 |
| 2011-07-17
DE – Cologne - Tanzbrunnen |
| << back |
| Subway To Sally - Nitzer Ebb - Saltatio Mortis - Agonoize - De/Vision - Dreadful Shadows - Funkhausgruppe - She’s All That • Covenant - Kirlian Camera - Feindflug - Das Ich - In The Nursery - Clan Of Xymox - Diorama - Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio - Der Fluch [Sebastian] The second day of AMPHI FESTIVAL welcomed us with a shitload of rain and honestly we thought of staying in the car the entire day instead of putting just one toe out in this mess. Fortunately, the weather god had mercy with us and told the rain to get lost now and sunshine cut through the clouds soon. :: pics :: [Niggels]
Due to problems with public transport we arrived too late at the
festival ground so that we missed the first half of ::
DER
FLUCH's :: show. Really a shame as what I got to
hear and see was really good! Horror Punk with a whiff of Gothic
Rock and a Psychobilly touch was a rare thing at the AMPHI
- DER FLUCH was the only band with such a sound actually,
and all the more it was great to have them at this festival. This
kind of sound simply belongs to the roots of the Goth scene, sometimes
people tend to forget that Goth and Wave emerged from the Punk
scene, and not from the Techno scene or whatever. Vocalist Deutscher
W. couldn't refrain from a dig at today's scene and thanked “for
letting us perform at this Techno festival” before he announced
the final song of DER FLUCH's set. Earlier he made a cheap
shot at Alexander Kaschte of Samsas Traum when he exclaimed “You
can buy our CDs at our merch stall - wait, forget about that,
I just sounded like that jerk from Samsas Traum!”. Well,
nobody should be surprised that a Punk band has a Punk attitude!
I enjoyed the attitude as well as the rock solid performance;
it's just a pity that DER FLUCH had to start as early as
11:45 am.
[Niggels]
Though not an act you would expect at a Goth/Industrial oriented
festival like the AMPHI, :: SHE'S
ALL THAT :: nevertheless played a captivating performance.
Given that SHE'S ALL THAT was the “breakfast gig”
of the day it was quite a sweaty affair and the band was quite
serious about the title of their opening song: Dance Yourself
To Death! I'm sure that most people in attendance were as
unfamiliar with the band as me, and in this light the feedback
from the crowd was quite good actually. A little less electronic
than on their album, SHE'S ALL THAT reminded in some moment
on the likes of Guano Apes; while in some other moments The Prodigy
lurked around the corner. SHE'S ALL THAT were a quite colorful
spot in the line-up, and they used their thirty minutes well to
reach out to skeptical bystanders, curious watchers and adoring
fans alike.
[Sebastian]
It was foreseeable that a sound check of merely 15 minutes wouldn’t
be enough for :: ORDO
ROSARIUS EQUILIBRIO :: and their arsenal of instruments!
It took over 10 minutes longer than expected and so two songs
(Reaping The Fallen, The Second Harvest and A Song 4 Hate &
Devotion) were cut off from the setlist that started with
Which Word Confines The Truth. After the rock tinged adventure
with Der Fluch this was something to calm down. The compositions
rarely leave the mid-tempo but immerse the audience with their
rich assortment of instruments. Sadly though, the acoustics of
the hall made the sound a real mess and the clarity of the instruments
and keys got completely lost in the mix, something In The Nursery
would have to suffer from later as well. For me it was a great,
calm way to start the day at Staatenhaus with that band, even
though I have to admit of leaving earlier than planned cause I
feared falling asleep again in the dim of the hall again amidst
the ethereal sounds. [Niggels]
It got cramped on the stage! :: FUNKHAUSGRUPPE
:: was easily the band with the most musicians on stage
of the entire weekend. Not less than twelve musicians crowded
the stage to present the upbeat and quite 1980s-influenced music
of FUNKHAUSGRUPPE! Vocalist Honey of Welle:Erdball did
his best to promote the FUNKHAUSGRUPPE gig the other day
when he was one of the moderators of the first day of the AMPHI.
