The crowd is thronging, the fumes from the man standing next to you are making you choke and the music is so loud that you can hardly hear your thoughts, but you have attained complete happiness and you push the crowd back, jumping around and belting out the very last note your vocal cords can produce.
Or, a different complete happiness has found you comfortably sitting in a concert chamber while the music is soothing your spirit.
I’m sure you have felt that at least one of these sentiments recently, because it has really been a good year for music fans in Bulgaria.
Alternative, metal, trash metal, chill out, jazz, pop, rock, fado, bossa nova… megastars, old stars, new stars, starlets, we had them all.
The Sofiantsi (me included) were again reminded that not everything major happens in Sofia. So sometimes we had to travel across the country for a concert. And we did. We did it for Chambao’s July gigs in Plovdiv, Sozopol and Varna, for Bebel Gilberto in Varna and, of course, we travelled countless times to Kavarna for all the fests that have regularly been organised there over the past several years.
It all began on New Year’s Eve 2006/07 with the free concert of Ronnie James Dio in Kavarna. The former Black Sabbath and Rainbow vocalist’s show was just the beginning of a series of concerts to remember.
Another ex-Rainbow and ex-Deep Purple member, Ritchie Blackmore, and his new band Blackmore’s Night arrived in Bulgaria in April for their third concert in the country.
Deep Purple themselves came in November to promote their album Rapture of the Deep, released in 2005.
Metal fans were lucky to hear Napalm Death in January, Motorhead in June, Sepultura in August and Halloween and Gamma Ray in November. Manowar promised that “when we hit Bulgaria’s stage, you’ll think thunder hit the ground” and it was true. Their three-hour gig, which included Bulgarian anthems, in Kavarna in June will not be forgotten soon.
The other big name on the metal music stage, Iron Maiden, sold out their 25 000 tickets weeks before their concert.
Several other mega (according to local scale) concerts also took place. George Michael gathered more than 20 000 people in May for a concert as part of his 25 Live Tour! In addition to good music, the event had a good cause: Michael supported the six Bulgarian medics in Libya who, at that time, were sentenced to death. Fortunately, two months later, the medics were released.
In October, the Loop Live concert gathered 50 000 on Battenberg Square in Sofia, at City TV’s anniversary. Mans Zelmerlow, Freemasons featuring Amanda Wilson, Asle&Anna, Yarabi, Jaba featuring Yves La Rock, Million Stylez, Lumidee and Outlandish performed at the concert.
The latest mega over-crowded concert was in November, just before the really cold weather froze all longings for outdoor events, when the youngest star on the R & B stage Rihanna arrived to give a free concert. Nearly 30 000 people gathered on Battenberg Square and made true the slogan of the concert, Under the Orange Umbrella, under the pouring rain.
Jazz fans should not complain, either. Nicola Conte and his band Nicola Conte Jazz Combo showed us their mixture of acid jazz and bossa nova in March. Mezzoforte, DePhazz and bassist Marcus Miller separately took part in the traditional spring jazz festival Sofia Jazz Peak 2007. Austrian acid-jazz band Count Basic, Billy Cobham and the Francesco Cafiso Quartet arrived for the autumn edition of the fest. To complete the pleasure, jazz legends George Benson and Al Jarreau played in Sofia in July.
Another music fest, Sofia Music Jam 2007, in November attracted pianist Chick Corea, banjo player Bela Fleck and Jon Anderson, former lead singer of the UK’s progressive rock band Yes.
While still speaking of ex-members, two bands resurrected themselves before Bulgaria’s audience. In June, INXS showed that the absurd loss of lead singer Michael Hutchence about 10 years ago had not broken their spirit. The new vocalist JD Fortune kept skepticism down and spirits up and found a permanent place in the fans’ hearts.
One of the members of the legendary band Bee Gees, Robin Gibb, staged a concert in October, thrilling fans with Bee Gees hits.
Classical music fans listened to Vanessa Mae plays songs from her new album in July and to Nigel Kennedy’s virtuoso interpretations in October in both Varna and Sofia.They also filled up the house for Vasko Vassilev’s first Bulgaria country tour in December. Vassilev, by the way, was accompanied by Mae’s mother Pamela Nicholson.
Placebo returned to Bulgaria in June to make fans of alternative music happy. The band had played in Bulgaria in 2003; they seemed to like it here.
Pink was to lend some eccentricity to Bulgaria’s cultural life, but she fell seriously ill and after several postponements, her concert in July was cancelled. Marilyn Manson, though, assured the eccentric mood in July. For the event he brought a 40-member team of pyro-effect technicians, personal designers and make-up artists.
Two other concerts were cancelled. Gary Moore’s concert in May was intended to be part of Europe Day celebrations, but Moore could not make it. The concert instead took place in September. Uriah Heep’s concert in Pazardjik scheduled for September, however, was called off completely. Rumours said it would be staged in April 2008.
Still in celebration mode, Bulgarian fans commemorated the Portuguese presidency of the European Union with a concert by the Portuguese fado singer Dulce Pontes. The Portuguese-language wave then spread to Varna where, in August, bossa nova legend Bebel Gilberto gave a concert as part of her summer tour.
Yes, a great year for music fans in Bulgaria has come to a close. But do not despaire, the best is yet to come. Another great musical year is in the pipeline with Mark Knopfler, Chris Rea, Buena Vista, Zucchero and Kylie Minogue’s concerts being only part of the events on the 2008 horizon.
