Matrix, Bochum, GermanyFebruary 15th 2005
Joachim Witt, Nik Page, Angelzoom
During the “Tiefenrausch” tour 3 different artists – “Joachim Witt”, electro-metal inspired “Nik Page” and “Claudia Uhle” (“Anglezoom”) with her angel like voice – came together to perform an extraordinary set of music where their own songs were mixed with a few cover versions from artist like “Depeche Mode” or “Deine Lakaien”. Musically supported by musicians from “Letzte Instanz” (violin and cello) and from the band “Silly” (drums, guitar, bass) as well as “Dara Pain” from Nik Page´s band (“The Sacrifice Army”) and an additional singer (Nadja) they played for about 2:45 hours.
Concert Report
After a slightly too long wait, the stage lights finally dims into nothing and the only source of light is the dimmed red from the tubes of a Framus Cobra Head on the left side of the stage. A faint “pssschhh” and the stage is lit up by several small strobes around the drum set at the back of the stage, which now is filled with smoke.
Angelzoom
As the stage lights up Claudia Uhle enters, at first only accompanied by a keyboard. But as the set progresses, she is joined by Benni Shelini; with a funky looking Cello and Rico Schwibs on Violin (both from the band “Letzte Instanz").
Music
For you who haven’t heard Claudia’s beautiful voice before, artists like Enya and Loreena McKennit, adequately describes both the mood of the music and her voice. The whole set is a floating atmospheric experience. Even an interpretation of the Depeche Mode song, “Blasphemous Rumours” is set in that spirit. I think everyone in the room was impressed by the clear sound and her beautiful voice.
PerformanceFor you who haven’t heard Claudia’s beautiful voice before, artists like Enya and Loreena McKennit, adequately describes both the mood of the music and her voice. The whole set is a floating atmospheric experience. Even an interpretation of the Depeche Mode song, “Blasphemous Rumours” is set in that spirit. I think everyone in the room was impressed by the clear sound and her beautiful voice.
While calm musically, some energy is still emitted from Claudia and the two string players in the front of the stage. And the lighting enhances and compliments the performance very well. A few songs into the set, Nik Page appears to support Claudia’s vocals and on the very last song she is joined by a guitar player – adding a bit of energy to the performance. The soft lights shining on Claudia intensified the dreamy mood of her set. Highlight was surely Claudia´s current single “Back in the moment”.
Rating
Music 7
Performance 7
Sound 7
Light 8
Total 7 (7.2)
Nik Page
An arty looking metal construction of a microphone stand is swiftly placed at the centre of the stage, just before Nik Page enters, accompanied by a bass player, a second guitar, a drummer and after a short while also “Dara Pain” doing backing vocals/guitar. The transition is bridged nicely by the introduction of the guitar at the end of Claudia’s performance, but starting out this really works as an injection of energy for the audience.
Music 7
Performance 7
Sound 7
Light 8
Total 7 (7.2)
Nik Page
An arty looking metal construction of a microphone stand is swiftly placed at the centre of the stage, just before Nik Page enters, accompanied by a bass player, a second guitar, a drummer and after a short while also “Dara Pain” doing backing vocals/guitar. The transition is bridged nicely by the introduction of the guitar at the end of Claudia’s performance, but starting out this really works as an injection of energy for the audience.
Music
The tempo is definitely shifted with Nik’s mixture of electro/goth/metal and the energy increases further by the second song “Burning side”, when the Dara – dressed in short skirt and high heels – picks up a guitar as well as doing backing vocals. In “Fireraiser”, from his first album “Sacrifight”, Claudia appears to support Nik with some vocals. His quite hard and her angelic voice fit very good together. Apart from “Fireraiser”, “Flashback” and “Burning side”; all songs were from the new album “Sinmachine”. Finishing up with his current single “Dein Kuss” which he recorded with some input of Joachim Witt, Witt himself enters the stage and joins the performance - getting spontaneous cheers from the audience.