And of course it were mostly Welle:Erdball fans who gathered in
front of the main stage to see FUNKHAUSGRUPPE, as this
Minimal Synth Pop group is by far the most popular of the four
involved bands. And sound-wise FUNKHAUSGRUPPE isn't too
far away from Welle:Erdball either - a combination of analogue
electro sounds, impulsive dance grooves, a strong retro feel and
German lyrics. But FUNKHAUSGRUPPE also adds guitar Pop,
and there is a strong reminiscence of Neue Deutsche Welle, the
German answer to New Wave in the early 1980s, in the music of
FUNKHAUSGRUPPE. So it was going to be a very interesting
and fun-filled show of this all-star band. Starting with the Hertzinfarkt
song Wir trauen uns was, FUNKHAUSGRUPPE presented
a set with selected songs from their debut album and one song
from each involved band. This first gig ever had a few glitches
and technical problems here and there but this is quite forgivable.
Especially as twelve musicians on stage must be quite a challenge
for the technicians at the FOH! With live drums and guitar the
music got a more organic feel, and a song like Stadtflucht
even breathes some 1950s Rock’n’Roll. The single release
Die Physiker of course relies on the well-known minimal
Electronica of Welle:Erdball. Der Sommer ist da (Summer
Is Here) on the other hand is a dreamy Indie Pop track with one
of the ladies doing the lead vocals - quite a gaudy mix which
FUNKHAUSGRUPPE had to in store for the AMPHI audience,
so no surprise that their fun-filled gig was very well received
despite the technical problems. Let's wait and see if this was
just a one-off show or if there will be further gigs.
[Sebastian]
One of my favorite bands was now about to hit the stage at Staatenhaus
and did with an altered version of the introduction to Child
Of Entertainment. The crowd, amongst them fans from near and
far, were catching the groove of the sound right away and started
jumping and screaming along, captivated by Torben’s extroverted
performance. One song rarely played live followed up with Prozac
Junkies. The song has a certain magic to it that could unfold
pretty good regardless of the sound. Not a mere club filler in
itself it managed to get people dancing. Ignite on the other hand
was a club filler extraordinaire and its stomping beats got the
crowd into action nearly all at once. Ok, a bit exaggeration in
there but sometimes it helps for the dramatic effect. Home
To Millions is another rare treat at a ::
DIORAMA
:: show and I was more than pleased to hear at least
one track of The Art Of Creating Confusing Spirits. The
mostly energy packed show found its end with the harsh The
Girls and left fans craving for more. But the tight schedule
didn’t allow any encores.
[Niggels]
After several live shows of the semi-reunited ::
DREADFUL
SHADOWS :: their gigs don't have the same sensation
level as their live comeback in 2007 but yet their still rather
rare shows are much anticipated events for all fans. After performing
with Zeraphine on Saturday it was the second gig of the weekend
for singer Sven Friedrich, and all the more he delivered a well-versed
and professional performance with DREADFUL SHADOWS. His
voice is one of the most impressive and recognizable of the Gothic
Rock scene anyway, and he proved this from the start when DREADFUL
SHADOWS opened the show with two of their most popular songs,
the hymnist Chains and the single hit Burning The Shrouds
from 1997. It might be a bit surprising that a band with such
a long back catalogue decides to play two cover versions in an
eight-song set but DREADFUL SHADOWS master Nine Inch Nails'
Hurt perfectly, and the show closer True Faith,
originally performed by New Order, is a burst of energy and simply
makes the show perfect.
[Niggels]
At the AMPHI 2008, :: CLAN
OF XYMOX :: performed a mind-blowing show at the
packed theatre venue. Perhaps the best gig I've ever seen of this
band. Since then, the second stage has been moved to the much
bigger Staatenhaus, and CLAN OF XYMOX did not struggle
at all to fill this bigger venue as well. It's good to see that
this band is still so popular, even though their more recent output
seems to get a little lost in the flood of releases we have today.
