Fanart, Fanfiction and Fangirling

I've been so busy since I came back from my little Tuscan holiday in July that not only I didn't write anything about it, but I also didn't write my usual post-concert recap when I got back from Berlin at the end of August. But my colleague has been home on prolonged sick leave for more than two months now (she was actually already gone when I got back to the office on July 22), and I've been doing the work of 2 and a half people since then, with various official visits to take care of and the end of fiscal year looming upon us. I'm surprised at how well I've been holding up so far, but now I'm really starting to feel it.

Anyway, talking about post-concert recaps, I'll write down what I still remember (thankfully I took notes on my mobile of the things I absolutely didn't want to forget.

( Concert recap under the cut )

I don't know if I ever mentioned it here, but I used to be a huge fan of an Italian band called Pooh when I was 13-14: I listened to their songs all the time, went to 3 of their concerts (my very first concert was one of their shows actually), I even joined their fanclub. I recently realised that they were my first fandom, even if I had no idea what fandom was at the time: I even drew a fanart of them and sent it to the fanclub!

Anyway, I stopped listening to them after my first year of high school, mainly because they are kind of "old school", known for their ballads and romantic songs, and I didn't want to be percieved as an even bigger loser than I already was.

Fast-forward to last month. I was at my parents' place and saw them on TV promoting their new tour. They had officially split up in 2016, after being around for 50 (FIFTY!) years, and in the meantime their drummer had died, so I was a bit taken aback. But at the same time, I thought "Why the hell not" and got myself a ticket for one of the Milan dates.

I mostly did it for old times' sake and to get some "closure", but I must admit it was an excellent decision. They played for 3 hours (what is it with me and bands that play marathon-concerts?!) and it was an overall amazing show. Their music genre has been described as symphonic pop/rock and a lot of the songs they played were prog-influenced, I wasn't expecting that.

I also cried at one point, but not during one of my favourite songs (which I wasn't expecting to hear and hadn't even recognised at first, as it was a completely different version from the regular one). I may have gone just to make my inner 13-year-old happy, but it was definitely worth it. Even if it was on a Thursday night (the Friday date was already sold out when I found out about the tour) and the next morning I wanted to die. XD

I've been back for less than a week and work has been insane. Thank God I took this short trip, I hadn't realised how badly I needed a break.

Stockholm is a lovely city, and the weather was fantastic: mostly sunny, chilly but not too cold, perfect for walking around. And I walked around A LOT. The hotel was not very central, as I chose it because I wanted it to be close to the concert venue, but the area was nice, the room was big and breakfast was amazing.

And the concert. The concert! Those silly old men make every trip totally worth it. And talking about getting old, I was shocked when I read Bela turned SIXTY last year. How the **** can he still look so good!?

Anyway, a few highlights from the show:

( Under a cut, because it's long and rambly as usual. With a few pictures too. )

I saw The Cure live last Friday and it was an AMAZING concert. Two and a half hours of spectacular music, with some new songs as well (will the new album ever see that light of day?) I was in the fifth row between Simon and Roger, and the area wasn't too crowded, so I could enjoy the show without having to fight for my life.

A few highlights from the night:

- As I was waiting for the concert to start, I looked to my left... and saw I was standing next to the singer from Easy Cure! It's such a small world.
- A group of fans chanting "Eden! Eden! Eden!" as Eden (Simon's son and his bass tech) was tuning the basses before the concert. He looked over at them and shook his head, smiling.
- Perry is back! I had seen pictures, so it wasn't a total surprise, but it still felt so good seeing him on stage with the others.
- Perry's glittery guitar. I had completely forgotten about it, but as soon as I saw it, I went "Of course, he has a glittery guitar!" I'm such a nerd.
- Robert and Simon playing shoulder to shoulder and Robert's smile as he glanced over at Simon. I love standing relatively close to the stage because I can get a glimpse of the musicians' expressions. And from what I could see, they were having a great time.
- Simon never standing still. He kept hopping around, stepping on the amp, walking to the other side of the stage. It's like he's still twenty-something.
- Simon and Roger hugging during one of the encores.
- Robert saying "I know you won't believe this, but I used to be fluent in Italian." Yeah, Robert, whatever you say. XD
- Three encores (or was it four?). This band never disappoints.
- Robert saying "My favourite so far!" at the end of the concert. I don't know if that was actually true, but he didn't want to leave, he walked from one side of the stage to the other, staring at the audience, as if he was trying to memorise each face. He also said we'll see each other again, and I really, really hope so.
- After the concert I saw some more people I know and that I hadn't seen since before the pandemic (we used to go to the same clubs) and, when I met my friends outside (they had sitting tickets, pff, amateurs), they were standing next to Andy from Bluvertigo! The world really is small, isn't it?

