Charlie Bertsch / 15 Nov 2023
Dispensing With Age
Mudhoney in 2023
As I waited for the band to come on stage at Tuscon's Club Congress, I started to second-guess myself.(...)
Tucson
Charlie Bertsch / 05 May 2023
The Long 1980s
Molchat Doma in America
When Belorussian dark wave band Molchat Doma began to play their viral TikTok hit Судно at their recent Tucson, Arizona show, I looked out over the tightly packed crowd filling the floor in front of me and was struck by how happy and how diverse it was, from race to age to fashion.(...)
Charlie Bertsch / 22 Sep 2022
On Being A Fan
Growing Older With Pavement
As the first chiming notes of Pavement’s “Grounded” rang out, I leaned into my friend. “This is my favourite.” Although a huge fan herself, with her interior décor and a large tattoo to prove it, she looked up at me, quizzically. “Really?”(...)
Charlie Bertsch / 29 Jun 2022
Between Europe and America
Reconsidering Susan Sontag
There was a time in the 1960s and 1970s when Susan Sontag somehow became an international star. (...)
Charlie Bertsch / 25 May 2022
The View From Davos
Thomas Mann in Silicon Valley
Why would someone want to read Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain? And why would they finish it?(...)
Charlie Bertsch / 18 May 2022
The Thomas Mann Mountain
Learning to Read Again
As I made my way up the trail, the late-afternoon sun temporarily muted by clouds, I suddenly realised how strange my situation was.(...)