Rotersand - Cologne 2010

When I arrived at the venue there was no one standing there even though admission had begun already and the room inside where the show would be taking place was almost empty as well. Well, people would come. I was sure of that as ROTERSAND always were an audience magnet.


Modcom

MODCOM is the solo-project of Ronan Harris well known for VNV NATION. The project made its debut on the Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig in 2006.The sound of this project is created with modular synthesizers and analogue sequencers for live sound creation. All the manipulation and processing to the sound is done live which is rather unusual today but was very common in the 70s. http://www.modcom.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/modcom



Music & Performance
To say the venue was even quarter-filled would be the understatement of the century. Two hands full of people at best gathered up in front of the stage for Ronan Harris's mostly instrumental performance. No vintage synth gear on board this time, but also with just a Macintosh computer he created the force of an entire armada, which made some people dance at least. The set only lasted a few songs, at least it felt like that, before the little man headed off stage again already. But he would be coming back later on...

Rating
Music: 5
Performance: 5
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 5.45 / 10




Rotersand

ROTERSAND is a German Electro band the producer Gun and the THE FAIR SEX-member Rasc formed in 2002. They had met due their collaborations on various projects and then emerged the band’s sound by connecting brute beats to playful electronic sounds. While being on “Legends United Tour” in 2002, they were completed by the Techno producer Krischan E. Wesenberg who became the third man of ROTERSAND. In 2003, the threesome released the EP `Merging Oceans´ that straight entered the German Alternative Charts. Meanwhile, ROTERSAND can look back on three successful albums and many live performances that attracted a big following. http://www.myspace.com/rotersand / http://www.rotersand.net/



Music & Performance
More people had arrived by now and formed an acceptable crowd, still it wasn't as much as I'd have expected. Anyway, that wouldn't turn out being a problem for the band and especially for Rasc who was in a markedly good mood while 'Bastards Screaming' built up more and more to a club hurricane with him joyfully dancing over the little stage. The next song sent out an 'Electronic World Transmission' to the crowd that understood right away and started some dancing. However, it still wasn't enough for Rasc and he started hyping up the audience while keeping true to the vocal melodies. Very cool I have to say. Following that one up was a song from the new album 'Random is Resistance' and according to Rasc his favourite song. It was 'Waiting to be Born' and indeed that song had plenty of qualities like the dense atmosphere to fall in love with.



Another new song followed with 'Speak To Me' after the highly acclaimed and celebrated 'Almost Violent'. The menacing mood, combined with the hard club beats went straight into the legs of the people. Nevertheless, it was time for the famous dance control when 'Dare To Live' emerged on the horizon. Several people passed it right away and others were given some advice on how to do it better. One of the evening's highlights for me was 'We Will Kill Them All' with its mournful piano sounds, and the atrocities of war as backdrop. It couldn't have been more intense. But if I had to pick one specific point where the show reached a pinnacle, it was ROTERSAND's beginning 'Merging Oceans' to which Ronan Harris returned on stage and shared vocal duties with Rasc, and together they set the crowd on fire. An amazing surprise and one that literally pushed the mood off the scale.



But before that song started we could witness an interesting conversation about the reason of Ronan being at the Amphi Festival. Ronan simply answered to Rasc that he'll be selling popcorn; "Roni's Popcorn" to be precise. I'd really love to see that really happen, only to see peoples faces. All good things must come to an end some time. In the case of ROTERSAND that wasn't so soon as the audience wanted them back on stage swiftly after 'War on Error' ended the set. They insisted on it and the band followed the wish and presented another "eye candy" with Rasc wearing a pink feather boa for most of that encore. A funny detail. Even after the final act 'Exterminate Annihilate Destroy' the audience was so full of enthusiasm they wanted more, and for one last time the band came back with a piano version of 'Undone'. I did expect a good show, but it became even better than I thought and a successful end of the little tour it was worth travelling to Cologne for.



Setlist
01. Bastards Screaming
02. Electronic World Transmission
03. Waiting To Be Born
04. Almost Violent
05. Speak To Me
06. Dare To Live
07. We Will Kill Them All
08. First Time
09. Lifelight
10. Merging Oceans
11. Lost
12. War on Error
----
13. Beneath The Stars
14. I Cry
15. Exterminate Annihilate Destroy
----
16. Undone (Piano)

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 8.4 / 10




All pictures by Marcus Nathofer from the show in Bochum
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