit-Rezension), nach einem kurzen Stück von Duke Ellington, das uns die beiden leider nicht darbieten konnten, da Sauer seine Noten verlegt hatte.

Wedding Present spielen morgen im Nachtleben. Anyone interested to go? I'd like to but I need some extra motivation. If they would only play Seamonsters...

The American Analog Set will play at the Moschée in Offenbach tomorrow. The kind of mellow music perfect for a lukewarm summer night. Three new live songs as a teaser here. I loved their concert in Frankfurt two years ago.