However, Delete was the only song from the new album Darkest
Hour, which was released just a few weeks before the AMPHI
FESTIVAL, while the rest of the set was full of the CLAN
OF XYMOX classics we've embosomed over all those years. Starting
with Strangers as the opening song we also got the classy
Jasmine & Rose, the crooning Lousie and the
throbbing beats of There's No Tomorrow. After all, the
2009 album In Love We Trust was represented with
three tracks, including the single Emily and an unexpected
Hail Mary. The line-up of CLAN OF XYMOX was by the
way reduced to a trio, with Yankee Rose playing the guitar and
Yvonne de Ray behind the keyboards, giving CLAN OF XYMOX
a more electronic sound compared to previous years, when they
also had Mojca (who is currently taking care in building her little
family) as bassist on stage, and reflecting the rather synth-driven
sound of the last few releases.
[Sebastian]
Ever since I started listening to music there was always some
:: DE/VISION
:: and I was more than just looking forward to seeing
them again at AMPHI. The weather was good, enough people
showed up as well and the show started with Until The End Of
Time. As this was a comparatively calm way to begin with I
hoped they’d fire out something with a bit more groove now.
They did so with mAndroids seeing Steffen indulging again
with his typical way of dancing while getting the audience involved
at the same time. Right before jumping back to their own past
with Foreigner, remnant of a time of brief sonic experimentation
on the album Void, which to this day is sorely underrated
in my opinion. Fortunately Your Hands On My Skin and I
Regret didn’t share that fate and are everlasting crowd
pleasers. With Time To Be Alive followed one of the current
album’s standout tracks before the time loop took us almost
to the band’s beginnings with Try To Forget. Really
loved revisiting some of the old tracks here, united in a club-driven
set. This is me wondering when they’re going to be playing
with a full band again. So many possibilities in that approach!
[Niggels]
While thousands waited in front of the outdoor stage for Agonoize
hammering their Hellectro playback through the PA, a few hundred
people preferred to witness true art instead and headed to the
indoor stage of the Staatenhaus. The contrast truly couldn't be
bigger! Outside the masses enthralled by Agonoize's clownery full
of blood and “shock” elements exhibited to pre-recorded
Hellectro by numbers, inside actual musicians who also use electronics
to a great extent but who actually perform. No shock effects though
but I guess there couldn't be anything less appropriate for ::
IN
THE NURSERY ::, anyway. The attendance was quite
frankly disappointing but the performance hardly was. There were
a few technical hiccups but the poetic and majestic quality of
IN THE NURSERY's music came to full effect nevertheless.
Thanks to the all the various drums on stage the band also made
a great visual impact, and the marching rhythms and percussion-heavy
compositions were simply irresistible. There were also quieter
moments with tender string arrangements and when the whispery
vocals of Dolores Marguerite C perfectly conjoin with the musical
extravaganza of the Humberstone brothers. IN THE NURSERY
performed eleven tracks but many of them easily hit the 6-minute
mark. The handpicked tracks covered the last 24 years of IN
THE NURSERY, from the title track of 1988's album Compulsion
to Siren from 1994 to Transcript from the 2008 album
The Passion Of Joan Of Arc. The latest album Blind
Sound was only represented with the songs Crepuscule
and Artisans Of Civilisation, and the 1995 long-player
Scatter was also featured with two tracks, Sixth Sense
and the epic Mystere, a personal favorite and clearly a
highlight of the show. Talking about epic: This is an adjective
you would have to invent for IN THE NURSERY's hymns if
it wouldn't exist! Highly addictive music and, unfortunately,
highly underrated as well.
