The Alice Merton puzzle in Prague has revealed more pieces
Alice Merton is no longer a newcomer here, yet the capacity of the originally planned Lucerna Music Bar turned out to be an alternative plan. It thus moved into the confines of the smaller Akropolis Palace, the lower floor of which was filled mainly with German-speaking supporters. Despite this change, the evening was quite good.
Live: Alice Merton
Support, support: Aiko
place: Acropolis Palace, Prague
date: October 26, 2022
set list: Vertigo, Island, Blurred, Future, Same Team, 100 Stories, Mania, Everything, Jealousy, Learn to Live, Loveback, Hero, Blindside, Funny Business, Why So Serious, Waste My Life, No Roots, The Other Side
The cover photo comes from this year’s Sziget, we didn’t have photographers at the Akropolis Palace.
Alice Merton is a workaholic. Although her breakthrough hit in 2002 resonated to a greater extent only in Europe and Israel, while she is almost unknown across the ocean or in Asia, she is doing her best to stay in the listeners’ consciousness, at least on the old continent. And that’s not easy. “No Roots” is exactly the type of hit that you think everyone knows, but no one will tell you who its performer is. That’s why, after all, the second album “SIDES” came in such quick succession after the first one. And not only does the singer pour more and more singles into the airwaves, she also tries to tour the conquered territories as often as the pandemic, the war and the budget allow.
Only in the second half of this year, Czech fans of live music could see her at the nearby Sziget in August, and then again at Lollapalooza in Berlin. In the current tour, which was mainly devoted to the German city, they also visited Prague’s Akropolis Palace, and we will see them again in an unexpected month. As an opening act, she will perform in the Small Sports Hall at the Exhibition Center before the Bastille concert. Whether they will subsequently join their concert in the same way as in Hungary, where their duet was one of the most memorable, but at the same time the strangest moments of this year’s Sziget, remains a question for now. The German-Canadian singer is already so confused by all the work that she completely forgot to invite her fans from the stage to her next Czech concert on the eve of the national holiday. She performed with her band in a tight top and skirt, with her hair traditionally pulled back into a simple ponytail. While a large number of different chains hung around her neck, she hung her hips with leather fringes for a change. Apparently, she already liked the way everything bounces on her during her dance in Hungary, where she had a similar image. It must be said, however, that the similarity with the mentioned (and excellent!) concert ended for a long time. In Prague, you could see that for her the current performance is just another day at work. She opened the show with “Vertigo” and then continued the song without much emotion. And especially without them introducing the audience, which was surprising, because it was at Sziget that she was so unbelievably nice and hard-working that she represented the background of almost every song there. And that opened up the audience so much that you almost felt like you knew her after her concert. That although she is still a normal girl next door, who will never have a stunning voice and her records will not receive more than a seven in reviews, however, despite the lack of megastar status, she can still be liked like Vanessa Carlton or Dido in her time. Therefore, whoever is interested in what the single “Same Team” is about, let them click on the appropriate report from Budapest and learn the connections. And although the first half of her Czech concert was full of not very expressive songs and played without much emotion, we mainly learned that “100 Stories” is a song about the fact that her friend’s mother took a rather surprising step. While other parents save for their children for years to study at university or as a foundation for their first job and becoming independent, this lady gave all her savings to her son so that after finishing school he could spend some time traveling the world and growing up as a human being. And that is a very unconventional idea worthy of deeper reflection. She also earned a standing ovation in the hall. It only grew with the next songs, and when the singer got through the more vocally demanding numbers like “Mania” or “Everything”, in which she accompanied herself on the keyboard, you could see how she got rid of her shyness in the following, bouncy song “Learn To Live” and he begins to really enjoy the concert thanks to his growing enthusiasm. And although it was late, she still started talking more.
“This song is about escaping from a dangerous work relationship in 2020 where I was told that I was nothing without the help of a label. When I sang it as a demo, I said that such a depressing text about the death of parents after all, I can’t publish it. And I told them that I could make some happy arrangements for it, couldn’t I? I was inspired by the hit ‘Africa’ by Toto and the result is called ‘Blindside’.” she confided, for example.
The rainbow-lit song “Funny Business”, which is so inventive in its production, worked well and, as usual, a success, it’s surprising that it didn’t get a bigger commercial. And the same can be said for the equally easy-to-remember hit “Why So Serious”, in which the twenty-nine-year-old artist reminds herself that there’s no need to take everything so seriously. And it was the endless applause after this single that completely disarmed her. “I completely forgot how great it is to play in Prague,” she confided. If any of these songs had already been played at the beginning of the concert, it is quite possible that the ice would have been broken even earlier.
“I like to try to play completely new things at a concert, so that I can see from the feedback whether it makes sense to release the song officially, so now I’m going to play you a completely new piece called ‘Waste My Life’. It’s about my gratitude to people I know, and to everyone around me helping me on my way.” The reaction to the brisk, bouncy song was absolutely unequivocal. This should be one of the next singles. After the breakthrough and, as it were, warmly received, dynamic-sounding hit “No Roots”, they got to “The Other Side”, which talks about the fact that no matter how dark life’s hardships you go through, it always turns for good in the end or later. And it was another piece of the puzzle, thanks to which we have a slightly more comprehensive picture of Alice Merton. When she left the stage for good, you could see that she had a tear on her cheek. Obviously, she absolutely did not expect people to return the energy so strongly. Unfortunately, her concert, which is still a great concert, has a small flaw. And yes, the promised post-concert photo shoot with the fans did take place, but always only as a reward for buying something at her merch stand. Therefore, let’s not forget to appreciate all those artists who are nice to their fans even for free.