THE SPOON IN AALEN

Beginning of this month was the birthday of my lovely little sister Vicky and I took that as an excuse to go home to the German countryside and take the spoon on it's first trip abroad.

I was born and bred in the swabian town Aalen, wich was great to grow up in. Not too small but also not too big, so there was plenty of running around woods and getting yourself dirty but also enough bars and possibilities to go out - until a certain point :-). It provided exciting spare time activities like a scooter club and carnival dancing, but the main reason I love going home is my amazing family which I hit the jackpot with. I've got the world's best parents  (yes really) who I miss every single day I don't see them, which unfortunately is far too often. I've also got the world's sweetest little sister (really!), there's the coolest dogs of the world (definitely) and all the other lovely people that make Aalen a very special place for me.
So as always I enjoyed every minute of it, even the peeling of kilos of tomatoes, hours of doing the dishes and ironing because it also meant time to talk to my family. There was great food, great company, I managed to meet some friends and all in all it was a great break that ended far too soon, so I am already looking forward to Christmas, when I'll be there again.
And even though I doubt Aalen has the same meaning to you as it has to me, if you ever come to southern Germany, you should stop by and visit my parents in their Hotel and let them take care of you: http://hotel-villa-rad.de/
Gaessler Clan Rules!

THE SPOON LOVES FREE GIGS

It's been a good month for me and the Spoon! We've won quite a few free gigs recently and apart from us two the bank account is pretty happy about that. One of the greatest things in London are all the amazing concerts at our disposal, however, financially that is also a receipt for disaster if you are bad at saying NO ... I know, I know ... luxury problems indeed :-)

The latest win was for two bands we actually didn't really know - "Hey Sholay" followed by "The Chrystal Antlers". It seemed that we were not alone not knowing them as the KCSLU was fairly empty that Friday, which didn't bother us as this meant no waiting time for our obligatory Snake Bites which are our traditional drink consumed in this venue and also enough space in the front row to dance around and have a blast.

Hey Sholay

The bands also didn't seem to mind the small numbers of people too much and put on great shows. I personally liked Hey Sholay a bit better as they are more my cup of tea music wise with a great leading voice and catchy songs. So much in fact I liked them, that I felt obliged to invest 3£ in their single and I haven't regretted that at all. (It would have gone into another drink otherwise, which wouldn't have been a good idea at that stage anyways). The Spoon is a bit more into faster, harder, rougher music and loved Californians The Chrystal Antlers, so everybody was pretty happy that night.

Summed up it was a great night full of silly laughter and here's a few Spoon shots to proof it:

Look at all the Colours

Beach Feeling

Chrystal Antlers

new friends? 

The Spoon likes drummers

According to Mona this is the secret love child of Jim Morrison

The Ladies enjoying themselves

Me, Mona and the Spoon all sporting a big smile

Jim Morrisons son is a bit scary

AAAAND another drummer :)

THE BOXER REBELLION

Today I want to tell you all about a band that has been close to my heart for quite a long time now.
I've seen them several times over the years, starting in very cosy venues, like the Monto Water Rats in 2008 where a small but appreciative crowd got WOWed and where it was still very easy to take pictures from the front row:

Then there was Heaven earlier this year which was amazing and now the dot on the I - a show in a sold out Shepherd's Bush Empire, which was the first time the Spoon saw them. As expected it was once again a great night out crowned by front-man Nathan taking a singing walk through the excited audience.
The atmosphere was electric - the crowd loved the band, the band loved the crowd and at the end of the evening everybody had a big grin on their sweaty faces and the feeling of having been part of something special.
This is a band that has worked hard on their success - countless concerts, 3 albums out with one of them (Union) self released and I am so happy that they have been rewarded with moments like that! They didn't become super famous yet, but the following they do have is strong, loyal and appreciate great music and dedication.
They might not have reinvent the music wheel, but front man Nathan's great haunting and versatile voice and great songs that range from big songs fit for stadiums to soft melodic tunes that creep right into your heart make them exciting to listen to on record and the band also translates those to the stage exceptionally well.

It's easy to see that they love what they do, actually like each other and that (paired with the great music) is why I love them.
I already know now that the next time they come to London, I'll be buying a ticket again without any hesistation because I know they will deliver a couple of hours of brilliant entertainment and leave me with a happy fuzzy feeling inside.

