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Kulturhaus Osterfeld, Pforzheim, Germany
13th October 2006
Saltatio Mortis, Ratsbane

Some people already knew the news about Saltatio Mortis. Just a few days before the concert they put the message on their official homepage: Three musicians will leave Saltatio Mortis! So this evening in Pforzheim was going to be really the last concert with the original founding members. Many fans read the news and so the interest was big. The concert room wasn’t big, but there were many people.


Ratsbane

The funny band was founded in 1995. They released three fulltime albums, the last one “Kreuzzug” in 2002. The line-up is set with Olaf (recorder, horn, vocals), Rübe (acc. guitar, mandolin, vocals), Dominik (electric guitar, vocals), Wiesel (bass, vocals) and Maurice (drums). http://www.ratsbane.de/

Music
This band is really interesting. With their funny mixture of rock, ska and folk music they were bringing up the audience into a good party mood. Sometimes there were even medieval influences heard. Olaf played the recorder (some kind of flute) and although this is a tiny and some kind of childish instrument this matched perfectly to the songs. The combination of acoustic and electric guitars created some special and living moments.



Performance
The band comes from Pforzheim and so they had some kind of home game. Especially Olaf reminded me of a member of another Ska band. They all made jokes during the songs and they seemed to have much fun on stage. There were already some fans of them in the crowd. Although they aren’t a clear medieval band this was a good introduction for the following Saltatio Mortis.

Rating
Music 6
Performance 6
Light 5
Sound 6
Total 5.9




Saltatio Mortis

The band was formed in 2000. All members play medieval instruments, but their music is more than just medieval. At the beginning they were announced as a “medieval punk band”. Alternately they release albums full of original medieval songs or rock songs. The last album “Des Königs Henker” came out in 2006.
Since October 2006 the line-up was set with Alea der Bescheidene (vocals, bag-pipe, shawm),  Dominor der Filigrane (bag-pipe, shawm, “pommern”, “Binjou”, programming), Die Fackel (bag-pipe, shawm, “Mandola”, harp, keyboard), Falk Irmenfried von Hasen-Mümmelstein (bag-pipe, shawm, Indian “Wui”, lyre), Ungemach der Missgestimmte (bag-pipe, shawm, guitar, percussion, programming), Thoron Trommelfeuer (“Darabuka”, drums, percussions, pipes, shawm) and Lasterbalk der Lästerliche (“Davul”, programming, percussions, bass drum). Dominor, die Fackel and Ungemach left the band and the new musicians are Cordoban der Verspielte (guitars, shawms, pipes, flutes, fiddle – ex – Feuerschwanz), Dorn der Durchtriebene (bass, percussions – ex – Spielbann), El Silbador (pipes, shawm – ex – Spîlwut) and Mik El Angelo (guitar, lute, “Zister”). They will be seen on stage at the gigs in December 2006. http://www.saltatio-mortis.com/



Music
Except of some little exceptions they only played their rock songs. There were only the founding members on stage. The new members were seen in the crowd. All musicians on stage were set with fire – not only because of the fire show. The atmosphere on and in front of the stage was amazing. Alea jumped, danced and screamed. He turned off his jacket and shirt after a few songs. During the songs all members made some jokes, talked to the audience and introduced the next song. Their mixture of melodic and catchy rock songs with traditional, medieval influences and the used exotic instruments created this special atmosphere, which is only seen at this kind of concerts. The audience celebrated nearly all songs. At the moment the band changed their places and threw away their electric instruments for the acoustic song “Dessous le pont de Nantes” especially the female fans got crazy.





Performance
The concert room in the “Kulturhaus” wasn’t big but high and so they could bring up their whole fire-show. This was incredible. Right from the start there were so many pyro-effects and fire elements you could hardly see the musicians. The scene was changing from darkness with some little fires to blending light because of the fire fountains. Already after a few minutes the air was enriched with smoke and the taste of burned sparklers. Sometimes it was hard to breathe even. It was the last concert in this original cast and everybody was giving his best. At the end of the show they all got emotional. When the leaving members said goodbye to the other musicians and the audience it was a really moving moment. The other band members expressed their thanks to them and they emphasized that they will always remain friends. For the last encore the whole room was lighted up and the band bowed to the fans. After a short break all old and new band members came to talk to the waiting fans in the floors of the “Kulturhaus”. There were many hugs and kisses seen.

Rating
Music 7
Performance 9
Light 8
Sound 6
Total 7.6





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