Feeling at home

In a few weeks, we will be dragged into the madness of Christmas, if it hasn't begun already. The lights will shine brighter than before, the smiles from seeing the people we love will stick to our faces, laughing and loud voices will echo in our houses. At least we hope that it will be the case for you too  
There is one thing about this special time of the year, that we can neither hear nor see, but we can feel. There is this feeling, the feeling of being back home, of taking the time for our loved ones, an indescribable warmth which enters our hearts when we experience it… 

“This is where I feel home!”

One of our devoted host's, Sophie, contacted us  for a recommendation to plan her next Sofaconcert; Both her step-sister and brother will be traveling home for Christmas: her step-sister from Cape Town and her brother from HeidelbergHeidelberg. And all of her other friends will be home for the holidays as well. How will she manage to visit all of them and spend a great time together? Well, what is a better occasion than to surprise them with a SofaConcert! 

So, you know us by now… We jumped on the occasion and asked Sophie what is this feeling of “coming home” ...

Sophie & her brother

Whether it is with her brother, surrounded by Christmas lights and the soft crackling noise of the wood from the chimney or in the summer, outside in the garden repairing a used canoe with her dad… When Sophie thinks about home the first thought that comes to her mind is her parents’ home. She comes from a beautiful city where there are always many things happening and one can find any event that suits them...Welcome to Hamburg! Even though for years now, her parents’ home has not been the place where she lived, she gets the warm feeling of knowing that someone is always here for her and welcoming her with opened arms. She always feels welcome  and can just relax and switch off her mind …

“You can be yourself and feel secure when you are there. You know, it’s like this feeling when you know a song by heart and you can sing along loudly – forgetting the time and the world around you.” For Sophie, “Oft gefragt” from Annenmaykanterey describes perfectly the feeling of being home and for a reason, this song hits her right in the feels…

“You are still my home,

You are always my home

You've picked me up and took me there

Woke up in the middle of the night because of me.

I've often thought about it lately

You are still my home,
You are always my home
I have no home, I have only you

You are home forever and for me”

And that is probably right. The feeling we have during Christmas is a special feeling because we take the time to see our loved ones. And that is the feeling of coming home – it is a feeling of being with your friends, with your family and the people that are important to us, where time is not ticking anymore.

All your friends are coming home during this special time, either from the other side of the world or from the next city. Use this time! This happens only once a year. Make something out of it, spend some time together, share laughs, share memories and why not plan a SofaConcert to reunite your friends?
This is what Sophie planned this year, to get the maximum time with her friends and family. Because you don’t get that chance all the time:

“Instead of choosing food as the main program, I really recommend from the heart to opt for a Sofaconcert! No, it won’t be too noisy. No, the artists are not drunk rockers! Yes, it's better than to be in the crowd at a concert! And yes, it is unique and unforgettable!”  

Do you have an interesting story to share with us? Tell us about it and send it to info[a]sofaconcerts.org.

If you have any questions on how SofaConcerts work or if you need some recommendations, contact us at info[a]sofaconcerts.org

“ At first I wasn't sure if this was some kind of German birthday tradition …”

More and more international artists are joining us and use SofaConcerts for their tour across Europe, and so did Duncan Woods from Australia. As soon as Duncan registered on SofaConcerts he was enthusiastic to share his cheerful music with hosts around the world. His music reminded us of Jack Johnson and after a short period of time he confirmed his first gig. Duncan travels through Europe with his guitar and backpack for a couple of months every year to inspire people with his music. We met him at one gig in Hamburg and he told us about his different experiences with SofaConcerts. This story moved us in particular; so we don’t want to withhold it from you:

Duncan was invited to the home of a young couple in a small town of Germany where he had never been before. It was a warm summer evening. That same day Duncan played a gig in Nuremberg and was late to catch his train. However, he managed to get there with some delay and when he finally made it to Würzburg, nothing could go wrong anymore! The host’s father picked him up at the train station and brought him to the couple’s garden, where the concert was to take place.