So that was a brilliant way to start off my autumn holidays. And on Friday... David Tennant in London! Man, this November is gonna be amazing.

Is this a *GASP* real update? Shocking, I know. I've only been posting fanfics and fanart in the last few months, I don't even remember when was the last time I posted something that wasn't fandom-related, I think it's time for an actual update.

So what happened since the beginning of the year? My birthday came and went, and it was pretty depressing. I actually had plans after 2 years of lockdown, but it didn't work out in the end, and I was really quite upset about it but, hey, it is what it is.

Then I got Covid a few days after my birthday, so I was stuck at home for more than a week. After that, I had a small surgery, but that didn't stop me from going to a concert with stitches in my foot. That must be the most rock'n'roll thing I've ever done. I saw The Sister of Mercy, 2 years after they were originally supposed to play in Milan and after they postponed the show 2 or 3 times because of the pandemic. I also found out there's a Bauhaus concert next month, and I'm very tempted to go. I mean, Bauhaus! When am I going to see them live again?

Things at work have started to get busy, and my supervisor has hinted at the fact this summer might be as crazy as the one we had last year. I hope she's wrong, but even if she's right, my attitude will be different this time. And because I don't know if I'll be able to have an actual holiday in the summer, I'll try to go somewhere for the long weekend at the end of May. (I've actually already booked a hotel, totally on a whim, since cancellation was free. Fingers crossed.)

That's about it for now. My next posts are going to be fannish again, who knows when I'll write another proper update...

I was able to take a week off work in the end and spent a few days at the seaside. Nothing fancy, but I really needed to take a break. Today I was back in the office and things are just as crazy as usual, but it wasn't too bad. Let's see how September goes.

Last night I dreamed I was at a DÄ concert. I've been wondering if the autumn tour will be confirmed or not. On the one hand, I'd love to see them live (I'm supposed to see them in Berlin on Halloween!); on the other hand, I don't know if I'd feel comfortable going to a crowded, indoors concert. Sure, I'm vaccinated, but still... Oh, well, we'll see.

Sorry for posting twice within just a few hours, but DIE ÄRZTE ANNOUNCED THEIR TOUR DATES FOR NEXT YEAR!!!

WTF, how can I plan my life so far in advance!? Oh, well, I guess I'll just order a ticket for Berlin (if the system doesn't crash). I have a feeling the Berlin gig will be sold out in no time and they'll add another one the next day (a Saturday). I've been meaning to go back to Berlin anyway, and what better excuse than a DÄ concert?

Those three will be the death of me...

I've just got home from Florence. I should probably start the washing machine or maybe go to the supermarket and buy some food, but I need to type this all up.

I feel like I'm about to explode. I'm not used to handle multiple fandoms at the same time, I mean, not with this intensity. First Die Ärzte (in Milan!), then the Good Omens series, and now The Cure. THE CURE.

The short version is: I cried.

The long version is going to be veeery long and rambling, but I can't help it. As much as I love Die Ärzte and all they mean to me (they did change my life after all), The Cure shaped me. I wouldn't be the person I am today without them. They are the reason why I started wearing black, they were my first online fandom, they made me discover slash. And the first time I decided to travel to another city to see a concert (because the one I had just seen just wasn't enough) was to see The Cure, and in Florence, so yesterday's concert felt like some kind of closure.

So yeah, you've been warned.

( I'd better put this behind a cut )

All right, this took almost an hour to type up and it's a bit ridiculous, but I wanted to keep it for future reference.

How can I go back to work tomorrow? HOW?

It happened. It really happened. The short version is: OMFG IT WAS F***ING AMAZING!!!

The long rambling version is: WOW. I hadn't realised how much I'd missed them. I checked and the last DÄ concert I'd seen was in October 2012. Too, too long ago. The concert itself was brilliant, they're still as silly as ever and they look like they haven't aged a single day (OMG Bela is still so damn hot!) Farin even spoke a little Italian during the night. The venue was a bit bigger compared to some other venues they played during this tour and it was PACKED. 3,000 people, of which maybe 10 Italians? XD

Almut and I walked a bit around the city centre in the morning (she'd never been to Milan before) and we arrived at the venue around 3:30 PM. Cara was already there and so were about 30 or 40 people, lining up probably since the morning. We thought we might not get good places, but we ended up in the second row right in front of Bela's drumkit aaand... the girls in front of us were quite short, so it was like standing in the front row, but without being crushed against the barrier. We also got the special T-shirts for the Milan show, which you needed to buy before the concert, as they sell out very quickly. Success! A friend of mine was also there (we discovered DÄ together totally by change during a trip to Berlin years ago) and she was very impressed both by the band and the audience.

