glow.like.berlin

Last night was Tuesday night here in Berlin, so probably where you are too, and that means only one thing: another fabulous, poorly-attended concert. in one of the best little enclaves of summer in berlin (whose motto at the moment, btw, is “scheiss sommer”). Namely a little events-facility called Glashaus, part of a bigger complex called Arena, which also includes the badeschiff, where you can swim. just across the river from freischwimmer, where you can eat and drink, on the CdV (where you can drink) side. so much waterfront fun in one spot. where scary soldiers once patrolled the border between east and west and trespassers were shot on sight is now the site of a dreamy riverside industrialsurrealistic little playground, scary deathfactory until a magic spell turned it to candy.

out front a secret garden: giant benches, little red lights like fireflies, rolling soft minigolfcourse turf

rape alley or rabbit hole?

we reach a gate, stout security guard with a gauged out ear, im just tilting the last drop from my becks gold into my mouth and drop it in the trash next to his feet. about to walk by when he gestures for us to step closer. uhoh.

“the codeword”. he looks left and right quickly, lowers his voice, “is iceland”. steps back into the shadows against the wall where the high cast-iron fence intersects the building. wha?

he repeats…’tix are 13 euro. unless you say iceland at the door’.

so this is my second free concert in a week, unexpectedly. why did the man decide we were worthy of such an honor? was it pity? a momentary lapse of judgment? something in the way i politely set my emtpy bottle into the trash can rather than throwing it so it shatters? we’ll probably never know, must accept our good fortune humbly and wordlessly.

we truly do enter into a glashaus, with a glasbar that cycles icily through the colors of the rainbow.

it’s two icelandic bands tonight (so you see how ingenious the secretpassword was): For a Minor Reflection with Skakkamanage. The former’s been compared to Sigur Rós and also praised by them, and i think i understand why, tho if ur looking for a sigur rós clone you certainly won’t find it here. comparisons to Godspeed You! Black Emperor abound also, and are musically closer to the mark, but in terms of character Reflection is miles away from of Godspeed’s moody anonymity.

skakka is first and they set the tone real well.

the members of for a minor reflection looked surprisingly young. they are in fact only 20 years old each. they tried to joke with the audience but had very limited german, which kept turning into english, which made them terribly endearing. at one point they asked us to buy their shirts or they would have to give them away, to homeless people in iceland, which when u think about it kinda seemed like a better incentive NOT to buy the shirts..

outfitted an icelandic streetperson with cool band gear last night. tax deduction?

for a minor reflection has a swelling, rising falling, sad and searching sound that i always associate with heavily electronic icelandic rock, whether this has any basis in reality. its the music of whalesong and glaciers moving and pale sun striking snow. one of the songs was even accompanied by a guitar effect that sounded like whale cries–a temporary guest backup orca choir. it was beautiful.

the guitarists hunched over and swayed around the stage like reeds in wind.

near the end they played the keyboard together for one song.

next to the melodic sad maturity of their music, the very young band showed a sweetness i hope they don’t lose.