KFZ, Marburg, Germany
21st December 2013
Samsas Traum - Acoustic Show
On the occasion of the Christmassy concert of SAMSAS TRAUM we travelled southwards to Marburg, the hometown of Alexander Kaschte, mastermind of SAMSAS TRAUM. As we arrived early we had the chance to walk around the picturesque city, visit the Christmas market and grab something to eat before we headed to the KFZ, an alternative cultural centre, where the concert took place.
The project SAMSAS TRAUM was founded in 1996 by Alexander Kaschte. Eponym for the project’s name was the story ‘Metamorphosis’ of Franz Kafka. The music can be attached to the Dark Metal/ Symphonic Metal/ Rock genre but you can also find singer - songwriter elements. The German- language lyrics are very poetically with lots of metaphors. Most albums are concept albums with a great influence of symphonic elements and as you can find much pathos in the composition, you are often reminded of a Rock/ Metal Opera. For some albums a lot of renowned musicians and singer had their guest appearance, as there are: Susanne Stitz and Torsten Schneyer (ADVERSUS), Alexander Frank Spreng (ASP), Chris Pohl and Constance Rudert (BLUTENGEL), Max Testory and Elisabeth Kranich (CHAMBER), Johannes Berthold (ILLUMINATE), Dirk Riegert (JANUS), Martin Schindler (MANTUS), Susanne Stierle (OPHELIA'S DREAM), Celine C. Angel (SANGUIS ET CINIS), Stefan Kroll (STAUB), Michaela Pöppel (Musikschule). 
For his current album ‘Asen’ka – ein Märchen für Kinder und solche, die es warden wollen’ (Asen’ka – a fairy tale for children and those, who want to become children) Alexander Kaschte could win Liv Kristine, My Engström-Renman (HELLSONGS) and VIC ANSELMO as additional vocalists, as well as Gerrit Wolf for some bass guitar parts. To the deep regret of many fans Alexander Kaschte declared in autumn 2011 that he will not perform with his projects SAMSAS TRAUM and WEENA MORLOCH live any more but only will produce new studio albums. Therefore the concert in the Matrix Bochum in October 2011 was announced to be the farewell concert. To the great relief of the fans re-entered the stage at the Blackfield Festival 2013, performed on two following days in the Matrix Bochum again and informed the audience that he will start to tour in 2014 again. The members of the live band changed several time over the years. On this evening Alexander Kaschte performed together with Jochen Interthal (guitar), Michael Puchala (guitar), Daniel Schröder (saxophone, bass clarinet, transverse flute) and Michael ‘Cain’ Beck (drums). https://www.facebook.com/AlexanderKaschte
Music & Performance
For this acoustic performance, the stage setting was different to the usual concerts of course, with the drum set on the left side, three chairs in the middle for Michael Interthal, Alexander Kaschte and Michael Puchala and Daniel Schröder on the left side. In the background there was a kind of bar with drinks for the musicians. The venue with a capacity of approximately 250 persons was sold out. Alexander Kaschte, Michael Beck and Jochen Interthal appeared on stage for the first song and welcomed Daniel Schröder and Michael Puchala in order to go on with the next one. Alexander and his band mates showed up in a cheerful and relaxed mood and it was quite obvious that they enjoyed it very much to perform. Thus there was much interaction with the audience. Acoustic concerts are for sure something special for the atmosphere and you experience the real quality of the musicians. And on this evening Alexander proved once more that he has excellent vocal qualities, while the band made it clear to be fantastic and passionate musicians, especially when they performed a spontaneous Free Jazz interlude. 
As the crowd appeared to be a bit too static at the beginning, Alexander asked the people to dance despite the quite narrow place and broke the spell with this invitation. Of course we haven’t had to miss the ‘Zebra’ song and the whole audience sang the complete song with the band. If you have already seen some of SAMSAS TRAUM shows you already know that it’s not only a concert where one song after the other is played, but with a lot of entertainment between the songs. Alexander does not only announce the next song, or tell the audience how he came up to write the following song, but tells some anecdotes or communicates with the audience which often leads to quite amusing situations. Being asked by a fan where the seats are (the concert was announced to be partly seated) he answered that the seats were cancelled so that he could sell 50 more tickets and the ‘shitty’ ticket of the questioner was one of it. We learnt about a fan who hates Alexander Kaschte so much that she sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night just because of her hate. Knowing who of his hard-core fans were in the audience, he addressed directly to them and one fan was invited to come up the stage, in order to receive a goblet, as Alexander declared him to be an honorary fan. 
We have been presented a fantastic mixture of old and new songs, two songs from Alexander Kaschte’s side project WEENA MORLOCH, as well as two cover versions of his favourite songs. The song ‘Ein Foetus wie Du’ (A foetus like you) was announced to be performed this time in Country Rock style and the audience was invited to dance the ‘Cuddle wall of Death’. Therefore they were asked to make space in the middle of the venue so that there is room for this dancing. So there was much fun and laughter amongst the audience. Surely Alexander Kaschte, with his ambivalent attitude towards people, is not everybody’s darling and it is apparently not his aim to be so, but in my opinion he is a brilliant musician and his concerts are quality and entertainment at its best. After the concert the fans had the chance to talk with him and his band mates, get autographs or photos with them. And those who had not to leave early took their chance to visit a pub with the band in order to have a drink and a nice relaxed chat.
Setlist
01.Sag das Zauberwort
02. Der Junge lebt im Brunnen
03. Für immer
04. Das Mädchen aus dem Inneren des Ketten.Karussells
05. Igel im Nebel
06. Liebeslied
07. Heiliges Herz
08. Ich wünsch mir, daß das Zebra schweigt
09. Versprochen (Weena Morloch)
10. Stromausfall im Herzspital
11. Attentat (Weena Morloch)
12. Schenk mir deine Flügel
13. Dein schönster Augenblick
14. Endstation Eden
15. Dort oben sterben Tiere
16. Die Zärtlichkeit der Verdammten
17. Fall apart (Death In June cover)
18. Barfuss
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19. Flight of Icarus (Iron Maiden cover)
20. Ein Foetus wie Du
21. Spontaneous Free Jazz improvisation
22. Kugel im Gesicht
23. Tineoidea
Rating
Music: 9.5
Performance: 9.5
Sound: 9
Light: 8
Total: 9.5 / 10
All pictures by morTICIA
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