| Doors: 6.30 pm | Show: 7.30 pm | Tickets: starts at 35 EUR plus fees |

XXX. - The 30 Years Retrospective

After ten full-length albums, live recordings and DVDs, all of them of exceptional music and highest aesthetics as well as live performances that range from acoustic shows on a piano, concerts as a band with either classic instrumentation or a synthesizer park up to tours with a full orchestra, :: DEINE LAKAIEN :: surprise once again and celebrate their 30th anniversary with a unique retrospective.
DEINE LAKAIEN are about to present a cross section of their whole work in at first 7 handpicked locations, places with a history, atmosphere and brilliant sound, combined with an elaborated audio engineering, a perfectly choreographed light design and a scenic conception of the program.

Bochum’s own :: Jahrhunderthalle :: is such historic place with an astonishing sound. Exactly one year ago, on January 14, 2016, I was already able to experience venue and sound at the Steven Wilson show. It was my first show in 2016 and turned out to be one the year’s highlights. So, my expectations for tonight’s concert evening were high ;)
It was the tour kick-off to the XXX. - The 30 Years Retrospective and the venue was completely sold out! But the venue was also quite cold and drafty, despite of radiant heaters running full power all the time. The rink next door might have had more than just a minor influence to this situation. But the venue was prepared and gave out crudely icy-blue blankets :)

:: pics :: DEINE LAKAIEN ::

On time light went out and the ensemble around Ernst Horn and Alexander Veljanov entered the stage under cordial applause. DEINE LAKAIEN kicked off with songs from the early days, considering the first four albums. Immediately it got shown how it sounds when perfectionists play live. The sound was indeed brilliant, crystal clear, much differentiated yet warm and organic and downright heavy. Wow! Truly awesome! Lights of course perfectly suited the music and the single parts of the performances. Gooseflesh was given when Sabine Lutzenberger came onto stage to interpret a trio of songs from HELIUM VOLA. More surprising moments followed with The Man With The Silver Gun and The Sweet Life, both songs from VELJANOVs solo records.
Alexander Veljanov, still looking agelessly elegant, was visibly freezing on stage (as we all did in the audience), so that he started moving more and more. And he became more and more talkative as he had to bridge some technical minor issues. Due to the cold guitar strings went out of tune for example, which Veljanov commented with: “Sorry that we play real instruments…”. Though it seems that announcements are not his favorite thing ;) After more than an hour of playing time the first DEINE LAKAIEN retrospective set came to an end and the audience was released into a 20 minutes break.
Setlist: Away, Colour-ize, Gone, Lonely, Mahnung (Helium Vola), Dormi (Helium Vola), Seelig (Helium Vola), Over And Done, Where You Are, The Man With The Silver Gun (Veljanov), The Sweet Life (Veljanov), Return, Fighting The Green

The blankets were well received by the fans and the auditorium turned into an icy-blue color. The second part of the retrospective offered some surprises too. Again, Sabine Lutzenberger interpreted songs from HELIUM VOLA, the project by her and master Ernst Horn. What a stunning voice, what a charismatic performance! Gooseflesh? Of course! Many shivers were sent up and down the spine!
Many of the songs tonight were presented in a new sound design, which was way more powerful, actually hard-hitting, with driving beats and pounding drum patterns. Fans visibly started wriggling on their chairs, in strict time with the music. Yes, the crowd wanted to dance. But well… suboptimal if the venue is provided with seats.
What struck me during the show was the fact how progressive DEINE LAKAIEN are. So many opposing melodies, breaks, dissonances, atonality and changes in pace. DEINE LAKAIEN are the proggers among the Gothics ;) Or to say it more eloquent: DEINE LAKAIEN are Avant-Garde. Yes! Indeed!
Again, the ensemble had to face some minor struggles due to the cold. The synth park had its moments andthe Theremin was hardly to tame. To play the Shrutibox worked much better. Nothing that would have narrowed the listening pleasure any bit. But, as the perfectionist he is, Veljanovs displeasure couldn’t be denied.

To sum it up: It was an evening of awesomeness. It was truly fantastic and my expectations got exceeded. DEINE LAKAIEN lived up to their reputation in all aspects. First show in 2017 and definitely one of the highlights in 2017. The bar is raised high for every show to come this year ;) Let me recommend this very special DEINE LAKAIEN XXX. - The 30 Years Retrospective tour to all musical connoisseurs. Six more shows to come, go and see them, it’s worth it!

Setlist: Walk To The Moon, Contact, Where The Winds Don’t Blow, Begirlich in dem Hertzen Min (Helium Vola), Omnis Mundi Creatura (Helium Vola), Cupid’s Disease, Seraphim (Veljanov), Mein Weg (Veljanov), We Can’t Turn Back (Veljanov), Reincarnation, Dark Star // One Mind, Mind Machine, Overpaid // Pilgrim, Love Me To The End

Ensemble: Alexander Veljanov, Ernst Horn, Ivee Leon (violin, backing vocals), Tobias “b.deutung” Unterberg (cello), Slobodan Kajkut (drums, backing vocals), Goran Trajkoski (guitar, electronics, backing vocals), Katharina Garrard (violin, backing vocals), Igor Zotik (electronics, piano, sounds)

story & pics © Dajana & Dajana Winkel • Photography