Tochka Club, Moscow, Russia
19th February 2011
Combichrist, Mortiis, Amnistia
‘Straight to Hell’, the title of the hit by German power metal band RAGE would be a suitable signboard at the entrance of the club that day, although “hell” in the finest sense of the word which mostly meant the crowd raving during the event. But it’s to describe everything in succession. Thus, on the 19th of February at Tochka club, Moscow there gathered three interesting mostly electronic projects promising an excellent show that was opened by AMNISTIA.
Amnistia
German EBM duo AMNISTIA was founded in 2003 but released the debut album only in 2007. This creation was appreciated by the audience and gradually the formation started gaining popularity. In 2011 the musicians are going to release a brand-new album entitled ‘Egotrap’. In Moscow the line-up was the following: Tino Claus (vocals) & Stefan Schoetz (keyboards). http://www.myspace.com/amnistia
Music & Performance
AMNISTIA isn’t too well-known in Russia, but during the performance the band managed to show itself to good advantage. Actually, the formation turned to be the most conventional comparing to the other bands and the most impatient. The musicians were so eager to meet their Russian fans that they started the set approximately 15 minutes earlier and really surprised almost everyone. In general, the concert could be characterized as highly professional and maybe, interesting yet it’s a matter of taste. Of course, the musicians communicated with the crowd which was quite big, sometimes saying “Spasibo Moskva” or something of the kind and of course, they met a warm welcome. Performed their part without a hitch, the duo left the stage and after a quick change-over, there came time for MORTIIS.
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 9
Light: 9
Total: 8.8 / 10
Mortiis
Norwegian industrial metal project MORTIIS attracts the attention not only with their music but also with the weird image. Judging by its discography the band seems to be very productive as well. MORTIIS is Mortiis (vocals), Levi Gawron (guitar), Ogee (guitar) and Chris (drums). http://www.mortiis.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/mortiis1
Music & Performance
I heard something about this band, and maybe saw their concert photos but didn’t listen to their songs actually. That’s why I had to make up leeway just at the show, which it’s not the best variant but still. So MORTIIS came to the audience in full dress but the possibility to appreciate the image didn’t last too long, because there was something strange with the light. However thanks to that sometimes the stage almost plunged into darkness with the delineated dark figures of the musicians on it, producing some mystic impression. The visual part was really good but the band also succeeded with the powerful, driving music and the crowd slowly starting going crazy. It was MORTIIS’ second visit of Russia and this time the quantity of their fans definitely increased and I guess the same happen during and just after their set. Even if it was hard to understand when one song ended and another began yet in whole it wasn’t so important. The show was just impressive and nothing else matters. But it came to an end and finally the headliner of the evening appeared.
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 8.8 / 10
Combichrist
The music of COMBICHRIST describes as aggro-tech, techno, electro-industrial and deserves all those tags. The band was founded in 2003 and by now released five full-length albums the latest of which, entitled ‘Making Monsters’ came out last summer. COMBICHRIST is Andy LaPlegua (vocals), Joe Letz (drums), Z_Marr (keyboards) and Trevor Friedrich (drums). http://www.combichrist.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/combichrist
Music & Performance
After the successful tour with RAMMSTEIN COMBICHRIST was very expected in Russia and the band didn’t keep their fans waiting. This time the musicians came with a full-length concert the very beginning of which set the venue on fire. Fortunately, I was just an outside observer and wasn’t touched by the waves of everybody’s madness. The band enjoyed the concert to the full as long as the audience. The necessary rhythm was constantly kept by two drummers, standing along the edges of the stage. The drummers also created the driving atmosphere of the show, pouring water on the drums splashing the stage. By the end of the performance Joe even gave the fans his drum to hold and continued producing beats. Such music penetrated to every cell of the body, so it was impossible to stand still and the set could be called just great yet the only thing I didn’t like about it was the abundance of obscene language, which flew from the stage and was repeated by the crowd. I don’t understand to necessity of such songs at all. In other respects the show was bright and dynamic, that was proved by two encores. 
During the first one, there were three drummers onstage as the one from MORTIIS came to support his colleagues. As usually after the gig the fans could talk to the musicians, take autograph and pictures at the after-party.
Setlist
01. Reclamation
02. Just like Me
03. Follow the Trail of Blood
04. Today I Woke to the Rain of Blood
05. Electrohead
06. Throat Full of Glass
07. Get Your Body Beat
08. Deathbed
09. Slave to Machine
10. Fuckmachine
11. Blut Royale
12. They
13. Never Surrender
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14. Scarred
15. Fuck That Shit
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16. This Shit Will Fuck You up
17. What the Fuck Is Wrong with You?
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 10
Sound: 9
Light: 7
Total: 9 / 10
All pictures by Elena Budanova
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