Wuhlheide, Berlin, Germany
7th August 2011
Unheilig, Livingston, Mina Harker, Burn
It was a cold and gray summer evening, and although the Wuhlheide stage was sold out the day before, it was remarkable that at the second show the concert area was only three quarters full. UNHEILIG are one of the most successful German music bands, and since their album ‘Große Freiheit’ they are also known by a broader audience. They have arrived at the middle of the music society - that could be seen also at this day, cause most of the public was middle-aged and dressed colourful - the Gothic people was clear in minority.
Burn
The first band at the stage was BURN, a German music project founded by Felix Friberg. They classify themselves as a mixture of Rock and Modern Wave. They have published their first album this year. Since they only played a short performance, we missed most of their songs, but it can be said that the voice of the lead singer has got a good, but not outstanding level, and that their music seemed to as like something like Synth Pop mixed up with Dark Wave elements. They weren’t bad, but didn’t catch the UNHEILIG audience totally.
Mina Harker
The second support band was MINA HARKER, singing in German. The band consist of two members: Mina Harker (vocals) and Alexander Gorodezki (guitars, keyboard). Their music is a mixture between Gothic music, Pop and singer / songwriter music. They published their first album in 2008. Mina, dressed in a white dress and black boots, has a beautiful voice and a good presence at the stage, but their music lacks originality. Their songs are pleasant, but not exciting, their performance was good, but not outstanding. The audience liked them though, but wasn’t really enthusiastic.
Livingston
The last support band - and the best one - was LIVINGSTON, an multi-cultural rock band which was founded in 2002 and consists of Beukes Willemse (vocals), Jakob Nebel (guitars / percussion), Chris Van Niekerk (guitar / keyboard), Paolo Serafini (drums) and Phil Magee (bass). The members of this band accrue from different countries and continents. They have published three studio albums, their last in 2010. They moved to Berlin some years ago and Beuke always speaks German to the audience, with a lovable British accent. For us, it was the second time we have seen LIVINGSTON, and their performance was really good. They demonstrated a strong presence at the stage, performed their show with commitment and showed a likeable attitude towards the audience. Sometimes, their music remembered me to PLACEBO, but they were always original. One highlight was a song called ‘Vula’, which Beuke performed in Zulu, a language from his motherland South Africa. At the fifth song, Paolo played really outstanding the drums. Their seventh song, ‘Broken’, earned a lot of applause. LIVINGSTON is a band with a really good singer and a really good drummer, and they are worth to be seen also in a solo concert.
Unheilig
Founded in 2000 by Bernd Heinrich Graf, just called “Der Graf”, UNHEILIG have published a total of seven albums until now. With their last album ‘Große Freiheit’, published in 2010, they have entered the number one of the German charts. For this, their actual tour was one of the most successful tours and most of the concerts were sold out early. At this grey Sunday, people were waiting impatiently for UNHEILIG, who begun punctually at 8 o clock - a likeable attitude towards the audience, cause so many bigger bands delay their appearance at the stage deliberately.
Music & Performance
The stage was adorned with the red ship which can be seen at the cover of the actual album and with a lot of candles. At both sides of the stages big screens showed pictures, clips and sometimes also the lyrics of the actual song. At the first song, ‘Das Meer’, Der Graf was still hidden backstage. When he entered the stage during ‘Seenot’, fiercely dancing and moving his hands, the audience become ecstatic. He gave a warm welcome to the public, anyway he talked a lot to and with his audience. The music of UNHEILIG has developed more and more towards a mixture between Pop and Gothic with some elements of Neue Deutsche Härte and Schlager. “Rammstein meets Schlager” said a girl sitting next to us. At the second song, Der Graf walked and danced backwards with an ecstatic attitude, which was acclaimed by the people standing before the stage. 
At the song ‘Sage Ja’ (Say yes), the Henning (keyboard) played a grand piano, and the song was a beautiful and sad ballad, performed with virtuosity by Der Graf and his pianist. The beautiful voice of Der Graf could be admired also at the eighth song ‘Halt mich’, also a ballad. Der Graf told a lot of stories about the tour and asked the public for “places to be” in Berlin - and a woman told him that he should visit her at her place. Der Graf joked several minutes that he would visit her with all the crew, about 72 persons. People loved his friendly and joking attitude, also when two girls threw their jackets at the stage and wanted him to dry his sweat with them. “I will make them wet both, I mean the clothes, I promise it” said Der Graf and earned a lot of laughter.
‘Große Freiheit’, the eleventh song, was a highlight for the audience, but also the twelfth song, ‘Brenne auf’, which is a song from the yet unpublished new album, was acclaimed by the visitors. The last songs were harder and louder and less romantic, with strong drums and basses. For ‘Geboren um zu leben’, the light disappeared and people lighted up their pocket lighters. It can be said that the concert was a really success for the band and brought an enjoyable evening to the audience. Maybe it is a little bit difficult for the long-standing fans to witness the development of the band, cause they have lost their Gothic character more and more. But bands grow up like people do, and I hope that also the oldest fans don’t become disappointed by the evolution of UNHEILIG.
Setlist
01. Das Meer
02. Seenot
03. Feuerengel
04. Schenk mir ein Wunder
05. Sternbild
06. Ein guter Weg
07. Sage Ja!
08. Halt mich
09. Freiheit
10. An deiner Seite
11. Große Freiheit
12. Brenne auf
13. Ich gehöre mir
14. Abwärts
15. Maschine
16. Geboren um zu leben
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17. Für immer
18. Unter deiner Flagge
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19. Lampenfieber
20. Mein Stern
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 8.25 / 10
All pictures by Nadine Ginzel (www.dyingsun.de)
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