And the people. You’ve got to love off because of the people. All kinds of friends from all over Poland (and abroad), some you see every day, some just for a couple days in a month, some you meet once a year… But the music junkies are all there. Metalheads, ambient-lovers, drone troopers, pop fanatics, cold wave surfers, experimental geeks, dance dudes – Off, like any other Polish fest I’ve been to, brings them all together for three days od musical bliss. I don’t know ANYBODY (that’s right!) who didn’t like this year’s edition. Talked with around a 100 (or more…) people and everybody were happy as hell.

The bitter part was that the day before my clients server went down and because of some malfunctions, I had to upload the pics one by one. The biggest drag of all time and before I got to enjoy some free time before the gigs, I found myself uploading the pics one-by-one like crazy. Even worse, days before Off my D300 went crazy. Bogna Kociumbas helped A LOT lending me her D700 with 24-70 2.8 plus 85 1.4. A company of brothers that is hard to forget and for the three next days it was pure bliss to shot with this gear. I think, it was then when I’ve decided to buy the D700 as quickly as I could. And if anybody asks what’s the best festival coverage I’ve done in 2011 – I’m putting all my bets on Off 2011. Really nailed those shots!:)

NOTE: Do NOT use any of those photos. All the coprights belong to me (Joanna ‘frota’ Kurkowska) and some pics belong exclusively to Wp.pl. And I’m good at sending invoices ;)

Well, all I wanted to write about the gigs can be found on Muzyka.wp.pl so let’s go to the photos…

The pics were done for Wp.pl. Really, you’ve gotta love one-day festivals!

Broken Betty and the two other bands gave very good performances. Merkabah‘s EP can be downloaded for free from last.fm. Nice piece of music but the guys have a long way to go.

The pics were done for Wp.pl

…or in short: the best things I saw in 2009. Lot’s of text, links to photos so be prepared! However, if you’re looking for reviews filled with professional comments, enlisting the best chords the guitarist played that day, naming all the genres the band has stepped into during the certain gig – don’t waste your time. This list is just about the sole love for live music. And all the photos and feeling that come with it.

- Faith No More during Heineken Open’er – The gig topped many “the-best-of-gigs” list this year. No wonder, because it was as awesome as this guy’s bootlegs.

- SUNN O))) during Unsound Festival – For the whole show I was wondering if the police were going to arrest every listener for participating in a pagan ritual. But apart from that, it was a performance (I still cannot label this event as a typical gig) that has been stuck with me from the moment the drones went quiet. What’s more, I can’t listen to SUNN O))) anymore as the recordings are nothing, compared to what happened in Kraków.

- Gaba Kulka in Ucho – It was the first of the 5 Gaba shows I’ve seen this year. It was the most intimate, with a great setlist. And the bootlegs from Gaba’s gigs became the soundtracks to many of my train voyages.

- The Ocean in Progresja – This was the second time I saw them. This was the second time my jaw dropped instantly. Without seeing them live in 2008, I don’t think I would get into sludge, doom or post-metal stuff at all.

- Chris Cunningham during Sacrum Profanum Festival – More of a performance but with all my love for Cunningham work and all he did in Kraków it could as well be put on the list. And, to my surprise, way better than Aphex Twin a week later.

- Karl Bartos during Free Form Festival – I missed Kraftwerk last year and it is still one of the things I can’t forgive myself. Karl Bartos concert was a little substitute for that, with all the great Kraftwerk songs and his solo stuff.

- Video Games Live in Torwar – Metal Gear Solid was released in 1998. It took me 11 years to finally listen to one of the greatest video game themes of all time live. But what happened in the end totally blew me away. Definitely a memorable event with very few people at the audience. Shame.

- Big Sexy Noise feat. Lydia Lunch during Globaltica Festival – who said you won’t create the atmosphere of a dim and crowded New York club in a beautiful forest clearing? In addition to this you can say “Fuck you” to Lou Reed.

- Mademoiselle Karen in Alchemia – It was a very special concert. It was a very special day. The songs were simple and beautiful. This may sound really cheesy, but it was like this, it was all about beauty and simplicity.

- The Dillinger Escape Plan during Knock Out Festival – Just one sentence – one day I want to shoot a DEP concert the way a DEP concert should be shot. The energy they have could easily be split and given to 20 other bands and still there would be some left!

- HEALTH during Off Festival – Hypnosis, energy, experimental and one of my favourite photos from the year 2009. And their single “Die Slow” is one of my three favourite singles from 2009.

- Leningrad in Stodoła – Rocked totally, just as they did a year before in Gdynia. For starters – it’s more vulgar and straightforward version of Gogol Bordello. More swearing, more sexy women and much more Russian language used on the stage. And less Madonna involved in the promotion of the band;)

- Fucked Up during Off Festival (plus their solo gig in Kraków) – because there is no such things as boundaries in the world of punk and hardcore. Because you can hug a bear-like man, shout to the mic he’s holding and feel like you’re best mates ever.

