music – Christian Frank

Shutdown two, week twenty-three

This week brought us two new words: “Bundesnotbremse” (Federal Emergency Brake) and “Brückenlockdown” (Bridge Lockdown).

They are both symptomatic of a complete and utter failure by our government to adequately address the Covid-19 pandemic.

Not to mention the anemic progress in vaccinations. Sigh.

We know that the greatest danger of infection is when we are in groups inside a room – shouldn’t we all be working in a home office then? Asking for a friend.

On a slightly sad note, the Hoky Popi festival in Santander got canceled. Not unexpected, but I was looking forward to it nevertheless.

(Hoky Popi cancellation, Twitter, 4/12/21)

Shutdown two, week fourteen

The numbers are still not that good, and we’re most likely looking at an extension of the lockdown.

Meanwhile, let’s talk about arts and culture, what has changed for me during the lockdown and what I believe will continue:

Movies: I used to go to the cinema a lot – I love movies. Naturally, the major streaming providers have taken on a much more significant role in my life. I happily pay for renting movies now that I would have watched in the cinema before and might continue to do so in the future.
Concerts: Less often, but still quite a lot of times I would go to live shows, sometimes even far away ones. During the lockdown, a couple of online tour providers have come up, such as StageIt or Moment House – it’s not the same experience, but I can and do attend many more venues digitally now than before in person. Hopefully, I will be able to continue this in the future, too.
Clubs: Another favorite. Here’s Twitch coming to the rescue, with many event streams and easy support options, for example, for TLL – a club several hundred miles away that I would have never visited if it wasn’t for Corona.

So, at the same time, Corona has reduced my mobility and enhanced it; let’s see what the future holds!

On a side note, spending many hours in front of the computer warrants an upgrade to the interface, and I now have a shiny new gaming mouse:

(input,hiddev1,hidraw4: USB HID v1.11 Keyboard [ROCCAT ROCCAT Kain 120] on usb-0000:02:00.0-6.3/input2)

Shutdown two, week thirteen

The situation is getting better but is still dire. We will most likely see an extension of the current lockdown while our government ramps up the vaccination efforts.

But how will our life change afterward? Let’s have a look:

I do not meet friends and family in person.
I haven’t been in an office in months.
I haven’t met a colleague in person in months.
I hardly ever go shopping anymore.
I haven’t been to a restaurant in months.
I haven’t been to a cinema or concert for almost a year.
I haven’t traveled anywhere for almost a year.

What, if any, of these pre-Corona habits will I take back up?

I am quite happy with social activities being digital, and I hope some will stay that way even after Corona. And once you get used to digital concerts, there’s no way going back. Or is there?

(Techno Lieben und Leben, Twitch, 1/31/21)

Barcelona by train

I recently went to Barcelona, to attend a concert by Adexe y Nau as part of the Festival Mil·lenni in Sant Jordi Club. Fantastic show, by the way!

For this first time, though, I made the whole trip by train and public transport, and it was surprisingly easy. No need to fly or hire a car.

And the CO2 emissions are much lower – highly recommended!

(from EcoPassenger)

Adexe y Nau

Los mejores cantantes latinos del mundo!

A week after Bars and Melody, Max and Harvey came for their first ever concert to Cologne, as part of the Coming Soon tour; support was Jenna Raine and I believe it was her first time in Cologne as well. I’m so glad to see so many talented artists coming to my home town!

The venue, Luxor, wasn’t as packed as it was the week before, but the concert was really enjoyable and I hope they’ll return soon

It’s the second video I created with Adobe Premiere – I might have a closer look at Adobe’s Creative Cloud. And a music subscription.

(Max and Harvey stage, Luxor)

Bars & Melody

On their Choke Tour 2019, Bars & Melody had a concert in Cologne!

As always, it was great fun to see them perform; this time they had Iggy Kelly with them for support.

The club they played in (Luxor) is unfortunately not well lit, so the video did not turn out as good as I hoped it to be, but I’m still quite happy with it.

For the video I changed my editing tool, from Shotcut to Premiere Rush by Adobe – it’s not Open Source, but very comfortable; I haven’t decided yet whether I’ll be keeping it, or going back to Shotcut.

I’m still behind on my videos, I hope to catch up during spring break though.

(Queue outside Luxor)

Blue Neon (Club Version)

Fantastic new single by Aidan Gallagher, who was nominated UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador for North America and also plays the enigmatic Five in Umbrella Academy.

I have it on repeat since its release on March 21 – highly recommended!

(Cover art)

Marshmello concert

This February, Marshmello gave a live concert in-game at Pleasant Park.

It truly felt like a glimpse into the future of interactive entertainment, where the worlds of gaming, music, and celebrity combined to create a virtual experience we’ve never quite seen before. (Nick Statt, The Verge – https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/2/18208223/fortnite-epic-games-marshmello-concert-exciting-bizarre-future-music)

That was the beginning of something new and exciting! Behold the gamers!