Just a normal SofaConcert: a living room, some friends and an evening full of music. At least, this is what Duncan thought until then… But everything turned out differently ;)

When they entered the yard, there were beautiful lights hung up everywhere, small tents and benches. It was like in a movie; everything looked so beautiful and the people were lovely. Nevertheless Duncan had a strange feeling: he felt that something was going on, but thought that it was just a mixed feeling due to his delay. Everything was well prepared and it seemed like everyone was waiting for him to get things started. When Michael seemed a bit nervous Duncan thought it was just because of Maria’s special day – her birthday. He had no clue how special it would become…

Just as he was about to start playing he saw Michael getting down on one knee in front of Maria. This was the most awe-inspiring moment anyone could have had. The guests were gasping and looking at each other, all of them were surprised. After the first round of excitement was gone, everything went quiet; all eyes were on Michael and Maria, waiting for him. As an Australian, Duncan wasn't sure if this was some kind of German birthday tradition. The thing is Michael had kept his plan very secret from everyone including the musician.

“Maria, will you marry me?”

He had just popped the question. Michael was on one knee and looked at her expectantly. She couldn’t keep her emotions to herself and started crying as soon as the first words from Michael’s mouth were becoming real. She managed to spill the word with a trembling and tearful voice “Yes, I do!”. People began to cheer and congratulate the couple with so much joy! Afterwards, a bubble of happiness was covering the evening.

Then it was up to Ducan, to to recover from the surprise and kick the party off with his music and jumped straight into a set mashing up all the love songs he could think of into one medley. For him, being caught up in this moment with everyone and being able to add his music to the atmosphere was priceless. The proposal added a new ripple of excitement to the party. People were full of joy and buzzing to have been a part of this unforgettable occasion!

" I had such a great night with the newly engaged couple and their friends, you could really see in their eyes just how happy they both were with each other. It could not have gone any better.” Duncan

What a wonderful evening. At a SofaConcert anything could happen! What were your favorite moments? Tell us about them and send your stories to info@sofaconcerts.org.

If you would like to surprise someone, you can book the perfect band directly on SofaConcerts.

An extraordinary sofa concert with BOSSE!

Imagine you invite an unknown country artist to your living room…

…and then a pop star walks through the door – undercover!

This is exactly what happened to Conny and her guests.

It’s Friday night. In a cozy living room in the heart of Germany, twenty people have gathered to enjoy some great music with their friends and family. Conny, the host, has wanted to bring a sofa concert to her apartment for quite some time. The grey weather and the urge to see her friends have given her enough reason to invite one of our newcomers, Jimmy Folks, to her home. But let us take you back two weeks …

The atmosphere is thrilling. Everyone in the office is smiling and excited. Find something you love and then do it every day. Well, we found something we love - we love to surprise lovely people with great music and now it is time to do it again. The idea was finalized and we were ready for our next stunt. Our plan is to invite a well-known German pop star, dress him up as a country singer, and let him play a sofa concert “undercover” for a clueless host. Said and done. We all are extremely excited and just like that Axel Bosse walks through the door of our office. Cheerful and relaxed he introduces himself. “Let’s do this!” he says and then everything changed. Our office tables were exchanged for a dressing table, the grey sweater was now a checkered shirt and the cap, a country hat. 

In no time, Pia our make-up artist, turned BOSSE into Jimmy Folks. With the help of a fake beard, fake hair and a little bit of make-up, he now looked 10 years older. A new country star was born. The only thing missing was a profile on our SofaConcerts platform. A profile picture was quickly taken, some feedback was written by us, and our new artist of the week was chosen. Now patience was the key…We waited for two weeks when a call came in. “I just got booked!” shouted Aki alias BOSSE through the phone. Perfect!

19:45 pm – now back to Conny. The excitement in the room builds and soon the concert will start. But where is Jimmy? Ah finally! The doorbell rings and Conny opens the door. There he is. A friendly kiss on each cheek and off he goes in to the living room and quickly sets up the instruments. A short introduction is given of Jimmy, his pianist, and his guitarist and then he launches straight away into a classic: “Leaving on a Jet Plane”. His voice is beautiful and the harmonic sounds calm the guests. Almost everyone has their eyes closed and their feet start to tap to the rhythm of the music. 

