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[sophaeros]

arctic monkeys for clash magazine, april 2010

ON THE ROAD WITH… ARCTIC MONKEYS

Words by Simon Harper Photos by Jason Joyce

As Britain’s favourite band headed out on the European leg of their ‘Humbug’ tour, Clash discovered that Arctic Monkeys were less sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll, and more cakes, ping-pong and Coco Pops…

The city of Offenbach, about twenty minutes south of Frankfurt, was once noted for its abundant leather industry, and is currently the base of the German weather service, but such claims don’t negate the fact that it’s basically a sterile, grey, typically German suburban borough. The arrival of a fleet of trucks and buses, carrying Arctic Monkeys, their crew and stage gear, heralded the notion that for one night only, Offenbach may just come alive with suitably bustling energy.

Offenbach’s Stadthalle is the smallest venue on the Monkeys’ three-week tour of Western Europe. The band have been through Portugal, Spain and France, and know how to kill time during the day while everyone works around them, building the stage for that night’s show. And so, when Clash finds them, upstairs in the Stadthalle’s back rooms, they’re in the middle of a fierce ping-pong match – the game scores being tallied up across the tour. The table, it transpires, is the band’s own, and follows them wherever they go. A set of football goals lie waiting for action, but the small white balls prove more enticing.

It’s a cold, February Tuesday, and these back rooms are where the band will spend the whole day.

Previous encounters with Arctic Monkeys have been somewhat tough – notoriously reticent and famously press-shy, there’s a tangible wall that surrounds them, which is seemingly hard to penetrate. Suspicious stares cut through you, while succinct answers frustrate you. Today, however, they couldn’t be more accommodating.

Clash sits with the quartet in the band-only room, where their personal equipment is kept in a vertical flight case of drawers, and a small fridge is at hand for cold beers. Nick O’Malley, Jamie Cook and Matt Helders sprawl on the leather couches, while Alex Turner perches on the table, often pacing the room, then escaping in search of a lighter. We’re here to talk about life on the road. What starts as an interview eventually descends into louche conversation; daft chat punctuated by much laughter. Perhaps they’re glad to see a friendly face; perhaps the monotony of touring makes them crave any respite; perhaps there’s nothing better to do in Offenbach.

Is being on tour like real life, or does it feel like you’re detached from what real life is?

Matt: It’s probably real life. It doesn’t seem like it’s too separate or miles away.

When you go home is that normality or is it just a continuation of what you do on the road?

Matt: I don’t find it hard to settle back and switch between the two.

Nick: You feel like you’re unemployed when you go home properly.

Like you’ve got nothing to do?

Nick: Yeah, or like if you’ve got a couple of weeks off.

Matt: Like school holidays.

Alex: Does that make this school then?

Matt: Yeah, but it’s like basketball camp or something you enjoy.

How do your friendships cope with life on the road? 

Matt: It’s fine.

Nick: Yeah. We know how to not annoy each other. We’ve never really had friction, because we’ve all got a similar outlook on how not to annoy people, I suppose, so there’s never really been any problems.

Alex: (Mock nastily) That’s what you think, mate.

Nick: (Laughs) I suppose if you see the same people every day, after a while you’re bound to get a bit annoyed, but as long as you keep in your mind that it’s just because of the situation and not because you don’t like the person, then you can kind of avoid outbursts that you might not mean. It’s never really been a problem so far.

Do you notice a huge cultural difference between touring Europe and America? 

Alex: Even between places in Europe. I mean, often, to be honest, certainly at this stage that we’re at, days like today aren’t uncommon, where you’re out of town and you don’t even really see where you are, as I’m sure you’re aware. But you can really tell the difference just in the show, from the crowd. We did Madrid and Barcelona over t’weekend, and last week Portugal, and they were really excitable and there was like a frenzy going on when we were playing. Whereas I think crowds elsewhere can be a bit more reserved, can’t they, depending on where it is. I reckon one of the best crowds on this tour was a gig we did last week in Porto. We’ve never played there before. There was this real appreciation or something just from the start. You can just sort of feel it, can’t you; ‘We’re all here to have a laugh’.

Alex lives in the States now. Have any of you considered moving to somewhere you’ve visited on tour?

Matt: Yeah. It’s good that you do get to see places that you might consider moving, like Berlin. I could imagine living there.

Does living apart make you appreciate each other more when you’re back together?

Jamie: [Long pause] Mmmm…yeah.

Gone are the days when you’re living round the corner from each other.

Alex: Yeah, I suppose that’s true. You’ve got to sort of organise to be in one place. I suppose that is a bit of an inconvenient drag.

Are there any essential items that you have to pack before you come out on tour?

Jamie: One of them rolly things that gets fluff of your coat. (All laugh)

Alex: I feel like you’re a lot better equipped than the rest of us with things like that.

Yeah, you’re looking very bobble-less.

Jamie: Ah, cheers. Yeah, I did it this morning actually. A quick roll.

Matt: A skipping rope – except I forgot it this time. I’ve lost mine.

Nick: DVDs, stuff like that.

A ping-pong table?

Jamie: A ping-pong table is essential actually. I don’t think we’d go on tour without that.

Alex: Some kind of series…

Matt: A box-set.

Alex: Kinda really discovered that this last year. It was summat I’d never really got into before.

Nick: Any HBO series.

Alex: (Laughs) Yeah. I’ve really learned to appreciate that sort of continuum, because you can follow a thread.

Matt: You know what you need to do the next day.

What have you been watching?

Alex: We’ve got into Deadwood a bit on the last tour. That’s what’s been missing, I think, for me on this tour, some sort of thing like that.

Have you done The Wire?

Alex: Yeah.  I went Wire mad on that tour. I just got so greedy. I get so greedy with them things.

Matt: I couldn’t catch up.

Jamie: Yeah, he ditched everyone. I got ditched on t’second series!

