Monday 23 July 2007

The Free Market.

I arrived in Vienna at 6pm on Saturday to a single room and a sore back. I also arrived to a series of brochures about the town, and an amazingly comprehensive, but also completely illegible map. One of the brochures contained information about Vienna's open air arena, with the addition of Air, 22.7. That's right... Air was coming the same time as I!

I quickly ran to a local Internet to café to find that it had sold out.

So thank heavens for my trip-shortening cash fund, and the free market. It took me two minutes to find the right tram; fifteen to twenty minutes to find the venue from the tram; and approximately ten seconds to find clever, English-speaking scalpers with directions to Automatic Teller Machines. What's best is that, because of Europe's ridiculously cheap ticket prices, paying double meant I only paid slightly more than I would have had they played in Adelaide. Besides, they probably would only have played in Melbourne and Sydney, and factoring cost of air travel...

Air was supported by - get this - Cirkus featuring Neneh Cherry. Remember Neneh Cherry? About fifteen years ago she released a duet ballad with Moroccan singer Youssou N'Dour called Seven Seconds. I remember thinking it was excellent, and sitting in the car with my parents, getting my Francophone father translate N'Dour's French.

She also had a song called Woman, as distinct from the Wolfmother song of the same name.

Cirkus played not one of those three songs, but instead a completely unimaginative trip hop melange of shitfulness. I walked outside.

Air, however, were one of the most fantastic things I have ever seen in my life, and not only because they turned the stage into an exhibition of analogue synths the likes of which I have never seen. They played everything brilliant about the near-perfect Moon Safari, including a brilliant La Femme D'Argent.

The atmosphere was stifling, and during Kelly Watch The Stars I damn near hyperventilated. Which made the encore chant of 'We Want Air!' all the more entertaining.

And though this list is getting into the hundreds, surely Playground Love is one of my top ten favourite songs, ever. And their piano and guitar instrumental rendition was, in a word, blissful. Or even just perfect.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

No, I don't remember Neneh Cherry. I don't even know who she is to remember. Sometimes I think you make these people up.

Anonymous said...

I met a boy who looks just like you today, if he still looks like you tomorrow I will take a photo.

Steve Williams said...

He doesn't remember nina cherry. Tsk.

And - wow! Damn that sounds great!

Enny said...

99 Luft Balloons?! :o)

Ben said...

Hen: Perhaps this will help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q0g-zmkHX8

Adam: I want photos!

Steve: It so, so was.

Enny: Please refer to my response to Henry.

Anonymous said...

Jayney wants to cover Buffalo Stance. I made a punk version for her, but I think that would have been more appropriate when gangers was in the band!!