My hotel reservation in Paris was just confirmed. I’m really going to Europe!
And, because I lost two hours this morning surfing record label and band sites, I found out that de/Vision is playing London WHEN I’M THERE on 4/30! And the opening act is Iris! It’s something called Elektrofest, and I have to figure out enough German to buy tickets, but the lineup is: DE/VISION, SITD, IRIS, THE MODERN, SEIZE and GREENHAUS
Maybe I should backtrack here. de/Vision and Iris are two of my favorite synthpop bands. “Synthpop”, as I define it, is “music influenced by Depeche Mode and Erasure” and I listen to a lot of it. I refer, specifically, to the variant I listen to as “synthgoth”, because it falls into a crossover category – everything from Alphaville to VNV Nation. And Iris is one of my absolute favorite synthgoth bands, ever, despite being more synth than goth. de/Vision is well within my top ten. Both are sold in the States from “A Different Drum” – a synthpop label based out in Utah that I have a few mix compilations from, and the only site which can get me the new Iris album in less than two weeks.
Now I have to go email some people (in Tokyo, to be specific – my old friend Neil was the original source of my goth/synthpop knowledge and obsession) and gloat. This somewhat partially makes up for missing Depeche Mode at Coachella and in Vegas. There is no substitute for missing Depeche Mode, but this does make me a little happier about being overseas that weekend.
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