Combichrist - Zurich 2010

Written by Janine Szakacs Wednesday, 11 August 2010 12:20

Dynamo Zurich, Switzerland
7th August 2010
Combichrist, Dismantled

First of fall I drove to Karlsruhe right after finishing my work at the office on that Friday. The venue is really far away and so I did my journey in two steps. Then, on Saturday I reached Zurich very early when the promoter at the venue weren’t ready for opening the doors. But that wasn’t really a problem. I just discovered the surrounding and had time for some sightseeing. Then I was sitting down in the cafe right opposite the concert hall. Because of my early arrival I had the chance to listen to the sound checks of both bands. The Switzerland show was the only one without the support of RABIA SORDA and at the same time the last one of the tour.

Dismantled

Gary Zon’s solo project has crossed boundaries, meshing everything from the pop to sonic attack like no other. It is a unique blend of progressive electro-pop rock. Formed in late 2000 as an experiment, the project became successful. As a result, Gary Zon is busy pursuing other projects, including the indie pop rock electro outfit AERODRONE and the female fronted Electro / Synth / Rock band NO NOT NEVER. DISMANTLED is Gary Zon (vocals), TZA (keys) and Jon Siren (drums). www.dismantled.org / www.myspace.com/dismantled

Music & Performance
DISMANTLED was THE reason for me to leave for Switzerland. I waited to see them live for almost 8 years. Gary entered the stage under military marches - wearing a gasmask. The performance held on the over the complete show and was absolutely incredible. TZA performed in such a good way… But she always took care not to steel Gary the show. The new track ‘Kill or be killed’ from the upcoming album ‘The War inside Me’ was performed as a highlight, with an awesome light show. In general, the performance was underlined with great video projections. But these projections might result certain discussions because they mentioned historic symbols like the fylfot… I noticed that some guests were appalled. Although they performed briefly and many good songs were missed - the show was worth to leave Germany for Switzerland.

Setlist
01. The Swarm
02. Get It Through
03. Kill Or Be Killed
04. The war inside me
05. Purity
06. Breed To Death
07. The Living Dead

Rating
Music 7
Performance 10
Sound 8
Light 8
Total 8.2 / 10

Combichrist

COMBICHRIST was formed in 2003 by Norwegian Andy LaPlegua (founder of the band ICON OF COIL and also known from PANZER AG). Harsh industrial beats are typical for this band. COMBICHRIST is Andy LaPlegua (vocals, lyrics, production), Joe Letz (live drums), Trevor Friedrich (live percussions) and z_marr (live keys, synths). http://www.combichrist.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/combichrist

Music & Performance
COMBICHRIST started their show with ‘All Pain Is Gone’. The venue wasn’t less filled like it was when DISMANTLED performed. I lost my place at the front, but I thought that might be good because I’ve expected a lot of pogo dancers, the way it was on the Amphi Festival.

And so it was that the spirit went over to the crowd quickly. The people were moving and dancing. But the real pogo dance was missed… Some people began it but were forced by a lot of women to stop it. 2 weeks ago I saw COMBICHRIST performing on the Amphi Festival in Cologne where they offered a high energetic show. This time they seemed to be a bit tired from all the concerts they’ve had played in a short time, but they were in a good mood, especially Andy. One highlight was the song ‘Never Surrender’ which officially was released the day before. This is the first released song from the upcoming album ‘Making Monsters’. Finally the entire venue exploded in a non violent way. The set included only 11 songs and was finished with ‘What the Fuck Is Wrong with You?’. You could read later on the band’s Facebook that they were suffering technical issues and had to shorten the set because of that…

Setlist
01. All Pain Is Gone
02. Today I Woke To The Rain Of Blood
03. Electrohead
05. Without Emotions
06. Feed the Anger
07. Get Your Body Beat
08. Blut Royale
09. Fuck That Shit
10. Never Surrender
11. What The Fuck Is Wrong With You?

Rating
Music 9
Performance 8
Sound 8
Light 6
Total 8.1 / 10