Mejeriet, Lund, Sweden28th November 2006
Laibach
I had of course heard and enjoyed Laibach's new album Volk before attending the concert in Lund, but now I was very curious to see how they would make this work live. Not only is it uncharacteristically sounding and calm, but we are also used to see quite high energy performances from the band in the past. http://www.laibach.nsk.si/ / http://myspace.com/laibach
The usual introductory dramatic Wagnerian style marching music was of course played well before the actual concert started. As an introduction we also got our own Swedish national anthem played. Interestingly enough there were very few true patriots in the audience who decided to sing along as it was played in full. I was laughing quietly to myself as I realized just how right on the spot Volk really is. Not only do they get to criticize each country in their own special way, but it seems just being a patriot nowadays is controversial and provocative.
Music
Milan Frans rough vocals have never contrasted more than on the songs from the Volk album. The soft melodic tunes were enhanced even further by the brilliant performance of the female vocalist, whose linguistic talents were most impressive. The shifting attention between the two singer's styles and their parts of the songs were served even better when performed live. It also enhanced that dimension of their interpretation of the national anthems. Perhaps a bit unfairly put, it's honestly no interpretation or covers of any national anthem - those rather serve as a frame for each Laibach painting of a country. Vocally and musically it works beautifully together, but without the comments and singing that is delivered by Milan - it would really fall quite flat. I'll leave out any deeper analysis of the album though, that should be done in a separate review.
I think I actually would have been satisfied with enjoying this first section of the show - VOLK in full. But then came part two, adding more or less a best of WAT set; with the exception of Alle Gegen Alle and the Medley in the end. This last part revitalized the whole audience and it almost seemed like the roof of the venue lift to the beat of the songs.
Performance
I can not really say that this was what I normally would have considered an excellent live show. But the truth is just seeing everyone on stage, performing their parts with the utmost professionalism; coupled with sound and imagery in particular that just fits so well... it was magical. Take for instance a backdrop with a clip of the Anita Ekberg movie La Dolce Vita. I guess the Swedish actress (that made Fellini famous) kind of stood out as a representation of Hollywood and America in an extra special way, partly since she was born not long from where the concert took place. I could go on and describe numerous more parts of it all and then try to tie everything together in words, but that would be futile. This has to be seen and experienced, preferably several times - you owe it to yourself!
Part one ended with the band marching off stage around the part with Churchill’s classical "we shall never surrender" speech. After a short break and lots of clapping it was time for the band to enter again. Those that weren't satisfied before got all they could ask for as the drummer girls Eva and Natasa marched in and upped the tempo by picking up the beat of Tanz Mit Laibach. The energy from the last tour as a finale... it was simply perfect!
Playlist
01. Germania
02. America
03. Anglia
04. Rossiya
05. Francia
06. Italia
07. España
08. Yisrā’el
09. Türkiye
10. Zhōnghuá
11. Nippon
12. Slovania
13. Vaticanae
14. NSK
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15. Tanz Mit Laibach
16. Alle Gegen Alle
17. Du Bist Unser
18. Hell: Symmetry
19. Achtung!
20. Das Speil is Aus
21. Laibach Medley
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: 9
Total: 9.4
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