Orkus Festival Tour II - Stuttgart 2006

Stuttgart, Universum, Germany
05th October 2006
Orkus Festival – Club Tour Part II: Down Below, Zeromancer, Unheilig, Project Pitchfork

Although we worried about a small amount of visitors, the Universum got filled until the beginning of the concerts. After three years I especially looked forward to see Zeromancer again. I visited the Universum for the first time so I had to look at the rooms first. The second party of the Orkus Club Tour was touring again through Germany. The bands fit together in their styles. Three of four bands were from Germany. Unfortunately they had to deal with technical problems through the whole evening and sometimes it really hurt my ears, but in summary this was a nice evening, sharing good music with friends.


Down Below

They were founded just three years ago, but already supporting very well-known bands and took part in festivals. The band is set with Neo-Scope (vocals), Carter (guitars), Convex (bass) and Mr. Mahony (drums). Their first album “Silent wings:Eternity” came out in 2004, but there are already new songs.
http://www.myspace.com/thatsdb / http://www.downbelow.de/  (under construction)



Music
It’s a little bit hard to assess their style. There are these energetic guitar lines and really rocking bass parts, but the keyboard sounds and catchy melodies are bringing more “Pop” into their music. Singer Neo-Scope got better since I saw them the last time - most of the time he worked with a gentle and clear voice. With their short but good audition they convinced the audience. Especially Carter did a very good job and brought much energy and drive into the audition.



Performance
The whole show was build around Neo-Scope. Until the end of the concert he lost his jacket and shirt. For the last song “Angel” he got half-naked. I’m sure there were many women in the crowd who will remember this show only because of the good looking body. That’s a little bit sad, because they presented a good show for the introduction of this little festival. Although they aren’t so special in the actual development of the music scene they will become a solid part in it.

Rating
Music 6
Performance 6
Light 8
Sound 4
Total 6




Zeromancer

With The Seigmen, Alex Møklebust (vocals), Erik Ljunggren (programming), Kim Ljung (bass guitar) and Noralf Ronthi (drums) were one of the greatest rock bands in Norway. After their splitting in 1999 they founded Zeromancer with Chris Schleyer (guitar) from the USA. Their first album “Clone your lover” was released in 2000, with which they won the German Alternative Music Awards as the best newcomer. Their last album “Zzyzx” came out in 2003 and actually they are working on the new one.  Since 2005 The Seigmen did some reunion-shows, but there is no information about new songs. http://www.zeromancer.com/ / http://www.seigmen.org/


01. Eva13. Mein Stern

Rating
Music 8
Performance 8
Light 7
Sound 5
Total 7.4




Project Pitchfork

In 1989, the band was formed in Hamburg, Germany. Until now they released eleven full-time albums, eleven singles and some EPs. Their latest album “Kaskade” came out in 2005. The members are Peter Spilles (vocals), Dirk Scheuber (keyboards), Jürgen Jansen (keyboards), Achim Färber (drums) and Carsten Klatte (guitar). In the early years Patricia Nigiani took part with vocals and keyboards. She left the band in 1994. http://www.pitchfork.de/



Music
So, what kind of music are they playing? They are part of the German Electro evolution and they are well-known for their early albums, which were angry, powerful and electronic highlights for not that few people. During the last two albums they based themselves to the quiet and doomy songs. Their lyrics are still concentrated on the critics about the destruction of the environment, the treatment of mankind and stuff like that, but however the aggressiveness of the music got lost. They began their concert with the older song “One by one” and I hoped they will do something like an all-time show. There were some older songs in the set like “K.N.K.A.”, which is still one of my favourites, but in the summary all was put together in a kind of lapping evening.



Performance
I saw them in 1999 for the first time. That was a memorable concert because of the strength, the power and the rage of them. Their hard and electronic songs were whipped around the ears of the listeners and the audience was enlightened. Their appearance matched to the lyrics. Now they are only a copy of their past self. Although Peter Spilles seemed to be in a good mood he looked a little bit tired. Dirk Scheuber was making jokes and worked on the technique, but however there wasn’t the special atmosphere on and in front of the stage as I remembered it from the past. There were some dancers in the crowd and during “Timekiller” there was something like a little moshpit seen.

Setlist
01. Requiem
02. Beautiful-logic-strings
03. Conjure
04. Daimonion
05. Timekiller
06. Mine
07. K.N.K.A.
08. Wonderland
09. Teardrop
10. Souls
11. Schall und Rauch
12. Existence
13. I am
14. Song of the winds
15. Rescue

Rating
Music 7
Performance 6
Light 6
Sound 5
Total: 6.3



Written by Madlen Köhn, Pictures by Ruth Gräbeldinger

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