Anyway, it is not like there was a whole lot of blog-worthy things going on. I did go to Italy to visit Ms. Beth, which was freaking awesome, despite the fact that I got horrendously ill the second day and spent the better part of the week in bed, unable to make sudden movements without my head pounding and my sinuses imploding on themselves. At some point, I will blog about that, with photos! Other than that, my days have consisted of some running, some Vodka, some fußball, ein bisschen Deutsch lernen and a great deal of sleeping. Class started again today, and by some divine intervention, I ended up in a fairly high level of Studienkolleg, despite my inability to speak German with any sort of coherency (or even more importantly, or sadly, my inability to fucking understand Germans...two weeks in Italy and I was better able to understand Italian than German. Effing sweet). But neither here nor there....
Lets talk about tonight's amazing concert!
When I decided to learn German a year-and-a-half ago, I googled German bands in hopes of finding one that wasn't Rammstein. Unfortunately, Americans know two types of German music: the stuff that is played in Bayern and Rammstein, neither of which I was particularly interested in purchasing to expand my knowledge of German. One of the first bands that came up (other than Rammstein) was Wir sind Helden. I downloaded one of their cds and to my great surprise, despite the fact that I had no idea what the lyrics were even about, I absolutely loved them. I think the best adjective to describe them would be fun. Loads of fun.
When I found out they were going to be touring in Germany while I was here, I promised myself that I would go to the closest concert because, honestly, how many chances would I get to see Wir sind Helden live? HOO-FUCKING-RAH they were going to be playing in Saarbrücken! Beside myself with excitement, I have been waiting months for tonight. And it was SO WORTH IT.
I made John and Brice come with me early because I wanted to be in the front and I wanted to buy a t-shirt (and one for my sister for her birthday...as a side-note, my sister is one of the most difficult people to shop for. She is like my dad. I asked her what she wanted and she told me "a shirt from Germany." Awesome, Morgan. So I told her I would get her a Wir sind Helden concert shirt because no one in L.A. would have one). We ended up in the front, mere feet away from the stage. The only person I have ever been closer to was probably Liz Phair, and I seriously doubt I am going to find another performer who will give the audience a chatch shot while she is playing the piano. You really cannot get much closer than that.
Anyway, the concert itself was fantastic! I am beginning to notice a big difference between German bands live and American performers...there seems to be a lot more energy over here in Germany. I have several theories as to why this is, but it is very refreshing for me. I absolutely fell in love tonight. If you like Wir sind Helden, you must see them live. It could honestly be the highlight of my year abroad. There was so much energy and so much enthusiasm--you could tell that the band really enjoyed what they were doing, and this definitely translated through their music. I particularly enjoyed the way they incorporated various songs in English into their own songs: The Fifth Dimensions "Aquarius," Alphaville "Forever Young," and a Deutsch-version of Talking Heads "Once in a Lifetime"--my favorite!
Here are some photos from my crappy little blackberry:
After the concert, we decided to wait a little while by the tour buses to see if we could get an autograph (I did, after all, score a set-list...which I asked for in almost perfect Denglish, since I have no idea what the word for set-list is in German). The thing is, as I told Brice, we would probably never see this band live again, unless they decided to tour in the U.S., and by U.S. I mean somewhere near Idaho. Right... So we might as well be creepy American stalkers and wait. Low-and-behold, Judith did pop out, and we did get autographs (hoorah, I have a birthday gift) and a photo.
Now, a while back, I may have gotten a wee-bit inebriated and posted a comment on Wir sind Heldens facebook wall about how freaking excited I was about the concert, and Judith actually responded. And don't you know, she totally remembered me tonight from my facebook comment (I cannot imagine there are too many dumb ass Americans who do not speak German who get all excited and drunk and spam their favorite bands facebook wall, however. I could be wrong...). See, mom! And you thought my alcoholism was a bad thing! But Judith said that it speaks volumes about the music when people who cannot understand the lyrics still enjoy the songs (case in point, I actually understand the majority of the songs...danke google translate!) But I could not agree more. Understanding the lyrics does help (I mean, after all, you do not want to be singing along to lyrics about devil worshiping or sacrificial slaughterings), but when music can be enjoyed by people from a different culture who speak a different language, you must be doing something right as a performer!
All-in-all, I could not have asked for a better night. I feel like now, should I get deported prematurely from Germany before my year abroad is complete, I can say I have done everything that I wanted to do. Viele danke, Wir sind Helden!!!