Matt: Six in t’morning, I could hear him.

Jamie: You’d get up and that [theme] song would be on. It’d just be crisps all over, a bottle of…

Nick: ‘Wire Beast’s been up all night again!’

Alex: ‘Where’d you get that dressing gown from?’

Jamie: Just laying there with crumbs all over him.

Have you ever had any scares at customs? 

Nick: I got searched yesterday actually.

Matt: It was your squeaky wheels, just as I’d said. I said, ‘Them wheels are gonna attract attention.’

Nick: In Germany. A very thorough search, but luckily no glove action.

Jamie: They probably wanted to mend your wheels for you.

Matt: ‘I’ve got summat for that, some GT85.’

Nick: They were really suspicious of me. They really took everything apart and didn’t put it back as neat as I’d put it in.

Alex: At this end, yesterday?

Nick: Yeah, when we arrived in ‘Munchen’.

Alex: They’re quite, like, strict, aren’t they, Bavarian authorities.

Nick: Yeah. They had a look at me belt, everything. All me case and bag. Took everything apart. Then he were like, ‘Where have you come from?’ I went, ‘Barcelona’. He were like, ‘Have you had any contact with drugs in Barcelona?’ I went, ‘No.’ He went, ‘What do you do?’ I said, ‘I’m in a band.’ And he went, ‘Ah’, and then, like, swabbed everything.

Alex: When I got in t’car yesterday, the fella were like, [German accent] ‘If you like to do drugs, do not try and do it in Bavaria.’

American customs scare me most. 

Matt: Yeah, it’s a load of questions.

Alex: ‘What are you doing here?’

Jamie: New Zealand were quite funny. We all got pulled…

Matt: We had to sit in them chairs for a bit…

Jamie: And this guy was asking us directly the last time we ever did drugs. Then someone came over who worked for us…and he soon disappeared rather fast. We were fine. (All laugh)

Alex: I’ve come to quite enjoy the American customs people. (All laugh)

Matt: They’ve always got weird names.

Alex: They’re like, [American accent] ‘So you’re in a band, huh?’ You go, ‘Yeah, yeah.’ ‘What do you do in the band?’ ‘Oh, I’m the singer.’ ‘Yeah? You don’t look like a singer to me.’

Nick: ‘Do you sound like Coldplay?’

Alex: Yeah, ‘What kind of music do you guys play?’

Jamie: ‘Do you sound like Staind?’ I went like, ‘Staind? I know them… Fuckin’ hell!’ It took me ages. ‘Yeah, yeah, we sound a bit like Staind.’ When he said it I were like, ‘Yeah, a bit.’

You’ve said before that you wanted to try and get an album out this year. Do you get any time on the road to do any work on that?

Alex: Not really. That’s a bit of a pain in the arse, not being able to rehearse and work stuff out. I don’t think I write very good songs on t’road. They’re all a bit wonky. You get back and you’re like, ‘Hmmm’.

Does it detach you from what we were talking about earlier, ‘real life’? Does it detach you from the things that you want to be writing about?

Alex: I dunno. You can still use your imagination, but I just think, yeah, in your surroundings there’s always about to be something that’s going to happen. You can’t think. I always write wherever I am, but I dunno if the things that come out when you’re touring around always have the shelf life that the other things do.

Have you got any songs earmarked for the next album?

Alex: Yeah. I mean, there’s some ideas, but we haven’t really had the chance to get out the fine toothed comb.

‘Humbug’ was a departure in sound from your previous albums – do you think you’ll continue in that direction, maybe bring Josh Homme in again?

Alex: Not sure, really. We would like to do something with Josh again – it was terrific for us to go on that adventure – but whether or not it’s this next thing, I’m not sure. And also, like, he’s busy! (Laughs) He’s got a schedule himself, doesn’t he?

You went to record over in his place, so do you think next time you’ll have him over to...

Alex: High Green? (Laughs) Homme in High Green? I quite fancy that.

Nick: He’d look like a superhero in High Green, all the bad genetics there are in High Green. He’d look amazing.

Matt: He’d be the biggest man there.

You’ve released a couple of singles exclusively through Oxfam. What made you decide to do that? 

Jamie: Laurence and Jonny at Domino came to us with that idea – a great idea for the charity reason, and then cos Woolworths and stuff had shut down, but there were always an Oxfam.

Alex: Like, in towns where there perhaps aren’t, like, an Our Price or something.

Do you have to think of more creative ways to get your records out there?

Jamie: Yeah, rather than just sat at home.

Matt: They should think about making the journey exciting – paint paths a nice colour to the record shops.

Alex: The yellow brick road.

Matt: Something that makes people want to walk to a record shop. Even if it’s just free parking. (All laugh)

Jamie: It’s just too easy to buy music now.

How do you feel as artists about the devaluing of music? Does it annoy you that you’re working hard to make something, but people can just pick it up from their friends?

Jamie: I suppose we were never in the industry when it were big money, when people used to sell twenty million albums. Has that ever happened since we’ve been around?

Probably someone like Dido has.

Jamie: Yeah, that were probably the last.

Matt: It’s like, we wouldn’t expect anything like that to happen to us, so…

Alex: I do think there is people that always will want to go and get records.

Matt: Yeah, it won’t change everybody.

Alex: I was reading a couple of months ago about there’s an idea where you won’t even have – you know like you pull songs off iTunes or whatever – but they were saying you subscribe to a database and pay to get ’em…

Jamie: Spotify, that’s what that was.

Alex: Yeah. But you can’t get them on…

It streams the music – you can’t download them.

Alex: But you can’t do that on your phone, can you?

