Antmo

at Columbiahalle in Berlin? wow...

yes yes and again yes! great choice and excellent feedback

And so I laid out some excerpts of my aborted "review" on Era Vulgaris. p.s. I only wrote a lengthy piece on Misfit Love. But it got lost or misplaced. (There’s a reward for the finding and return of the aforementioned manuscript).

third "observation". The Fun Machine Took a Shit! & Died: the fact that it was included as a supposed nonexistent ghost track on the previous Lullabies to Paralyze made it seem like a simple quirk of Roscio. Then you find it as a bonus on the new album (which would already be fine as it is..) and you’re blown away. Because it’s one of the best things ever written by Joshua and it sweeps you away in 7 minutes of pure delight. The first part is hard-spanish with flamenco guitars and a wave of fuzz layered on top. Then suddenly it halts, shifts into reverse, changes rhythm, and takes off towards the doubling of the second part with swirling drums and a massive robot riff (robbbot!!!). You think it’s over, this tightrope act without a safety net, but no: a flash of light with a lightning ride and Joshua singing the emptiest chorus ever... "u-uh yaaaa". Unmissable. A perfect 10. Kisses to the kids.

second "observation". Sick Sick Sick: simple and hammering. Let’s set aside the musings about Casablancas' cameo because if you don’t know it’s him singing, you wouldn’t even notice his presence (and after all, this fact is more or less the existential summary of his career). The shocking thing that stands out is that the 'strum' of the guitar creates the riff: in other words, it’s the interval of time on the sound (of the same chord!!!) that makes up the theme of the song. Had you ever heard something like this before? Surely, yes; for example, Angus Young from AC/DC had worked on a couple of passages like that, and who knows how many others in rock... but no one had ever done it in such an obsessive way, building an entire arrangement of a track around it. Because it’s these details that turn a man into a champion.

My joy! Yes! "You're beautiful!" Absolutely true! But come on, from the little couches in the bar area you could have even taken notes, couldn’t you? :-P --- Now, I don’t know if anyone will care, but I wanted to drop some observations in my "area of expertise." First off, I LOVE Era Vulgaris and after the concert (the fourth in the series, I missed them only for the Lullabies tour due to a damn fever) my enthusiasm is through the roof. I also want to say that I consider Josh Homme an absolute son of a bitch, because anyone who can write, produce, and almost single-handedly perform all the tracks of that masterpiece, the self-titled first QOTSA album, is a champion in my book. Thus, QOTSA is Josh Homme and Josh Homme is QOTSA; a filthy sponge, able to absorb the most diverse stimuli and shape perfect music, stitching it onto the shoulders of the bandmates who have alternated in his project over time. A bloody juicer, in short. When he arrived at Era Vulgaris, he asked himself: "Well, sure, 'Lullabies' was a bit too lullabies... and indeed I miss the nonsense of that crazy intern Oliveri," then he looks at Van Leeuwen and says: "You know, those hysterical little screams... I mean, those 'yyyyycchhh' or 'aaaaaaaakh' placed at the beginning of riffs... I really miss them." So the King of the Dorks - with big eyes and a big mouth - thinks of one thing and does a hundred. Actually, he does three to be precise. Three fucking hysterical screams that seem like the ghost of Nick Oliveri (and here’s the observation mentioned earlier). Better yet, it’s a taking-the-piss of Oliveri, but more effective than the original. In "Sick Sick Sick" it seems made on purpose as it's glued to the beginning of the drum beat (0:05 seconds), in "The Fun Machine" at 02:36 seconds there’s a copyrighted release while in "Run Pig Run" it’s at 1:57 seconds; in the same song, the Dork decides to go overboard by placing just before that the best of the scream (at 1:20 seconds, it will repeat at 2:57 but the first is immensely better). This time it’s different, it’s under the track and more than a scream it’s a shepherd's whistle that goes "uuuufffyyyyykka" to call the rock flock. Well, you won’t hold it against me if I confess that I find that whistle simply amazing. THAT whistle at 1:20 seconds of "Run Pig Run" alone is worth the price of the entire record. Because it’s these details that judge a player.

I take this opportunity in the comments section to greet 'pugliamix' aka Stay Young Forever and his very kind friend who drove us home with Qotsa in the stereo of his car. Then there's Turkish (in a series of paradoxical exchanges with my buddy G, I caught the gem: "if you remind me, then I won't remember! Tell me not to remember it so that I do remember, got it?" and G: "oh, okay!"), vivis (we want the photo in deshirt!) and magomarcelo. Great people, see you next time!

Yes, but next time bring a sign with an arrow that says "JE SUIS AUTOPILOT." Oh, and you know what's cool? There are these things called cell phones... :-)

naaaaa.... G you recognize him. He mocks you even when he's silent.

But the most beautiful thing about the concert (I can't help it... I have to say it...) is the big boss G -a superior mind- dressed as a skipper -imagine a two-meter tall blond guy in a blue shirt, matching pants, and sailing loafers among this crowd of crazy rockers- who, right under the stage, manages to scream "SFIGAATOOO" at the King of the Dorks, perfectly timed between the silence at the band's entrance and the delirious roar that will follow. I was about to collapse from laughter but didn't make it in time. I got toppled by the Cozza...