spielwiese. (Posts about spock's beard.)https://spielwiese.fontein.de/tag/spocks-beard.atom2019-11-17T10:45:13ZfelixNikolabest concerts this year.https://spielwiese.fontein.de/2007/12/25/best-concerts-this-year/2007-12-25T13:25:15+01:002007-12-25T13:25:15+01:00felix<div><p>i think it’s time to take a look at the list of <a href="https://spielwiese.fontein.de/2007/08/13/concerts-i-have-been-at/">concerts</a> i <a href="https://spielwiese.fontein.de/2007/08/13/concerts-i-want-to-attend-this-year/">attended</a> this year and to list the best ones. at these two links, you can find a pretty complete list of the concerts i attended. i decided to divide the top list into two categories: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_rock">prog</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_metal_music">metal</a>.</p>
<h4>prog</h4>
<p>for the third place, i cannot decide between three concerts, all which took place in pratteln in the <a href="http://www.z-7.ch/">z-7</a>, namely, first, the <a href="http://www.spocksbeard.com/">spock’s beard</a> gig on the 16.05.2007, second, the <a href="http://www.anathema.ws/">anathema</a> & <a href="http://moondawn.ch/">moondawn</a> gig on the 31.05.2007, and, third, the <a href="http://www.the-company.com/">fish</a> <a href="https://spielwiese.fontein.de/2007/11/28/fish/">gig</a> on the 27.11.2007. all three gigs have been very good. most memorable was probably <i>spock’s beard</i> keyboardist, playing with both hands and feet, while his poor technician had to hold the keyboard construction together so it wouldn’t fall apart.</p>
<p>the <b>second place</b> goes to the <a href="http://www.blackfield.org/">blackfield</a> & <a href="http://www.purereasonrevolution.com/">pure reason revolution</a> concert, which took place on the 24.02.2007 in pratteln (<a href="http://www.z-7.ch/">z-7</a>). i think this was the first concert where i really liked the opener, so much that i bought one of their albums. actually, i had to order it by mail, as the ones they had with them were sold out at the end of their concert (hence, i wasn’t the only one who liked it alot). the main act itself, <i>blackfield</i>, a collaboration between the <a href="http://www.porcupinetree.com/">porcupine tree</a> frontman <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Wilson">steven wilson</a> and the israeli rock star <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviv_Geffen">aviv geffen</a>, was also really good.</p>
<p>the <b>first place</b> goes to the <a href="http://www.porcupinetree.com/home/">porcupine tree</a> & <a href="http://www.anathema.ws/">anathema</a> <a href="https://spielwiese.fontein.de/2007/11/13/anathema-porcupine-tree/">concert</a>, which took place on the 12.11.2007 in zürich (<a href="http://www.volkshaus.ch/">volkshaus</a>). despite several people in the audience didn’t like <i>anathema</i> too much (“too boring”), i was pleased to see them <a href="https://spielwiese.fontein.de/2007/08/13/concerts-i-have-been-at/">again</a>. for me, their music expresses simply too many emotions to be boring, eating up energy until bursting into the listener’s ear. the main act, <i>porcupine tree</i>, one of my favorite bands, was as good as i expected them to be. even though they played a lot from the current album, <i>fear of a blank planet</i>, which i don’t like as much as some of the older ones, they also played many classics. unfortunately, they didn’t played <i>arriving somewhere but not here</i>, which i would really loved to listen to. but, besides that, i still think this is the best prog concert i attended this year.</p>
<h4>metal</h4>
<p>again, as before, i cannot decide on someone for the <b>third place</b>, but i have two canidates in mind. the first one is the <a href="http://www.dreamtheater.net/">dream theater</a> & <a href="http://www.symphonyx.com/">symphony x</a> <a href="https://spielwiese.fontein.de/2007/11/01/dream-theater-and-symphony-x/">concert</a>, which took place on the 31.10.2007 in winterthur (<a href="http://www.eulachhallen.ch/">eulachhallen</a>). the second canidate is the <a href="http://www.apocalyptica.com/home/">apocalyptica</a> & <a href="http://www.sturmunddrang.fi/">sturm und drang</a> <a href="https://spielwiese.fontein.de/2007/11/10/apocalyptica/">concert</a>, which took place on the 09.11.2007 in zürich (<a href="http://www.volkshaus.ch/">volkshaus</a>). all these bands are really good, and the shows they delivered were so, too, featuring many small details, as neat decoration. but both of these concerts also have their sides. namely, <i>symphony x</i> played way too short (but then, i’ll see them again next february as headliner), the location was strange (the wardrobe was outside), and <i>dream theater</i> could have played longer, too (i heard the rumor that the local organizer fucked this up by not registering the concert with the authorities, which in turn resulted in the police ordering the concert to be ended earlier). at the <i>apocalyptica</i> concert, i didn’t like the opener <i>sturm und drang</i> too much; they played really good and professional, but it simply wasn’t the kind of music which i really like.</p>
