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You know when you go to concerts and you walk out happy?

Jason Mraz's show at the Royal Albert Hall on 22. September was one those concerts!

He's one of those amazing singer song writers who play the most amazing accoustic sets that give you goose bumps and make you wiggle in your seat.

He's not that big in Europe, similar to how John Mayer didn't use to be that famous over here. Of course now that Mraz is more known and plays bigger venues, his music has expanded to include bigger bands, choirs and sets. Accoustic lovers (like me) will miss the purity of just a guitar and an amazing voice.

But unlike Mayer, even in his latest album Jason Mraz has stayed more loyal to his accoustic roots.

So I was worried when going to the concert that I'd be just as disappointed by a big band and a huge impersonal set.

BUT NO!

Jason Mraz was just amazing. Despite the shit accoustics of the Royal Albert Hall. RAH just isn't made for rock concerts that contain a lot of accoustic stuff.

In any case, Mraz played his big hits that got the crowd out of their seats and some tunes still give you goose bumps!

I still wanna see him in a small venue with just a guitar!

That's one of the standard questions among people who don't know each other and are under the age of 40.

Hell, I wrote my entire PhD on it!

In a way it's too bad that I've finished the PhD ... oh wait, actually no, it's not, it's GREAT that it's finished.

In any case, research in Scotland has uncovered a direct link between personality and music taste.

Again, it's something that we all sort of always knew, but now someone actually proved it.

Here some music types and associated personality traits they found ...

Read more »

It's been a while since I've been to a gig.

Actually no, that's not true, I did go to the Amy Wadge gig not too long ago, but that was worlds away from the gig I went to last night.

Chris took me along to see Melt Banana, which is a Japanese Punk Rock outfit.
(here are some pics)

Oh wait, Wikipedia refers to them as "Japanese Noise Rock".

And noisy it was!

DJ Scotch Egg, the support band, wasn't so much a band but just a Japanese dude with a children's keyboard, a gameboy and possibly his iPod. His music was a Marilyn Manson meets Super Mario Brothers type mix of beats, riffs and, well, gameboy sounds.

Being about 5 feet tall, he tried very hard to get a mosh pit going in front of his mixing desk. A few people looked like they had an epileptic fit as a result.

Or wait, that could have been dancing.

With Melt Banana (the main act of the evening) I had a hard time distinguishing the songs because, as old and boring as that might sound, they all sounded (noise-wise) the same.

Ok, the screaming was different from time to time, but as you'll see in the video below, it's not about the lyrics.

My favourite was "7 short songs". Each lasted no more than about 20 seconds and they were all interrupted by a short Japanese accented "Thank You!" from the lead singer.

Thank god they were short. I mean the songs ...

All in all, this one goes down as an "interesting experience", which reminded me of the fact that I live in a city full of subcultures. Something that is easy to forget when you're slaving away in the corporate world.

Here's the video:

Preparing for the ultimate 80s and 90s party has been magical musical journey through time.

When finding the right tunes to play, I remembered

- watching Beverly Hill 90210

- listening to Nirvana (being hardcore generation X)

- before that there was 2 Unlimited and Culture Beat (which I later vehemently denied)

- the parties we used to throw in our friends' basements.

- schlepping along a second stereo so we could "DJ". We even put together cash so we could buy a strobe light for cooler atmosphere. (Lucky we didn't have any friends with epilepsy).

And of course the parties where you'd have a "slow section".

That stuff just doesn't happen anymore. People play cool music. House. Shed. Garage.

Maybe I'm getting old; probably I'm just nostalgic as you get when you get older.

But come on, 2 Unlimited in its eurotrashy way was AWESOME!!!

And believe me, I'll look the part at the party with the full 1980s outfit!

You sniffle and you have watery eyes.

It must be those pollen in the Half Moon in Putney or something in the air.

Or maybe it's that pint sized singer-song writer just strikes a chord with you.

By now Amy Wadge effortlessly owns the stage when she sings her classics like Scream (iTunes) and Breathe (iTunes).

But it's the stories about her new songs which bring her album alive.

Songs like "Tell Her" all make more sense when you know that it was inspired by a letter from her granddad to her grandmother, when he had an operation and he wasn't sure whether he'd survive. In it he told her how much he still loved her after all these years.

The whole album was recorded over two days when she was eight months pregnant. And you know her songs come from the heart.

Especially the ones give really bad hayfever sniffles like "Shattered" (iTunes).

You know you've been to a good gig, when you had a serious hayfever attack!

She's awesome!

Make sure you watch the whole video ...

This is the strangest cover version of Britney Spears' "Toxic" that I've ever heard.

But Yael Naim does it really well ...

In other songs she sings in French, Hebrew and English.

Beautiful!