Tagged: Acoustic

Never waste a drop of it, you can’t put it back in the bottle….

Trip to the States, Detroit for Rob Zombie and Madam X, then back to Sweden and literally straight to the office from the airport and 10 hours of travel – then one day at home to repack my bags to get to the NEXT destination, Greece and Gus G/Mats Levén acoustic gig…

I just got back from that – and I’m exhausted, but in a good sort of way.
Hey, you know me – I’m definitely a fan of Gus G, so there is nothing new there, I loved the acoustic show. It was back to the roots, showing what music is supposed to be like when it’s stripped of all its props (pretty much).

Two guys with unplugged guitars and a powerful voice. It doesn’t take a whole lot more than that, when you get the pleasure to watch two top notch musicians doing their thing.

It’s even more interesting maybe for someone from Sweden, cause I remember Mats from WAY back, when I first met him at the rock club KB in Malmö back in 1989, doing an interview with his band Swedish Erotica. He was young and the girls were going all ga-ga over him.

A few years later I was out touring with female rockers Modesty Blaise and the band Seventeen (featuring Chris Laney, who’s a well known producer and songwriter today) and Mats’ cover band was a part of the touring package.
We were all kids with dreams. It’s just wonderful to see how all the bits and pieces of a puzzle have ended up fitting exactly where they’re supposed to. Mats is where he deserves to be, he’s worked hard for many many years to become the respected vocalist he is today.
Both these guys are hard workers, so it’s simply great to see what they do, in all its simplicity. Music is in their blood and no gig is too small – not even a rock bar in the town of Ioannina, Greece. :)

My own pics didn’t turn out that well, but this guy got some pretty decent pics:

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It was almost totally dark in there, so it was nearly impossible to get good footage. This was as good as it got. It’s enough to hear the music at least.

And speaking of which – I was incredibly impressed by the guys who opened for Gus and Mats. I have no idea who they were. I read somewhere that they are music teachers, and that would explain it, but the guy had a fantastic voice. I had to Tweet the video to David Coverdale, I hope he took the time to listen to it. ;)

I only wish that people would have the decency to shut the f**k up when going to an acoustic show. When someone is putting his heart and soul into his performance and you hear someone just yapping loud and laughing like it’s a private party, I just get pissed off. I’m sorry, I do. Show some damn respect. And some of us actually want to HEAR the MUSIC and not drunk people and their blah-blah-blah. :-/

Here are the anonymous guys – that VOICE is AMAZING!

Now it’s cool for a few days, before Ian Hunter visits Malmo.

Now THERE’S a legend I’m looking forward to seeing live in a small club. Check him out with David Bowie:

I’m dead tired, but it doesn’t matter. I can sleep when I’m dead. I just love this life and I want to enjoy every minute of it. :) Never waste a drop of it, cause you can’t put it back in the bottle…

Starkers in Ioannina? (Gus G & Mats Levén acoustic)

So I made it to Ioannina, Greece – finally. God knows it wasn’t easy getting here. For whatever reason, there are no direct flights from Copenhagen to any of these places that Mats and Gus have been playing on this acoustic tour. It took all day to get to a place in Europe, which would have taken maybe 3 hours tops if there had been a direct flight.

I had to change flights 3 times and finally made it to what mostly resembled a parking lot – Ioannina airport. I’m not kidding, the tiny plane could barely move on that piece of “airport”. ;)

Lovely.

But – as always, these adventures are worth the trouble. :) I’m sitting at the rock club Irida right now, after having listened to the very stripped down sound check. And I have to say, there is no way something like this can go wrong!

Mats Levén has such a strong, powerful and steady voice, he doesn’t miss a note – it’s just pure joy listening to him sing. THAT, accompanied by Gus G, whose guitar is an extension of himself – he and his guitar are as ONE. Whatever he plays is always perfect. Those two together is like squeezing out the essence of what is great and presenting it in its most pure shape and form.

[Sound check:]

After the sound check, the gentlemen went back to the hotel to get some rest (or their beauty sleep!) but I’m not one to sleep NOW, or I’ll just get drowsy later. So here I am. Me and my dear laptop. Show in about 3 hours. This place is just way cooler than my boring hotel, so I’m hanging out here watching metal videos! Live-report soon!