Zero7 – Could be better

The British duo Zero7 performed in Israel. I’m a big fan of the band. Their show in Tel Aviv had many interesting versions to old hits, but too many new songs which are in a totally different style.

Zero7 put a nice show. The lighting was excellent, and they enjoyed good sound. Good sound isn’t so common in live performances in Israel.

They made acoustic versions to many of their big hits, from “Simple Things”, their first album, and from the second one “When It Falls”. I liked these versions. All the singers have good voices, and they didn’t need too much noise in the background.

Their hit “Destiny” was well accepted by the audience. Also “In the Waiting Line” which was accompanied by an acoustic guitar and a cello was great. I recognized one song from the third album, “The Garden”, which had a slightly different style.

The downside was the new and fourth album, Yeah Ghost, featured in their website. I understand that they came to support its release, but there was too much of Bouncy Bouncing Bounce Tents. The style is totally different: it’s electronic non-vocal music from outer space. It was fun to dance with such a track for a song or two, but there were way too many tracks like this.

I don’t expect a band with 4 albums to stick to old hits, but they should have taken their audience’s preferences in consideration.

The evening began with the Israeli band Coolooosh, which was a great warmup. The guys from Jerusalem play funk music with some interesting jazzy beats.

Here’s one song that was missing from Zero7’s show, called Salt Water Sound. It’s also missing from most of the first album’s releases, but appears as a bonus track:

Uphill Struggle

I attend lots of demonstrations in various issues, about two three every month. Although it’s fun meeting the (same) friends at these protests, I feel that we aren’t changing almost anything.

My friends say that going to demonstrations has become a hobby of mine. It’s my preferred pass time Cheap Airblown Inflatable Adult Castle on Saturday evenings, when most of these protests take place.

During this summer, I’ve been to a nice bunch of demonstrations: against the biometric law, against hatred of homosexuals, and the recurring theme was a struggle against the deportation of foreign workers and their children from Israel.

Most of these protests draw a crowd of no more than 300 people. When I show up and draw a few friends to these events, I feel that I make a difference in the number of attendants.

But do I really make a difference? Probably not. A small group of people who care can do little to change. Most Israelis are tired of hard struggles, and prefer news as entertainment.

TV “reality” stars mean more than having the fifth of the population under the poverty line. “Sensational” stories like the Dudu Topaz story, or the Swedish scandal take over the media for many days. These stories have nothing do with our lives, nothing relevant to other people living here, which have real problems.

I guess I should do the same – concentrate solely on my personal life, which is not that shabby. As a Jew of European descent, a man, and a heterosexual, I belong to Israel’s elite. My life is easier “by design”.

Turning a blind eye to what’s going looks like the right choice.

Going On Vacation

I’m flying tonight to Brussels. For the second year in a row, I’ll be at the Rock Werchter festival!

This time, my heros will be Nick Cave, Placebo, Coldplay and The Prodigy. Check out the impressive line up.

Afterwards I plan to travel in Scandinavia, starting at Copenhagen and finishing in Oslo, where I’ll visit my friends.

I’m still not sure if it’ll be possible, but if I win some technical battles, I’ll easily tweet with some words and pictures. Anyway, I’ve added a Twitter plugin that is supposed to create a post out of a daily digest of my tweets.

I’ll be back in two weeks, and I promise to post more frequently than in the last period.

Tel Aviv Brochure Post #4937

Yet again, I’m flaunting my city and especially my neighborhood.

Tel Aviv has “Houses from within” weekend every year. This time, I went into the house across my home. The big house, from the 20s is being renovated for a few years, and will be in the works for a few more.

This house, and the one next door, will turn into a min-hotel and an apartment complex. There will be a bar and a swimming pool on the roof for the rich kids. I live in a standard apartment building that was built in the 90s.

So, I usually hear the noise and see the dust. This “Houses from Within” weekend gave me the opportunity to get inside, and look at my hood from above.

Here are more pictures, including an underground tour under Dizengoff center and a tour about sustainability with MK Nitzan Horwitz in the center of town.