Apoptygma Berzerk - Aschaffenburg 2009

Music & Performance
Shortly after 9 pm, the packed Colos-Saal’s lights went off and the crowd gave the band a rapturous welcome. The audience came to dance and left no doubt about that. Stephan Groth, Geir Bratland, Fredrik Brarud and Angel performed in front of twinkling lights, as they used screens with lots of little LED-lights that displayed some lettering - a nice idea and a perfect match to the band’s appearance. Besides, there was a saturated light show, so it was a pleasure to take photos. The guys opened up the show with a friendly “Good evening Aschaffenburg” and the song ‘Weight of the World’ taken from the recent album. As far as I was able to assess it, the audience (especially the first ten rows) mainly consisted of long term fans, as many guests were dressed with tour shirts and seemed to be able to sing each and every line.



As much as I was pleased by watching the band performing many of the greatest hits, I was a bit astonished at the fact that the setlist contained only four songs from ‘Rocket Science’. Perhaps it was an indication for the band’s knowledge that especially the older stuff is still in great demand and that the musicians know the crowd’s expectations. The classics ‘Deep Red’, ‘Love never dies’, ‘Non-Stop Violence’ and ‘Mourn’ made the audience go wild, as well as the catchy ‘Shine on’ and the dance-floor anthem ‘Until the End of the World’. The setlist’s forceful midsection was alternated by the ballads ‘Butterfly Defect’ (which seemed to me a bit too trivial), ‘Love Bizarre Triangle’ (a stunning cover of the New Order-hit) and the melancholic ‘Kathy’s Song’ (in a beautiful and calm version). Accompanied by Geir’s keyboard playing, Stephan sang in a very emotive way contrary to his usual vocals.



All band members were in a good temper and interacted with the audience in an energetic and likeable way. I noticed that especially about Geir Bratland who often communicated with the fans in the first rows and - though he could not move that freely behind his keyboard - animated the audience to chant and to jump. In his capacity as the experienced front man and lead singer, Stephan exactly knew how to get the crowd’s attention and to heat it up. Always jumping and moving, it was easy for him to captivate his audience. The encore songs ‘Starsign’, ‘Non-Stop Violence’ and ‘Mourn’ invited to dance again, before the APOPTYGMA BERZERK said good-bye for good. The Norwegians left me perfectly satisfied: It was a great evening with an outstanding live show containing all my favourite songs - what more do I need?