Christuskirche, Bochum, Germany24th November 2018
Peter Murphy - “40 years of Bauhaus” feat. David J - Support: Desert Mountain Tribe
Nostalgia, the original and a lot of distorted pictures, that’s what attracts the visitors tonight to the Christuskirche in celebration of 40 years of BAUHAUS. What happened exactly 40 years ago and how a band has launched a whole movement is just lore and gets tangled here and there with eerie and dark undertones. But since nostalgia is always something personal, many who have experienced the past cannot say objectively what has finally led to everything.
Desert Mountain Tribe
Rock music flows through DESERT MOUNTAIN TRIBE’s veins. It may not be irrelevant that two of the three boys are brothers, the music is simply in their genes. For this passion, Philipp (bass) and Felix Jahn (drums) even emigrated from Germany to London to found the band DESERT MOUNTAIN TRIBE together with singer and guitarist Jonty Balls. Since the end of 2012, the band has been making the city’s cultural underground unsafe and have already convinced a large number of fans. The brothers have gathered experience in previous projects and gathered together making their way as an accomplished rhythm section in the band. Today though, the brothers are not longer part of the band anymore. Now, the band consists of Jonty Balls on guitar and vocals, Matthew Holt on bass guitar and Frank van der Ploeg on drums. http://www.desertmountaintribe.com / https://www.facebook.com/desertmountaintribe
Music & Performance
DESERT MOUNTAIN TRIBE caused a sensation in the English music scene as they delivered an impressive work with their first album. Live they play a kind of seventies Psychedelic Rock but it seems too strained to really expand the awareness. The overly loud sound did not help to convey the mood of the band well. I later listened to their latest album which certainly appeals to friends of this music. For this evening unfortunately this was not the perfect opener to prepare the audience well for BAUHAUS. I noticed that many of the attendees thought the band was great and that maybe DESERT MOUNTAIN TRIBE just caught me on the wrong foot. I will give them another chance in future.
Setlist
01. Heaven and Hell
02. Runway
03. Take A Ride
04. Leave It Behind
05. Circles
06. Hitzefrei
07. Coming Down
08. Way Down
09. The King
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7.2 / 10
Bauhaus
The “Godfather of Goth” returns to the stage and gives an overview of 40 years BAUHAUS and thus also the history of a subculture. When the four art students Peter Murphy, Daniel Ash, David J and Kevin Haskins founded a band in 1978, the dimensions were not to be foreseen. They influenced people, music, movies and even comics. With ‘Bela Lugosi’s Dead’, BAUHAUS succeeded in creating a masterpiece of musical and content sophistication that earned them positive reviews and a place in the British Post-Punk culture. Peter Murphy and David J return to the stage for the 40th anniversary of BAUHAUS and show with their “Ruby Celebration” that death-belied ones like Bela Lugosi live longer. For the “40 years of BAUHAUS” tour, Peter Murphy and David J were supported by Mark Gemini Thwaite on guitar and Marc Slutsky on drums. http://www.petermurphy.info / https://www.facebook.com/petermurphyinfo
Music & Performance
The first song of the evening is ‘Double Dare’ and it is also the first song on the first album, ‘In the Flat Field’. So the “Ruby Celebration” starts at the very beginning. From the very first minute, the sound, the riffs and the lyrics transport the audience back to a time in which many memories were made. Cold shivers are not only running down my spine but anyone else in the church is touched. The second song is ‘In the Flat Field’ and the first one realizes that the album of the same name will be played here in full length. Although Peter Murphy has grown older, he looks, full bearded and with colour on his face, better than ever. He walks across the stage, dances like a bat with outstretched arms in which he holds his jacket, and looks evil and theatrical into the audience. He is living his life’s work today and can be quite proud of what he has created with his bandmates. David J Haskins stands on the left side of the stage and plays with sunglasses in a sovereignty and serenity as if he had not noticed the audience in front of him. Deep in the darkness of the stage, a beacon of emotion emerges.
After the ridicule in the first and the drama in the second song now the thoughtful ‘A God In An Alcove’ is in line. Followed by ‘Dive’ and ‘The Spy In The Cab’ and we have reached the end of the first page of the record. It continues with ‘Small Talk Stinks’ and then the invitation to the audience to dance with ‘St. Vitus Dance ‘. But the dark journey of discovery continues with two more songs and after ‘Stigmata Martyr’, some of the visitors stay there with their eyes closed and hear the sounds of ‘Nerves’. The album is thus played and leaves only enthusiasm. Luckily, there’s more than just an album and the upcoming discussion of what’s coming now is interrupted by the sounds of ‘King Volcano’ which is being followed by ‘Kingdom’s coming’. The classic ‘Burning From The Inside’ starts with the booming guitar and is continued with a skilful version of the song ‘Silent Hedges’. The purple eyes look down from the stage with a heart-breaking sadness. The song looks more like a work of art than a “simple song”.
The foundation for everything that should come, the first song ever recorded by BAUHAUS, ‘Bela Lugosi ‘s Dead’, is rewarded with standing ovations. The song sounds different as on the known recordings. It seems adult but still provides the same effect. ‘She’s in Parties’ then picks up the last ones from the hard pews. The melody fits into the picture, and gives the song another nuance of modernity. The show continues with ‘Adrenaline’ from the last BAUHAUS album, followed by the three successes ‘Kick In The Eye’, ‘The Passion Of Lovers’, which brought the audience in the state of general ecstasy and ends the official part of the concert. But the applause brings the band back to the stage. Luckily, otherwise we would have missed the covers of DEAD CAN DANCE and David Bowie. ‘Ziggy Stardust’ as last song starts after a short break with an a-capella introduction and completes the evening. So anything finishes perfectly what has started perfectly.
The mood and the lyrics are just as good today as in the 80s. Although the topics changed, the problem remains the same and the music thus timeless. ‘In The Flat Field’ was an album that was infected everywhere. Due to the current breadth of music, the music of BAUHAUS unfortunately disappears in the radio songs of the “easy-to-entertain-not-thinkers”. With minimalism and sensitivity to sounds, BAUHAUS have packed an intensity into their songs that one has to open up to in order not to be beaten backwards.
Setlist
01. Double Dare (Bauhaus song)
02. In the Flat Field (Bauhaus song)
03. A God in an Alcove (Bauhaus song)
04. Dive (Bauhaus song)
05. Spy in the Cab (Bauhaus song)
06. Small Talk Stinks (Bauhaus song)
07. St. Vitus Dance (Bauhaus song)
08. Stigmata Martyr (Bauhaus song)
09. Nerves (Bauhaus song)
10. King Volcano (Bauhaus song)
11. Kingdom’s coming (Bauhaus song)
12. Burning from the Inside (Bauhaus song)
13. Silent Hedges (Bauhaus song) -
14. Bela Lugosi’s Dead (Bauhaus song)
15. She’s in Parties (Bauhaus song)
16. Adrenalin (Bauhaus song)
17. The Passion of Lovers (Bauhaus song)
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18. The Three Shadows Part II (Bauhaus)
19. Severence (Dead Can Dance Cover)
20. Ziggy Stardust (Bowie)
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 9
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7.8 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
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