The tempo is definitely shifted with Nik’s mixture of electro/goth/metal and the energy increases further by the second song “Burning side”, when the Dara – dressed in short skirt and high heels – picks up a guitar as well as doing backing vocals. In “Fireraiser”, from his first album “Sacrifight”, Claudia appears to support Nik with some vocals. His quite hard and her angelic voice fit very good together. Apart from “Fireraiser”, “Flashback” and “Burning side”; all songs were from the new album “Sinmachine”. Finishing up with his current single “Dein Kuss” which he recorded with some input of Joachim Witt, Witt himself enters the stage and joins the performance - getting spontaneous cheers from the audience.
Performance
The ever changing setup on stage makes for good variation and is fun to watch, even if we at times loose track of who’s on at the moment. The lights and smoke are still used very well and the string players are totally in sync with - and adding to - the energy, as they join on the song "Herzschlag". Nik´s music is definitely a lot harder than the stuff he has done with his former band “Blind passengers”. And you feel the energy of his music when he shouts into the audience and maltreats his microphone stand.
The ever changing setup on stage makes for good variation and is fun to watch, even if we at times loose track of who’s on at the moment. The lights and smoke are still used very well and the string players are totally in sync with - and adding to - the energy, as they join on the song "Herzschlag". Nik´s music is definitely a lot harder than the stuff he has done with his former band “Blind passengers”. And you feel the energy of his music when he shouts into the audience and maltreats his microphone stand.
Setlist
1 Road of damnation
2 Burning side
3 Blackmail generation
4 Fireraiser
5 Flashback
6 Mysteryland
7 Herzschlag
8 Dein kuss
1 Road of damnation
2 Burning side
3 Blackmail generation
4 Fireraiser
5 Flashback
6 Mysteryland
7 Herzschlag
8 Dein kuss
Rating
Music 7
Performance 8
Sound 7
Light 8
Total 7 (7.45)
Joachim Witt
While considerably older and some kind of relic of the very famous “Neue Deutsche Welle” (a kind of music style in Germany in the 80s), this seasoned artist is likely the reason for the somewhat mixed audience. He is still going strong it seems, and is current with his new album “Pop”, which name incidentally is a pretty good description of his style of goth music. He could have lightened up a bit on the makeup though – it hardly covers the signs of age anyway.
Music 7
Performance 8
Sound 7
Light 8
Total 7 (7.45)
Joachim Witt
While considerably older and some kind of relic of the very famous “Neue Deutsche Welle” (a kind of music style in Germany in the 80s), this seasoned artist is likely the reason for the somewhat mixed audience. He is still going strong it seems, and is current with his new album “Pop”, which name incidentally is a pretty good description of his style of goth music. He could have lightened up a bit on the makeup though – it hardly covers the signs of age anyway.
Music
Starting out strong with an older song “Liebe und Zorn”, from the album “Bayreuth Eins”, he turns up the tempo a bit. In the following two songs the on stage setup is stripped down a bit to hold drums, keyboard, 2 guitars and a bass – apart from Witt himself. With “Batallion d’amour” they are however joined by the string duo from “Letzte Instanz", who adds more depth to the music than in the previous 3 songs. After this the setup on the stage varies mainly by the addition of co-singer Nadja on some songs. However on the last song “Die Flut”, Nik Page joins to add to the vocal performance and take over the part of “Peter Heppner” from “Wolfsheim” who is singing that part on the record releases.
Starting out strong with an older song “Liebe und Zorn”, from the album “Bayreuth Eins”, he turns up the tempo a bit. In the following two songs the on stage setup is stripped down a bit to hold drums, keyboard, 2 guitars and a bass – apart from Witt himself. With “Batallion d’amour” they are however joined by the string duo from “Letzte Instanz", who adds more depth to the music than in the previous 3 songs. After this the setup on the stage varies mainly by the addition of co-singer Nadja on some songs. However on the last song “Die Flut”, Nik Page joins to add to the vocal performance and take over the part of “Peter Heppner” from “Wolfsheim” who is singing that part on the record releases.