“The next song is from Hamburg.” says Jimmy and the first chords begin. Some of the guests seem to recognize the song as it begins. The chorus starts and from the other side of the room you can hear whispers. “That’s not possible”. “The voice sounds so familiar” says another. Who would have thought a country musician could sound so much like BOSSE, the original singer of the song? Everyone is totally impressed. The voice is so similar and the moves too, but then again, he doesn’t look anything like BOSSE. Or does he?

Slowly Jimmy starts to undo his beard. Everyone is looking at each other. Could this be possible? No way. Next, the hair and the hat have to go. Is this real? Gasps, claps, shouts. WOW! This is not Jimmy. This is indeed BOSSE. Who would have thought the night would turn out like this? A well-known German artist in Conny’s living room – Conny and the guests sure didn’t expect anything like this. BOSSE is really here. They still can’t believe what is happening. He plays a few more of his own songs and after that he stays to talk to everyone and take pictures. No one in this living room will ever forget this night. It is a good thing we also have it on camera, so that you can see for yourself….

Aki you were the best, thank you so much for this great experience. It was a pleasure watching you become Jimmy Folks ;) We want to say a big THANK YOU to all the people who were involved in the making of this wonderful project. Only with the help of our accomplices was this was possible! You guys were amazing! J

To share our happiness and gratitude with you, we have something special for you! Until the 30th of November we are going to set Jimmy’s profile free once again and if you invite him to a sofa concert in the next two weeks you will have the chance to win a hand signed CD from BOSSE! J Good luck!

Five questions you always had about being a host.

  

We met Tom Klose in a café, dressed in a light blue sweater with a black countryside hat, relaxed and very smiley. Do you know that feeling when you talk to someone and time just passes by?  We had one like that with Tom. He talked to us about his adventures and the wonderful experiences he got to live when he traveled Europe. From the Netherlands, on to Belgium, France, Spain and then finally Portugal, he played SofaConcerts along the way. Crossing North to South, he only needed his guitar, a backpack and the support of our awesome hosts.

What motivates artists to play a concert for a smaller audience?

“It’s a really nice thing to do, it’s really special, I don’t want to miss it. It’s the other side of music. I like to play live all the time and that is for me an outlet when I want to play for people. I think, it’s also because all of my role models did it. I always think of Matt Corby, because he did house concert tours in backyards, he is so good! He is so good in the extend of thinking what is he doing in someone’s backyard, but he is like ‘I don’t care about it, I just love to play for people in this kind of setting’ and I totally understand that. You are just closer to the people.”

Taken by Hauke (Portugal)

We were really curious to jump on the other side of the story. If Tom found his motivation through house concerts, what about the hosts? What do they think about hosting an artist? How were their experiences and above all, what did they want to share with you?

                    So, how did it all begin?

Well, Hauke from Portugal got a request from Tom for his European tour and it was Hauke’s first sofa concert. One of his friends already hosted Tom Klose before and advised Hauke to book him.

“It was my first event with SofaConcerts and it was a great experience. I had absolutely no doubts hosting a sofa concert, we went for the concert to one of the most beautiful miradors of Lisbon because my "small problem" is that my cozy house hasn`t really a living room, I just came up with the idea to declare my amazing Lisbon to my "living room”. Having Tom play a concert in front of this amazing setting, was almost like a guarantee of a good evening for me.”

Manon & Sebastien heard about SofaConcerts from Joel Havea and have been hosting concerts in their beautiful house near Toulouse ever since. She listened to Tom Klose thinking he suited perfectly to the SofaConcerts aspect.

Le salon des artistes (Manon & Sebastien, France)

How would you define your SofaConcert’s experience?

Manon: “100% of success! In general, the guests are prudent, at best curious when we invite them, however each time at the end, they are happy and impressed by the artist, acknowledging the private moment that they just lived and they ask for more. It’s a concept that should be known better.”

Which were your doubts before registering as a host?

“The artist pending: I was scared that I wouldn’t find enough guests, that there wouldn’t be enough participation and that it would be too expensive for the artist. Finally, the artist gave me comfort toward that (and the guests were generous).”

