I can't get you out of my head...

“Though they go mad they shall be sane,

Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;

Though lovers be lost love shall not;

And death shall have no dominion.”

(From: And death shall have no dominion by Dylan Thomas)

If you know me, you know that I’m not easily impressed. I tolerate a lot of things, I’m open-minded about changes and new ideas and I always give people the benefit of the doubt, but once you’ve lost my regard (or my attention, or even my respect), it’s incredibly hard to get it back.

Imagine this: My sister and I are at our third Chris Isaak concert. This man’s concerts are some of the very best live experiences I’ve ever had, apart from *Live* and maybe Metallica (yes, my taste in music is very diverse). So we usually don’t really pay attention during the opening act. We simply want whoever it is to keep it short, stop trying to be funny (nobody’s interested in your jokes, get over it!), sing a couple of songs while we wait and please do take our polite applause as an encouragement – for you to get off stage as soon as possible.

On walks some guy with a guitar… “Hello, my name is Paul Freeman, I’m Welsh.”

Well, the Chris Isaak concert was brilliant. We had so much fun, there are no words that would do it the justice that it deserves. The man, the music, the band… even the silly dance moves – I loved every second of it!

So, I wake up the day after this brilliant concert and I’m still feeling great about this wonderful night. I’m singing in the shower and while I’m having breakfast it suddenly dawns on me: I’m not singing a Chris Isaak song! The song that’s been in my head all morning is called Tightrope and it’s by Paul Freeman…

“There's no way back if I let go

You’re where I’ll land

So here I go

Cause I just want to live

And I just wanna feel it”

(From: Tightrope by Paul Freeman)

Yes, I enjoyed his five-song mini concert, and so did the rest of the crowd, judging from the louder-than-average applause after, and the attentive silence during the songs. But only the morning after do I realise exactly how much of an impression this man has made. I HAVE to know more!  

I am absolutely certain that I had never even heard his name until about 2 weeks ago. And now, I just want him to come back to Belgium and play for me again – I feel as if I didn’t pay enough attention the first time and I’d like to experience it again to see if he can impress me a second time.

So what is it about Paul Freeman that made him able to wipe away a wonderful Chris Isaak concert and make his way into my subconscious? His boyish good looks and radiant smile? Although he definitely has those, it’s the music that impressed me.

First of all, it all seems so very genuine. That’s the biggest cliché ever and it could very well be an act, but his words really spoke to me. His lyrics are smart without trying to be complicated or clever or heavy-hearted. They are intelligent without pretending to be the greatest thing ever written. I love simplicity, but I love intelligence even more!

“It's easier to compromise when everything has gone

And it's hard to make amends when all the damages are done

And to everyone I've ever hurt, I'm sorry

But I was wrong”

(From: That’s how it is by Paul Freeman)

When I got a chance to meet Paul after the concert, he was just as sweet and genuine as he seemed to be on stage and he’s as intelligent as his lyrics. He won my undying respect a few days later when I found out that he likes Dylan Thomas. Thomas was known to be a great admirer of William Blake which almost makes us kindred spirits. (Hey, can you believe I just found a link between Paul Freeman and Richard Armitage? I knew there was a reason I liked this man!)



Right back at you, Paul!!

Another thing that caught my attention is the way Paul sings his songs. Every time he started playing, it was as if he went into a world of his own. There was such dedication and joy in the way he performed; it makes me smile to even think about it. But don’t take my word for it, here’s the proof. This is Paul’s performance of Tightrope at the concert that I attended in Brussels.

It’s that joy that woke the room up and Paul managed to grab the attention of people who would usually just see him as the reason why the main act of the evening wasn’t there yet. By the third song, he’d won them over. When he finally walked off the stage, I felt a sense of loss…and the applause continued longer than I have ever seen it last for an unknown opening act.

 

So Paul, when exactly are you coming back to sing for me?

A birthday countdown in pictures (#19)

Richard, please forgive me if I use your birthday countdown to talk about a worthy cause...

It's exactly one year ago today that 3 men from Little Rock, Arkansas, were released from prison. They had spent 18 years in prison for a crime they did not commit and one of them had been sentenced to death. On 19 August 2011, these men agreed to take a so-called "Alford Plea" to be released from prison. The Alford Plea basically means that you plead guilty in court while you maintain your innocence.

Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Miskelley Jr. are free, but their names have not been cleared.

Peter Jackson, director of The Lord of The Rings trilogy and the upcoming The Hobbit films has been instrumental in getting these men, known as the West Memphis Three out of prison. He continues to support their case and today published a message about this case on his Facebook page.

