Cultural Event #14

Barbara Morgenstern at Sonotheque




I’ve seen Barbara Morgenstern before in Chicago, years ago, back when she was doing noise. It was fun, and even though she was spinning pure noise (i.e. non-rhythmic noise), she was dressed like a hippy and seemed really cheerful.

This time around she was back in cheery Euro-pop mode. The music from her new album was really good, and I bought it. Unfortunately the place was crammed chock-full of hipsters. That would be the kind of hipsters who show up on ‘Blue States Lose’ every week on Gawker. Well, not quite that bad, but you get the general idea. Kelly said she’s never seen so many terrible haircuts in her life, and there were a few people who looked like they were special ed kids on a field trip who snuck off the short bus. It was like Revenge of the Nerds. And the women weren’t much better… lots of short shorts paired with pumps. Huh? Whatever.

So the music was great, Barbara Morgenstern was super-friendly and open, and we spotted a crabby old couple in the corner who must have been her parents, on tour with her from Berlin… which is pretty cool… they were definitely not enjoying themselves though. I’m going to play her new disc at my martini party, for sure. It’s infectious and fun, but with that Euro edge that prevents it from being sappy electro-shit.

On a tangent - this was the first show I’ve been to where I longed for the smoking ban to kick in. I don’t mind the occasional waft of cigarette smoke, and used to crave drags (although not for quite some time). But tonight my bronchioles inflamed to their maximum level, my eyes were burning, I couldn’t see or breathe… it was terrible. There was no ventilation whatsoever, and I actually left before the show was over, missing the last few songs, just to get some fresh air. The cigarette smoke was really gross and horrible. Like I said, I don’t mind so much, if there’s VENTILATION. That’s really important. It triggered an allergy attack which I still am enjoying an hour later. Yay!