Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - De/Vision

Details: Written by: Daniela Vorndran; Published: 12 May 2010

Essigfabrik, Cologne, Germany
11th May 2010
De/Vision, Tenek, X-Divide

The show two days ago would have fit much better distance-wise, but well, I was not in the country and so, the only chance to see DE/VISION on their current tour was this show in Cologne. And the show was well worth the long ride with its traffic jams…

X-Divide

The name X-DIVIDE spooks around in the scene for a while now. The duo that consists of Eric and Jens, who both have experiences with the music business already, was founded in 2005 and recorded their first song some time in the same year! Following up their first live experiences, a promotional EP was recorded in collaboration with Vasi Vallis of FROZEN PLASMA & REAPER which entered the German Alternative Charts at the time. It supposedly was that fact that roused the attention of Infacted Recordings who went on to sign X-DIVIDE. The band’s first release is the EP ‘X’ and was out on 12th February. The duo is also working on their yet untitled full-length slated for a 2010 release as well. X-DIVIDE is Eric (vocals, programming, synths), Jens (second vocals, synths, lyrics). http://www.x-divide.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/x-divide

Music & Performance
X-DIVIDE took over the first support slot on very short notice since originally planned INTUITION had to cancel the tour just a few days before. Sharp at 8:00, Jens and Eric entered the stage starting off with the NamNamBulu Mix of ‘Sympathy’. Afterwards, Jens welcomed the still a little restrained audience in his very likable manner. It was not the last announcement he made in his Cologne dialect during the show earning several laughs in the course of the set. The show itself was not as vivid as I knew it from concerts before. Especially Eric seemed being a bit tense this time. He even forgot part of the lyrics during the last song ‘Forever’. Anyway, it was very nice to help out and friendly applause at the end of the show proved that the audience had the same thoughts.

Setlist
01. Sympathy (NamNamBulu Mix)
02. My Love is guaranteed
03. Sometimes
04. So in Love
05. Now or Never (NamNamBulu Cover)
06. Forever

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 6
Sound: 8
Light: 5
Total: 6.6 / 10

Tenek

TENEK is the project of Geoff Pickney; some might know him as live keyboardist from MESH, and Peter Steer. Their first release was a limited edition EP of 200 copies put out in September 2007 which is now sold-out but still available digitally through the web shop of their record label. Both of the preceding singles to the album ‘Where’s the Time?’ and ‘Submission’ have been very well recognized in the UK and beyond making the band known to a wider audience. TENEK’s live credit already include a support slot for THE HUMAN LEAGUE and just a few months ago in April they had a tremendous European debut show in German at the Pluswelt Festival. Their first album is going by the name of ‘Stateless’, which hit stores on 20th March 2009. The new album is currently being worked on. TENEK are Geoff Pinckney (vocals, programming, synths & bass) and Peter Steer (vocals, guitar, bass, synths & programming). http://www.myspace.com/tenekuk

Music & Performance
I was looking forward a lot seeing TENEK again since I quite liked the show of Geoff and Peter during their appearance at the Pluswelt festival last year. The evening’s set of nine songs started with ‘I don’t Cry (For you)’ from the debut album ‘Stateless’ presenting Pete on guitar. With their catchy Synth-Pop - and yes, you really could hear that Geoff is also a member of MESH - they had the audience immediately in their hands and you could spot lots of people dancing or singing along. Some minor technical problems, to be exact the microphone of Geoff did not work anymore and had to be replaced, did not decrease the good concert impression. With ‘Losing Something’, we even got to listen to some new song to be released on the upcoming record the band is currently working on. ‘No time for fighting’, released on the Major Records compilation ‘Orbit Electro’, closed the set.

Setlist
01. I don’t Cry (For you)
02. If I should Fall
03. Higher Ground
04. Submission
05. Losing Something (neu)
06. Where’s the Time?
07. Stateless
08. Blinded by You
09. No Time for Fighting

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 7.5 / 10

De/Vision

DE/VISION are making music for almost 20 years now and belong to the leading representatives in the synth-pop genre. Their style constantly evolved during that large time-span. First it was just ordinary synth pop, but soon they started to integrate new elements into their sound which culminated up in the release of 'Void' in 2000 which was a very unusual DE/VISION release. It was upon that time, that founding member Markus left the band. Steffen and Thomas continued with the band and returned to their old strengths wit the release of the album 'Two' in 2001. The most recent album is called 'NOOB' and is the first album, where DE/VISION equally collaborated with their producers Schumann & Bach. The next still untitled album the band is working on right now will be a continuation of that collaboration. DE/VISION is Steffen Keth (vocals, synth, composing) and Thomas Adam (synths, backing vocals, lyrics). http://www.devision-music.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/devisionmusic

Music & Performance
Finally it was time for the third duo during the evening, DE/VISION. During the intro presenting some typical sounds out off the song ‘Rage’, Thomas and Steffen entered the stage and were welcomed by huge applause, just to start off with ‘Until the End of Time’ from their current album ‘Popgefahr’. With ‘mAndroids’ and ‘Plastic Heart’, two more songs out off the latest release followed before the band went back in time to present some of their biggest hits. The ballad ‘Aimee’ was soft and heart-warming; ‘Strange Affection’ and ‘Try to Forget’ were as always fan favourites where people were dancing, singing and extensively clapping. Accompanied with a very moody light show, DE/VISION moved on again towards the current album with ‘What’s Love all about’, ‘Ready to Die’ and ‘Flash of Life’. After the hits ‘I Regret’ and ‘Your Hands on my Skin’, the main set finished with the new song ‘Twisted Story’.

As you might have expected, this was long not enough for the people in front of stage. DE/VISION had to come back twice. First encore started with the latest single out off ‘Popgefahr’, ‘Rage’, and people were loudly singing along. The band left again after ‘Time to be Alive’ just to come back for two more songs. After ‘Flavour of the Week’, calm ‘Be a Light to Yourself’ ended the show and if you have a look at the setlist, you’ll see that all ten songs on ‘Popgefahr’ have been played. No chance to clap for another song after Thomas and Steffen left the stage since immediately lights and music from CD went on. After the show, Thomas told me that he had a lot of fun during the show even though they had bigger crowds during the tour. And I can only agree: it was a fantastic show and I had a lot of fun too. I think most attendees thought the same.

Setlist
01. Intro + Until the End of Time
02. mAndroids
03. Plastic Heart
04. Today’s Life
05. Aimee
06. Digital Dream
07. Strange Affection
08. What you deserve
09. Try to Forget
10. What’s Love all about
11. Ready to Die
12. Flash of Life
13. I Regret
14. Your Hands on my Skin
15. Twisted Story
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16. Rage
17. I’m not enough
18. Time to be Alive
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19. Flavour of the Week
20. Be a Light to Yourself

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 9
Total: 8.5 / 10