MS Connexion Complex, Mannheim, Germany7th March 2020
Faderhead - “Asteria” Tour 2020 - Support: Alienare
Finally, five months after the release of the new FADERHEAD album ‘Asteria’ in October 2019, the tour was about to start in Mannheim at MS Connexion Complex. We were all curious about the setlist, to hear the new songs for the first (or second time) and just happy that the waiting time was finally over. ALIENARE are joining FADERHEAD on the complete tour that includes eight dates which are besides of Mannheim - Bischofswerda, Berlin, Hanover, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich and last but not least Bochum in May.
Alienare
ALIENARE are a Hamburg-based band, formed in 2014. The duo are T. Green (vocals and music) and T.Imo (live keys). They’ve played several shows opening for scene bands like BLUTENGEL, EISFABRIK and STONEMAN before. Their latest album is called ‘Neverland’ and was released in November 2019. This is the third album of the energetic band. The debut album is called ‘Beyond Love’ and was followed by ‘AtelophobiA’. https://www.facebook.com/ALIENARE/
Music & Performance
ALIENARE entered the stage and got it under their control immediately. They started with the opening song of the new album ‘Neverland’ - ‘Departure’ that also works well as intro - welcoming the audience for a departure to the “Neverland”. A catchy, danceable track that shows where the journey goes. Before the show someone was actually handing out neon green glowing sticks to the audience and so the audience looked really unusually green for a FADERHEAD concert. ALIENARE and especially T.Green put a lot of effort to literally warm-up the audience, requesting to sing along, dance and so on.
The song ‘Human’ was used like a hymn for everyone with the call out to, well, be more human and support each other. T.Green disappeared shortly and came back with a large banner stating “We’re just human”. ‘Move’ was also one of the songs that the audience was asked to sing along a lot, I still hear it. ‘Time Machine’ is the latest single that was released just a few days before the tour start along with a self-ironic video. To finish the slot, ALIENARE played their probably most popular song ‘#neon’ that is also known for not going away from your mind for a long while. An energetic and very motivated performance of an opening band to win the attention and also affection of new fans.
Setlist
01. Departure
02. Mission Abort
03. My Shadow
04. Pain
05. Human
06. The Colour Of My Soul
07. Something Like This
08. Move
09. Time Machine
10. #neon
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Light: 8
Sound: 7
Total: 7. 8 / 10
Faderhead
Sami Mark Yahya aka FADERHEAD has released his 10th album ‘Asteria’ in October 2019 with an epic release gig at the legendary Kulttempel in Oberhausen. I guess there is no need to introduce FADERHEAD further, from the dancefloor hymns like ‘TZDV’ to beautiful ballads like ‘Vanish’ or ‘Escape Gravity’ and all songs on the last two albums ‘Night Physics’ and ‘Asteria’ that you definitely should know - the discography is long and gives you a wide range of songs for literally every occasion. https://www.facebook.com/faderhead/
Music & Performance
The first show of a tour is always something special for the artist, the crew and the fans of course. And so when the well-known countdown started at fifteen minutes and counted down the excitement increased even more than it was already. Just on time Joel (aka Alfons and all the others names he has according to Sami) and Sami himself entered the stage for a gig with whole lot of energy. The opener ‘The Acid Witch’ already became one of my favourite songs on the new album and was the perfect song to open the release show in October. Next on to the smashers ‘Generation Black’ and ‘Fistful Of Fuck You’ - aggressive and energetic classics that belong to the shows. With ‘The Other Side Of Doom’ another new song was presented to the audience and welcomed well.
The change between the strong and powerful songs and emotional, almost fragile ballads work better than some might expect. At some point the music suddenly disappeared for a moment, a technical problem that fortunately could be fixed in just a few moments. And as if nothing happened, the FADERHEAD show went on. I appreciate so much that ‘Champagne And Real Pain’ made it into the setlist again and these live shows make it definitely even more precious and personal as it already was. My favourite surprise song this evening was ‘Baby Firefly’ - a beautiful danceable song, if I am not wrong I have never heard it live before - from the ‘Black Friday’ album. ‘No Gods, No Flags, No Bullshit’ - unfortunately never losing its relevance, but actually extremely enjoyable live.
The new single ‘From His Broken Bones’ works live as it should - vibrating, fun and engaging. Sami as always did not hesitate to get in direct contact with the audience which makes his shows so real, close and interactive. You just gotta be prepared to have a mic in front of you to shout out another phrase into it. Another song from ‘Asteria’ followed with ‘Murder’, a personal song dealing with individual decisions and changes as Sami explained. As always, the end of a show that’s so much fun and so intense, comes way too early - ‘Home Of The Creeps’ and the one that can’t be missed of course - ‘TZDV’ closed this first show of the tour making it an enjoyable evening and a promising start.
Setlist
01. Intro + The Acid Witch
02. Generation Black
03. Fistful Of Fuck You
04. The Other Side Of Doom
05. Escape Gravity
06. When The Freaks Come Out
07. Destroy Improve Rebuild
08. Know Your Darkness
09. Someone Else’s Dream
10. Champagne And Real Pain
11. Baby Firefly
12. No Gods, No Flags, No Bullshit
13. From His Broken Bones
14. Murder
15. Sick City
16. Home Of The Creeps
17. TZDV
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 9
Light: 9
Sound: 7
Total: 8.8 / 10
All Pictures by Nastja Iz
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