Johannes Oerding Concert

Back in 2020, for Christmas, I gave concert tickets to Tünde, for the three of us to see Johannes Oerding at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in February 2021.  

However, due to Covid restrictions, the concert kept getting pushed back.

Much like the Pet Shop Boys concert, that I bought tickets for in 2019, but we didn't get to see until 2022. 

The concert last night was great!  We really enjoyed ourselves.  

©Jens Hettwer

The opening act was ELIF, who's real name is Elif Demirezer, a local Turkish-German singer.  She also later performed a duet with him.  

Here's a YouTube video I found of her singing Alles Brennt with him.

©Uli Mü

He also had another Turkish performer join him on stage.  Zeynep Avci, also a Berlin local, competed on season 11 of The Voice of Germany, where Johannes Oerding was a judge. 

Here's them singing Stärker.  

©Uli Mü

A fun weekend but to Berlin and back for a concert was a bit much.  Still worth it and Tünde finally got her 2020 Christmas present.  I guess I lucked out that after 2,5 years, he's still one of her favourite singers.  

Müggelseesingen

This evening we met up with a few people for dinner at our favourite sushi place on Bölscherstraße.  Afterwards it was on the beach at Müggelsee, where we went ice skating before, for a a Christmas sing-a-long.  

It was fun.  There was a stage with choir singers and there a few mini-bonfires and candles while people drank glühwein and sang Christmas songs.  

Some of the songs I knew but there were several German songs that I'd never heard before.  Fortunately the programmes contained the lyrics to all of the songs.

After a few hours of singing it was back to the flat.  I needed to make the buletten for tomorrow's Christmas dinner.

I still can't believe that Christmas is tomorrow.  

Czechoslovak Hussite Church

Czechland has its own church.  The Czechoslovak Hussite Church (CČSH) is a Christian church that split away from the Roman Catholic Church and was established in 1920 following the end of WWI and creation of Czechoslovakia.

It started out as the Czechoslovak Church but in 1972, the name was changed to to emphasise the values of Jan Hus, the former Catholic priest who was burned at the stake in 1415, and creator of the Czech alphabet.  I understand the church is a sort of Presbyterian and Episcopal mixture.  

The most recent census results showed that there are less than 25.000 members of the church.  In Czechland the church has 304 congregations that are divided in to five dioceses - Prague, Plzeň, Brno, Olomouc, and Hradec Králové.  There are three congregations in the Bratislava Diocese in Slovakia.

The head of the church is called 'Patriarch' and clergy can be men or women.  More than half of the priests are women.  Future priests undergo training at the Hussite Faculty of Theology at Charles University.

Husův sbor, the Hussite Church building, at Botanická, is one of the first functionalist church buildings in Central Europe.  It is the oldest functionalist building in Brno and this year celebrates 93 years.

Yesterday, Kája and I went to attend an afternoon Christmas concert.  The concert was nice but I have to admit that I didn't understand everything.  

There were a lot of Czech Christmas songs that I'd never heard before.  The traditional English-language Christmas songs that I know, were sung in Czech. 

 

Pet Shop Boys Concert 2022

We finally got to see the Pet Shop Boys at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin last night.  I bought these tickets back in 2019 and I forgot that I booked the premium seat package.  We tried to enter the area last night and the guy at the door said that we had to go around to the other entrance.  

The other entrance was the premium ticket ticket entry.  Wow, what a difference.  There were restaurants and bars that we were able to visit prior to going inside.  The premium section was nice and the price difference was only €10 per seat.  Well worth it.    

The entire show was awesome!  It was basically all of their greatest hits.  We had awesome seats.  The show was even better than the last time I saw them at the 2013 Berlin music festival.  I don't think I sat down once during the whole show.  

After the concert we headed back to Friedrichshagen because I had to leave before 6 AM to catch the S-Bahn to Hauptbahnhof for my morning train back to Brno.  Tonight I need to finish packing because tomorrow I'm headed back to Frankfurt for the week.

Here are a few video clips that I took with my mobile.  Now I can't wait to see them again. 

Day Three in Auckland

Today was another full day in Auckland.  We started out in the Devonport suburb, about 15 minutes away.