Performance
While Witt himself doesn’t move much, the energy from mainly the three guitar players really adds to the performance. This becomes especially obvious for the first time in the song “Das geht tief”. The appearance of Nadja in songs like “Und ich lauf…”, where she wears a white dress also makes for a positive change on the stage, adding some artistic content and female inspiration. The dynamic strings duo also melts in and joins the energy that is carried especially intensely by the bass guitarist. Throughout the show, the lights remain very good and always spotted on the main persons on stage which are Witt together with the varying co-singers.
While Witt himself doesn’t move much, the energy from mainly the three guitar players really adds to the performance. This becomes especially obvious for the first time in the song “Das geht tief”. The appearance of Nadja in songs like “Und ich lauf…”, where she wears a white dress also makes for a positive change on the stage, adding some artistic content and female inspiration. The dynamic strings duo also melts in and joins the energy that is carried especially intensely by the bass guitarist. Throughout the show, the lights remain very good and always spotted on the main persons on stage which are Witt together with the varying co-singers.
Setlist
1 Liebe und Zorn
2 Krieger des Lichts
3 Das geht tief
4 Batallion d'amour
5 Treibjagt
6 Fluch der Liebe
7 Und ich lauf...
8 Jetzt und ehedem
9 Supergestört
10 Die Flut
Rating
Music 6
Performance 7
Sound 7
Light 8
Total 7 (6.8)
Encores
After some bowing and clapping the first time, Nik Page gets on stage together with Claudia on keyboard; to perform “Walking to heaven”. Then Witt and Claudia perform again Anglezoom´s current single “Back in the moment”, followed by Witt and Nadia doing “Eisenherz”. The second encore “Der goldene Reiter”, is also performed by Witt while all the people together are doing the third encore “Tiefenrausch”.
Matrix
The “Matrix” in Bochum is a regional quite famous venue for concerts and parties, divided into several club areas, the concert hall and a bar area. It is very easy to reach via the highway and by train. www.matrix-bochum.de
1 Liebe und Zorn
2 Krieger des Lichts
3 Das geht tief
4 Batallion d'amour
5 Treibjagt
6 Fluch der Liebe
7 Und ich lauf...
8 Jetzt und ehedem
9 Supergestört
10 Die Flut
Rating
Music 6
Performance 7
Sound 7
Light 8
Total 7 (6.8)
Encores
After some bowing and clapping the first time, Nik Page gets on stage together with Claudia on keyboard; to perform “Walking to heaven”. Then Witt and Claudia perform again Anglezoom´s current single “Back in the moment”, followed by Witt and Nadia doing “Eisenherz”. The second encore “Der goldene Reiter”, is also performed by Witt while all the people together are doing the third encore “Tiefenrausch”.
Matrix
The “Matrix” in Bochum is a regional quite famous venue for concerts and parties, divided into several club areas, the concert hall and a bar area. It is very easy to reach via the highway and by train. www.matrix-bochum.de
Food and drinks
A good selection of most different kinds of beverages, available at three different bars (during the concert – on club nights there are more bars opened).
A good selection of most different kinds of beverages, available at three different bars (during the concert – on club nights there are more bars opened).
Stage
A moderately large stage that is elevated enough to be clearly visible from all locations in the long hall, even if it’s quite far from the back of the hall.
A moderately large stage that is elevated enough to be clearly visible from all locations in the long hall, even if it’s quite far from the back of the hall.
Audience area
A very long and quite narrow hall, that can easily get a bit packed, is making it hard to move back and forth. For those who need refreshments, there’s luckily a bar on the side just a few meters from the stage. In the concert area there’s another bar behind the main audience area.
A very long and quite narrow hall, that can easily get a bit packed, is making it hard to move back and forth. For those who need refreshments, there’s luckily a bar on the side just a few meters from the stage. In the concert area there’s another bar behind the main audience area.
Staff
Good service from the barkeepers and well organized as a whole. Even though conversation is not really an option at the bar by the stage, sign language works just fine here.
Good service from the barkeepers and well organized as a whole. Even though conversation is not really an option at the bar by the stage, sign language works just fine here.
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