Matt: Yeah, you can do Spotify on your phone if you pay about £10 a month. Nokia did that thing where you can just pay a monthly thing and you can have as many as you want…

Alex: The fella had a quote, he’s like, ‘There’s nothing sexy about an MP3 on your desktop’. (Laughs) He’s like, ‘There’s nothing sexy about having a subscription to a database’. (All laugh) But then you could just sort of buy a record and stand it up against your wall. Not that that’s particularly sexy, but, you know what I mean… I like things that you can stand up.

Jamie: Like you said the other day, everyone’s just gonna have an empty house.

Matt: Yeah, there’s gonna be nothing on t’shelves. Not even books now.

Jamie: No one’s got any photos anymore, no ones’s got any CDs or records…

Matt: You’ll just have a screen and a chair.

Jamie: You’ll just go, ‘Sound. This is sound.’

Matt: With nowt on your wall.

Jamie: You can just have everything [at your fingertips]; turn your fire on, open your curtains…

Alex: You’d get in it for your bath. (All laugh)

[Alex goes into the band’s equipment drawer, pulls out a giant figure of Freddie Mercury in full-on rock pose. “See, he said he likes things that stand up,” Matt says.]

Does being on an independent label give you the freedom to experiment with your marketing or promotions? 

Matt: Yeah. They [Domino] have as many ideas as us for stuff like that, like the Oxfam thing. They tend to think on a similar level, and, at the same time, if we have a suggestion, they’re open to it. It sometimes is a good thing to have a label like Domino, cos they’re experienced in doing weird stuff, and have obviously signed things that aren’t necessarily to make any money or anything, so we’ll listen to them if they have a suggestion, and vice versa. They’d put records out on tins of beans and all sorts. (All laugh)

Jamie: I wanted to do it on a conifer. I wanted to put an MP3 out on a conifer.

Matt: Or just seeds. Christmas tree seeds.

Alex: Yeah. What did they actually do?

Matt: There’s a Jewish guy, I forgot what his name is, and they did it on a kosher chicken noodle soup or something. You buy the soup and you get the code [for the MP3]. Which is good in a way, because he’s just poo-pooing the fact that there’s not much point. It’s an incentive, but it doesn’t get it in the chart, you see. It’s a give-away. So you can sell anything and just have an MP3 code on it. You can sell a car and you’d just get one song.

Jamie: But then it doesn’t count towards t’charts?

Matt: No. The Oxfam thing don’t either, does it. Only the download bit does. You’re not allowed to give away incentives like free stuff, because that’s obviously encouraging people. See, that’s the thing – people might buy the soup and not download the song. ‘I wonder if they make good soup?’

Jamie: When you see a good cover sometimes…

Matt: Yeah, you buy it for the cover.

Alex: Perhaps the epitome of that is you buying a Lady Gaga picture disc. (Laughs)

Matt: Yeah, I did. I’ve been a fool.

Alex: It’s great, cos she’s wearing like a fuckin’ box of Coco Pops or something. (Laughs)

Matt: You could buy that Freddie Mercury thing and get a Queen album, for instance. You don’t need to put it on or owt.

Jamie: You want to make it awkward.

Matt: Buy a chair. Buy a flat pack piece of furniture and you get a code for an album.

Jamie: You have to put your furniture up and send a picture to someone, then they send you the MP3.

Alex: That would make a good video: playing in a bowl of Coco Pops. (All laugh) Remember that kids programme where they used to have to go swimming in a bowl of cereal…

Jamie: Ah yeah. Didn’t they used to do something like that on The Big Breakfast?

Matt: They did, yeah.

Jamie: It were a massive cup of tea and you used to have to get the sugar lumps…

Matt: Yeah, yeah, that was it: One Lump Or Two.

Jamie: One Lump Or Two, yeah!

Alex: It would be great: kid comes down, he’s having his breakfast – Coco Pops – and then, like, Arctic Monkeys are in his cereal. (All laugh)

Jamie: Hot milk, though.

Matt: Hot milk in t’afternoon.

Alex: (Laughs) ‘Why not try Coco Pops after school?’

Jamie: (Laughs) I love that advert!

Alex: It’s the best!

Do your fans give you CDs of their bands?

Matt: They throw them on t’stage! Imagine if you got one of them in t’eye! Fuckin’ hell! Remember in America, a kid got on stage and he had a handful [of CDs] and someone had to grab him to get him off, but he threw them. So he were getting pulled away and he threw them.

Alex: I’ve been getting less CDs though…

Matt: Now they’re throwing download cards at you!

Alex: I got a pair of underpants…

Jamie: People are chucking downloads at you. You’re like, ‘What the fuck?’

Matt: People are throwing zeroes and ones at you – it’s like the credits of The Matrix!

Jamie: You can’t get any flick on a download.

Alex: They’re chucking Spotifys at me. Maybe that’s what them pants were – some sort of code.

I think it’d be a totally different sort of code! Do you listen to the music that fans give you?

Matt: I listened to one that someone gave me the other day. It just were at home though, he just gave it me.

Alex: No more than I’d wear that pair of pants! (Laughs)

Matt: It were just convenient – I were getting in me car and there’s a CD player there.

What’s the strangest thing a fan has given you?

Matt: Just in Japan – everything you get is weird! Like, a monkey hat – it left your own face in but it’s got ears and a tail.

Jamie: And sweets.

Matt: A lot of sweets.

Jamie: We once said, ‘Oh, we like these sweets’ in an interview…

Nick: There’s someone that makes baked goods.

Matt: You got a good one, where it were like a picture of you…

Alex: Yeah, I got like a diagram of myself…

Matt: A diagram, pointing at every bit, and then asking to fill in, like, what his favourite brand of jeans were.

Alex: Hand it back, and then she’d sort of kit me out.

Matt: She’d buy it all! So, like, ‘Favourite shoes? Trainers or boots?’ It would be like that. He’d fill it in and send it back and then she’d buy it. ‘Will this do?’

Alex: Back it came with this jumper that were perfect actually. She really knew me better than I knew meself.