The documentary West of Memphis, directed by Amy J. Berg and produced by Peter Jackson was shown at this year's Sundance Film Festival.

Damien Echols is an inspired writer. His story, Life After Death, will be released on 18 September 2012. See it on Amazon here. It's at the very top of my reading list.

Richard Armitage as John Porter in episode 3 of Chris Ryan's Strike Back 

Today, my thoughts go out to Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Miskelley Jr. I hope they are finally getting the chance to enjoy life, a life that was taken away from them by a failing judicial system.

My heart goes out to the families of Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers and Michael Moore and I hope that they will someday know who is responsible for the death of their children.

"Lay beside me, tell me what they've done
Speak the words I want to hear, to make my demons run
The door is locked now, but it's open if you're true
If you can understand me, then I can understand the you"

(From The Unforgiven 2 by Metallica)

What's a birthday without a birthday present? But what do you get the man who's living his dream?
This year, consider donating to one of Richard's selected charities (Shelter, The Salvation Army, Childline and Barnardo's) - visit his Just Giving page. Thank you!



Random Thoughts: The festival of tailor-made music

I know this is a few days after the facts, but I had to write about it.

Rock Werchter in Belgium has been celebrated as the best festival in the World for several years in a row. Its organisation, security and musical line-up are unparalleled and an example for other festivals. For 4 days in the first weekend of July, the festival welcomes visitors from around the globe to enjoy music from the best bands and the greatest new artists.

www.rockwerchter.be

A few years ago, the organisers of this festival decided that it was time to branch out and give more and different audiences a chance to enjoy their favourite music at Werchter. They came up with 2 new concepts: TW Classic and Werchter Boutique.

TW Classic brings the greatest music of all time to the stage. Bryan Adams, Lenny Kravits, Simple Minds, The Black Eyed Peas, Depeche Mode, Moby, The Police, Elton John and Sting are just a few of the amazing artists that have graced the audience of TW Classic with their greatest hits.

www.twclassic.be

And then there’s Werchter Boutique – the person who came up with this concept is an absolute genius! Werchter Boutique changes every year and the line-up is adapted to suit a specific audience.

In 2008, a dream came true for thousands of screaming young teenage girls and their families when Tokio Hotel was the headliner and Santana and Dutch band Doe Maar provided the necessary impulse for parents to want to accompany their sons and daughters to the festival.

In 2009, Madonna brought her Sticky & Sweet tour to the stage at Werchter and in 2010 Prince was the headliner, again bringing completely different audiences to this small town in Belgium.

www.werchterboutique.be

Werchter Boutique then skipped a year, only to return with its greatest stunt to date. This year, Werchter Boutique catered to fans of metal music: the festival headliner was one of the greatest metal bands in the world: Metallica. And I was there.

Let me be extremely clear: I am not a metal fan. The music is too loud, the songs are usually just a blur of guitars and drums and people screaming into a microphone in ways that make me want to chop my ears off. But I have never seen a more amazing live act than Metallica. I must have seen them perform for five or six times by now, and I’m blown away every time.

We bought tickets to this festival months ago, when the only band confirmed to play was Metallica. In the months that followed, the following ‘supporting acts’ were announced: Ghost, Gojira, Channel Zero, Mastodon and Soundgarden. All great bands of the metal genre, but they were clearly no more than that: a way to pass the time before Metallica would take to the stage. I can’t really say very much about them: I didn’t like Ghost (to much like a fancy dress party), Gojira was simply too loud, I appreciate Channel Zero as they are a Belgian band and they used to be really good (used to be, that is, now…not so much), I skipped Mastodon and they were just background music to us while we were having dinner in the back of the festival grounds and I can see why Soundgarden was the second greatest grunge band after Nirvana… 20 years ago. I do still love their song Black Hole Sun, that was the only thing that got me up off the grass with my hands in the air.

At about 21:00, when the sun was setting behind the stage, it was finally time for Metallica to make this day worth the money. And by god did they ever deliver!

Metallica performed their legendary Black Album in its entirety, with The Unforgiven, Enter Sandman and Sad But True as my personal favourites. The band celebrated the 20^th anniversary of this album that meant their worldwide breakthrough and made them the greatest metal band in the world, and they have not lost any of their enigmatic charisma. The lights and fireworks were perfectly in tune with the surprisingly beautiful melodies and clever lyrics of their legendary songs. I thoroughly enjoyed the concert, was screaming from beginning to end, trying to keep up with James Hetfield’s powerful vocals and incredible energy. If you’ve never seen this band, you should. I promise that you will not regret it!

I wonder what Werchter Boutique will come up with next year – it will take another stroke of genius to top this year’s overwhelming success!!