HAPPY NEW YEAR! - Sum Up, Resolutions, Best Of 2013

I don't know why, but I'm really hyper right now and this is my last blog post in 2013 and unlike usual, I have quite some stuff to say!

2013 was the craziest and most chaotic year ever, I can't believe it's already basically over. I can surely say that music came out of nowhere and completely turned my life around. Of course it's been in my life ever since but in 2013 I developed a whole new connection to bands and lyrics and fans. I started to look at music from a completely different point of view and music might or might not have become the centre of my life. I created this blog in February and 99 posts and quite some clicks later, I work for an online magazine, I get to interview bands and I couldn't be happier about the direction my life is heading in.
2013 might have been weird at most points, but it gave me a whole lot of amazing moments. I saw 30 bands live, I had interviews with 6 of them, I met All Time Low and I attended my first festival ever. Music, or the people behind it, taught (and still teaches) me a lot about life and the attitude you could (or should) have towards it and I think these people helped me a lot to become the person I am today. 

Before this gets too emotional, I came up with some resolutions I probably won't stick to anyway but it became a tradition for me to think of some resolutions, if I stick to them or not. 

• read 100 books (I'll have to think of ways to afford this but yaay books!!)
• worry less, act more (this has been one of my resolutions for the past few years but I think I get better at it every year so I can't forget about it
• don't procrastinate that much (I am really good at procrastinating, sometimes I even procrastinate things I actually want to do and it needs to stop)
• write more (and when by saying that I mean reviews and stories and just everything that comes to my mind. Writing has been a big deal for me for a few years now and I just enjoy it but I never find the time to sit down for a while and just collect ideas)
• be more open-minded when meeting new people instead of directly judging them (sometimes I do this thing where I judge people from the sound of their voice, so if somebody has a voice that sounds unpleasant in my ears, I don't even talk to them and that's bullshit and I know it and I'll work on it!!)

Let's talk about this again in 12 months and see how far I got with these. What are your resolutions, if you have any? And if you don't, why not? Leave everything that comes to your mind in the comments! 

Last but not least I collected a list of my personal Best Of songs in 2013, so basically this is a collection of the songs I discovered this year and still listen to.

1. All Time Low - Time Bomb
2. All Time Low - Backseat Serenade
3. All Time Low - Me Without You
4. A Day To Remember - I Remember
5. Asking Alexandria - White Line Fever
6. Bastille - Things We Lost In The Fire
7. Biffy Clyro - Bubbles
8. Bring Me The Horizon - Sleepwalking
9. Bring Me The Horizon - Can You Feel My Heart
10. Fall Out Boy - Young Volcanoes
11. Of Mice & Men - Second & Sebring
12. Paramore - Still Into You
13. Pierce The Veil - Hold On Till May
14. Tonight Alive - Come Home
15. Tonight Alive - Hell And Back
16. We Are The In Crowd - Exits And Entrances
17. We Are The In Crowd feat. Alex Gaskarth - Kiss Me Again
18. We Came As Romans - Fade Away
19. We Came As Romans - I Am Free
20. You Me At Six - No One Does It Better
21. 30 Seconds To Mars - Do Or Die

What are your best of songs in 2013? Leave your list in the comments, I'm always happy to receive recommendations of new music!

I wish you all a happy, successful new year, let's close this chapter and open a new one! 

NEW RELEASE: A Day To Remember - Common Courtesy

It's here! The long awaited album of the five-piece hardcore/metalcore band from Florida was released almost a week ago and proved the whole music industry that A Day To Remember know how to make music and how to surprise people. First of all it's important to say that Common Courtesy is self-released because the band has some serious trouble with their (ex-) record label Victory Records (yes, this is a hint for all of you to go and buy this record in order to show your support).

Common Courtesy only hits a small part of my expectations and that's something I'm very happy about. I thought it would be just like What Separates Me From You but I couldn't have been wronger. In fact, it's fresh, it's energetic and it brings out all the great aspects of every band member, especially of Jeremy. It's really good to see (or hear) how there's a perfect mix of aggressive hardcore sounds (for example in Violence) and slower songs which even contain acoustic guitars (for example I'm Already Gone). It's also very good to hear how Jeremy performs the clean vocals, for example in I Surrender. It doesn't really sound like the A Day To Remember we all know but most changes are for good because they show how a band develops and improves and that's definitely something they did. 
My favourite song on the album is I Remember and I suggest every band to do a song like this one. Why? Because it's a great way for the band to share their craziest, best, most memorable experiences of their life in a band with us fans. We're all interested in these stories! There's this part at the end of the song where they talk about how they saw snow for the very first time and when I heard that I was a little confused until I realised that not everybody is used to snow like we Europeans are. It's just so great to hear these stories because band guys experience so much on their way around the world!

