Club Story, Moscow, Russia
24th September 2011
Synthember Wave III: !distain, Blind Passenger, Beborn Beton
A usual autumn day in Moscow was about to finish as a sparkle evening full of electronic music. It was another present from Russian Synth Community to all of the Synth-Pop fans. This day it was possible to see three different German bands, interpreting this musical style on their very own way. Light and fresh !DISTAIN, Sci-fi Pop band BLIND PASSENGER and classics BEBORN BETON managed to turn the festival into a real synthetic celebration.
!distain
!DISTAIN was formed back in 1992. Since the beginning it was associated with such acts like DE/VISION, CAMOUFLAGE and BEBORN BETON. Through all of the years band had a strong fan base. Their fans or course were looking forward the release of their 7th album ‘On | Off’, which was out three years later after the release of the previous work. It was no doubt that the album will be great. The band is known for not tending to arguable experiments, but always making good work. Since ‘On | Off’ was out in May, fans had a chance to listen to the album before this show. http://www.distain.de/
Music & Performance
Dreamy and ironic. These two words should have been represented !DISTAIN to the public. The band started by the time when guests were still arriving. Some fans were next door where it was possible to buy some merchandise and CDs, some were chilling out. Organisation was pretty nervous because of some troubles with the club. Those who prefer to warm up with the help of alcohol were possibly disappointed as the restaurant and bar just started its normal work. But after the sudden appearance of !DISTAIN on the stage it was clear, that there will be no problem with warming up at all. Those who already were in club came to the dance floor, those who just arrived were in hurry to give their clothes to the cloakroom and join the dancing crowd. !DISTAIN represented their new album ‘On | Off’, but of course they played some hits too. Public enjoyed both.
Setlist
01. 6th Floor
02. Remove Control
03. Soldiers
04. I Beg For You
05. Conversation Overkill
06. Mein Weg
07. Mandragore
08. Hole In The Moon
09. Monokultur
10. Tears Of Joy
11. Why (Bootlicking Hypocrites)
12. Sex ’n’ Cross
13. Confession
14. Science Can’t Be Crime
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7 / 10
Blind Passenger
Nik Page’s decision to return to his roots and (re)found the BLIND PASSENGER(s) made quite a big sensation in musical world. The interest to the project was big enough by the time the album ‘Next Flight to Planet Earth’ was released. And the result didn’t disappoint. New versions of old songs like ‘Don’t Drag Me Down’ or ‘Fight’ were taken very good as well as new pieces like ‘Electrocop’ and ‘Sincity’. Since neither BLIND PASSENGERS nor NIK PAGE acted in Russia, this show was a serious argument not to miss the festival. www.blindpassenger.de
Music & Performance
What can happen at the Synth-Pop concert, I wonder. It’s clear that there will be a lot of dance music, a bit of synthetic romantic and nice atmosphere between people united by the love to electronic music. Well the answer is: BLIND PASSENGER show can happen! Everything was unusual: starting with the band’s uniform and the space performance finishing with the live versions of old tracks as well as pieces from the album ‘Next Flight to Planet earth’. With help of Mr. Stewart and R6, live versions of BP songs sound even more dance and energetic. For example, in addition to the base which you can hear on the CD there are unbelievable Mr. Stewart’s e-guitar solos. Special presents for the Russian public was a dedication of the song ‘Don’t Drag Me Down’ to Laika and Jury Gagarin and of course ‘Absurdistan’, which was finally played in the country it was written about. And no, actually no one was expecting that there will be any encore, but as soon as the band appeared on the stage for the second time dance floor which seem to become empty quick enough was immediately overcrowded again. So this was the hardest and brightest part of this evening.
Setlist
01. Intro - Last Call To Planet Earth
02. Sincity
03. Born To Die
04. You (Boytronic Cover)
05. Don’t Drag Me Down
06. Walking To Heaven
07. Electrocop
08. Fight
09. Small Town Night
10. Absurdistan
11. The Cross (Oil Barrel Performance)
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12. Neverland
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 8.8 / 10
Beborn Beton
BEBORN BETON started their way at the same time as DE/VISION and is considered to be one of Synth-Pop legends. Their last album was released almost ten years ago. And now BEBORN BETON is officially back and ready to present new songs. Surprisingly even today they manage to make classical Synth-Pop, as if it’s still late 80s. www.bebornbeton.de
Music & Performance
And so it was time for dark synthetic romantic. Since it was the first BEBORN BETON show in Russia, it was a very special one. At the time when this band got it’s popularity, in Russia just DEPECHE MODE were well known. So just very curious and music loving people could found out a band like BEBORN BETON. And just privileged ones had some cassettes and could re-record it for other people. So when bands like this come to Russia it is always a special event and the atmosphere is warm and friendly. It’s also the time when older generation occupies the dance floor. Except for their unfading hits, the musicians prepared also some new tracks, which they played live for the first time. Both were taken very good. Because of the troubles with the club owners the after show party was moved to the other club. There fans could meet and have a beer with the musicians.
Setlist
01. The Colour Of Love
02. Life Is A Distance
03. 24/7
04. Deeper Than The Usual Feeling
05. Eisplanet
06. Last Day On Earth
07. Poison
08. Daisy Cutter
09. Another World
10. Mantrap (A Wish Come True)
11. Im Innern Einer Frau
12. Ambush
13. Mantrap (The Seduction)
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 8 / 10
All pictures by Olga “Omena” Dendymarchenko (Headbanger.ru)
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