[Sebastian] So now we’re going to take a deep dive to the bottom of taste and music where bands and projects are gathering that attract more attention through gore and violent shows than actual musical content. That’s where :: AGONOIZE :: comes in. Some hail them as one of the leading artists of the hard electro genre. Doesn’t make the music better at all for me! But still the space in front of the main stage was as crowded as if they were giving away something for free while at the far end of the grounds inside the Staatenhaus where In The Nursery were playing the crowd was merely a handful of people, figuratively speaking. The show made a different start as usual. To the sounds of the opener Open The Gate, Chris was hanging from the ceiling, wearing a straitjacket. You’ve got at least hand it to them they’ve got a sense for what is getting people’s attention right away. The next thing you remember was a blast of booming beats coming off the PA to the next song Opus Dei and the show went on in a similar fashion with the ever same patterns in varying tempos. Surprisingly though they were keeping back with the blood this time. Suppose they’d have gotten their asses kicked if one of the cameras was getting messed up. As much as I despised the whole thing, the crowd loved it equally as much. Each to their own, but for me AGONOIZE is one of those bands, standing for everything what’s wrong with the scene. The craving for shallow bullshit! Appearance has become more important than anything of substance. For closings I just want to say one thing. This text here represents my personal opinion and not the magazine’s. If you still feel like starting a raid because you see this as an insult to your tastes, bring it on.
[Niggels]
Just a few days before the Wave Gotik Treffen 2011 it was
announced that :: DAS
ICH :: front man Stefan Ackermann fell ill but
that the show would take place anyway with some fellow singers
from other bands stepping in for Ackermann. Obviously his illness
is much worse than some might have hoped, as two months later
Ackermann still wasn't able to travel to Cologne to perform at
the AMPHI. So he was replaced again, with the Latvian singer
Vic Anselmo, The Fair Sex singer Myk Jung, and Sven Friedrich
of Dreadful Shadows and Zeraphine respectively. It was surely
a nice gesture of these three to replace Stefan Ackermann but
on the other hand no-one can replace him in DAS ICH as
Ackermann is a highly charismatic front man and his character
is so interwoven with the image and art of DAS ICH that
it's simply not the same band without him. Bruno Kramm, who placed
his keyboard rack much more to the front than usual, made a few
introductory words why Ackermann couldn't be here, and then the
show started with Das dunkle Land with Vic Anselmo on the
Microphone. Unfortunately all the occasional technical problems
over the weekend culminated in DAS ICH's performance, most
notably in non-audible microphones. Myk Jung, who did songs like
Kindgott and Gottes Tod, might have a strong voice
but without a microphone he can scream as much as he wants to,
an auditorium big as this won't hear him anyway. What a shame!
The technical problems were solved at one point thankfully but
they were not completely gone. Sven Friedrich, who sang Schwarzes
Gift, was a bit luckier and his sonorous voice fitted quite
well to the sound of DAS ICH. Despite all the problems
the atmosphere at the Staatenhaus was quite good, the crowd enjoyed
it and as the grande finale all guest singers entered the stage
to belt out Destillat, though not before Bruno Klamm asked
the audience to send some positive vibes to the diseased Ackermann.
If I was nit-picky I would say that it was anything but a perfect
performance but under such circumstances you just have to appreciate
that everybody involved tried to make the best of an awful situation.
And the audience felt that too and belted out Gib mir mein
Destillat with one voice. With Ackermann in mind truly a touching
moment. To add to the positive vibe sent to Stefan Ackermann I
will give DAS ICH ten points in every category - especially
in regard to the sound ten points are a complete lie but I don't
give a damn! Get well soon, Stefan!
[Sebastian]
Being not an outspoken supporter of the medieval music genre I
always felt fascinated by the way whose bands are mobilizing their
fans and keeping their excitement at a high level. One of the
bands standing out the most in that regard for me is ::
SALTATIO
MORTIS :: Rastlos (Restless) they started
with a dark symphony, leading into a propulsive climax with Alea
running in on stage to tumultuous applause. While not having as
many fans present as Agonoize before, those attending were still
making a lot of noise, letting their enthusiasm be heard. Tritt
ein then opened the last gate to the real party, seeing rocking
guitars flirting with medieval instruments. You’ve got to
say there’s a lot of strong musicianship in what they do
and most likely as much hard work, but on stage they’re
making it look like pure fun with the enthusiasm they’re
bringing in themselves. That’s what’s getting the
spark across and making people form an alley, closing it right
after Alea passed people with a flag or jump like mad to the beats.
Both thumbs up again for an entertaining show guys!