<p>the <b>second place</b> is filled by the <a href="http://www.amorphis.net/">amorphis</a>, <a href="http://www.swallowthesun.net/">swallow the sun</a> & <a href="http://www.insomnium.net/">insomnium</a> <a href="https://spielwiese.fontein.de/2007/11/19/amorphis-swallow-the-sun-insomnium/">concert</a>, which took place at the 18.11.2007 in pratteln (<a href="http://www.z-7.ch/">z-7</a>). (videos from the concert can be found <a href="https://spielwiese.fontein.de/2007/11/22/videos-from-last-sundays-concert/">here</a>.) this concert featured three very good finnish bands, one of them, namely <i>swallow the sun</i>, being one of my favorite ones. their shows were good, the selection of songs was, too (i would have loved to hear some more <i>swallow the sun</i> songs, but then, i would probably have only been really pleased if they would have simply played all songs from their three albums, which is slightly unrealistic to expect from a co-headliner). i was headbanging a lot, met some friends, had a lot of fun.</p>
<p>the <b>first place</b> goes to the <a href="http://www.moonsorrow.com/">moonsorrow</a> & <a href="http://www.swallowthesun.net/">swallow the sun</a> concert, which took place at the 09.04.2007 (easter monday) in pratteln (<a href="http://www.z-7.ch/">z-7</a>). actually, there was a third band playing as an opener, whose name i forgot. this concert was one of the most incluencal concert for me this year, not only as it introduced me to two bands, namely <i>moonsorrow</i> and <i>swallow the sun</i>, which i now count as two of my most favorite bands. besides that, the atmosphere was simply perfect, and so was the audience. i still remember headbanging with eric (a guy i met on this concert and on another one a bit later, who’s also an <i>opeth</i> fan), even though headbanging right next to the mosh pit can be pretty painful…</p></div>concerts i have been at.https://spielwiese.fontein.de/2007/08/13/concerts-i-have-been-at/2007-08-13T23:13:35+02:002007-08-13T23:13:35+02:00felix<div><p>here’s a list of concerts i’ve been at this year, for historical reasons. not taking in account some classic concerts.</p>
<ul>
<li>07.02.2007: <a href="http://www.megatherion.com/">therion</a>, <a href="http://www.grave-digger.de/">grave digger</a> and sabaton were playing at the <a href="http://www.z-7.ch/">z-7</a> in pratteln (symphonic orchestral metal, and some more thrashy/whatever metal);</li>
<li>21.02.2007: <a href="http://www.amplifiertheband.com/">amplifier</a> and cloudride were playing at <a href="http://www.abart.ch/">abart</a> in zürich (progressive art rock);</li>
<li>24.02.2007: <a href="http://www.blackfield.org/">blackfield</a> and pure reason revolution were playing at the <a href="http://www.z-7.ch/">z-7</a> in pratteln (progressive rock, art rock);</li>
<li>04.03.2007: <a href="http://www.trailofdead.com/">…and you will know us by the trail of dead</a> and forget cassettes were playing at the <a href="http://www.rotefabrik.ch/">rote fabrik</a> in zürich (alternative rock);</li>
<li>29.03.2007: <a href="http://www.lefay.org/">morgana lefay</a>, sacred steel, serenity and bitterness were playing at <a href="http://www.rock-city.ch/">rock city</a> in uster (various kinds of metal: death, prog, power, true, …);</li>
<li>09.04.2007: <a href="http://www.moonsorrow.com/">moonsorrow</a>, <a href="http://www.swallowthesun.net/">swallow the sun</a> and some band whose name i forgot played at the <a href="http://www.z-7.ch/">z-7</a> in pratteln (pagan metal, doom metal, death metal);</li>
<li>10.04.2007: <a href="http://www.circle2circle.net/">circle ii circle</a>, <a href="http://www.savage-circus.de/">savage circus</a>, tomorrow’s eve and <a href="http://www.tempesta.ch/">tempesta</a> were playing at the <a href="http://www.z-7.ch/">z-7</a> in pratteln (metal);</li>
<li>13.04.2007: <a href="http://www.moonspell.com/">moonspell</a>, napalm death, behemoth, gojira and dew scented were playing at the <a href="http://www.z-7.ch/">z-7</a> in pratteln (death and black metal, metalcore);</li>
<li>16.05.2007: <a href="http://www.spocksbeard.com/">spock’s beard</a> was playing at the <a href="http://www.z-7.ch/">z-7</a> in pratteln (progressive rock);</li>
<li>27.05.2007: trivium, <a href="http://www.annihilatormetal.com/">annihilator</a> and some band which was playing before the official opening time were playing at the <a href="http://www.rohstofflager.ch/">rohstofflager</a> in zürich (thrash metal);</li>
<li>29.05.2007: <a href="http://www.verglas.com/arenaworld/">arena</a> was playing at the <a href="http://www.z-7.ch/">z-7</a> in pratteln (progressive rock);</li>
<li>31.05.2007: <a href="http://www.anathema.ws/">anathema</a> and moondawn were playing at the <a href="http://www.z-7.ch/">z-7</a> in pratteln (atmospheric rock with metal influences);</li>
<li>01.06.2007: machine head, <a href="http://www.typeonegative.net/">type o negative</a>, cataract and zatokrev were playing at the <a href="http://www.volkshaus.ch/">volkshaus</a> in zürich (thrash metal, doom metal, metalcore and death metal);</li>
<li>27.06.2007: <a href="http://www.dreamtheater.net/">dream theater</a> and <a href="http://www.megadeth.com/">megadeth</a> were playing at the <a href="http://www.volkshaus.ch/">volkshaus</a> in zürich (progressive metal, thrash metal).</li>
</ul>
<p>if i’ll find the motivation (and if anyone cares), i might write a few words about some of these.</p></div>