Glamnation

Going to Italy and attending the Welcome To Humanoid City Tour was the first time I had been to a concert since taking my daughter to see NSync. It was such a different experience, and I was so glad I had decided to get past my fears and go with my gut!

We did a lot of voting for Adam Lambert when he competed on American Idol, and I love that he is a fan of Bill Kaulitz, frontman for Tokio Hotel. When the tickets for his ‘Glamnation’ tour were announced, I decided my kids and I were going to the next concert together. Since the youngest is only 5 years old, he stayed home with my husband.

Our tickets included free admission to the Orange County Fair, so we arrived at 5pm for the 7:30pm show. I opted for VIP parking, and we were parked right next to the Tour buses!

At the fair, Nicholas tried out Morse Code, and the kids all spent quite a bit of time at an Anime Booth they’re big Anime fans!

After some very disgusting fair food (thank God they didn’t want to try deep fried Twinkies!), we head to the Pacific Amphitheater.

We have fairly good seats in the Orchestra, Section 1. Allison Iraheta is up first, and Orianthi joins her for one of her songs! She’s full of energy and has that cool rocker voice I remember from when she was on American Idol.

Next up is Orianthi. Can I just say she smokes any guitar player I’ve ever seen?! Of course, she sang her hit ‘According To You’. But when she starts playing Prince’s ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ I realize this girl will take on the difficult and make it look like a walk in the park!

Then we have a break waiting for Adam, not too long though.

He starts with what looks like a more stylized version of the ‘Mad Hatter’s’ outfit from the Alice movie. Everyone is on their feet, and my son is standing on the seat next to me because he can’t see over the crowd. Then it’s off with the coat and on to the next song.

When ‘Ring Of Fire’ starts we’re all screaming and clapping.

‘What Do You Want From Me’ is amazing, Adam has such a soaring voice!

Then comes the best moment of the whole concert. Adam starts ‘If I Had You’ with its driving beat. My fist is in the air and I’m rocking out, and my son grabs my fist and we rock out together! I don’t know how to explain how special it is to share this music with my family.

We had the BEST time together, and they’ll remember this experience for a long time to come.

A Free Spirit Is Born—Welcome!

Coolbreezegirl is one of the admins for the official Tokio Hotel America fan site and forum. She graciously popped in to share her pearls of wisdom. Interviewing CBG was a blast of fresh air. Love her strength and style. Enjoy! Part 1 of 3.

NTO: Who is Coolbreezegirl? Tell us about your interests; things that irritate you; adjectives that match your personality; things that make you erupt in laughter.

CBG: I’m a free spirit born and raised in Sweden where I still reside, although I wouldn’t describe myself as a typical Swede, neither in looks nor personality. I probably talk and laugh a little bit too loudly (luckily, I laugh very often too, but that’s never a problem, heh), to fit the stereotype. And I’m less reserved. I am too argumentative. I don’t like getting shit-faced drunk during midsummer celebration. Nor am I blonde.

Describing myself as a free sprit basically comes from people around me usually finding me unpredictable and hard to pigeonhole. I’ve never really been interested in conforming to society’s rules of how you are expected to live your life or how an adult is supposed to behave. After all I have the whole collection of stuffed Barbapapa dolls living on my desk in my office, and a pic of Bill Kaulitz as my desktop wallpaper. [Editor Note: Barbapapa is the title and character of a French children book series written in the 1970s by Annette Tison and Talus Taylor.]

I’ve always lived my life as I see fit and I am proud of that. I have zero interest in getting married or having kids. Couples dinners are my pet peeve, and I adamantly refuse to host one, even though I love having people over for dinner. I only cook when I do dinner for other people. I have lived in my current apartment for six months now and still haven’t checked if my oven works. But I know the menu of every restaurant and café in my town by heart. I think I spend way too much time hanging out there with my friends.

My favourite quote in life is “A friendship is a single soul inhabiting two bodies.” I don’t know who said it, but it has stuck in my head for years, and it is my motto in life. [Editor note: Aristotle is credited for the quote.] Friendship to me is more important than anything in life. It is what I cherish the most, what I enjoy the most, and I always strive to be the best friend anyone can have. I am incredibly blessed with my social life and my friends. I met my best friend, also a Tokio Hotel fan I might add, when we were 12 and still, 25 years later, even though we’re not living in the same town, we still make sure to meet at least once a week and talk on the phone daily.

I prefer being single than being in a relationship. Always have. Always will. Even when I am in love I still long for time of my own. I believe that you can only evolve as a human being when you’re not in a relationship. I still haven’t run into anyone else who truly feels and understands this and lives by it. People around me, whether friends or boyfriends, respect my opinion, but usually do not truly understand it with their heads or hearts. But that’s fine.

I do get a kick from reading books and watching movies, interior design, snapping pictures of architecture, travelling (I prefer multiple short trips rather than one long per year), but most of all I get a kick from colours and looking at aesthetic things. I am a colour-addict, meaning I get a kick from colours and they affect my mood very easily. I can obsess for eternity about any colours around me: on curtains, mugs, wallpapers, the clothes I wear, the clothes Bill wear. I work as an art director / graphic designer /stylist, so much of my work involves picking out and matching colours, which is one of the reasons why I love my work. Much of my happiness relies on intellectual and visual brain stimuli, which is why being blind is one of my biggest fears in life.