What would you say to hosts who hesitate or have just registered?

“Try the experience at least once, you will be convinced. It’s an incredible opportunity to discover people, to share music and above all to live the emotion conveyed by the artist at the most.”

Taken by Manon & Sebastien (France)

Could you give us a little anecdote from Tom Klose’s gig?

 “The fact that he did some effort to present his songs with some French words, as well as when he played a bit of piano which people liked.What wowed us is his voice… When the first notes came out, we all got shivers and got stuck right in, till the end of the song"

To whom would you recommend SofaConcerts?

“To everybody who likes music and likes to share it, without worrying about the size of your place because some artists don’t have any audience requirements, they just want to share their passion.

Taken by Hauke (Portugal)

So, back to Tom! We asked him how it is to play for hosts that don’t speak the same language:

“I tried to speak french very hard, there are some people that didn’t speak english very well so I thought it would be funny. Every one is the same actually, it was in the back of my mind, but you have to live it to find out. They are into the same kind of bands and they live the same kind of way, they just live somewhere else. So that is really cool. Manon and Sebastien are the ideal living room concerts hosts, really. Everything was set up perfectly. Same with Hauke, he is the best. The setting was really nice, the overview over the town with the sunset going down...”

One more thing…

Tom played over a hundred house concerts and he’s planning to do a SofaConcerts tour in Germany in January. So far, the tour counts 19 concerts. At the very beginning of SofaConcerts, he was already excited about the idea of doing a host concert tour and was waiting for the platform to grow bigger which it did to this point. If you are interested to host him, check out his profile!

You liked this article? Tell us which artist’s experiences you want to know about and we will do our best to write an article about it! If you are a host and you want to share your experience, you can too contact us at support@sofaconcerts.org ! We are more than happy to write about our community!

House concerts, SofaConcerts - how does it all work?

So you have heard of SofaConcerts and you're wondering whether this could be something for you? Yes, we know, hosting a SofaConcert for the first time can seem a bit scary. But no worries, it's all really simple, so let us share some of our experiences with you!

You may be looking for a band for your next party, or you simply want to spend a special evening with your friends and family. A cozy house concert is definitely a great occasion for that. Or you could surprise a loved one with a special gift! Live music is just perfect for that! And it can be really easy to find a great band and to organise the gig, we promise!

It's only about 3 simple steps: 

Too fast? Well, then again in detail ;) You've lots of different options but it all starts with the music.

1) So first, have a look at the artist overview at SofaConcerts.org and decide which one (or which ones) of the artists you like best.   

Find brilliant bands on SofaConcerts.org

2) You then send out a simple invitation with your preferred date, your budget and a few words about the occasion you have planned. To do this, you can either create an individual event on the platform or set up a host profile. In that case, your stage will appear online and artists who are in your area can apply to perform for you! This can be extremely rewarding since you often get to know international artists who are happy to perform small gigs in people's homes between their regular gigs on tour. But, for now, we're only planning the first concert, right? ;)

Ok, so you've discovered several artists you like, have sent them an invitation to your event or your host profile - now it's up to you to wait. Usually you'll get a response within a few days and the artists will let you know whether they have time and are up for the gig. They may ask you whether they should bring their band, if you prefer a solo performance or if they have extra expenses like travel costs. You can still negotiate the details and confirm the gig once everything is settled. The fee will be deposited and paid out to the artist once the concert has taken place.

Of course, you can always get in touch with us and we'll share some of our personal favourites with you or give recommendations of who may be a perfect fit for your occasion and your budget. Simply write us an email to support@sofaconcerts.org or ring us up: +49-157-71861127

By the way, did you know that you can also give away a SofaConcerts gift card? By doing that, the lucky person can choose their favourite band and date themself. Whether it's for your best friend, wife or husband or people who mean a lot to you: Music is on of the most beautiful ways to surprise your loved ones. Get creative and discover something new!

Get a gift card

So now it's up to you! Discover new music at www.SofaConcerts.org and get started! Why not listen to our SofaConcerts playlist & get inspired? It's right at the top of our website - tune in and discover your next favourite band!

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