Yes, we’ve been to a few gigs since Covid. We’ve written about a few. But the feeling has been somewhat ambivalent - to wear a mask, to venture into crowds? But hey, if you love music, the adrenaline (along with my four vaccines) may or may not protect me from the dreaded virus. But even if it doesn’t, I will have died happy seeing 5SOS (there, I said it), Franz Ferdinand, TOOL, Einstürzende Neubauten, GARY NUMAN and Charakter.
The latter two have been the best. One a very, very old artist, but a performer who has come out of his shell over the last four decades. Incredible stuff. If you ever get the chance to see GARY NUMAN live, do it.
The other is a new band. A band founded in Frankfurt by a Scouser cum Frankfurter with two of Frankfurt’s finest, Kiran Echt and Elias Hartard. Dylan Smith was recording and producing an album for Frankfurt band Past Reflection after he met them playing gigs with his former band. After PR split, he started writing songs with their drummer and guitarist. Whilst completing his final year at Leeds Conservatoire, he added Andy Danson to the mix and what you have is a unique voice with musical nuances of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Placebo and a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ that will take the music world by storm.
I was lucky enough to witness their gig at the Lending Room in Leeds and I cannot wait to see more of them. If their album is as good as their show, they may just give all the Machine Gun Kellys a run for their money.
Real music - yes, with bells and whistles, but not instead of actual music.
Here is a link https://linktr.ee/charakter.band - check them out!
