September 2023

it was a real dream in the gasometer: the “editors” served us one hymn following the other!

it was monday evening and it was one of a special kind, because the “editors” had just entered the gasometer stage. okay, maybe that’s not that special, the fact that this band played in their own place shortly before the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 was more special, and now they were back almost directly “following” the pandemic. the circle came full circle in my head and i thought: everything begins and ends with the “editors”. speaking of everything begins: a very pregnant friend was also present in the gasometer and we, friends and family, were all hoping for the start of her labor pains, not during the concert but directly followingwards, so that we might welcome the newcomer to earth as soon as possible.

the concert of the “editors” started impressively: singer tom smith, in black oversized trousers and a black oversized shirt, came on stage, immediately threw out a lot of theatrical movements to the song “heart attack” and thereby aroused the somewhat shy but motivated viennese audience. slowly but steadily the audience started to dance and little by little you might tell that the crowd was beginning to unite with the band. but one has to say, the “editors” and above all tom smith did a lot to bring regarding an ecstatic mood. with a bombastic light show, very cleverly chosen songs in the set list (namely the songs with a lot of “boom”) and the animation skills of the frontman, the tension in the concert hall built up more and more.

with the song “sugar” tom smith spurred the audience on: “vienna you can do better than that” he said and well, the crowd didn’t need to be told twice and even started to cheer and shout along. with the following song “magazine” even a few head nods turned into expressive dancers. i personally only really became a fan with the sixth record “violence” and that’s why “magazine” was my first real highlight! a little later on “nothing” he unpacked the acoustic guitar and i briefly had the feeling of being part of an intimate mtv unplugged session. that was really nice!

right following that came the number “all the kings” and the very present synths brought at least me into completely different spheres. i almost took off to the anthem “smokers outside the hospital doors” and slowly i realized that i had never felt the songs as much as i did that evening. this was not only due to the fantastic setlist, but also to the fact that i had a wonderful seat in the second row and was able to follow what was happening on stage really well. nobody was too big in my field of vision, the light show was breathtaking and so were tom smith’s dance moves.

the concert moved towards the end with its big indie-synthie-rock-pop-hymns to culminate in an even larger, brilliant encore part. “an end has a start” introduced the grande finale, and the look at the heavily pregnant girlfriend made me doubt whether the end of the concert would also be the start of her labor pains, because she was still bobbing happily to the editors’ hits. with “munich” and finally “papillon” the concert ended in a veritable firework of emotions – the audience danced exuberantly and the band seemed really happy too. And that’s how it has to be, right?

we made our way home satisfied, and what we found out later: the editors’ concert made an impact. the heavily pregnant friend finally went into labor (songs with “boom” probably help!), and 30 hours later the little earthling was born. well, if you listen to editors (live) shortly before your own birth, you want to come into the world as quickly as possible so that you don’t miss anything!