| Doors: 7 pm | Show: 8 pm | Tickets: 32.00 EUR plus fees |

One might state, LAIBACH are always good for a surprise. If you deal closer with them, you might figure out that some topics are predestinated for a LAIBACH project, if not even inevitable. The Slovenes see themselves as a multidisciplinary collective, a total work of art that gets involved musically as well as philosophical, cultural and political. And they always do it the challenging way, the one that takes balls. You know, China, Russia or Cuba… is for everybody - LAIBACH went to North Korea to play live there. A happening that made headlines around the world and was hotly discussed.

Now, LAIBACH addressed themselves to Nitzsche and his philosophical novel Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None (Also Sprach Zarathustra). And that doesn’t come out of the blue. Of course, there are other disputatious philosophers, but none of them is so “multidisciplinary” as Nietzsche is, and as LAIBACH is too. I’d say, a perfect match and an inevitable gathering ;)
The music for Also Sprach Zarathustra was originally written for the Anton Podbevšek Theatre in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, and produced by Matja Berger. That you can’t expect something in the veins of Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler, should be a clear fact. That LAIBACH would make this project happen with unique aesthetics, as well. Here, hymn-like pathos meets minimalist and fragmented Neoclassic.

:: pics :: LAIBACH ::

It speaks for itself that :: LAIBACH :: don’t leave such production on one theater stage only. The release of Also Sprach Zarathustra in July is now followed by a European tour, mostly at special locations. And one of those was the :: Christ Church Bochum ::, a place the band is familiar with already. And it couldn’t have been a better place, in several respects ;)
When I arrived, a huge line curled around the church, and though, the show wasn’t sold out. The last pews were still free. However, my expectations were high and I was very curious how LAIBACH would bring Zarathustra live on stage.

Until the beginning of the show, Von den drei Verwandlungen was played as an intro on permanent rotation. 15 Minutes after 8pm, the intro started to crescendo and burst into Ein Untergang. A stunning light show and fantastic video sequences transmuted the church walls into a lively organism that almost condemned the band to negligibility.
The minimalist sound, scraps of singing, the deep-sonorous and portentous voice of Milan Fras, lights, videos… everything had a meaning. Everything was kind of a statement, a contrast or subtle irony. The blood-red glittering coat of Milan, the ritual of sharpening his knives at Ein Verkündiger, or the angel-like appearance of the wonderful Mina Špiler during Vor Sonnen-Aufgang. All that was interwoven to a visual and audible force and a unique atmosphere. Dense and intensive. Definitely an experience for all senses!

LAIBACH first played most of the songs from the new album, Also Sprach Zarathustra. Just in a different order. Then they seamlessly switched over to old material, transformed and interpreted in the new context and concept. It was indeed truly stunning!
I actually have to go back to the desk to deal much closer with LAIBACH and Nitzsche and then I have to attend another show of this tour to fully grasp all the details and undertones. Preferably played with a full orchestra at a very special place. Oh damn… it already happened! LAIBACH premiered the new album/theater with an orchestra in May at the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb. Seems, I’m too late. The tour is over too. Damn… I want more! Please.
This was for sure a breathtaking and remarkable show! An evening of awesomeness!

Setlist: Von den drei Verwandlungen (Intro), Ein Untergang, Ein Verkündiger, Von Gipfel zu Gipfel, Das Glück, Die Unschuld II, Das Nachtlied II, Das Nachtlied I, Als Geist, Vor Sonnen-Aufgang, Parnassus, Cold Song, Antisemitism, Brat Moj, Hell: Symmetry, Le Privilège des Morts, Ti Ki Izzivas, Wirtschaft ist tot // Bossanova, See That My Grave Is Kept Clean

story & pics © Dajana & Dajana Winkel • Photography