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editors6Ringlokschuppen, Bielefeld, Germany
15th March 2014
Editors & Paon

EDITORS are a studied four-piece hailing from England’s agrestic periphery. Musically, the band’s sound is clearly reminiscent of JOY DIVISION, ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN and early R.E.M not least due to the dark baritone timbre of singer Tom Smith catering for a pinch of melancholy besides the energy of the songs. Last year, the band released a new album which was already accompanied by a tour in autumn. Due to huge success, some more dates were added and we took the chance to see the band in Bielefeld where EDITORS were supported by Belgium PAON. The hall on that evening was crowded. I guess that more than 2,000 fans made their way to see EDITORS in Bielefeld.


Paon

PAON is a quartet from Belgium who was already supporting some quite known bands in the past, as their Facebook page tells us, like TAME IMPALA, BLACK LIPS and several more. A debut 7-inch was released in March 2013 and this year, on 25th March, the band plans to release a digital EP. The band was formed by the two artists Ben Baillieux-Beynon and Aurelio Mattern who are also the driving forces behind the band. Ben is already known as singer of the Pop-Rock band THE TELLERS which is quite known in their home country, Aurelio had already some success as producer and writer. PAON probably won’t have any commercial success since the music and sound is quite weird, but nevertheless interesting. PAON consists of Ben on guitars, Aurelio on keyboards & percussions, Jerm on bass and Leo on drums. http://www.paonband.com / https://www.facebook.com/paonband

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Music & Performance
The Belgium quartet had about thirty minutes time to convince the audience who probably never had heard from the band before. And so, most likely the songs of the band were unknown to most people in the hall. And so, overall the applause during the show was quite hesitant, just in the first rows there seemed to be people knowing the band’s music. Well, the music… is not easy to describe. It is really complex, kind of Prog-Indie Rock with a seventies touch. The vocals were often presented with several voices. But still, there was no easy access to the songs. The set started with ‘Shine over me’, a track for which the band already released a video. Towards the end, the band finally made some announcement towards the audience and so, finally people behind the front rows learnt the name of the band. Maybe the introduction of the band should be placed earlier in the set. The final song was a nice instrumental.

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Setlist
01. Shine over me
02. My Luck is gone
03. Deja Vous
04. Tasdesdoutes
05. Bath Salts
06. 27
07. Le Slow
08. TV
09. Instrumental #1

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 6.8 / 10

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Editors

EDITORS from England changed their name after signing their first label deal with Kitchenwave Records in October 2004 after operating under the moniker of SNOWFIELD. The limited debut single ‘Bullets’ saw the light of day in January 2005 and sold out on the day of release. The full-length ‘The Back Room’ followed summer of the same year, went platinum eventually and also became an incredible critical success. The band released their second album ‘An End Has A Start’ in June 2007. The album went straight to #1 of the UK album charts. After the album’s release, the band played a couple big festivals such as Glastonbury and Pukkelpop, as well as their first tour dates in Australia and New Zealand. Many other dates covering the US, Canada and Europe would follow. The third album ‘In This Light and on this Evening’, released in October 2009, sees the band exploring a much more synthetic and rawer sound than on their previous releases. The songs of the band blend the futility of life with the constant possibility of relief and the hope for better days to come.

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Without any didactic aspiration, EDITORS create with their music and lyrics dramatic situations without resolutions, giving their listeners the chance of association with their own experiences. The band follows the line of a great British tradition with names like Morrissey, Ian Curtis or Guy Garvey dedicated themselves to. Their songs live on their ambiguity. Nothing’s what it seems to be and the biggest punch usually hides behind the simplest line. The works on their newest album ‘The Weight Of Your Love’ were not running smooth and were leading to the split with long-time guitarist and keyboarder Chris Urbanowicz. The album was finally released in summer 2013 and sounds much rockier. The album release saw also new additions to the band line-up after Chris was gone. EDITORS now consist of long-time band members Tom Smith (vocals, guitar), Russell Leetch (bass) and Ed Lay (drums) plus new additions Justin Lockey (guitar, keys, films) and Elliott Williams (guitar, keys, vocals). http://www.editorsofficial.com / https://www.facebook.com/editorsmusic

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Music & Performance
When PAON had left the stage, the waiting began. It took nearly 45 minutes until EDITORS finally entered the stage. In the break, the music being played was far too loud in my opinion. No chance to talk to each other and hurting in your ears. Finally, the show started with ‘Sugar’ from the band’s newest album, an album that sounds much rockier than its predecessors. The setlist on that evening was a really good mix of new and old songs with about the same weight on all released albums. As example, the band played i.e. six songs from their debut album, of course with some of my favourites like ‘Munich’ or ‘All Sparks’. Wonderful! Vocally, Tom Smith was in best form. But sadly, the sound mix was not optimal I think since the vocals were too low in the total mix. I wish there was more weight on Tom’s wonderful voice. For several songs, Tom took a seat behind his piano to add some extra sounds to the songs.

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The show effects were reduced. Where other bands need video screens of pyrotechnics, EDITORS just add a good light show to their performance and let the songs speak for themselves. Time ran fast and it was not much more than one hour until the final songs, ‘Bones’ and ‘Honesty’, were fired into the audience. Already in the short break following now, fans loudly demanded the band’s probably biggest song, ‘Papillon’. But before the band finally served it, there were three more encores played for the fans. ‘Papillon’ at the very end was most likely also the highlight of the concert, being supported by a huge choir of fans whereas the band played a really long version of this tune. It seems EDITORS never fail when playing live and so I had again a great evening… like so many others.

Setlist
01. Sugar
02. Someone Says
03. Munich
04. An End Has a Start
05. Formaldehyde
06. Lights
07. Bullets
08. The Racing Rats
09. A Life as a Ghost
10. Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool
11. All Sparks
12. In This Light and on This Evening
13. Bricks and Mortar
14. A Ton of Love
15. Bones
16. Honesty
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17. Camera
18. Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors
19. Nothing (full band)
20. Papillon (long)

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 9
Sound: 7
Light: 8
Total: 8 / 10

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All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.black-cat-net.de / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet


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