If not attending them itself, there is one great thing with summer festivals: you can catch and enjoy the bands between the weekends at cosy and extended club shows. That gets even better when we talk about bands that rarely tour and only come over for a string of festival appearances. FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY is such band I saw last time in 2010 (exactly at same circumstances). Yep, it is about time again, especially as the EBM veterans have released a new and great record called Echogenetic…

:: pics ::

This Sunday is actually filled with a lot of music events around (festivals and shows), but luckily not related to the bands here at • Zentrum Altenberg • in Oberhausen, Germany, and so quite many fans demand entry. Doors open with a half hour delay due to soundcheck problems, but no one cares as we can enjoy this wonderful summer Sunday evening a little bit longer ;)

Kicking off is :: IVARDENSPHERE ::, a Canadian band I have never heard of before and which wasn’t announced either. In fact there was only mainman Scott Fox showing up on stage, delivering a 30 minutes solo set of atmospheric Tribal and Electro sounds as well as Techno beats. First ones I liked much more. At the end it seemed as if organizers would had pulled the plug due to the time schedule… well, was probably just a technical problem instead... Was not a bad show but nothing spectacular either.

Next up is :: HAUJOBB :: who got warmly welcomed when its members Daniel, Dejan and Manuel entered the stage. I think I have seen them only once so far and was quite impressed tonight by their great performance. Especially mastermind and fronter Daniel Myer appeared to me downright likeable.
Unfortunately the stage was bathed in smoke, accompanied by bad lights. Well… Musically HAUJOBB took us on a journey through their history playing songs from their early albums Freeze Frame Reality and Vertical Theory as well as from the current full-length New World March. I really like their unique blend of styles and genres, especially when it comes to a Trip Rock- and Trance-like atmosphere. For tonight’s show supporting FLA I wish they would have performed the songs with a crispier and more danceable approach. Though a great show! And I feel the need to see some certain CDs finding its way into my collection ;)
Setlist: Machine Drum, Let's Drop Bombs, Renegades Of Noize, Anti/Matter, Crossfire, Dream Aid, The Noise Institute, Dead Market

Right after it though gets clear for whom most of the fans took the ride. Hardly a fag break later people rush in and push strongly towards the stage to adore :: FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY :: And of course the Canadians start with Resonance from the new record, which is the perfect intro to build up atmosphere (and only here the smoke worked fine). FLA actually play half of the new album during this set. Bill Leeb once again looks totally disheveled and knackered but seemed to be in high spirit. He visibly had fun and acted much lively. If you could see him doing so… as the smoke machine was working at maximum volume. Lights of course went even worse; sometimes you not even could see shadows… A bunch of drunken fans did not make work easier. Well, best thing to do is to put the cam away and to enjoy the music ;) And FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY truly rocked the stage and made us sweat, granting two encores afterwards. Great show! Great evening!
Setlist: Resonance, Final Impact, Neologic Spasm, Killing Grounds, Blood, Surface Patterns, Plasticity, Lose, Deadened, Exhale, Shifting Through The Lens, Mental Distortion // Ghost, Millenium // Mindphaser