The North Head Historic Reserve has been listed as a Category I historic place since 2001.  The military used it for defence until 1950.

The area contained three gun batteries and an extensive tunnel system linking underground store rooms and observation posts.

View of Rangitoto from North Head

It's a nice place for a short, easy hike and there's a nice view of Rangitoto Island.





Next up was the Torpedo Bay Navy Museum.  It opened in 2010 and is the official museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy.

The museum chronicles New Zealand's naval history from the 1845 Flagstaff War.

The museum is very well done and quite educational.  I, for one, never knew that New Zealand had participated in the Vietnam War.




After lunch we drove about an hour to the Muriwai Gannet Colony.







Each year, from August to March, about 1200 pairs of gannets nest here.







From the car park, there's a short walking track to a viewing platform over the colony.   There's also nice views of the beach.





It's great that Czechland is right in the centre of Europe but if only it had a beach.





This evening we had a special treat.  Natalie pulled some strings (no pun intended) and got us tickets to see the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

The NZSO was founded in 1946 and is based in Wellington.  Tonight's programme was Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor and Elgar's Symphony No. 1 in A-flat major.  The performance was wonderful.


They played at Auckland Town Hall which has a separate concert chamber.

2013 Berlin Music Festival

I've been wanting to see the Pet Shop Boys, live in concert, for over 25 years.  It's just never worked out before.  They came to town when I was out of town.  They came to Atlanta one week after I moved to Europe.  They played at Brandenburg Gate, in Berlin, last year for New Year's Eve.  Of course, I was the manager on-duty in Brno last year so that wasn't going to happen.  Dang it!

Luckily, Claudia let me know that they were going to perform at this year's Berlin Music Festival.  A one-day pass was only €50 ($68).  Since the ticket was so cheap, and they were part of this festival, I figured that they would play three or four songs only.  At least I would finally get to see them. 

The festival took place at Templehof Airport.  Templehof was the airport used by the U.S. during the Berlin Airlift.  It's no longer a functioning commercial airport.  Using the arrivals/departures board to display the program was a nice touch.

The Pet Shop Boys are an English duo known for their electronic pop style.  They have sold over 50 million records worldwide.  The Guinness Book of Records has them listed as the most successful duo in UK music history.  I've been a big fan ever since they released their first song, West End Girls, back in 1985.

I was so wrong about the three or four songs only thing.  This was a right proper show and it was amazing.  Absolutely brilliant!!  These boys put on one heck of a performance.  Since there was no seating I was able to work my way right up to the front.  Now I can't wait to see them again.  Here's a short video I took of last night's show.

Perpetuum Jazzile

Perpetuum Jazzile is a Ljubljana-based, vocal jazz choir. They are extremely popular in Slovenia. They have also played to sold-out crowds in Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany, Canada and the USA. Last night they put on a concert at a high school in Murska Sobota.

In addition to a few traditional Slovenian songs the group played a mix of songs that ranged from jazz to gospel to pop. They even put in a nice Christmas mix of Nat King Cole and Mel Torme. I was probably one of the few people in the crowd that knew the words to the Christmas medley.

I found this next video, from 2008, of the group performing Toto's Africa. They did the same number last night it brought the house down.

Jupiter Jones & My Glorious

Last night was my first German concert. I had never heard of either group before but it was a blast!! After dinner, we all went to Berlin's Astra Kulturhaus to see Jupiter Jones. Their opening act was My Glorious.

Jupiter Jones is a German punk rock band that came together in 2002. It's named after the young detective in the American adventure series The Three Investigators. The group has gone from being a small-town band to selling out major venues in Germany.

In August 2010, Jupiter Jones signed a record deal with Columbia Berlin (Sony).

In April 2011, their single Still was the most played German language song on German radio. Here's the video for Still that I found out on YouTube.

Here's last night's performance of Sonne? Scheint!

My Glorious is an Indie rock group out of Vienna. The trio consists of singer/guitarist Sami Goodenough from the UK and Austrian twins Gregor and Paul Sailer who play bass and drums respectively. They sing in both English and German.

Since coming together in 2008, they have played in Austria, Germany, the UK, Israel and the USA. Their debut album in 2008 did well on the US college radio charts. Here's their song Give Me Time. Enjoy!