Second to last concert of the year. We’d seen Future Palace as support for Electric Callboy three times during their TEKKNO tour and I was blown away by the energy of this band. And I really wanted to go see them afterwards, but if I remember correctly, their Cologne show was sold out. Good thing they added a bonus show I got tickets for. And I didn’t regret it.
But once again, let’s start at the beginning, which was in medias res – because once again, the communcation of starting times of the venue wasn’t quite the best. Before we left, I checked the starting time on the venue’s website and we were sure we would make it – although we were confronted with pretty bad weather conditions. It started snowing heavily on the way to Cologne, at least for that part of Germany, so we were a lot slower than expected. The second big problem was finding a place to park (Helios 37 is located in a similar place of Cologne as the Live Music Hall and I have to say I hate both venues for their parking situation). When we arrived at the venue, we were a little stressed out, but – as we thought – still on time.
Except that we weren’t. When we finally entered the club (which was difficult as well because the door wasn’t in the most obvious spot), Envyyou were already on stage đ If I remember correctly, ticket and club website had said the concert would start at 8 pm, we entered the club shortly after 7:30 pm and the support was already on stage. I could by now turn this into an own category of my 2023 concert recap. Sure, I could be earlier, but u know, some people do have a job, a household or just … a life. And difficult weather conditions on the way to the concert. Being way earlier – or at the venue when the doors are supposed to open – is something I only do for certain bands by now.
So my first impression of the venue was „poor communication, poor parking, difficulties with finding the door“. To be fair, the impression changed positively because a) the toilets were in an okay condition, b) the coat check wasn’t overly expensive and c) the drinks (Fritz Cola/Limo/Spritz!!) had an absolutely fair price. Also, the sound was fine from where we stood (which was at the far back, right next to the door).
Unfortunately I missed a good part of EnvyYou’s set because I needed to go to the toilet, got rid of our winter jackets, bought some merch … AND were late. Speaking of merch, I don’t remember the merch prices because I didn’t really check them. I *think* the Malphas hoodie was 60âŹ, which is okay in my opinion, as it is sustainable and of a good quality. I’ve seen bigger bands with lower quality merch for higher prices.
So when we finally got to see a bit of EnvyYou, I first checked where they were from because I liked their overall sound. It was an „Aaaaaaaand here’s another Swedish band…“ moment and I had to laugh a bit because well, what’s with those Swedish bands? I guess I still have to check them out on Spotify again because I didn’t build to much of an opinion back then. I wasn’t fully present yet and I mean I probably missed half of their set. But their performance generally seemed good. Also, at some point the Future Palace guys appeared on stage with masks and costumes and it was a nice „Last show with great tour buddies“-vibe.
Afterwards, we waited for Future Palace and hell yeah, they were good. Unfortunately though, Maria’s voice was in a bad condition. The show in Cologne was the last one of their tour and she was clearly at her limits. But Maria Lessing is a goddamn queen, so she pulled through as best as she could – and she got support from the fans and her amazing band mates. The energy of Future Palace was still incredible, even though Maria wasn’t at the peak of her energy.
I also absolutely love her openness and honesty. The way she openly addresses her mental health problems is something I think the world needs more of. The people who struggle deserve their idols who show them that depression is not necessarily a dead-end-street. That it doesn’t need to be hidden. And that you can achieve something, even if life’s being a bitch.
Also for one song, EnvyYou returned the lets-join-the-stage-favour as they jumped on stage dressed up as … Maria. It was hilarious and just great fun to watch. Another amazing part of the set was Maria’s solo performance, only her beautiful voice and a piano – watched by her bandmates, who had a short drink at the sound tech’s đ
Unfortunately, the set took only an hour. After the show, we found someone with a setlist who let us take a photo. And as we could see, the set had been heavily shortened, obviously because of Maria’s vocal problems. I think that’s absolutely understandable, although it was kinda sad because damn, Future Palace are an amazing live band. I’m excited to see them next year again and I’m still considering buying tickets for their already scheduled show in Cologne next year – which is at Die Kantine and you know what? There’s a free parking area just around the corner. This small fact already makes me cry happy tears because if you’ve never been to Cologne, you can’t imagine how much of a pain in the ass it is to park in Cologne.