Music. Again.

Two concert nights in a row, very different evenings. Thursday night I was at Studio K in the East of the city. A fairly new centre, a kind of small Paradiso, where three bands performed. I was there mainly because of the last act on the bill, the Brunettes from New Zealand. I liked their performance and their music, but I'm not too sure about the other two bands.

It felt a little like an alien environment to me. The bands were all new, small bands, attracting a different audience of very trendy young people. Spiky hair, big horn-rimmed glasses, very tight trousers and checked shirts. You could quite easily pick out the trendy from the non-trendy. No points for guessing where I was in all that. I actually sat on the balcony, looking down on the people standing in front of the stage. I quite enjoyed seeing the social goings on. Everybody seemed to know everybody else. I felt very much an observer, researching the habits of modern big city youth culture. Quite funny, really.

Then tonight I went to a small venue very close to my own home, one I didn't even know existed, to hear a Frisian band called Souldada play Mediterranean and South American music. Only some 15 people turned up, but the atmosphere was good. A grown up band and a grown up audience this time. I was much more part of the audience, sitting close to the stage, listening to the music rather than observing the whole scene. I liked the music and the performance.