Tag: Concerts

Bruce Springsteen Concert in Switzerland

On By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, Bruce Springsteen, Concerts, Europe, Music, Travel, travel hacks, travel tips, travelling, Vinyl3 Comments

We planned our recent trip to Switzerland around going to a Bruce Springsteen concert, but this wasn’t our longest trip to see Bruce. That occurred in 2017 when I surprised my husband with a trip to see Bruce in Auckland, New Zealand on their last tour. It was a big birthday for Thom to celebrate and what better way to do it than far, far away with Bruce. Soon after that trip, we got to meet Bruce up close and personal when he did a book signing in Seattle. When I walked up to him, I told him he was cute, and he laughed. It was a moment. We also were lucky enough to catch his Broadway show in 2018, which was an intimate theater setting with just Bruce and his guitar talking and singing about his life journey. Special times with a true musical icon!

Arriving in Zurich a few days early, we went to the stadium the day before the concert to check it out. We had issues with our tickets when we ordered them almost a year earlier. Swiss Ticketmaster mails out paper tickets instead of living in this century and doing online tickets. Well, our tickets got lost in the mail, never to be delivered. After many, many emails to the Swiss Ticketmaster head person for assistance, he must have spoken to his head of customer service, who was already aware of me and my ticket issues, because they finally sent us PDF tickets to print and bring with us. Persistence pays off. Luckily, we had no issues using this form of tickets to get into the concert. Truly a miracle!

Once inside Stadium Letzigrund, we navigated the masses (30,000+ concert goers) and found our seats which were nicely padded and the most comfortable stadium seats I have ever enjoyed. However, this was a Bruce concert, and you don’t sit when Bruce sings. You dance! Well, at least in the US you do. No one was standing in our section except another US couple sitting right behind us. At breakfast at the hotel the day after the concert, we started chatting with a couple at the next table who had also gone to the concert. They lived in Germany and explained to us that if people pay for seats at a concert here, they expect everyone to stay seated. If you want to stand, you pay for the floor standing section, which is less money. Oh well! I’m sure all the locals sitting around us were talking about the crazy dancing Americans who wasted their expensive seats by standing for three hours. We had a blast!

I will say that the people in front of us were living the good life. They started out preconcert by eating open face sardine and salmon sandwiches with herb garnishes. Very fancy. Then they proceeded to pound back flute after flute of champagne. Cheers! Only during the encore when Bruce sang his most popular hits such as Born in the USA, Born to Run and Dancing in the Dark did these folks deign to stand and possibly sway a little with the music or maybe it was a champagne-induced sway? Good times.

The next day walking around Zurich we stumbled upon an amazing music store, Musik Hug, which had a vinyl recording of Bruce concerts in Europe from 1993. Thom has an extensive Bruce vinyl collection so it’s always fun to find a new addition!

All in all, I’m glad we turned the Bruce concert into a two-week vacation that took us through NYC, Milan and all over Switzerland. I would highly recommend seeing your favorite musical artist(s) in an unfamiliar setting. Enjoy the journey!

SELECTING CONCERT SEATS

We didn’t do much research in advance of buying our seats but once we got there and saw the stadium layout, we realized we need to take more care before purchasing concert tickets in the future. Here’s what we plan to do for any outdoor arena concert in the future: check the time of concert and the position of the sun. Then, go to the stadium website and look at the orientation of the stadium and where the stage will be located for concerts. Most stadiums also host sporting events which is a different story, but you can usually find by searching online how they set up for music concerts. Go to Google maps and check out the position of the stadium and look at the compass point. Their satellite view feature is good to use.

People on the south and southeast side of the stadium that we went to for the Bruce concert had the brutal sun on them most of the concert, making it hot and harder to see the stage and large display screens. We were lucky and had the sun at our back so we were in the shade the whole time but that was sheer luck. Next time, we will be ready to pick the best seats. Enjoy the journey!

Moving to the music with Foy Vance

On By Travels with MelindaIn adventure, Boise, Music, Nightlife, Seattle, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Even with terrible jet lag and packed in like sardines with a standing room only sold out audience, I still managed to thoroughly enjoy Foy Vance’s performance  on his Wild Swan Tour at Columbia City Theater this week.  WOW.  What a talent to play in this small venue.  Foy pours his heart into his music, lifting your spirits so high you can’t help but smile and move to the beat.  Whether banging it out on the piano or jamming on his guitar, Foy has passion and energy to spare.  With a careful branding of his Irish roots, he has great style, sporting a handlebar mustache, traditional tweed cap and a cheeky glint in his eyes.

After just coming back from our Ireland vacation, it was a joy to hear that lilting Irish accent again.  As the Irish would say, Feck it sure it’s grand.  Yes, that’s what they say.  He and his band decided that, like most musicians, Seattle is a grand fecking place to play.  Of course it is.

Foy opened for Elton John’s tour in Europe and was the first artist to sign on with Ed Sheeran for his new label.  When I heard he was going to play at Columbia City, I was thrilled.  Boise friends, he is there this week so go see him!  He is that good. wp_20160928_21_39_51_pro-2

With a full band and a large voice, Foy would have been better suited at The Moore or Paramount theaters so hopefully next time he makes the long trip from Ireland, he will move up to a much larger hall so we can enjoy his soaring vocals and excellent band with room to breathe.  To say it was aromatic with all the sweating bodies after a long day would be putting it mildly.  Ewwww….

After standing for over an hour in my heels, my feet were numb but I just couldn’t leave quite yet.  I love all the songs on his new album and enjoyed seeing them performed live. 

Foy’s opening act was a shrill Bob Dylan wannabe who I could have lived without seeing.  Usually the opening acts I have seen in the last year or so have been truly excellent but that was definitely NOT the case here.  Only a lovely whiskey and ginger cocktail got me through that crap that he was throwing all over the stage trying to be artistically crazy.

Finally, the jet lag won out though and, knowing I had to work the next day, we left Foy singing his heart out on the stage.  Come back to Seattle soon, Mr. Vance.  You are a true talent.

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