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Tivoli, Utrecht, the Netherlands10 November 2007
Out of Line festival: Din[a]tod, Ashbury Heights, Proceed, Spetsnaz, Hocico
On a Friday night the Tivoli already opened at 17h to kick off the Out of Line festival. With 5 of their bands, emerging and established ones, the festival had a variety of musical styles to enjoy. The early starting time lead to the venue filling up slowly during the night till it was well filled by the time Hocio entered the stage.
Din[a]Tod
The Berlin-based DIN[A]TOD is a trio consisting of Sven, Claudia and Phelix, and tries to bring musical intelligence to the club dance floor. Their debut album ‘The Sound of Crash’ is a musical experiment that ranges from catchy to complicated, but always danceable. http://www.dinatod.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/dinatod
The Berlin-based DIN[A]TOD is a trio consisting of Sven, Claudia and Phelix, and tries to bring musical intelligence to the club dance floor. Their debut album ‘The Sound of Crash’ is a musical experiment that ranges from catchy to complicated, but always danceable. http://www.dinatod.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/dinatod
Music & performance
This band had to open today's festival and by all means they did a fine job. The music was vivid and danceable but the audience had to warm up so the response from the crowd prevented interaction between the band and the audience. The band has some nice tunes but by the time the concert was almost over it was clear they needed some more diversity to keep the attention. This goes for the music as well as the almost abcent performance. Basically they were standing behind the keyboard or mic stand playing the guitar and keys. Sound and light during the show however was pretty decent, too bad their didn't use it to their full extend.
This band had to open today's festival and by all means they did a fine job. The music was vivid and danceable but the audience had to warm up so the response from the crowd prevented interaction between the band and the audience. The band has some nice tunes but by the time the concert was almost over it was clear they needed some more diversity to keep the attention. This goes for the music as well as the almost abcent performance. Basically they were standing behind the keyboard or mic stand playing the guitar and keys. Sound and light during the show however was pretty decent, too bad their didn't use it to their full extend.
Rating
Music: 6
Performance: 6
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 6.3
Music: 6
Performance: 6
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 6.3
Ashbury Heights
The duo Ashbury Heightsis one of the most promising new acts of the Out of Line label. Only an hour after the first hearing, Ashbury Heights was signed at the label. Their debut album has been released on October 5th, and they are presented by Out of Line as glamorous, sexy, chic, and fantastic, as appealing to the eye as to the body with its danceable beats. http://www.ashburyheights.se/ / http://www.myspace.com/ashburyheightsmusic
The duo Ashbury Heightsis one of the most promising new acts of the Out of Line label. Only an hour after the first hearing, Ashbury Heights was signed at the label. Their debut album has been released on October 5th, and they are presented by Out of Line as glamorous, sexy, chic, and fantastic, as appealing to the eye as to the body with its danceable beats. http://www.ashburyheights.se/ / http://www.myspace.com/ashburyheightsmusic
Music & performance
The two Swedes were next on stage and they clearly had something more to show than the previous band. Trying to interact with the audience the singer Anders was moving on stage dragging his mic stand all around while in the mean time the petite keyboarder Yasmine wearing a very tight corset provided the music and backing vocals. Moments later the roles might be reversed, only Yasmine kept wearing the corset, all the other things were reversed. The band has got to grow in the future but that can only come with doing tours like this one. With decent soundlevels, plenty of light and their music and performance this was quite an entertaining performance.
The two Swedes were next on stage and they clearly had something more to show than the previous band. Trying to interact with the audience the singer Anders was moving on stage dragging his mic stand all around while in the mean time the petite keyboarder Yasmine wearing a very tight corset provided the music and backing vocals. Moments later the roles might be reversed, only Yasmine kept wearing the corset, all the other things were reversed. The band has got to grow in the future but that can only come with doing tours like this one. With decent soundlevels, plenty of light and their music and performance this was quite an entertaining performance.
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7
Proceed
Proceed was founded in 1999 by André S. and Daniel P., and their 2004 debut album ‘Neusprache’ has been recently followed up by ‘Laut’. Uncompromising beats, loudness, and energy make up the centre of PROCEED’s existence in which they try to create a new type of sound by synthesizing the old and the new. http://www.proceedweb.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/proceedweb
Proceed was founded in 1999 by André S. and Daniel P., and their 2004 debut album ‘Neusprache’ has been recently followed up by ‘Laut’. Uncompromising beats, loudness, and energy make up the centre of PROCEED’s existence in which they try to create a new type of sound by synthesizing the old and the new. http://www.proceedweb.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/proceedweb
Music & performance
Now it was time for the people to get alive and kicking. Proceed had a really strang and powerful show planned and they completely took over the venue. Army looks, ferocious beats and lots of energy got the audience dancing. With René S. on live drums and André S. on all sorts of vocal styles the band managed to kick this festival into the next gear. Eventhough the light was quite boring there was plenty to see, André S. just kept on moving all across the stage to interact with the audience. This band may have been an good inspirator for the previous bands, this is how it should be done. If this were to be some idols rip-off they'd at least proceed to the finals.
