Mando Diao at Mascotte Zurich

I was so happy. Suddendly I got a message from Postfinance that I’ll get tickets. Finally a 20min The Showcase again, I could take part in. Where I took part exactly, I don’t know. Can’t remember at all. I’ve heard Mando Diao in 2011 in Locarno. Yes, only heard. Because I was sitting at the Piazza and didn’t have any tickets. It did sound good, people seemed totally to freak out at the concert – cheering, screaming. Esp. during the known songs, that are on the radios like “Dance with somebody”, “Gloria”, “Forgive Forget” or now the new “Black Saturday” I liked from the beginning. So my expectations in the showcase were quite high. And some how they didn’t get satisfied though.

I won VIP tickets from Postfinance. Actually there was even an apiritif included, but I had to go without it, cos of work I couldn’t be in Zurich at 6pm already. Shortly before 8pm I had to pick up my tickets in front of the Mascotte and we did place us in the VIP part, up on the ‘balcony’ sidewards, to get a passably good view. It was a cool perspective.

The showcase started in time. Mando Diao got announced and the band made it very exciting until they finally entered stage. Rather too exciting. When the two singers Björn and Gustaf entered stage, I had to take a closer look. Dark jump suits, peroxide blonde hair, sneakers with wings and cuffs. What kind of outfit was that? The showcase started rather calm. Sometimes they seemed a bit spiritual. They also didn’t seem to master their lyrics too well, if I judge from the pages lying on the ground in front of them. But actually the vibes in the audience was pretty good from the beginning. Each time when obviously an older, better known song was played, the audience almost went mental in front of the stage. With songs like “Forgive forget”, “Gloria” or the new “Black Saturday” there was no stopping. And with “Dance with somebody”, that probably was known to the rearmost and last, not at all anyway. The jam-packed Mascotte was going wild. And both front guys seemed to have loads of fun. They kept jumping into the audience to dance along, esp. Gustaf. He gave the audience a champagne shower then. We wouldn’t have been surprised, if the “Hardcore fans” in the very front wouldn’t have calmed down anymore. It was wild. In front of the stage anyway.

Well, I know now that VIP isn’t really better and not really fun 😉 But the perspective was interesting for once. I wasn’t too thrilled by the concert. Actually I thought, I’d rather see a rock band on this stage. But Mando Diao made an impressen to me like a mix out of a 90s boyband and an 80s rock/pop band. And I was wondering what the strange backpack on Gustaf’s back was for, when he suddendly was standing there topless. Also the two “gofer” were noticed, stage hands. It’s clar that musician, esp. if they get better known, have people to help them. But these two front guys seemed not even to touch a micro to adjust. They always came running. And at the end of the show, stage has been barley left, one of them started to desinfect and clean everything – even the lyrics and setlists on the ground. Never seen something like that. It was quite irritating.

The showcase was ok. They played more than an hour anyway. Most songs did sound too similar, often boring. It was more interesting to watch the band and the audience from up there. To pay for a Mando Diao concert? I woudln’t. I prefer sitting in front of the radio in this case.

Setlist:
1) If I don’t have you
2) God knows
3) Luc Robitaille
4) Wet dreams
5) Long before rock
6) Romeo
7) Down the past
8) Money
9) Morning Light
10) Forgive Forget
11) Gloria
Encore
12) Dance with somebody
13) Black Saturday

Videos on Youtube

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