Nick: With baked goods, I know it’s not [spiked], but you never know… It’s probably fine – it’s more than likely fine – but it is a gamble.

Matt: It’s innocent, but someone might have seen that opportunity.

Jamie: I don’t think I’m ever gonna eat a baked good that some stranger’s made. You learn about that. There is a story there…

What’s the first thing you do when you get home after the tour is finished? 

Nick: See your friends and family that you’ve not seen.

Matt: I go and get my photos developed. That’s actually one of the first things I do.

Alex: I usually pick up me guitar. Honestly. It’s a deep breath.

Later that evening, Clash is back in the ping-pong room. The tour manager comes to break bad news to the band - the curtain at the front of the stage is broken. They won't be able to make their usual grand entrance. "Ah, we've got to do it," grins Alex. Do what? "We've been saying on this tour if ever the curtain doesn't work, we've got to go on to this song." Which song? "Black Eyed Peas’ ‘I Gotta Feelin’’," Alex beams. The band are giddily bouncing around, electrified by the prospect of taking the stage to the song that's soundtracked many a menopausal vodka-stained Saturday evening's preparatory gathering.

“But when do we go on?" Matt asks.

"The rap. We gotta wait for the rap," Alex asserts.

"We should wait until "Mazel tov”,” Jamie smirks.

Ten minutes later, Clash is amidst the Offenbach crowd when the lights go out and the song bursts from the PA. A wave of euphoria swells, the irony not lost, and right on cue, just as the Peas declare, "I know that we'll have a ball", the four Monkeys stride towards their instruments.

The nineteen-song set covers their three albums - with Nick Cave's 'Red Right Hand’ thrown in for good measure. The last song before their encore is 'Secret Door’ from 'Humbug’. Just as Matt cracks the snare drum that launches the song's long psychedelic outro, cannons on the roof blast out gold and silver confetti over the joyous crowd below, proving that the Monkeys aren't averse to a bit of showmanship every now and then.

The after party is a subdued affair (well, in Offenbach it's bound to be!), with just the band, some friends, crew, and Clash, diving into the beer and nibbles on offer. A fairly drunken chat with Alex about Johnny Cash, Billie Holiday and Gram Parsons rounds off our time with the band, as they retreat back to the confines of their bus, about to depart for Dusseldor and their next gig.

Such a welcome and warm atmosphere is often rare backstage, especially with a band as celebrated as this, but the Monkeys - ever changing and ever surprising - are beginning to make a habit of defying expectations. Growing up has never been such fun.

[bitter-panacea]

and another one!!

Luke + Hershel : Lior Brighton (he/him)

Hershel rarely ever fuses unless ABSOLUTELY necessary and only for a very short amount of time. Due to trauma and bad experiences, he prefers keeping others at a distance for his own safety, and therefore, fusion is an amount of emotional intimacy he is not truly comfortable with.

Born out of necessity (to protect luke from the masked gentleman). Only stayed together for a short while the first few times (usually until Layton panicks and can no longer hold it together.) For a while he feared Luke would see through him and be able to feel all of his insecurities. He felt vulnerable and couldn't have Luke's opinion of him change because of it.

But with time, their trust in each other growing, and fusing a couple more times (baby steps), Lior truly becomes his own person. Contrary to what layton feared and expected, getting to experience and feel the way they see each other and hold one another in such high regards, ultimately made their bond stronger and created a confident, brave, and kind personality.

A true proper british gentleman/dandy with childlike innocence, polite but very playful. Candid, sometimes TOO honest and hurts people's feelings without meaning to. Full of so much love, life and light. His unconditional love of puzzles is unrivaled. Big fan of Offenbach.

Theme : A Spoonful of Sugar - Julie Andrews / Thé pour deux - No, no, Nanette

[supercantaloupe]

Sleepover Saturday!! What 5 songs do you love right now? What movie do you think more people should watch? What topic could you give an hour long presentation with no preparation? Do you have any pets?

(I just started following you so sorry if the answers to these are obvious... happy new year!! ^_^)

at the moment i have a number from the offenbach operetta la périchole "et là maintenant" (and its jazzier english/french cover "les femmes" from the adaptation songbird) stuck in my head HARD. it's so deeply catchy. tbh it's tough to choose specific songs im into at any given moment because usually i listen to full works like operas or symphonies rather than individual numbers or movements so it can be tough to sort them out in my head. sold as set do not separate yknow. but i have been listening to la périchole, die zauberflöte, and le nozze di figaro recently

i'm just always gonna suggest more people watch amadeus (1984), lol. even people who neither know nor care jack shit about mozart/classical music. it's a really entertaining, well written, well performed film. great for people who enjoy repressed psychosexual/spiritual rivalries and period costumes

maybe this is cheating because "i am 85% of the way done with an advanced degree on this topic at the moment" might not count as "no preparation" but i could give a presentation well longer than an hour about classical music eras and styles. i guess for an even more specific answer i could talk about die zauberflöte, orphean opera, and late 18th century viennese singspiele, but again i just wrote a long paper about that so i don't think it counts as "no preparation." maybe i could present about swallowtail butterflies? i don't study them or anything i just think they're neat

personally i don't have any pets of my own, i don't really have the stability to responsibly care for a pet right now between work, grad school, and self care. but my parents have two cats which i very much still think of as my own even if i only get to visit a couple times a year now. (my parents also have a dog. the dog is not My Pet in the way the cats are. she's a fine dog though)

[ask meme]

[leblogdemarinaetjm]

SAMEDI 23 NOVEMBRE 2024 (Billet 2 / 5)

« OPERAS LOCOS » à BOBINO (1h15)

Du 7 novembre au 15 décembre 2024

14-20, rue de la Gaîté – 75014 Paris

Métro : Gaîté (Ligne 13) • Edgar Quinet (Ligne 6) • Montparnasse (Lignes 6, 4, 12 et 13)  

_________________________________

Cinq chanteurs d’Opéra excentriques se réunissent pour un récital unique en son genre !