Now it was time for the people to get alive and kicking. Proceed had a really strang and powerful show planned and they completely took over the venue. Army looks, ferocious beats and lots of energy got the audience dancing. With René S. on live drums and André S. on all sorts of vocal styles the band managed to kick this festival into the next gear. Eventhough the light was quite boring there was plenty to see, André S. just kept on moving all across the stage to interact with the audience. This band may have been an good inspirator for the previous bands, this is how it should be done. If this were to be some idols rip-off they'd at least proceed to the finals.
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 8
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 8
Spetsnaz
The Swedish EBM duo SPETSNAZ is known for its intensity, screaming vocals, and hard-hitting beats. They are aggressive as well as melodic, and they were at the Out of Line Festival to promote their recent album ‘Deadpan’. http://www.myspace.com/spetsnazebm
Music & performance
No idea what the band was doing, and even less what the audience was doing. It became a real mess just right when the band kicked in. There was a large group of nationalistic idiots moshing the entire front of the stage to the point that sucurity had to intervene. The band however couldn't be distracted from their show and didn't seem to care at all that things got slightly out of hand. After all these guys named themselves after the special forces in Russia, they are cool, tough and violent. Too bad these guys didn't do any research into Spetsnaz itself. They do not give this elite force any credit with their music and performance. Maybe the use of hiding in the abundand smoke was the closest thing to the military they got. Hitting harder than hard doesn't make sure you are better. This clearly was not a good concert and the mediocre music should have placed them before Proceed.
No idea what the band was doing, and even less what the audience was doing. It became a real mess just right when the band kicked in. There was a large group of nationalistic idiots moshing the entire front of the stage to the point that sucurity had to intervene. The band however couldn't be distracted from their show and didn't seem to care at all that things got slightly out of hand. After all these guys named themselves after the special forces in Russia, they are cool, tough and violent. Too bad these guys didn't do any research into Spetsnaz itself. They do not give this elite force any credit with their music and performance. Maybe the use of hiding in the abundand smoke was the closest thing to the military they got. Hitting harder than hard doesn't make sure you are better. This clearly was not a good concert and the mediocre music should have placed them before Proceed.
Rating
Music: 6
Performance: 5
Sound: 6
Light: 5
Total: 5.5
Music: 6
Performance: 5
Sound: 6
Light: 5
Total: 5.5
Hocico
The headliner, all the way from Mexico: Hocico. Erk Aicrag (lyrics, vocals) and Racso Agroyam (programming) know what they are doing, and they’re doing it well. Just before the Out of Line Festival started, HOCICO released a special limited picture CD ‘The Shape of Things to Come’ to thank all their fans with. http://www.hocico.com/ / http://www.hocico.de/
Music & Performance
This was certainly a band that had much more to offer than Spetsnaz, although somewhat in the same corner of the musical spectrum Hocico has much more molody in their music and is much more entertaining. The is reflected in the fact that now instead of just a couple of people the entire audience is ready for dancing. It's clear that this band is back at the front and that the now songs as well as the older ones are highly appreciated. Erk is all over the place trying to interact with the audience and is clearly enjoying himself. Rasco unfortunately is way in the back and can't contribute much to the show other than providing the music. The lights were vivid during the show, no standard red glow across the stage but again the band had to work it's way through a lot of smoke, people in the back might not have been able to see the show well. Of course it remains to be seen if they really cared, they were either dancing to the music or enjoying the live music. The last thing wasn't hard at all, all sound levels were well tuned and overall the music was okay throughout the venue.
This was certainly a band that had much more to offer than Spetsnaz, although somewhat in the same corner of the musical spectrum Hocico has much more molody in their music and is much more entertaining. The is reflected in the fact that now instead of just a couple of people the entire audience is ready for dancing. It's clear that this band is back at the front and that the now songs as well as the older ones are highly appreciated. Erk is all over the place trying to interact with the audience and is clearly enjoying himself. Rasco unfortunately is way in the back and can't contribute much to the show other than providing the music. The lights were vivid during the show, no standard red glow across the stage but again the band had to work it's way through a lot of smoke, people in the back might not have been able to see the show well. Of course it remains to be seen if they really cared, they were either dancing to the music or enjoying the live music. The last thing wasn't hard at all, all sound levels were well tuned and overall the music was okay throughout the venue.
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 8
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 8
More photos on page 2
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