Oh, before I start rambling about the show: Almut and I were in piazza Duomo around 2:30 PM and were about to head to the venue, when I said "What, let's go to the toilet at La Rinascente!" That's a very fancy shop (think of Harrods in London) and I always use their toilets when I'm out and about in Milan, because they're free and clean. So we went and as we were walking out ROD WALKED IN AND WALKED PAST US!!! I blurted out "OH MY GOD!" and I'm quite sure he heard me, but I just couldn't help it. He was so close I could see the white hairs in his sideburns. XD He was wearing sunglasses and was actually taller than I thought. That was the most random and awesome thing.

Anyway, back to the actual concert. Random memories from the show, in no particular order:

- Farin asking the audience in Italian if there was anyone who didn't speak German (I waved my hand just to see what would happen) and then adding something like "Well, too bad for you, but we're going to be a pain in the arse, no one speaks Italian here anyway". He actually said "Rompiamo le balle", which is not only a very Italian thing to say, but quite specifically from Milan, I just about died.

- Rod snarling "Ihre Papiere sind nicht korrekt!" as they were throwing around stereotypical Italian and German phrases. XD

- Faring talking in Italian about the dinner they had the previous night, in a restaurant where Italian music was playing, and of course they know Italian musicians, he said something like "We like that singer, what's his name, and that other rapper is quite good too, and then there's this couple..." And I KNEW what he was about to say, so I started shouting "No! NOOO!" (Both Cara and I filmed that bit and you can clearly hear me, it's HILARIOUS, it's in our Instagram stories.) Of course he was talking about Albano and Romina Power and said there's a reason why they're idols and before they started playing punk, they only listened to Albano and Romina. They then proceeded to play their own deranged version of "Felicità". XD

- Bela mentioning the middle finger statue in front of Milan Stock Exchange. The next day I showed it to Cara and Ben and of course there were other DÄ fans there. XD

- Farin licking the beck of his guitar and making a disgusted face afterwards.

- Farin saying something like "Bela, ich muss dich drücken" and hugging him. Aww.

- Farin dividing the audience into four sectors and asking each part to clap one after the other.

- Farin singing a bit from "La donna è mobile"! He actually got all the text right, I was very impressed.

- Bela singing random bits of songs during the "Abschied" piano intro, I can remember "Gold" and "Woman in red", then Farin singing "Volare" and "L'italiano". XD

- This didn't happen during the concert, but look at what Rod wrote in the band's Tourtagebuch:

( Milano mi amore )

As if I needed another reason to love this band. ♥

We also ended up in a few photos on the Alcatraz Facebook page and in one of them I have such a manic grin, it could rival Farin's. XD Well, that's exactly how I've felt ever since Thursday. I'm so glad I decided to go to Brussels too. It would've been great also "just" seeing the Milan show, I mean, I've had this dream of seeing them here for years, but didn't really think it would actually happened, so it was basically a dream come true. But Brussels is the last show of the tour, I'm sure they're going to be even sillier than usual.

I was going through an old tag and realised it's a pity I rarely update this journal these days. The social aspect was very important of course, the interaction gave me motivation to write and check LJ every day until a few years ago, but I should really make an effort, it's so good going back to things you wrote years ago and think "I had completely forgotten about that!"

For the moment I'll make a super quick recap of the last few weeks, we'll see how often I'll update after this.

- In February I went to Frankfurt for a training, which was surprisingly useful. I think I also impressed the trainers with a ton of suggestions on things to see in Berlin (they were planning to visit it after the training).

- I recently had a DÄ-related dream: I was at a concert, but the venue was weird, it had two separate rooms and I couldn't see a thing from where I was standing, but for some reason I didn't want to move. After the concert I saw some fans trying to sneak backstage and being unceremoniously thrown out, so when I went out and saw DÄ actually walk down the street, I was afraid I'd end up like that if I bothered them, but then I thought "I'll just go and thank them for the concert". Farin was actually very nice and gave me a thank-you card. My subconscious is clearly getting excited about the May concert in Milan.

- Talking about concerts, I'm veeery tempted to go to the Brussels show as well, it would be the last show of the tour. But I'm not 100% sure I can take the extra day off work, we'll see.

- And the reason why I'm not sure I can take the extra day off is because I'm already taking a week off in May to take my parents to London as an anniversary gift. They've wanted to visit it for quite some time and are really excited about it!

- Last week I went on a guided tour of Milan and the theme was legends and ghost stories. I really liked it and discovered a few things I didn't know! Like the column where the devil allegedly got his horns stuck after being kicked in the butt by St. Ambrose and the statue of a snake that was apparently forged by Moses. Plus I finally visited San Satiro, a church I must have walked past a hundred times that has an amazing perspective illusion choir painted by Bramante.

That's about it for now. Hopefully it won't be so long before the next update, but I wouldn't hold my breath...