What Would Frankfurt be Without BATSCHKAPP?

Boring. It would be boring. 

It’s been exactly a year since Live Music stopped. Promoters have suffered enormously, even thought they had pandemic-proof hygiene concepts in place. No place more than the Batschkapp who had seating arrangemnts and an outdoor venue to envy. Still, through no fault of their own, it went tits-up.

Until gigs are up and running again, it isn’t just the promoters who are suffering. It’s the musicians, the crew and us, the listeners.  Ralf Scheffler, legendary Batschkapp Boss, has had enought and has decided to grab his guitar and do a live stream, “if we can only book a limited amount of bands, we’ll play ourselves.” 

His 60’s band The Terrible Noises will play their livestream on 12 March and Batschkapp are honoured to have been able to commit Shantel with their DISKO PARTIZANI DIGITAL WORLDWIDE CONCERT including their Bucovina Club Orkestar for the following day.

All proceeds of your tickets go directly to the musicians, crew and staff of the Batschkapp. Frankfurt needs the Batschkapp and they need you. Rock on!

The Terrible Noises - Livestream

Fr. 12.03.21 begins at 19:30 Uhr

Buy your tickets here:

https://batschkapp.tickets.de/de/tour/1003765-the_terrible_noises_livestream

(6 Price Categories from 6,50 - 45 Euros)

Shantel & Bucovina Club Orkestar - Livestream

Sa. 13.03.21 begins at 19:30 Uhr

Buy your tickets here:

https://batschkapp.tickets.de/de/tour/1003767-shantel_bucovina_club_orkestar_disko_partizani_digital_worldwide

(Six Price Categories from 12-61,50 Euros) 

A little side note on THE TERRIBLE NOISES…

this band was created as a “House Band” in honour of the anniversary of the legendary Batschkapp. I’m not going to lie- do I like The Kinks or Creedence Clearwater? No, but I will occasionally listen to The Doors and I’ve been known to love Nico and Lou Reed. So when Ralf Scheffler plays his guitar, the house tech Udo Fliegl slaps the bass, the local promoter and booker Matze Brunner sings and the legendary Seppl Niemeyer plays the drums, I’ll be there.

I’ve bought my ticket. Have you?

Support the Kapp. Support MUSIC!

#saveourstages

#batschkapp

ARCHITECTS - BUILDING HOPE WITH A NEW ALBUM

ARCHITECTS have released their ninth studio album For Those That Wish To Exist this week and I couldn’t be happier.

Singer Sam Carter, drummer Dan Searle, bassist Ali Dean and guitarists Josh Middleton and Adam Christianson have tackled questions facing the future of our planet with some of their most elaborate tunes, including horns, choirs and even orchestral strings. Self-produced and limitless in its originality they’ve depicted their journey from post-metalcore to an absolute sonic masterpiece.

The songs give the listener hope, even in these bleak times. We can all make a difference, as they clearly suggest in the song For Those That Wish To Exist. ARCHITECTS  have always been outspoken about their much loved causes, from organisations like Sea Shepherd, to opposing fox hunting, and who have always focused on sustainability in everything from their touring to merch production. 

The album’s singles “Meteor,” “Dead Butterflies,” “Black Lungs,” and colossal single “Animals” have amassed 30M+ streams and 13M+ YouTube views. 

EARLY REVIEWS FOR 'FOR THOSE THAT WISH TO EXIST' HAVE INCLUDED

"For Those That Wish To Exist is a long and constantly shifting album. It also sounds like it could be a crucial one in Architects’ ongoing evolution."
Kerrang!, (5/5)

"With a cleaner sonic palette and orchestral flourishes, it's proof of their enduring creativity" - NME (4/5)

"Put simply, ‘For Those That Wish To Exist’ is the most textured, thoughtful and utterly fearless Architects have ever been, and kicks off a new bright and boundless new chapter for one of the UK’s most incredible and intoxicating bands."
Rock Sound (Album of the Month)

"thoughtful, interesting, finely wrought compositions and gleefully hulking exercises in metal" - The Guardian