[Sebastian] Military harshness now was taking over at Staatenhaus with :: FEINDFLUG :: arriving at the scene. Just as so many other bands FEINDFLUG choose to walk mostly in the shadows of the stroboscopic light cascades, backed by an armada of video clips that are supposed to underscore a current song’s theme. I am all for instrumental music with a visual message, but in the case of FEINDFLUG I really never ever could get used to the way the music was made up at all. Too monotonous and thus too little diversity. As is the case very often I was in a minority. In fact so many people wanted to see FEINDFLUG and songs like AK 47, Truppenschau or Roter Schnee they closed up the hall for a while because it was simply too many people trying to get in. The band seemed to have learned from the disaster two years back when the ceiling came down during one of their shows and brought some hard hats. The even borrowed the cubes of Diorama, or so it seemed. Anyway, I tried again but the stuff really isn’t up my alley.
[Niggels]
I've seen so many :: NITZER
EBB :: shows so far that it might run the risk
of becoming a boring experience to see yet another NE gig. But
it never gets boring - not just thanks to the commanding nature
of their killer songs but also thanks to vocalist Douglas McCarthy,
who manages to turn every performance into a home run. When you
see NITZER EBB several times you start to wonder how McCarthy
is able to keep up his energy level all the time, even in cases
when NITZER EBB play to a rather lethargic crowd, as witnessed
in Dortmund a few months before the AMPHI FESTIVAL. But
when NITZER EBB meet a hungry crowd there is no way to
stop the frenzy, and the crowd at the AMPHI was hungry
indeed. Starting with the classic smasher Getting Closer
the audience was truly up for it, and even the little sound problems
during the show (which weren't as bad as during some other gigs
at the AMPHI, though) couldn't change this at all. The
first half of the show was dominated by the usual suspects that
are a bucket-load of iconic NITZER EBB stompers like Let
Your Body Learn, Hearts & Minds or Lightning Man.
In the second half there were a few more mid-tempo tracks from
NITZER EBB's most recent album Industrial Complex,
which I for one absolutely love but which cooled down the crowd
a bit. I was particularly surprised to hear I Am Undone,
a pretty gloomy and dramatic ballad which I surely didn't expect
in a festival set. After it McCarthy shouted at the crowd “Where
are you? Where are you?” as if he wanted to wake them up,
and with the first bar of the swirling sequencer sound of Murderous
hell broke loose. This 1986 single is always a winner and one
of the “big ones” in NITZER EBB's back catalogue.
McCarthy did his best to cover all of the stage, running from
one corner to the other, now screaming the key line of the song
at the crowd! “Where is the youth?” For the attendee
there were only two options: Run and safe your little ass, or
join the mosh pit. The mosh pit was of course the better option,
and during the subsequent Control I'm Here there wasn't
a single body in front of the stage which was NOT moving! With
this track NITZER EBB concluded their main set but it was
crystal-clear that an encore was indispensable. However, no-one
was prepared what was to come, and the die-hard fans got a clue
when the stage hands heaved a keyboard rack and a steelophone
onto the stage: DIE KRUPPS were to join NITZER EBB,
and when Jürgen Engler and Ralf Dörper entered the stage
with McCarthy, Harris and Payne they were welcomed with a massive
roar from the crowd. It was just the other day, after the gig
of DIE KRUPPS, when Engler, who was still impressed by
the superb feedback of the AMPHI audience, decided to perform
Machineries Of Joy with NITZER EBB the following
day. More than just a nice surprise for the fans, and truly a
highlight of the entire weekend. Even though it wasn't exactly
the best rendition of the song ever. Apparently there was a little
misunderstanding which version of the song NITZER EBB and
DIE KRUPPS were to perform together, so there were a few
hick-ups, but in the end nobody cared about that and the fans
were screaming “Lohn! Arbeit!” at the top of their
lungs and with big happy smiles in their faces when the song was
long over. A formidable end of an impressive and immensely energetic
NITZER EBB show!