All in all, Common Courtesy turned out to be my favourite album of A Day To Remember ever and it's ranked very high on my list of albums released in 2013. All the hard work the band put into this record was definitely worth it.

ROCK AM RING: Day One

Sup everyone, I'm back from four days of camping and three days of perfect music, hope you are excited to read what I have to say! I'll skip the two days before the festival because we arrived Wednesday night and spent Thursday killing time and getting a tan. 

Friday, June 7th, 12pm. We arrive at the festival venue, there are already quite a lot of people here waiting to get in. At 1pm the gates open, we get our bags checked and run to the Alternastage where we'll spend half of the day. We actually manage to get a place at the first row what turns out to be good for many reasons. Reason number one: We have the perfect view on the stage. Reason number two: We can clinge to the barricade when the crowd goes nuts so we don't end up being smashed in a pit. Reason number three: We can be pulled out of the crowd after A Day To Remember to go see Paramore. 

The first band we saw was called Love & Death, some really creepy guys. I think the bassist was high as a kite, he had this crazy look like he was insane and I don't know, creeps. I didn't really like their music either.
The Ghost Inside were up next and they were amazing. They played in Germany for the first time, it makes me really happy that I was a part of this. They only played for 30 minutes though and then the first band I wanted to see was up: Asking Alexandria.
First James came up on stage and let me tell you this: In real life he's even more stunning than on pictures. Same with Cameron that sexy motherfucker. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed in their performance as a whole because Danny's voice cracked often. However, the other guys did a fantastic job with their instruments and kind of compensated Danny's part.
There was a mosh pit opening right in front of me but I hid behind this tall guy because I didn't feel like being smashed on the first day and I'm scared of pits but shhh

One british band followed the other: Right after AA, Bring Me The Horizon played. I had seen some of their live performances on youtube but damn son, Oli is super aggressive as soon as he steps on stage. There was one pit after the other, he even tried to arrange a wall of death two times but there was always only a small amount of the crowd doing it. However, people in the back started to push forward and tried to make their way to the stage because Oli said so. To that I have to say: Fuck you Oli, it became really tight there in the front and I got pressed against the barricade so I couldn't move anymore. Anyway, I loved it. Screaming along to the bands you listen to 24/7, screaming your favourite songs with thousands of other people was fantastic. They played Sleepwalking what's my favourite song by them and if you say that Bring Me The Horizon suck live, you're wrong. 

I wasn't able to take pictures but luckily there are people getting paid for doing that. I took this one from SWR3, a german radio station. 

The last band we saw playing on the Alternastage on Friday, was A Day To Remember. I never really listened to them but apparently they're sick live, so I was actually looking forward to their performance. However, it got super crowded so I was busy staying on my feet and couldn't pay as much attention as I wanted to. I saw Adam Elmakias sneaking around and taking pictures though, for example this one: 

After ADTR, we let us pull out by the security guys because there was no other way out. PS: If you're one of those people who crowd surfs at a concert, you're an idiot and I don't like you. Seriously, if others in the crowd want to get hurt, they get into a pit and don't wait for you to push your foot into their faces. There are a million other ways of having fun at a concert. 

I'm done ranting, we moved to the Centerstage for the rest of the day. First Paramore were up, what I was quite excited for. I gave their music many tries and never found a connection but Hayley is so badass, I may fell in love with her a little. No seriously, I finally understand why so many people adore this band, they're sick live. The atmosphere was great, everybody just sang along and danced and had a great time. Also Hayley is one of the most beautiful women out there.

(pic taken from SWR3 again)

The next two artists were german rappers. First a guy called Cro and then a band called Fettes Brot. I don't really have to say much about them because it's not my kind of music and we were just there because we waited for 30 Seconds To Mars who were the main act on Friday. 

As you may or may not know, I already saw Mars two years ago on their huge tour and that was when I fell in love with them. It was unreal to see them again, to sing along to the old songs like Kings And Queens as well as the new songs like Up In The Air. Jared looks like Jesus, there was confetti, a firework and there were balloons and gymnasts who did some crazy things during the breaks. Jared's voice sounded incredible, their break was really good because he needed a rest after touring so long and now he sounds better than ever. It was so good to see them again after all that happened, it felt like coming home after a long journey. 

We saw the most bands on one day on Friday and went to sleep at 3.30am or something only to be woken up at 8am again on Saturday. I have to catch up on some sleep now and part two with Papa Roach, Biffy Clyro, Phoenix, Hurts and The Killers will hopefully come tomorrow!