“And I won’t sit down,
and I won’t shut up,
and most of all, I will not grow up!“
Hi, I’m Moni, I’m a 29 year old social worker from Hamburg in the north of Germany, and I have an addiction problem. No, not drugs or alcohol or such. (I’m boring, I don’t drink and have never tried drugs…) My addiction is music, especially live music aka concerts.
My life has always been about music – from classical music in my childhood (family background) and cheesy boygroups in my early teens to all kinds of rock and finally metal. I have always been slightly more obsessed with bands than most other people, and I love exploring the rock and metal subgenres and discovering new bands. Making music myself has at some point become irrelevant to me, there’s just so much great music out there already that you can check out….
“Ditching teenage fantasy means ditching all your dreams“
Growing up in a very rural area with quite protective parents, going to concerts wasn’t easy as a kid, but when I finally had my first gig experience at the age of 16, I immediately felt like I had found the place where I truly belong. With the 18th birthday and the driving licence (and moving to the big city a bit later), there was nothing to stop me. There was this little voice in my head that said I might go and see my favourite band at that time (Die Ärzte, a German fun punk band that is incredibly popular within the country) more than once on their upcoming tour… That’s how the travelling started. Until today, Die Ärzte remain my most seen band (35 shows), along with Muse (35 shows as well, and counting) who were the first band to lead me abroad for their show at Wembley stadium in 2010. Soon I found myself travelling all across Germany and Europe, for Muse but also for a steadily increasing number of other bands. I can’t give you exact numbers, but by now I have been to more than 400 gigs in at least 17 different countries.
“And I’m happy and I’m settled in the person I’ve become“
Obviously, this doesn’t leave me with much time or money to do anything else, which is sometimes hard, but I tell you, it’s worth it – I had so many amazing experiences travelling to different cities, meeting like-minded music fans from different countries and even making new friends along the way! And experiencing really good live music from the first row seriously beats anything else in life. Concerts are my happy place, my escape from everyday life, and I have no intention of stopping this anytime soon!
“And if all you ever do with your life
is just photosynthesize,
then you deserve every hour of these sleepless nights
that you waste wondering when you’re gonna die…“
(quotes from ‘Photosynthesis’ by Frank Turner)
Monimoosic 