"They’re too good a band for us to keep to ourselves forever, and with For Those That Wish To Exist, a lot more people are going to discover just how great Architects are."
Metal Hammer (8/10)

"Cohesive, coherent and demanding of us an explanation, ‘For Those’ shall not relent until wrongs have been righted, and being this righteous never sounded so good."
Dork Magazine (4/5)

 

'FOR THOSE THAT WISH TO EXIST' TRACK LISTING 
Do You Dream of Armageddon?
Black Lungs
Giving Blood
Discourse Is Dead
Dead Butterflies
An Ordinary Extinction
Impermanence ft. Winston McCall (Parkway Drive)
Flight Without Feathers
Little Wonder ft. Mike Kerr (Royal Blood)
Animals
Libertine
Goliath ft. Simon Neil (Biffy Clyro)
Demi God
Meteor
Dying Is Absolutely Safe
 

THIS ALBUM WILL BE MY REFUGE DURING THESE WEIRD AND NOT SO WONDERFUL TIMES.

Why Cry When You Can Laugh?

These are weird times, in a surreal world. Someone ate an undercooked bat and now we cannot see our friends, cannot visit our mums and dads in their homes, or in a home, have to wash our hands twenty times a day, instead of the five we were accustomed to. Saying that, a friend of mine went to a Private Club in London at the beginning of this pandemic, and some of the posh ladies in the bathroom did not wash their hands after doing a pee pee, which you would do even if there wasn’t a bird flu virus swirling through the British capital and beyond. So, sometimes I question our common sense.

But there you have it: some of us obviously believe that the virus is beneath us, that we are untouchable. Take the old people at our local Farmer’s Market. Germans don’t know how to queue at the best of times - we are now at the worst of times. They stand there in their little groups of fours and fives, maybe with a little more distant between them, maybe not. Perhaps the greater distance is why their comments about “look at her with her mask, it is not like this is the Pest; I have lived my life, doesn’t concern me; I have been standing here with the cucumber I picked up from the stack (with the sign that says “Do Not Touch” next to it) for two minutes, it is all I am buying from you, only to put it down back on the stand and walk away angrily for not being served; I am covered in Jesus’s blood, the virus cannot touch me” are so audible. 

Our whingeing is what the Germans call “complaining of the highest order”, which I like to call “First World Problems”, like cancelling the cleaner, having to go to the grocery store twice a week instead of five times a week, cooking for your college student kids who have decided to listen to you and spend this time of uncertainty at home, and having to exercise at home or outside instead of a stinky gym. 

I tend to complain a lot. But then I always try and find the good in the bad. The Persian saying of “this too shall pass” is too passive as my mantra. This is a good time to evaluate what you want in life, what you don’t and what you can do without. Those last two are not the same things. 

It helps to be authentic, it helps trying new things- no, I will not attempt to sew a mask for example, but I did join an online Literary Festival last week, set up by CJ Cooke. It was during one of the sessions with Kirsty Eyre, Abigail Mann, Asia MacKay and Helen Lederer that it became so clear. The biggest tool we have to overcome this time of gloom is humour. It is the only way out of any tragedy. Humour. And reflection.

Make a list of things you have learnt from the time inside your home and away from all the hustle and bustle.

Here is mine:

-        Don’t eat bats

-        Think about why people eat bats; are we that different?

-        Washing hands and staying home when you are sick is not as OCD as I assumed

-        I am such a procrastinator 

-        Writing is good for the soul

-        My goals are often unattainable; be more realistic

-        Less is more

-        I clean better than my cleaner

-        I cannot iron

-        I cannot sew

-        Facial masks also hide facial hair. Win win. (Also- Slipknot knew the power of masks all along.)

-        I need to moisturize more

-        I spend far too much time on social media

-        Social Media drains your soul

-        You can never have enough books

-        Listen to music 

-        Be kind to yourself

PS I may just let you know all the re-scheduled concert dates. But before I do, I will have to dry my tears about not seeing Pearl Jam this year. That may take a while. Take care of yourself and yours!