A Post Rock Evening – Mono @ TSC

Dupa o luna, din nou la Mono, de data aceasta la doar doua statii de metrou distanta in loc de peste 500 km. Impreuna cu proiectul lui Costin Chioreanu, A Passenger and The Choir of Thirteen Ghosts, Mono s-au intors in Romania pentru un eveniment prezentat ca pre-party B’ESTFEST. O alaturare de natura sa ma nedumereasca, nu pricep ce are de a face un proiect underground si o trupa post-rock cu un status cult cu un festival mainstream. Dar muzica e muzica, dincolo de catalogari, si nu puteam lasa sa treaca ocazia de a-i revedea, asa ca lunea trecuta eram in The Silver Church Club.

Despre opening act va pot spune ca Costin Chioreanu e mai cunoscut, poate, pentru graphic design (daca deschid dulapul, gasesc cateva tricouri ale unor trupe, cu grafica realizata de el). Cunosteam proiectul cu cele 13 fantome, a avut doua reprezentatii live in padure, idee care mi s-a parut atat de minunata, incat am fost prezenta la una din ele, iarna trecuta, pe un frig teribil. La concertul din Silver Church s-a schimbat denumirea (cu “a passenger and…”), deoarece partea de chitara a fost insotita de un actor care a recitat un monolog. Ideea ar fi fost interesanta poate daca as fi si inteles in totalitate ce spune (e drept ca a fost si vina mea ca ma concentram pe fotografie). Dupa discutiile cu prietenii de dupa, toti a fost mai incantati de chitara, dar melanjul de chitara cu teatru mi se pare ceva inedit. Cum o inregistrare video face mai mult decat 1000 de cuvinte, va indemn sa ascultati un fragment din reprezentatiile in natura de care va spuneam:

Dupa o scurta pauza au intrat pe scena aceiasi Mono pe care ii vazusem de curand la Timisoara. Cum comparatiile vor fi probabil inevitabile, am sa le incep eu: publicul mai numeros dar nici pe departe atat de multi cat ma asteptam, acelasi setlist fara nicio modificare, luminile mai bune, sunetul in schimb mult mai slab (in spate am inteles ca s-a auzit cam prost, Unseen Harbor a fost masacrata). Am zarit multe fete cunoscute si multi prieteni pe care m-am bucurat mult sa-i revad, am urmarit publicul de sus si i-am vazut concentrati, captivati, atenti. E inca si mai dificil pentru mine sa incerc sa descriu perceptia mea asupra muzicii. Cum spuneam, e ca o calatorie personala, au fost cateva momente in care eram complet detasata de tot ce era in jurul meu, tremurand de emotie. Totusi, aceeasi experienta, repetata la intervale scurte de timp, poate sa dea rezultate diferite. Pierdut orice sentiment de tristete sau de melancolie, orice senzatie de renuntare, orice perceptie de fragil si efemer. Inlocuite cu o bucurie aproape copilareasca, cu senzatia aceea de duiosie indulcita pe care o avem cand ne amintim de clipe frumoase din trecut, cu sentimentul de forta si implinire de la capatul unui urcus spre inaltimi. Nu am simtit cum a trecut timpul, si la sfarsit am simtit ca a trecut prea repede. Prima filmare pe care am gasit-o online e pentru aceeasi melodie pe care a filmat-o prietenul meu Marius la Timisoara – Pure As Snow. Mi se pare un final potrivit.

Ana Maria C / multumiri lui Lex si Lus / galerie foto completa pe facebook @ citadinul

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After a month or so, I’m off to Mono again, this time only at two subway stations distance, instead of over 500 km. With Costin Chioreanu’s musical project, A Passenger and The Choir of Thirteen Ghosts, as opening act, Mono have returned to Romania for an event presented as a B’ESTFEST pre-party. An association meant to confuse me, I don’t get what an underground project and a cult post-rock band have to do with a mainstream festival. But labeling aside, music is music, and I couldn’t miss the opportunity to see them again, so here I was, last Monday, in The Silver Church Club.

About the opening act, I can tell you Costin Chioreanu is known more for his graphic design (if I’ll open the closet right now, I’ll surely find some bands’ t-shirts featuring his designs). I knew about the 13 ghosts project, as it already performed twice – somewhere in the woods, an idea I found so attractive that I was present on one occasion, last winter, when temperatures were bellow zero. At the concert in Silver Church, the name changed a bit (adding ‘a passenger and…’), and the guitar part was accompanied by an actor reciting a monologue. An interesting idea maybe if only I could have fully comprehended what he said (it’s true it was my fault, I was focused on photography). I talked to my friends after the show and they all agreed they liked the guitar work better, but the mixture of guitar and theatre seems innovative to me. A live recording says more than 1000 words, so I recommend you a fragment from the live act in the woods I previously mentioned:

After a short break, the same Mono I recently saw live in Timisoara came up on stage. Comparing is inevitable, so I’ll take the chance to do it up first: more public, but less than I expected, the same setlist, no change in that, better lights, worse sound on the other hand (friends told me the sound was bad in the back, Unseen Harbor was destroyed). I noticed many familiar faces and many friends I was happy to reencounter. I watched the crowd and everybody was concentrated, fascinated, paying attention. It’s even more difficult for me to try to describe my personal perception towards their music. Like I said, it’s like a personal journey, there have been moments of complete detachment of everything that surrounded me, trembling with emotion. Still, the same experience repeated at short periods of time can give different results. Gone were any feeling of melancholy or sadness, any sensation of renouncement, any perception on the fragility and fugitiveness of existence. They were replaced with an almost childish joy, with that sensation of sweetened fondness we have about past beautiful moments, with the sense of strength and fulfillment some of us have at the end of climbing towards heights. I didn’t feel the passing of time, and the end arrived too soon. The first video I found online is for the same song my friend Marius filmed in Timisoara – Pure As Snow. Seems like an appropriate end.

Ana Maria C / special thanks to Lex and Lus / full photo gallery on facebook @ citadinul