Portés par les airs des plus grands opéras de Mozart, Bizet, Offenbach où encore Puccini, nos fameux « Locos » ne communiquent qu’en chantant ! 

Situations burlesques et interprétations chargées d’émotions se succèdent sans temps mort dans ce spectacle comique musical, qui séduira toute la famille !

Plus qu’une interprétation d’un classique en trois heures, ce « comic opéra show » prouve que finalement, l’opéra est pour tout le monde et surtout, que chacun connait ses classiques. 

Vous sortirez de la salle en chantant à tue-tête (certes un peu moins bien qu’eux, mais le cœur y sera) ! 

« Un best of the l’art lyrique savamment ficelé » (Paris Match) « Ce spectacle délicieusement déjanté veut faire rire avec l’Opéra et non à ses dépens. Pari Réussi ! » (Le Figaroscope) « Un Opéra résolument moderne et savoureux ! » (Le Parisien) « Quelle merveilleuse façon de faire découvrir l’Opéra » (France 2 Télématin) « Désopilant ! » (Le Figaro)

(Source : « Le site de Bobino à propos de ce spectacle »)

__________________________________

C’est un très sympathique couple d’amis GM, Corinne et Dominique G. (rencontrés au Club : Palmiye en 2023, Gregolimano en 2024), qui a eu l’idée de nous proposer sur WhatsApp cette sortie. Nous avons regardé la bande-annonce du spectacle (voir ci-dessus) et tout de suite nous leur avons répondu que nous étions très heureux de nous joindre à eux et ravis aussi de les revoir.

Les places ont été réservées pour début décembre, nous vous dirons alors ce que nous en avons pensé.

[monkeyssalad-blog]

Marta Eggerth in Die Czardasfürstin (1934) by Truus, Bob & Jan too! Via Flickr: German collectors card in the series 'Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Tonfilm', album no. 11, picture no. 137. Photo: Ufa / Ross Verlag. Marta Eggerth in Die Czardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (Georg Jacoby, 1934). Hungarian-born singer and actress Márta Eggerth (1912-2013) maintained a global career for over 70 years. She was the popular and talented star of 30 German and Austrian operetta films of the 1930s. Many of the 20th century's most famous operetta composers, including Franz Lehár, Fritz Kreisler, Robert Stolz, Oscar Straus, and Paul Abraham, composed works especially for her. After the rise of the Nazis, she continued her career with her partner Jan Kiepura in the US. Márta (or Martha) Eggerth's was born in Budapest in 1912. Her mother, a dramatic coloratura soprano, dedicated herself to her daughter, who was called a 'Wunderkind'. At the age of 11 she made her theatrical debut in the operetta Mannequins. Marta began singing the demanding coloratura repertoire by composers including Rossini, Meyerbeer, Offenbach, and Johann Strauss II. Soon she was hailed as Hungary's 'national idol'. She performed at the Hungarian state opera in Budapest. Eggerth made her film debut in Budapest in such silent films as Csak egy kislány van a világon/There Is Only One Girl in the World (Belá Gaál, 1929). While still a teenager, Márta Eggerth embarked on a tour of Denmark, Holland and Sweden before arriving in Vienna at the invitation of Emmerich Kalman. Kalman had invited her to understudy Adele Kern, the famous coloratura of the Vienna State Opera, in his operetta Das Veilchen von Montmarte (The Violet of Montmarte). Eventually she took over the title role to great critical acclaim after Kern suddenly became indisposed. Next she performed the role of Adele in Max Reinhardt's famous 1929 Hamburg production of Die Fledermaus (The Bat). At the age of 17, she was perhaps the youngest singer ever to undertake this part. Her silvery soprano voice made her in the following years a popular star of the operetta. Marta Eggerth's film career really career took off with the German sound film Bräutigamswitwe/Let's Love and Laugh (Richard Eichberg, 1931) co-starring Georg Alexander. The success of the film resulted in international fame. Her German film debut was soon followed by more film operettas like Trara um Liebe/Trumpet Call of Love (Richard Eichberg, 1931) and Moderne Mitgift/Modern Dowry (E.W. Emo, 1932). Franz Léhar composed the music for Es war einmal ein Walzer/Once There Was a Waltz (Victor Janson, 1932), especially for Eggerth. In the silver age of the operetta Márta Eggerth starred in numerous successful film operettas and musical comedies as the cheeky, captivating girl, but she also played more tragic roles. To her great successes belong Das Blaue vom Himmel/The Blue from the Sky (Victor Janson, 1932), Leise flehen meine Lieder/Lover Divine (Willi Forst, 1933), Unfinished Symphony (Anthony Asquith, Willi Forst, 1934), Der Zarewitsch (Victor Janson, 1933), Die Czardasfürstin/The Csardas Princess (Georg Jacoby, 1934), Die ganze Welt dreht sich um Liebe/The World's in Love (Viktor Tourjansky, 1935), and Das Schloss in Flandern/The Castle in Flanders (Géza von Bolváry, 1936). Critics praised her musical abilities, but also her nuanced acting. In favour of her film work, she appeared less and less on stage. On the set of Mein Herz ruft nach dir/My Heart Calls You (Carmine Gallone, 1934), Marta Eggerth fell in love with the young Polish tenor and film star Jan Kiepura. The couple married in 1936, and they were the most dazzling Liebespaar (Love Pair) of the European cinema. Together they starred in Zauber der Boheme/The Charm of La Boheme (Géza von Bolváry, 1937), based on motives from Giacomo Puccini's opera La Bohème. They caused a sensation wherever they appeared. But the political situation became more and more uncomfortable for her in Austria, being a foreigner and of Jewish descent. In 1938, Jan Kiepura and Márta Eggerth fled Austria after its annexation by the Nazis. They first settled down in the South of France, and later in the USA. Eggerth was signed by the Schubert Theater to appear on Broadway in Richard Rodgers' musical Higher and Higher. She subsequently signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Hollywood, but she only performed in two MGM musicals. At the side of Judy Garland, she appeared in For Me and My Gal (Busby Berkeley, 1942), and Presenting Lily Mars (Norman Taurog, 1943). Together with her husband, she returned to the theatre, and they first starred on the operatic stage in La Bohème to rave reviews. Then they had a huge, three-year long success with Franz Léhar's operetta Die lustige Witwe/The Merry Widow, with Robert Stolz conducting and George Balanchine as choreographer. They would eventually perform The Merry Widow more than 200 times, in five languages throughout Europe and America. After the war, Márta Eggerth and Jan Kiepura returned to France. They toured through Europe and starred in such films as La Valse Brilliante/Brilliant waltz (Jean Boyer, 1948) in France and Das Land des Lächelns/Land of Smiles (Hans Deppe, Erik Ode, 1952) in Germany. Eggerth wasn't able to gain a foothold again in the German cinema, and would further only appear in Frühling in Berlin/Spring in Berlin (Arhur Maria Rabenalt, 1957) starring Sonja Ziemann. In the 1950s she became American citizen, but her connection to Europe remained. In 1954 Eggerth and Kiepura brought The Merry Widow to London's Palace Theatre and they often toured through Germany with The Merry Widow and other productions. After Jan Kiepura died in 1966, Eggerth stopped singing for several years. Finally, persuaded by her mother, she decided to revive her career. In the 1970s she began to make regular television appearances, and to actively perform concerts in Europe. In 1979, she was awarded the Filmband in Gold for her longtime achievements in the German cinema. In 1984, she returned to the American stage. She co-starred in the Tom Jones/Harvey Schmidt musical Colette opposite Diana Rigg in Seattle and Denver, and later in Stephen Sondheim's Follies in Pittsburgh. In 1999 Eggerth had a comeback appearance on German television as a chamber singer in the episode Nie wieder Oper/Never Opera Again of the popular crime series Tatort. In 2005 she brought out a new album, Marta Eggerth: My Life My Song, with recordings from throughout her career. In 2007 the Silent Film Festival of Pordenone in Italy presented one of her first Hungarian films, but the then 95-year old star was not able to attend. The reason: she had to perform at a concert in New York! Mártha Eggerth always stayed an advocate of the operetta: "In opera, everybody dies. In operetta, everybody is flirtatious", she said of her favourite art form. Marta Eggerth owned an 18-story apartment building in Rye, New York, where she died 26 December 2013. She was 101. Sources: Anne Midgette (The Washington Post), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Filmportal.de, Wikipedia and IMDb. For more cards of this series, check out our album Vom Werden Deutscher Filmkunst.

