I have been falling behind on concert reviews, God Is An Astronaut in Ljubljana and again in Budapest with Marionette ID. these days in budapest have been a nonstop rush to couchsurfing events, concerts, travels to smaller towns, meetings with friends and band promoters. A couple times I neglected to look for a couch last minute and feared I'd be sleeping on a park bench. I came pretty damn close to after the GIAA/mID show on Sunday. Many thanks to Kata for allowing me to crash at her place.
The reviews may be very late, and not quite as descriptive especially after watching a few other shows. But I will make up for it with pictures and videos.
Upcoming concerts
Realistic Crew - Apr 16
Képzelt Város - Apr 17
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Concerts: Tapeunderground at Cöxpôn Ambient Café in Budapest, HU (4/2)
Concerts: Tapeunderground at
A local couchsurfer decided to accompany me to this concert after a post I made on the Budapest forums. We met up at the Coffee Heaven on Ferenciek tere and walked from there... and got lost after I had found it instantly he day before, hah hah. We finally find it after backtracking and chill out in the cafe area. It's a nice, relaxed, and very colourful space with all sorts of fabric hanging all over the place. Their jasmine tea is tasty and their eggplant open-faced hot sandwich was delicious!
The venue is in the basement is also quite colourful as well. There is some interesting mood lighting and a small disco ball. What truly makes this unique, at least in my own experiences (I'm not sure how common this is in Budapest), was that it was a seated venue. There were no chairs, just these long body pillows that circled around each low table.
Aaron Shneyer started singing. I was about to lean over to Sophie and express to her how music sometimes defies accents, saying how this guy sounded American as he sang... until he actually spoke. He was most definitely American, from DC. I never expected to see an American artist especially before Tapeunderground. Sophie and I enjoyed him. He was like a mix between folk and reggae. I'm sure if he had his band behind him it'd be a whole lot more reggae-y. He also had some character and stage presence. I had to approach him after.
I almost didn't recognize Tapeunderground. They play so different live as opposed to their studio recordings. There were a couple songs I distinctly recognized . But even so, it sounded considerably different. They are usually a very sensual trip-hop. But they were a bit more bold, more intense. They played for about 2 hours.
Most of the show two guys decided to arrogantly stand, blocking a lot of people's views. At one point the smaller guy sat which caused a group to the side me me to errupt in clapping and cheering. He looked back and defiantly stood back up. The bigger guy was considerably more obnoxious, placing his empty water bottle on he keyboardist's table and using his ash tray. Between two songs the crowd yelled all sorts of stuff I couldn't understand. I then added, "I came all the way from America to see Tapeunderground, not your backs! Sit down!" the crowd laughed and in unison, "Sit down!" One guy confronted them and was in a heated conversation for the duration of two songs. They eventually (finally) left. They apparently could only enjoy the band if everyone else was in misery, otherwise they can't enjoy the show at all.
Apart from that weird, awkwardness the show was great!
A local couchsurfer decided to accompany me to this concert after a post I made on the Budapest forums. We met up at the Coffee Heaven on Ferenciek tere and walked from there... and got lost after I had found it instantly he day before, hah hah. We finally find it after backtracking and chill out in the cafe area. It's a nice, relaxed, and very colourful space with all sorts of fabric hanging all over the place. Their jasmine tea is tasty and their eggplant open-faced hot sandwich was delicious!
The venue is in the basement is also quite colourful as well. There is some interesting mood lighting and a small disco ball. What truly makes this unique, at least in my own experiences (I'm not sure how common this is in Budapest), was that it was a seated venue. There were no chairs, just these long body pillows that circled around each low table.
Aaron Shneyer started singing. I was about to lean over to Sophie and express to her how music sometimes defies accents, saying how this guy sounded American as he sang... until he actually spoke. He was most definitely American, from DC. I never expected to see an American artist especially before Tapeunderground. Sophie and I enjoyed him. He was like a mix between folk and reggae. I'm sure if he had his band behind him it'd be a whole lot more reggae-y. He also had some character and stage presence. I had to approach him after.
I almost didn't recognize Tapeunderground. They play so different live as opposed to their studio recordings. There were a couple songs I distinctly recognized . But even so, it sounded considerably different. They are usually a very sensual trip-hop. But they were a bit more bold, more intense. They played for about 2 hours.
Most of the show two guys decided to arrogantly stand, blocking a lot of people's views. At one point the smaller guy sat which caused a group to the side me me to errupt in clapping and cheering. He looked back and defiantly stood back up. The bigger guy was considerably more obnoxious, placing his empty water bottle on he keyboardist's table and using his ash tray. Between two songs the crowd yelled all sorts of stuff I couldn't understand. I then added, "I came all the way from America to see Tapeunderground, not your backs! Sit down!" the crowd laughed and in unison, "Sit down!" One guy confronted them and was in a heated conversation for the duration of two songs. They eventually (finally) left. They apparently could only enjoy the band if everyone else was in misery, otherwise they can't enjoy the show at all.
Apart from that weird, awkwardness the show was great!
Saturday, April 02, 2011
Concerts: Képzelt Város at Szabad az á.. in Budapest, HU (4/1)
Since I listened to White Noise on a last.fm multi tag radio station (Post-Rock + Cello) two years ago I have wanted to see this band play live. But I never thought I'd truly have the opportunity. The past couple days I had been so wrapped up in his beautiful city, Budapest, when they started playing I remembered why I am here... to experience such intense music.
The show started with Kisherceg which was a 3 piece, primarily instrumental with some vocals. It was a very strong opener and impressed me enough to want to purchase their music some day.
Aandos came up next. They played that night as a 3 piece wihout their vocalist. The instrumental was awesome. They are somewhat like a mathrock/post-rock band. And sounded phenomenal. They also gave me a shirt for coming all the way from the US, heh heh. I will wear it proudly at the next rock show (God Is An Astronaut in Ljubljana).
And then Képzelt Város... I got to hang out and drink a few beers with the band. They are such great people! I got made fun of a few times for my difficulty in pronouncing ö, especially Gyöngyi (the cellist) and sör (beer). Hah hah.
Anyway, they started their set strong with White Noise then Papirhajo then played a few new songs, another old one, then finished with D2. I couldn't have prepared myself for this show. I have always loved their music since I first heard them, but man, they completely blew me away last night. D2 caused tears to roll out of my eyes.
This euro music trip has officially begun.
The show started with Kisherceg which was a 3 piece, primarily instrumental with some vocals. It was a very strong opener and impressed me enough to want to purchase their music some day.
Aandos came up next. They played that night as a 3 piece wihout their vocalist. The instrumental was awesome. They are somewhat like a mathrock/post-rock band. And sounded phenomenal. They also gave me a shirt for coming all the way from the US, heh heh. I will wear it proudly at the next rock show (God Is An Astronaut in Ljubljana).
And then Képzelt Város... I got to hang out and drink a few beers with the band. They are such great people! I got made fun of a few times for my difficulty in pronouncing ö, especially Gyöngyi (the cellist) and sör (beer). Hah hah.
Anyway, they started their set strong with White Noise then Papirhajo then played a few new songs, another old one, then finished with D2. I couldn't have prepared myself for this show. I have always loved their music since I first heard them, but man, they completely blew me away last night. D2 caused tears to roll out of my eyes.
This euro music trip has officially begun.
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