What an evening it was! On 31st of October we managed to obtain the true essence of what is Sofar Sounds. Our 24th edition was held in a small tattoo studio – Make Art Tattoo. It resulted in a quite limited number of people who could get on the list – they were the special audience, “the chosen ones” (as our presenter Klaudia Urban, said jokingly). The hosts provided 10% off for a tattoo to every person who attended the show. Given the coziness and warmth on such a “cold, cold night” in Poland, the place was ideal for such a gig.
It was Halloween, but again, only our presenter remembered to dress up for the occasion, and was standing in the room as a rather ghoulish or zombie-ish version of herself. The atmosphere was certainly not spooky and scary. The audience cheered throughout the shows. Artists playing that night were singers-songwriters, performing solo or in a duo, without a mic, assisted only by their guitars.
Kuba Zaborski performed at the beginning, bringing all the people gathered in the room to a place of hopes and dreams. As a skilled singer, he charmed us all with his voice, and stories he told us between the songs. He started with a very short song Beat that stopped suddenly, then he proceeded to longer compositions. He is studying philosophy and is fascinated with a theme of death and passing by. It reflected in one of the songs he presented that evening, though he explained that the song has a cheerful, major melody. It is worth noticing that was the only song he sang in Polish. He felt it that way, as all the other musicians were singing in English. The song was, perversely, called Otchłań (The Abbys). One of his songs, All My Lovers was dedicated to someone once very close to him and the first part is about his past and present friends. The text is somehow so universal that one can even blush relating it to a part of their lives. Delicate melodies and touching texts moved the audience. At the end of his set, he sang a song called Neverland. Before that, he explained that he also loves Disney and the song brings back all his happy childhood memories, and asked the public to sing along some melodies of the song with him. And so they did, wonderfully.
The second to perform was Magdalena Radecka, a very talented singer who performed at our 21st edition a couple of months ago with her band Side Roads. It is interesting how she got to perform at Sofar Sounds again. Our city leader was in Paris, and she went into a bar or a restaurant where Magdalena was playing. She did not recognized her voice at first, and thought that it was beautiful. How surprised she was when she found out that it was the voice of Magdalena Radecka! That time she went solo and did a great job. She accompanied herself on a guitar and sang, as she described, a set of introvertic songs. Her soft voice, combined with the warmth and the atmosphere, created a feeling of comfort. One could just close their eyes and sank into a land full of amazing sounds. She rarely spoke during her show, however there was a moment when she asked the audience to sing along with her. In her set was a place for a cover of Youth by Daughter. She did well and recreated the charm and beauty of the original one.
Last but not least, David Fly started his set of acoustic songs. One could say that almost everybody felt the goosebumps when he sang. He had the strongest voice of the three performing musicians, yet he fit in perfectly with songs taken from both his first and second album. He told a story of how he had to gather some money, record and release his debut on his own, because no one he knew was interested in helping a folk musician. Whereas, in America, as he said, in every third house there is someone playing folk music. One song, Just stop, he wrote when trekking in Annapurna Massif in Himalayas. It is about taking the life as it is. During the song he, as well, asked the audience to hum along with him.
After he finished the set, people in the room were so astonished they could not stop applauding and asking for an encore. Magdalena Radecka and Kuba Zaborski joined David Fly for the beseeched encore. He played on guitar and sang one of his song, and Magdalena and Kuba improvised vocally at the same time.He was playing on a guitar and singing one of his songs while Magdalena and Kuba were improvising vocally. That was magical! At the end people stood up and went out joyfully exchanging the opinions on the effects the concerts had on them.
David Fly to podróżnik, trubadur i niezależny muzyk. Pochodzi ze Śląska Cieszyńskiego, gdzie przez lata był związany z lokalną sceną muzyczną. Zainteresowany egzystencjalizmem oraz duchowością, studiował filozofię. Trzy lata temu wydał debiutancki album The Beginning. Przyszedł czas na kolejny krążek. (more…)