[kitchenlegrecords]

KLr news, 19.05.24

After long time, the news!!

[#] The sunday matinee was saved as in a Frank Capra movie, we asked for help after a giant GEMA fine and everyone helped. It was amazing! The next event will be this coming Sunday May 26th. If you are not inscribed in the newsletter, drop a line here: xbsundaymatinee [at] gmx [dot] de. Same address also for booking request. Just keep in mind, we do not book the same artist twice and we have a very long list, so gotta be patient!

[#] We are about to share the first release of this year! It is the new album from Ultrabonus and it is called "Casino de la Muerte". It is absolutely amazing and we are listen to it over and over and over. The release party will be in West Germany on June 15th, together with Las Migranas.

[#] Also, in November we will release the debut album of Jejeje, "Ambivalencia Artificial" together with Repetidor and Sub Post. It will come out at 12 inches and we are super excited about it. The album is gorgeous and you will love it!

[#] Videoclip anyone? Pieuvre released last week "Wardrobe" that you can see here. Also Vorsicht Kinder released a video called "I'm in the alcohole", from the album that we release toward the end of the year/beginning of 2025. You can actually see a lot of videos from the band in our label from here: https://www.youtube.com/@kitchenleg2860/playlists

[#] Next live show for Matching Outfits will be in Offenbach at Hafer2, that celebrate their anniversary with a big open air party. You can check the program here.

[#] We also have a new artist in our label, is releasing as Xaklebox we we were in love with his music suddenly as soon as he sent over! More info in a couple of weeks.

[#] Among the shows to not miss in the next weeks, there will be Pieuvre live in Supermolly this coming Sat 26.05 with Das Flüff, and SuperCheri in TXXXR with Schleu on June 06. More will come!

[hopefulkidshark]

French Cancan

Can-can

The can-can is a high-energy, physically demanding dance that became a popular music-hall dance in the 1840s, continuing in popularity in French cabaret to this day. Originally danced by couples, it is now traditionally associated with a chorus line of female dancers

The can-can is believed to have evolved from the final figure in the quadrille, a social dance for four or more couples. The exact origin of the dance is obscure

The dance was considered scandalous, and for a while there were attempts to suppress it. This may have been partly because in the 19th century, women wore pantalettes, which had an open crotch, and the high kicks were intentionally revealing. There is no evidence that can-can dancers wore special closed underwear, although it has been said that the Moulin Rouge management did not permit dancers to perform in "revealing undergarments

Dancer performing a pied en l'air

The Moulin Rouge featured in a Toulouse-Lautrec painting

It’s difficult to think of a dance style more emblematic and more closely associated to a venue and a specific time of history. The French cancan stole the show at the end of the 20th century, when such renowned French painters as Henri de Toulouse Lautrec painted posters for the Moulin Rouge and its most famous dancers.

