Moneybrother (into the outstretched arms of …)

In September this year we travelled to Cologne to see Moneybrother!

For many years it has been my wish to see them. Every time I’d listen to them I would imagine it was live in a concert hall somewhere. They don’t play in the UK so I knew we would have to travel to the continent, and I suppose that minor obstacle made it seem unlikely that we’d see them anytime soon.

But then midlife creeps up and suddenly it’s like, hell let’s just get on with things.

And it just so happened they were touring this year for the 20th anniversary of their ‘To Die Alone’ album. This was the first album of theirs I listen to. As soon as I heard ‘They’re Building Walls Around Us”, I knew I would love them and be a committed fan. So catchy, and some of my favourite lyrics:

Hey by splitting, what did you achieve?
For all intents and purposes, it’s easier to leave
It just seems whoever else approaches me,
There’s always an imbalance, I mean, ideologically

and

It seems that I fell out of luck
Into the outstretched arms of fuck up, I know

That song is followed by ‘It Ain’t Gonna Work’, with raw and honest lyrics about a relationship that’s failing, to a chorus that descends the scale like rain, it’s just so moving.

We heard they were touring, so we went to Cologne! A new place for us.

I broke my ‘no alcohol or caffeine before a flight’ rule in one fell swoop! The plane was late, and I’m an alcoholic on planes anyway.

Landed in Cologne, we travelled by train from the airport to Cologne Central, walking from there across the Hohenzollern Bridge to get to the hotel. On this particular walk I did not take many/any photos of the bridge as I was distracted by all the birds.

And this

The bridge was pretty at night. We sat out and listened to some street music under clear skies. I don’t like it when people describe something as a “vibe”, but I did find myself thinking, “this is a vibe”. Damn.

The cathedral … I have no words really. Could almost make me believe in God. The scale was hard to comprehend in both time and space (over 600 years of construction).

Dave and I conducted ourselves with the utmost reverence.

Food was GOOD.

And I have a new favourite wine (Riesling 🙂 )

Moneybrother played at Gebäude 9, an old factory now a most fun music venue.

They didn’t stick to songs from ‘To Die Alone’, which I thought they would predominantly. They played new material and a lot from ‘Blood Panic’, which is a magnificent album.

I just think they’re something special. Anders Wendin seems like such a beautiful, intense and gentle soul. The crowd were completely invested, and the energy between band and audience seems at complete equilibrium.

It was a really special evening.

Anyone who knows me should know I love a hotel bar, and ours was a good one in which to reflect on the evening.