concert #30: feist @ gasometer | August 31, 2023

2024-01-19 08:55:09

“Feist” was a guest at the Gasometer and conjured up a performance that will remain in the memory for a long time.

On the last day of August the time had finally come: the Feist concert in Vienna’s Gasometer was on the program. I had no idea whether she could transform our flair-free gasometer into a memorable space, so to be on the safe side, I just didn’t expect anything. I just hoped a few of my favorite songs would be played.

There was no opening act, rather at some point it suddenly became dark and a lady in a silk dress scurried through the audience with a cell phone filming – these recordings could suddenly be seen on the curtain that was stretched in front of the stage. It was all a bit mysterious and then it became clear: it was “feist” himself, making her way through the people to get to a round mini stage in the middle of the audience. and we were able to follow their journey through the crowd via live stream. From that point on I knew: we would experience something very special that evening.

She stayed on this small stage in the middle of the crowd for seven songs. All alone with her guitar, she performed, among other things, my favorite song “Century” and in between she even recited a poem – and of course some of those present always had the misfortune of only admiring her back. All of this was always linked to this extraordinary livestream video concept – at the very beginning she filmed herself, then one of her crew took over. There were always very special angles to be seen on the huge curtain screen in the live stream, because of course the film man didn’t just stop at one corner, but constantly wandered around the stage(s).

One of the most beautiful moments was when, during a song, she asked the audience to have photos of things or creatures on their cell phones that had helped through the difficult times of the pandemic. The film man then walked through the audience and filmed exactly those photos on his walk and then suddenly we saw the most emotional video stream of all time; There were photos of babies, lots of babies, pets and lots of moments full of gratitude. it was hard to hold back from crying. That was incredibly heartbreaking!

Afterwards, “Feist” moved to the big stage to join her band and then things really started. Even more impressions rained down on us: more musical energy, incredibly beautiful stage lighting and a singer who clearly enjoyed every moment to the fullest. My song highlights included “my moon my man”, “hiding out in the open” and of course “1,2,3,4” – but the latter song was in a somewhat spaced-out version and took some getting used to.

The nice thing was that “Feist” kept making her rounds through the audience – this created a very unique, intimate atmosphere that I had never experienced before, especially not in the Gasometer. In combination with the video art, something was created that was simple but incredibly impressive. And: there were also normal visuals in between – so there was a lot to look at.

But of course everything we heard was just a dream – when she finally sang the last song “Intuition”, it was the perfect end to the evening for me. She performed again all alone with her guitar and was only illuminated by a spotlight, and it was all so intimate and everyone was so calm and attentive – it was really wonderful to have experienced this evening!