[Niggels]
Wow! It's been a while since I saw ::
KIRLIAN
CAMERA :: live on stage but a fortiori the development
is quite significant. Pop and Dance entered the sonic world of
KIRLIAN CAMERA, but without giving up artistic ambition
and all the other qualities of KIRLIAN CAMERA. And Pop
becomes Elena Fossi! She knows about her sex appeal, and she's
ready to use it! From Nightglory to Heldenplatz
to K-Pax KIRLIAN CAMERA played a fine selection
of tracks, sometimes significantly updated and remixed and at
times more Techno-orientated than their old works. Teutonic beats
with sweet melodies and gloomy lyrics and Fossi's salacious, dark
eroticism, that's quite an enticing mixture. KIRLIAN CAMERA
even sneaked two cover versions into their set: Ultravox' Hymn,
which got all the darker in KIRLIAN CAMERA's rendition,
and Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb as an encore. Angelo
Bergamini, who used to be a very stoic and distanced person on
stage, rocked his socks off behind his rack - never saw this guy
moving this much! Apparently KIRLIAN CAMERA reinvented
themselves and I missed it until the AMPHI but they are
obviously happy with it, I'm happy with it, so we will meet again
at KIRLIAN CAMERA's autumn tour!
[Sebastian]
Another medieval grandmaster was going to headline the main stage
on Sunday :: SUBWAY
TO SALLY :: ! And they were bringing their pyro
show along again. And a few of those fire pillars were lighting
up again right in the beginning with the introduction. As soon
as Henkersbraut hit the crowd and Eric Fish was entering
the stage, they couldn’t hold back any longer and Feuerland
let all hesitations fall in front of the stage. Usually I’m
also all in for some action on stage but Eric’s jumping,
looked a bit - how am I putting this right? - hilarious and painful.
Couldn’t be too good for his knees, and I wasn’t the
only one seeing it that way. On Knochenschiff the audience
gave their all in screaming parts of the song’s chorus at
the top of their lungs. Even though the song Kleine Schwester
dealt with a serious topic, sexual abuse, it didn’t manage
to drag the mood down from its throne which I suppose didn’t
happen for the entirety of the show. For me it was time to say
goodbye already for Covenant were waiting at Staatenhaus.
[Sebastian]
Just as expected the hall filled up pretty quickly before
the festival’s headlining show of ::
COVENANT
:: started. When it did the excitement was all over
the place. The intro Modern Ruin sounded and the three
protagonists walked in on stage under great noise to kick the
show really off with Stalker, a track that in its new version
really kicks the hell out of the crowd, and the guys on stage
seemed to love it just as well. Bullet let follow one of
their poppier efforts, offering softer beats and melodies in abundance.
Afterwards, it was Eskil’s turn to have a little speech
before he introduced to the upcoming Judge Of My Domain
which for me is a prime example of sophisticated electronic pop
music that came off even better with Eskil being in good vocal
and physical shape, jumping around like a little child as he did
on 20Hz which is the musical manifestation of riding a
train as an observer, watching people from a distance. In some
way resembled what I just did, watching how their reaction was,
and putting it down on a sheet of paper. Just in time before we
went on a Tour De Force to dance and just let ourselves
go. Kairos as a beautiful little piece of ambient music
with vocals offered a few seconds of calm until The Beauty
And The Grace met. One of the most emotional pieces on the
new COVENANT records for me. “A thousand times I
say, a thousand times I pray for one last chance to say goodbye”.
A few more recent and older hits like Rutial Noise, Der Leiermann
or recent Lightbringer with Daniel Myer doing the main
vocals followed until the band left stage with Call The Ships
To Port. But being the last band of the evening and of the
whole festival in fact, there needs to be an encore. And so, the
band returned with Happy Man and finished off an excellent
show with highly acclaimed Dead Stars making people scream,
sing and dance along.
[Sebastian] Needless to say the whole show was but a big celebration ending the festival properly. It’s been a great festival, except for the fact that the sound hardly ever reached perfection, in some cases even abysmal and they should be taking a few more risks regarding the line-up, taking in different bands from outside the Goth mainstream. Seabound, already confirmed for the upcoming year, already is a step into the right direction. Let’s wait and see if there are some more surprises to come. |
| stories © Sebastian, Niggels, Fee • photos © Daniel, Dani |
