The More You Live, The More You Love

September already and it seems the year is filled with a lot of new releases. The last top 10 I presented came from July, and at that time Unheilig and It Bites topped the list. Just two months later and several new releases have found their spot in the new top 10. Even surprisingly is the new number one. After so many years The Fixx finally wrote a new studio album, which is one of the best they ever made. Also it is thirty years ago the band released their first album Shuttered Room, which still is one of my favourite eigthies albums. 01. The Fixx – Beautiful Friction 02. It Bites – Map Of The Past 03. Unheilig – Lichter der Stadt 04. Clock Opera – Ways To Forget 05. Rush – Clockwork Angels 06. Nik Kershaw – Ei8ht 07. No-Man – Love And Endings 08. Marina And The Diamonds – Electra Heart 09. Big Big Train – English Electric (part one) 10. Dead Can Dance - Anastasis

Nik Kershaw played the Boerderij in Zoetermeer on 28 November 2011. To be honest this concert, which featured most of the set seen in Mai 2009 at Zeche in Bochum, was so much better compared to that night in Germany one and a half years ago. It all started with the good sound, the good atmosphere and the good voice of Nik, who also got the laughers on his hand when introducing or explaining the songs. The keyboards were well balanced into the sound, and again the atmosphere on stage and in the crowd was marvelous. The opener Wide Boy made the standard of the evening. A good voice and well balanced instruments and a band that enjoyed to play for a crowd of 250. Already confinced of the crowd as a second in the setlist Nik threw in a new song called Enjoy The Ride. A nice uptempo song with the Kershaw trademark. During the concert two new ones would follow; You're The Best, a tribute to his wife, and Rock Of Ages, a song about growing older but still loving the music and the party....

Nik Kershaw played with band at Zeche in Bochum, Germany on Saturday 16 May 2009. We drove up to Bochum in the early afternoon, arriving in our hotel around half past three. The hotel Schmidt-Mönnikes was nicely situated, about a five minute drive from the venue. Also the hotel is in a nice suburb with a beautiful park full of rhododendrons. We had a nice walk through the park and afterwards, after returning back at the hotel, had dinner at Vitrine, the restaurant which is in the same building as the hotel. We arrived at the venue at a quarter to eight and had to wait for half an hour before the band and of course Nik Kershaw came on stage. They opened with Wide Boy. Close to the stage the voice of Nik was drowing out. Furtherup in the venue his voice was better, but sounded more shrill and sharp. Also I had the idea that he looked tired and the sound was way too loud. I don't know if this was to mask the mistakes which were made during the first twenty minutes of the concert or th...