Thank you guys and keep on doing what you're doing!

THE SPOON'S NEW FRIENDS FROM PURE FESTIVAL

A selection of all the lovely new friends the Spoon made at Pure Festival!

Great People!!!

Lovely Pure Festival Staff

Group shots

Even Security and Cloak Room guy are smiling - that's the kind of event the spoon likes!

If you are one of the people in the picture and would like to have it taken down, just let me know.

THE SPOON AT PURE FESTIVAL

So here's a little praise for the great event that brought me and the Spoon together.

London's first Pure Festival held at The Garage in Islington - with the very fitting motto: Whisky not Wellies!

The concept is easy enought. Start the day off with whisky tastings hosted by a wide range of shops and distilleries.

They were all super nice and not only did we gradually get in the festival mood, we also learnt a lot about Whiskys from all over the world.

Then throw in some afternoon concerts - of which "Sissy and the Blisters" was the first band we watched. They make music just to my taste - loud angry instruments with a bit of 60s swagger, greatly delivered by the band with a pleasantly dark-voiced front man that seems to have chosen Jim Morrison as his role model. Fine with me! Makes me want to jump up and down and smile like a maniac!

Next highlight was the Oxjam spin the wheel raffle, in which we won amazing things like cloth hangers, wallets, Lollies, Boxer Shorts AND THE SPOON!!!! So this is where the whole

crazyness began! And all this in the name of charity :-)

After that the Whisky event finished and we moved on to music on the main stage. First up was Charlie Waller. Better known as the front man for the Rumble Strips, he walked on stage in a very relaxed manner sporting some tracksuit bottoms. The music however, was top notch. Great guitar skills, an intreaging voice and a huge range of extreme facial expressions to go with it. What a great start. He got me and the spoon dancing!

Next up The Electric Soft Parade a band I have loved since their first album "Holes in the Wall" came out in 2002, but never seen them live - they were well worth the wait and didn't disappoint at all with their great mix between rock and pop - catchy tunes and great voices! A winner! To my special delight they played a few of the old songs from back in the days, when we were all young! And then there was the glitter shirt we all were jealous about.

Headliner that evening was the wonderful Tom McRae who filled in for the Raveonettes, who had to cancel due to injury. Sad as that was, I couldn't be sad for long as I absolutely adore Tom and he's been on my wanna-see list for a long time! Tom has an amazing voice he showcases in beautifully crafted songs that go directly to that happy place in my heart where only really great music goes. So I was in music heaven! And to make things even better, he's a really nice guy who not only invited people up the stage to sing but also made friends with the Spoon!

All in all a great event of which there should be more! I am happy it seemed such a success and me and the spoon will definitely be back next year should they have another go at it.

AN IDEA IS BORN

Hey friendly reader!

Welcome to this new blog! Considering you are reading this, I am already more successful than i expected to be, so YAY!

Let me start with telling you how somebody starts a blog about spoons.

It all began with attending the Pure Festival - a charming event that very cleverly combines Whisky tasting and a bunch of great concerts. Sounds like the perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon and night? Rightfully so!

It got even better when I won a spoon from the Oxjam ruffle:

A few Whiskys and some wonderful concerts later it seemed a great idea to take all kinds of random pictures with all sorts of people and the spoon. The spoon was received incredibly well by the friendly bunch at the festival, so in my alcohol and music hazy mind I decided to start a blog about the spoon. Encouraged by my equally dazed friends, here it is now.

The general idea for this is, that from now on I'll take the Spoon along to all sorts of things I am up to and we will report from there together. Looking at what I usually do, you can expect a mix of concert posts, travelling and a lot of random stuff.

It's also set to become a participation blog. So if YOU do anything cool or travel somewhere, take a picture of you with a spoon or just the spoon, write a couple of lines to describe it, send it to me and I shall post it. (I do however reserve the right to not accept everything - so nothing nasty please)

Hopefully you'll join me in thinking this is a good idea, so I am not wasting my excitement about all the amazing spoon adventures I am hoping to receive. Let's see where in the world we can send the spoons and what crazy stuff they will experience. So bring it on!

So much for introducing the blog. Now let the posting begin!