An upbeat song, with a tune that has become iconic: the French Cancan music is part of the history of Paris as well as that of cabarets. The Moulin Rouge reveals the secrets of both this exhilarating melody and those of its creator, Jacques Offenbach.

Today the French Cancan continues to inspire both little ones and grown-ups on the stage of the Moulin Rouge!

THE HISTORY OF THE FRENCH CANCAN

But you have to go back to the 1820s to trace the origins of the French Cancan. At this time, both public and private balls were highly sought after by Parisians. Back then they danced the French Cancan with a partner, and there was no real place for improvisation. Tired of this rigidity, a handful of men decided to indulge in a few minutes of solo dancing, giving free rein to their imaginations while they let off steam. These moments were then christened ‘chahuts or ‘cancans’. It wasn’t long before women were at it too, far surpassing the men in their prowess, releasing shockwaves with their daring moves in the process. In 1831 there was even a law attempting to ban the cancan – in vain!

The rebellious spirit of the chahut saw the arrival of the first wave of female ‘chahuteuses’, including Queen Pomare and Céleste Mogador. Over time, the cancan became a tourist attraction. The British inventor of the music-hall, Charles Morton, added the term ‘French’ to describe this dance performed by the Parisians. This is how the name ‘French Cancan’ was born. In reality the dance derived from the ‘naturalist quadrille’, a ballroom dance that was very much in vogue in the early 19th century.

The movement ended up becoming more professional from 1860 onwards, and cabaret posters slowly began to appear across France. Then, in 1868, both male and female dancers reappropriated Orpheus’s Infernal Galop, with the tune becoming inseparable from the French Cancan. In the 1920s the artistic director of the Moulin Rouge, Pierre Sandrini, decided to remove all improvisation to make way for compulsory dance moves. Back then the cabaret cancan owed its popularity to the performances of its dancers turned celebrities: La Goulue, Nini Patte-en-l’air (Nini Legs in the Air) and Grille d’Égout (Sewer Grate).

Born in 1868, Jane Avril was among the Moulin Rouge dancers who made a mark on their time. Unlike other dancers, particularly La Goulue, she didn’t remove her clothes or offer herself to men. Thanks to her, the French Cancan was exported to cabaret stages across the whole of Europe, and Jane became painter Toulouse-Lautrec’s muse.

The Moulin Rouge and the emblematic French Cancan music

French Cancan (1955) dir. Jean Renoir

[market-sample-reports]

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[juliehowlin]

Can can

No-one really knows the origins of the can-can, but one likely explanation is that it evolved from the quadrille, a social dance for four couples (which is, incedentally, an English dance).

10 facts about the can can:

[chansondefortunio]

Top 05: Opera Couples?

omg. I am embarrassingly late to this ask! sorry about that...

5. Gonsalve and the clock, Ravel's L'Heure Espagnole

No context!

4. Helene and Paris, Offenbach's La Belle Helene

i am exclusively referring to the relationship displayed in this operetta and not in the original myth.

Paris got himself a hot older woman... i support it

3. Hoffmann and Nicklausse, Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann

i just think theyre CUTE together! and the symbolic interpretation is cool too ! artist and the muse

2. Francesca and Lazaro, Bachelet's Scemo.

i support Francesca cheating on Giovann no I will not elaborate (unless someone asks me to)

1. Fanny and Jean, Massenet's Sapho

THEY ARE TOXIC! they are BAD FOR EACHOTHER!

Jean can't let go of the past... Fanny wants to run away from it...

but there is something very beautiful and naive about their relationship... the best part about this couple is that Fanny knew that it was best to end it.

thanks so much for the ask :)

[fablefan]

I think I can shed some light on this question!

So the original poster for this vote is technically incorrect: the song isn't actually called "Orpheus in the Underworld", but Le Galop Infernal, which is just as chaotic to see and perform as the song makes it appear. However, the song DOES come from the operetta "Orpheus in the Underworld", or Orphée aux enfers, by Jacques Offenbach. It was first performed in 1858, and it's genuinely one of my favorite operettas (for reasons I'll list below).

(There's a couple of performances floating around YouTube, but this one's the most complete, plus it has subtitles!)

Now for all those who don't know much about opera (which, no offense meant, I'm guessing is most folks), or wondering why a tragic story has such a bouncy tune to it, an operetta is very similar to an opera, but it's generally shorter and more comedic than a traditional opera performance. I'm not joking when I say that the entire thing feels like a satirical adaptation of Greek myth and theatre.

"Orpheus in the Underworld" has Orpheus and Eurydice's marriage actually close to divorce until Eurydice is stolen by Pluto, causing Orpheus to begrudgingly have to seek the gods on Mount Olympus in order to rescue her, due to the pushing of Public Opinion (yes, this is an actual character in the performance. She has lines and sings). Jupiter tries to hook up with Eurydice, there's an animal transformation, a wild party is had, and the original Orpheus myth is fulfilled in a way you probably don't expect.

(Jupiter also ends up getting called out and roasted by the entire pantheon for a song [it's exactly one hour and one minute into the linked performance] and friends, it is a thing of beauty.)

However, the song became closely related to the French can-can (which was already established before the operetta even came out), which is why a lot of people simply call it that, but that's a history lesson for another time.

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

these two are so fucking adorable and I could just watch the two of them chat it up all day

[precognitiveignition]

somebody please tell falkkone that theres more to a symphonic metal cover than getting a synth drummer to go apeshit with a rythm guitarist hanging out in the crowd

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Pavement / Sonic Youth - Stadhalle, Offenbach, Germany, November 2, 1992

We're going to hang out in 1992 for a little while longer on our Summer of Pavement adventure — don't worry, we're in no hurry. Last week, we listened to Pavement opening for My Bloody Valentine. This week, we're listening to Pavement opening for Sonic Youth. This tour is well-represented officially — the incredible Brixton Academy Pavement set was part of the classic Stray Slack bootleg and then released for realz on the Slanted and Enchanted deluxe reissue. And you can check out the equally incredible Sonic Youth Brixton set via the band's ever-expanding Bandcamp page.

