| Doors: 6.30 pm | Show: 7.30 pm | Tickets: 20.00 Euro + fees |

[BRT] Year after year, British Post Rock collective CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX travels across Europe and often enough brings excellent support bands sharing the stage with them. Though, I often fear a certain “too much” when it comes to CBP. Too many and too long records released in a too little while and an overpowering presence live on stage. Yes, their live shows so far were always fantastic but especially on sound recording medium, some signs of wear cannot be denied.
This year I have to admit, I find the support bands more exciting than the headliner. Great choice! Chapeau!

[Dajana] Nope, I do not fully agree. A new record demands a tour. That is common business. I personally would love to see CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX every year. The last show the NH crew attended was actually in 2016. Overpowering presence? No way!
Though, BRTs words have some truth in it. CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX have a high output of record releases and not every piece of music is fully worked out. But it is also a matter of the music industry we live in, especially when you are an artist that needs or want to make a living from it. So far, I did not know any of the support bands, have even never heard of them before. So, I was extremely excited to discover new music. I really love that!

[Dajana] Cologne. Again. 5 days ago. Yesterday. Today. After the disaster one month ago, we (almost) did everything right this time. Only one wrong turn, and - thank to Cologne’s one-way-system - an extra sightseeing tour around the city. We though arrived early enough at the :: Luxor ::. It was difficult to preestimate how many concertgoers would attend tonight, as the clientele would be already on the way towards the Roadburn festival (where this tour trek would finish tomorrow). During the FOTOCRIME show the number of fans was rather clear but not seen due to the wall of smoke. When CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX entered the stage, the Luxor was packed.

:: pics :: FOTOCRIME ::

[BRT] Mr. Ryan Pattern has already released great records with his former band Coliseum. His new playground is :: FOTOCRIME ::, a band that is much more into Post Punk and Wave compared to the Punk/Hardcore-driven Coliseum. He wanted to do this European tour at all costs so he did it all alone. A man and his guitar, his synthesizer and Mother, his drum computer.
I was skeptical at first, since electronic duos and trios can already get boring quickly live on stage, when its protagonists stand like nailed behind their instruments and only twist knobs. And now a one-man-show? Well… I was far wrong! Mr. Patterson has huge charisma, a coolness factor of 1000 and the most dust-dry dance moves one can do while playing guitar and synths. In addition, there was an extreme wall of smoke and only blue lights and/or stroboscopes = a bloody cool light show too. That is the way how an artist can captivate its audience all alone. But this gentleman not only offered us the coolest show ever, he also served a bunch of excellent tracks that sounded live even groovier than on CD. My faves: Always Hell from the eponymous EP and the grower Confusing World.
This was an awesome and surprising show! I hope see FOTOCRIME return to European shores anytime soon.

[Dajana] I think it is crazy to do a very first European tour all alone. Hailing from Louisville, KY, FOTOCRIME is actually a trio, consisting of Shelley Anderson and Nick Thieneman next to Ryan Patterson. But the risk paid off, because especially FOTOCRIME gained a lot new fans tonight and probably during the entire tour. Me included. As for that let me instantly and strongly recommend the debut album, Principle Of Pain, which was released in May 2018.
Yes, indeed, that was an extremely great performance. I’m blown away!

Setlist: Love In A Dark Time, Always Hell, Don't Pity The Young, Duplicate Days, Chaos In Cosmos, Autonoir, Gods In The Dark, Hold Me In The Night, Plate Glass Eyes, Confusing World, Nadia (Last Year's Men)

:: pics :: SOFT KILL ::

[BRT] The smoke remained and the light turned red…
[Dajana] Light? What light? The line should be read like this: The smoke became thicker and swallowed the (red and pinky) lights almost completely.
[BRT] The :: SOFT KILL :: guys looked like a British Punk Rock band but actually hail from Portland, Oregon and played their brand of Post Punk much more guitar-driven than I expected.
The songs had energy and a lot of dynamics but also mesmerizingly psychedelic elements that captivated. Besides, SOFT KILL are miles away from the narcissism of common Gothic/Wave bands. SOFT KILL play urban and filthy music yet surprisingly catchy without any cheesy attitudes. Again I was stunned. Another great performance. The guys were just lacking a bit of the coolness of a Mr. Patterson.

[Dajana] I could have sworn that those guys come from the deepest industrial area in England. Their look, the dust-dry black humor and the blurred language. But well, then Portland, Oregon :)
SOFT KILL are already around for 10 years and have released quite a bunch of good music. The latest record is called Savior and was also released in May 2018. Here, the former trio has grown to a four-piece.
Smoke and the absence of light perfectly suited the mood and the dark music (but not my photographic sentiments). Introversion is quite a good characteristic to describe them. Great show, just way too short. Shorter than Fotocrime anyway.

Band: Tobias Grave (vocals/guitar/synths), Conrad Vollmer (guitar), Owen Glendower (bass), Adam Bulgasem (drums).

Setlist: Hit The Floor, Wanting War, Wake Up, Bunny Room, Savior, Do You Feel Nothing?, Dancing On Glass, Heresy

:: pics :: CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX ::

[BRT] My concerns regarding :: CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX :: seemed to come true. The band had difficulties to get going. Sound was bad, first songs were played bumpy and the singing of Daniel and Belinda was off-key. But Justin Graves and his mates managed to change everything for the better after two, three songs. It surely was a solid show but none that exactly kicked me out of my socks. Too strong the support bands have been with a bar raised high. But when you are able to finish a set with such epic masterpiece as Burnt Reynolds is, you have not done anything wrong. CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX still are and always will be a great (live) band but I wish that especially their records would be more compact.

[Dajana] Yes, true. The band had teething troubles. But since it was the last official show after a long tour-ride I would like to address those difficulties to the band’s exhaustion and tiredness. And the stage at the Luxor was pretty small for an 8-head band.
However, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX emended and things went on ok. The band was in best mood, laughing and joking. Tired but smiling faces everywhere. Actually, not every face was familiar to me. Ben Wilsker was not there, neither was Jonas Stålhammar. Ok, he probably was already at the Roadburn Festival his other band, At The Gates, was curating. Tom Greenway was missing too, he got replaced by Fotocrime’s Ryan Patterson.
I really liked tonight’s setlist. (Not so much surprising) Many tracks from the new album Great Escape were played, but also the nearly 20 minutes monolithic cover version of Echoes. Likewise awesome the Swans cover The Golden Boy.
Since it was the last show, many jokes and pranks were played. Every band got teased and at the end, during the monumental Burnt Reynolds, the entire tour entourage was rocking the stage. What a hullabaloo! I say: A splendid grand final! And of course some vinyl needed to be sacked.

Band: Justin Greaves, Daniel Änghede, Mark Furnevall, Helen Stanley, Belinda Kordic + Ryan Patterson (bass), Gaspar (drums), Andy (git)

Setlist: You Brought It Upon Yourselves (Intro), To You I Give, No Fun, Champions Of Disturbance, Caring Breeds The Horror/Poznan, Rain Black Reign Heavy, Nebulas, Great Escape Pt.1, You Take The Devil Out Of Me, The Golden Boy That Was Swallowed By The Sea (Swans cover), Fantastic Justice, We Forgotten Who We Are, Echoes (Pink Floyd cover) // Burnt Reynolds

[BRT] Great concert evening that perfectly matched Cologne’s Luxor. Winner of the day: FOTOCRIME.
[Dajana] Yeah! Agreed! Fantastic night out. That we fell for FOTOCRIME should be clear by now ;) Only Cologne itself sucked again…

story © BRT & Dajana • pics © Dajana & Dajana Winkel • Photography