10 YEARS RCKSTR MAG. - THE PARTY

Happy Birthday to the biggest Swiss music and pop culture magazine!

RCKSTR Magazine turned 10 years old and celebrated this last Saturday, on the 18th of October, with a big party featuring some major acts such as The Kooks and Digitalism. When my friend Luisa, who works for the magazine as a freelance journalist, first told me about it, I knew I had to go. I had to see The Kooks! But considering my own little financial crisis at this time, it probably wouldn’t have been wise to spend about 80SFR on a ticket.

But lucky me… Two days before the event started, RCKSTR Mag. offered free tickets when spotting a grammatical or spelling error in their latest published magazine. And guess what: I WON A TICKET!!! Okay, to be honest, the first time I was in a rush and tried to make up and send in a non-existing error but then with my second guess I hit the bull’s eye! (And please don’t take this as an opportunity to point out all the errors in my blog. Just to remind you, English isn’t my first language.. 😉 )

So now, with this free ticket, I was finally able to join Luisa and her boyfriend Max for this big event!

Photo credit: Luisa Bider

Let’s hitch a ride to Zurich!

As transportation is quite expensive in Switzerland (just like everything else), I had to find a cheap option to get to the party. And since hitchhiking had become my favourite mode of transportation, I decided to hitch a ride there. Easier than ever before, the second guy I asked at the gas station (the first one only had a bicycle to offer), gave me a ride to a motorway service area close to Zurich. He was in a real hurry but still took the time to offer me a Jägermeister shot on our way there. Well, why not doing a little pre-drinking in the car?

After he’d dropped me off, I approached three guys driving a big jeep with camouflage pattern to ask for a ride. They directly agreed, made some fun of me though for choosing their not so trustworthy vehicle (“It seems like you’re the kind of person always looking for danger.”) and then dropped me off just a few metres away from the MAAG Halle in Zurich where I met up with Luisa and Max.

Photo credit: Luisa Bider

I may have fallen in love that night…

…with the music, the people, the atmosphere but mainly with Luke Pritchard, frontman of The Kooks. The bands’ performance was just amazing! They played some songs of their new album “Listen”, only released in September, as well as some older ones. “Naive”, in my opinion one of their best songs, they saved for last – perfect ending of a great concert! Better make sure to check out their new album as it’s definitely worth it! I especially liked “See Me Now” a heartbreaking ballad of Luke Pritchard dealing with his father’s death, as well as “Westside” which I’ve shared below.

The Kooks

“We don’t mind if you take a photograph…”

As if I’m not lucky enough by winning a ticket, we even met Urban Cone, a great Swedish indie pop band, outside the venue. The five guys from Stockholm were really easy-going and talkative. And I was even able to collect another photo for my “Celebrities and me” photo album. 🙂