In many ways I am quite unpredictable, but can also be quite predictable. I am also very creative but at the same time insanely analytical. I strive to find a balance where I can equal creativity and my artistic side with my logical intellectual side. I guess it is the dichotomy of being a Gemini; this constant conflict between dualities.

NTO: What was the first contact with a TH song that resonated with you. (if it wasn't a song, what was it) and why did it have such an impact?

CBG: Little by little, I started being aware of TH’s existence in December 2006 or January 2007, I don’t remember. I didn’t become a full fledged fan until I started Googling them (Bill caught my interest because of his striking appearance and mind blowing stage presence that I soon found out were well- matched by an intriguing personality and great talent), checked them up on YouTube and bought Zimmer 483 album and started blasting it from the speakers at the photo studio at work.

My first song that I really was moved by was An Deiner Seite. I knew no German except for a few words, but thought the song carried such an intense sense of despair and desperation. It fit my mood that day so much. So I asked a friend to translate the chorus “Ich Bin Da…” [I am here] and was hugely surprised to find a positive meaning in it. Hehe. Mainly, I get a kick from the emotions in Bill’s voice. It just speaks to me. Geh is my favourite song because of the heavy emotions in the vocals. You don’t need to understand the lyrics to understand it is a song about no hope left. It took me a long time to have a friend of mine who is fluent in German translate the lyrics for me.

Speaking about lyrics, World Behind My Wall and Strange are my current favourite ones, because I think they best portray Bill, at least from the impressions I have of him from interviews--emotional isolations and the feeling of not belonging and feeling like an alien--it intrigues me.

Tomorrow, Part 2 of CBG's interview, will be posted.

Chin Up; Hold Your Head High!

Some of the women of Tokio Hotel fandom have been fans of the group without prompting from their children. The music and lives of the young rock band have earned respect, rather than dismissal, from us. Elderhausgirlz, her screen name, shares her connection as a fan with the band's independence and from the perspective as mother of a teen.

Although we didn't immediately realize it at the time, Tokio Hotel came into our lives at exactly the moment we needed them, when my preteen daughter and I were each struggling with gaining independence from what people all around us expected us to be. Bill's persistence in being his own person in the face of such negative feedback when he was my daughter's age was precisely the example she needed to follow her own path with her chin up and her head held high. For me, defending myself to those who felt my love of TH was "age-inappropriate" eventually made me realize that I, too, could be liberated from the age-restricted box that people tried to keep me in. Tokio Hotel's example of independence and freedom from preconceived notions changed our lives—so much for the better.

Thank you, E.  As my parting gift to you--hmm...I wonder which band member is E's favorite?

Celebrate Independence NTO Style

This week starts with July 4 - U.S. Independence Day.  Nothing better describes Tokio Hotel and the women on this blog who enjoy their music. We certainly are independent beings. We will carry the theme of independence, individuality, striving to be your own person for the entire week.  Join us each day to celebrate what makes us unique.

One of our famous quotes is that you're never too old for Tokio Hotel.  Well, you're also never too old to be inspired by or learn from this young band.  Repeatedly they have overcome odds to push forward to success.

Bill Kaulitz started writing songs at seven years old. By 11 years old, he and his twin, Tom, were performing in small clubs, at which time they met Georg and Gustav to form Tokio Hotel. Along the way to achieving their dreams, many obstacles with the record company, throat infection, stalkers, etc., sat like boulders in their path. Sheer determination on Tokio Hotel's side and on their fans' side have helped to blast apart the impediments.

As a teen, one dream that I've had was to be a writer. I didn't plan on writing as a profession, simply as a means of expression.  I wrote poetry and short stories on all angsty issues that teens experience. Now I write stories as my career choice.  The chosen path brings about a certain amount of freedom because I love letting go of my imagination and allowing it to guide my hand as the story unfolds.

Below is a poem I wrote inspired by the first time that I saw Tokio Hotel, specifically Bill. I was intrigued by his appearance. Intrigued that someone so young had the backbone to be sylistically unique and trendsetting. Our society gives a wider latitude to female artists who choose to be extreme.  So I was surprised and pleased that Bill had a streak of stubbornness and indvidiuality to stick with his personal style, which, by the way, changes frequently with dramatic flair. 

One Moment In Time© – Michelle Monkou

One moment in time ignited a change.
A microsecond, an instant connection

Shot straight to my heart,

and into my soul.

O Angel, haunting, graceful, yearning—strange.

You - winged messenger, a voice worth attention

Weave your white magic.

For this is your goal.

Let go fear, escape doubt. Get out of range.
A closed bud unfurls, with my dreams intention
Teach me through your songs.
What is my life’s role?

Dream big. Hold that vision. Is that my challenge?
Magdeburg. Hamburg. Life outside convention.
Breathe. Believe. Born to write.
Freedom-- I'm in control.