This Offenbach show is from the very beginning of this European jaunt and Pavement doesn't sound quite as assured as they'd be in Brixton — but they still kick ass for the most part, with the Slanted stuff fitting in comfortably alongside newer material like a moody "Greenlander" and a soaring "Frontwards." Let's hear it for the double-drum duo of Gary Young and Bob Nastanovich — they've really hit their stride at this point, giving the band an intensity and drive that would be hard to match once Young left the band.

The rarity of this show is the closing "Kentucky Cocktail," which is one of Pavement's great lost classics, only recorded properly during a Peel Session. Malkmus fucks the first chorus up ("Durr!" he exclaims laughingly) and the band huddles for a couple minutes only to blast through the rest of the song, finishing up with a skewed Pixies tribute — "Gigantic! A big, big dog!"

And hey, let's listen to the Sonic Youth set, too! Why not, goddamnit? (Sebadoh also played this evening, but I haven't come across a tape. If you've got it, give it!) SY is on top of its game, playing a whole bunch of the then-new Dirty, plus some tasty dips into the catalog — "Burning Spear" totally rages here and the encore of "White Kross" is insanely stormy. I also like that Thurston thanks the crowd for skipping Canned Heat in Frankfurt to come see the show.

[monotonous-minutia]

Spent a lovely couple hours tearing into the mess in the basement while listening to some gay gloriousness

[sweatyninjafury]

Saw your boxing in D.C. video on YouTube. Watching you and The Hammer duking it out like REAL MEN. 2 shirtless sweaty daddy bears. WOOF. How were you able to concentrate while fighting a hot man like The Hammer?

Hey man...I loved boxing Jack.  That was on one of my big boxing trips.  In fact, it was during my most recent FightOdyssey, which is what I call my big boxing trips.  This was the fourth FightOdyssey.  I organized NINE different boxing camps and events around the world.  My welterweight husband Rob and I started here in Adelaide, flew to Dubai, then to London.  The first event was at a private ring in Grove Park London, simply called Boxing at Grove Park.  Next up was Frankfurt, where I hosted The Challenge Fights at a boxing gym in Offenbach, The Challenge Boxing Club.  My co-host, Marco, was the boxer in residence.  I’ll tell you...the German boxers are awesome...every single one who signed up, showed up, and we had two rings going at once...magnificent disply of manhood for sure.  Third in Europe was Barcelona, where we had a small gathering for an event called Barcelona Bruisers.  We sparred some guys and had a blast.

Then across the Atlantic to the USA, my homeland.  First stop, NY.  I had lived in NYC for a couple of decades so I was back home, where my heart is.  Up in New Rochelle, New York, I hosted a camp called Fighting Champs at Champs Boxing Gym.  It was blowing two feet of snow that day, as this was in January of 2017, but all my boys showed up to BOX.  Hell yeah...BOXING brings the real men out!  Fifth stop on the world tour was Boston.  In the southern suburb of Hanover, we presented It Ain’t Over Till It’s Hanover.  This was a heavyweight event.  All heavyweights except for me and Rob.  I got in there with the biggest of em, bud...HELL YEAH.

Then down to Toms River, New Jersey, where I got coached myself.  My good boxing bud Darren Maciunski owns and runs his own gym there, called Checkmates, so the event was called Checkmate!  This event was exactly what I said...me getting coached.  After all, the coach needs a coach sometimes, too.  Darren was Middleweight Champ of the WORLD for a while in the 90s, so I got some prime training off him.  He is an awesome sweetheart of a fuckin FIGHTING MAN!

Then...what you’ve been waiting for and asking about...COACH JACK!  Next stop was DC, in Chuck Brunn’s Matt Room.  We did a tournament here, called Maryland vs. Virginia.  I was captain of the Virginia Team and Jack was the captain of the Maryland Team.  We had all our boys fight first, then our boys got to watch The Two Coaches fight.  Damn it was GOOD.  I loved boxing that big Jack...hell yeah.  We really put it out for our boys...showin em HOW TO DO IT!  Yep, I can definitely say that was one of my favorite stops along the way on this trip.  Jack loved it to, I can assure you.  Let me say, though...about getting all worked up in the ring...when I fight I FIGHT...nothing else matters.  That was the way it was...Jack and I were BOXING...DOING WHAT MEN NEED TO DO TOGETHER...FIGHT!

At this point there were two events left.  Rob and I drove to Nashville, Tennessee first to see my dad, then drove up to Cincinnati, where we hosted Cincinnati Fisticuffs at the Cincinnati Fitness Boxing Gym.  Again, we had two 20x20 rings going at once here and it was awesome.  Lots of guys from the midwest showed up here...another magnificent display of pure manhood!

Rob and I then drove back to NY, where we had rented a car.  We returned it, got on a plane, and flew to our last stop on the trip, Los Angeles.  This was the final event of the tour.  We went out easy.  The event, called California Spar, was just that...two afternoons of sparring and training guys from the area.  AWESOME.

Well,  I bet you didn’t think you’d get this long an answer from one simple question about Jack.  But there you have it.  I will say, now that you’ve brought him up, though, my fight with Jack was definitely a highlight, if not THE HIGHLIGHT of my World Boxing Tour.  When we got on the plane to cross the Pacific to return home to Australia, I put my feet up and took a nice, slow, long look at the two-month boxing tour I had just done.  I felt complete.  I boxed a total of 80 rounds that trip.  I don’t know how familiar you are with music, or musical comedy, and what-not, but there is a song called Around the World in Eighty Days.  I turned that tune on its back and ended up giving FightOdyssey IV a new name, I’ll Daze the World in Eighty Rounds!!!