Zeraphine - Bochum 2005 (2)

Zeraphine are quite well known nowadays in the German music landscape. With their third album “Blind Camera” they again proofed that Zeraphine is a good follower of Sven’s former band “Dreadful Shadows”.
Zeraphine are: Sven Friedrich (vocals), Norman Selbig (guitar), Manuel Senger (guitar, vocals), Michael Nepp (bass guitar) and Marcellus Puhlemann (drums).
http://www.zeraphine.de/ (Official site)
http://www.zeraphine.net/ (Fan Community)



Music
When the guys entered the stage after the intro we first recognize that Sven wasn’t wearing his long black skirt which somehow became his trademark. He was wearing a black shirt and trousers with a red seam. The band started with “No More Doubts” and at once you could feel that special atmosphere. When you have been on Zeraphine concerts before you know what I mean. Of course it has a lot to do with Sven Friedrich’s aura - how he is presenting the songs - and together with the wonderful musical performance of Norman, Manuel, Michael and Marcellus. Besides their own songs, they were presenting two cover versions that night. The first one at that evening was U2´s “New Year’s Day” which earned a lot of applause. The band was musically perfect, playing some unusual songs too. And even though Sven forgot the lyrics once the audience did not care – that only made the band much more likable. The sound in the Zeche was very good too… supporting Sven’s voice and the music very well.



Performance
Before the concerts started we saw the decoration on stage that was very simple but nice - just a black backdrop, like a curtain in the background. On it, white signs like the “Z” were projected. Just to mention at the beginning… the light show at that evening was fantastic – as the mood in the audience was too. Though it was quieter during the songs, the band got huge applause after every song and Sven was just repeating himself with hundreds “thank you”. After a few own songs, they played the U2-cover “New year’s day” which was followed by the about 20 years later written “I Feel Your Trace”. A very nice surprise was the song “Wonderland” which they haven’t played it on the last tour - but like Sven said, it was a big wish from the fans and so they decided to perform it. After “Wonderland” the other guys left the stage and Sven announced the next song with “two years old and still recent” – it was “I’m Numb” – and many, many miracle candles were burning – not the last time on that evening. The first part of the show was not over yet - we went on enjoying songs like “Traumaworld”, “Jede Wahrheit” and “Sometimes” (the B-Side of the single release “New Year’s Day”). Of course the song “Be my rain” couldn’t be missed. It was after “Until I finally drown” when they left the stage – for the first time.



The stage was newly arranged a bit – bar chairs were built up - and a few minutes later they came back with a big surprise starting an acoustic set - and you better believe me when I tell you I still get goose skin when I just think about it – it was so fantastic as they started with “Sterne sehen” and everyone was singing along with the band and miracle candles got enlightened again. This song was followed by another wonderful cover version - The Cure’s “Pictures of You” - and Zeraphine´s own song “Siamesische Einsamkeit”.
The audience still wanted more and the band couldn’t believe how much the people enjoyed the show. Sven said: “This is the reason why we always come back!” We take this serious, man! They played still four more songs and they had to stop playing because there had to start the general club program of the Zeche, otherwise I’m sure they had played still more and more and more. Thank you guys for another amazing show!



Setlist
01. Intro
02. No More Doubts
03. Die Welt Kann Warten
04. Die Macht In Dir
05. In der Tiefe
06. Ohne Dich
07. Stop Pretending
08. New Year’s Day (U2 Cover)
09. I Feel Your Trace
10. Kaltes Herz
11. Licht
12. Die Wirklichkeit
13. Wonderland
14. I’m Numb
15. Traumaworld
16. I Never Want To Be Like You
17. Jede Wahrheit
18. Deine Welt
19. Sometimes
20. Schreit Dein Herz
21. Be My Rain
22. No Tears
23. When Walls Arise
24. Until I finally drown
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Acoustic Set
25. Sterne Sehen
26. Pictures Of You
27. Siamesische Einsamkeit
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28. Flieh mit mir
29. Light Your Stars
30. Wenn Du gehst
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31. Unter Eis



Rating
Music 9
Performance 9
Sound 8
Light 8
Total 9 (8.7)





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