- Samael in Klub Studio – I’m not a big fan of their studio work, but supporting Paradise Lost, they proved who the real headliner was and how metal should sound.

- Tides From Nebula in Ucho – Post-rock at it’s best.

- Burst in Progresja – yes, you can mix alternative rock, sludge, metal, melodic vocals (minus the annoying part), metalcore, progressive hardcore and all the other weird sub-genes that music journalists think about all day. And you get such a beauty.

- The Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble in Rotunda – like watching a movie with a disturbing soundtrack.

- Orbital during Selector Festival – sometimes you wait for years to hear this one particular song. Finally you have the chance, and realise that the rest of the set is also brilliant.

- Monotinx during Off Festival – I don’t think I have to add something else

- Daniel Lanois during rehearsal on Soundedit Festival – Liked the concert, loved the rehearsal. Both were really similar but the concert just lacked the magic the small rehearsal studio had.

- Gogol Bordello in Rotunda – Energy, energy, energy, gypsy punk, energy, energy and even more gypsy punk.

Other notable mentions include: Skinny Patrini in Hydrozagadka (I was finally convinced that that made a long way from “a-funny-thing-to-see” to a demonic and sexy electro duo), Orange Goblin during Globaltica Festival (stoner rock vs “the-people-who-came-here-to-listen-to-calm-sounds“), Maciej Maleńczuk in Stodoła, James during Coke Live Festival (“Sometimes, when I look deep in your eyes, I swear I can see your soul”), Pustki during Fryderyki (played a brilliant set to one of the most boring audiences I’ve ever seen), Fever Ray during Nowa Muzyka (I really don’t the like album but cannot resist the magic of “When I Grow Up” – hearing it live was just one of the most spiritual things in the 2009), Blindead in Ucho, Jason Webley during Globaltica Festival, Franz Ferdinand during Selector Festival, Birdy Nam Nam during Free Form Festival, The National during Off Festival (“You get mistaken for strangers by your own friends, when you pass them at night under the silvery, silvery citibank lights”), Wire during Off Festival, Pivot in Alchemia, Behemoth in Stodoła (if Satan was on Earth he’d buy a ticket for that gig!), Vive La Fete during Free Form Festival, Wreckless Eric & Amy Rigby in Jazz Club Hipnoza.

And last, but not least – M83 during Heineken Open’er 2009 in Gdynia. The gig of the year. I wrote about it here but have to say it again: it may be the naive, youthful and pop tender beats that were born in Anthony Gonzalez‘s head, but at the same time all these elements are very frank. Since the 4th of July, “Sitting” and “Couleurs” have never sounded the same. And I just love the title of their 2008 album – “Saturdays = Youth”. It’s just so much more than meets the eye…

How could something like this top Faith No More or SUNN O))) you ask? I still don’t know…

New year will bring many, many changes and there are more and more plans being made. The only thing I can say right now is a quote from Current 93‘s album: “I Have a Special Plan For This World“.

I’m also happy that wherever I go I meet so many wonderful people who just love music. Hope 2010 will be a special year for you all.

Cheers from the M83‘s pit!

photo by Ania Margoszczyn

Great performances by the foreing gigants such as The Dillinger Escape Plan (I couldn’t make it the first two times they played in Poland so was very happy to see them now – if you haven’t seen them, do it and you won’t regret it!), Cynic and Meshuggah. Apart from DEP, I caught two other bands everyone has been talking about – Blindead and Tides From Nebula. The first one presented a heavy mixture of sludge and progressive sounds – if I could compare it to any other band it would probably be somwhere between Neurosis, Rosetta and Cult Of Luna. Highly recommended and it really makes me proud that we are from the same town. But the TriCity wasv(and still is) lucky when it comes to bands and artists: Apteka, Behemoth, Kury, Illusion, Pink Freud, Kobiety, Leszek Możdzer… As for Tides From Nebula, the crowd was served with lost of instrumental post-rock and post-metal noises. Convinced me to buy their album as soon as the new paycheck arrives. And I finally admit that I’m not really a trash-girl. There are small exceptions for this genre of music but both, Testament and Voivod, just don’t belong there but the crowd was more than happy.

It was the first edition of the festival, and I hope not the last one. Pretty strange that there were around 2,500 of people there. The ticket price was medicore, the fest takes place during holidays and the line-up was great – I really thought that I will see crowds around 4,000-5, or even a little more…

Photos were done for Wp.pl to illustrate a review of the fest written by Zbigniew Zegler. You can read the feature from both days of the fest here and here. However, the photos I’ve chosen for this blog entry are sometimes different from the ones that got to the review – wanted to show something a little different.

And if you are interested in buying any of the following photos for a publication, please contact me.