Astra Kulturhaus, Berlin, Germany3rd May 2014
(We Are) Augustines
We are... we are not... we are... WE ARE AUGUSTINES, … No! Only AUGUSTINES. Billy McCarthy, Eric Sanderson, Rob Allen and Al Hardiman from New York wanted to call the band always like that, but they had to rename it into WE ARE AUGUSTINES because some other bands also were called as AUGUSTINES. Now there are back with their old short name and with classic good Indie / Alternative Rock.
Three years since their debut ‘Rise Ye Sunken Ships’ have passed quickly: Hurricane and Southside Festival, support for KAISER CHIEFS or BAND OF SKULLS, visiting live TV shows like Letterman and many headliner shows. They worked with their label Oxcart Records on their song-writing skills and sharpened their senses. The instruments were used even more varied and targeted. The title of the new single ‘You got nothing to lose but your head’ could be prepended as the motto for the actual "Walkabout Tour". Here you can have a look onto the Album-Trailer. AUGUSTINES have also released the music video for new song 'Nothing To Lose But Your Head' and McCarthy highlighted the importance of videos in the ever changing industry. "People are always on the go nowadays too so they don't really have the time to read blurbs or reviews about a band they don't know, so we're always thinking of new ways to get ourselves out there and the videos are certainly a way of doing this." http://www.weareaugustines.com / https://www.facebook.com/weareaugustines
Music & Performance
They are entering the stage in darkness at 8:30 PM. Only the backlights where on. Not only for the first few moments as a kind of show beginning effect, it takes a little while until the technician Alex came to put the plug into the socket so that the front lights enlightened. But Alex was nevertheless the best friend of Billy McCarthy at the whole evening [check out this video]. The sound at the Astra was really good. Occasionally the sound of the guitar rattled not that well. But the drums were turned up so that the crowd could feel the vibration at their own bodies. The beats are very simple: Two and Four, and Two and Four... But it works. Like the catchy melodies which were still rousing and different. Seemed like Billy has a classical vocal training because in his voice you can hear very often a whimper or vibration and he used a lot of things from classical music and concerts. He make the audience to freak out with every new song.
Billy was really funny and talked a little bit in-between the songs. Or drank a glass of whiskey. No wonder that his voice is so special. Their first encore was a little surprise: They performed unplugged from the side stage. Obviously it is very important for them to have a very close feeling and experience to and for the fans. Later they went in the middle of the audience to play there. All in all, round about one and a half hour absolutely superb experience, because they did everything right for a good life feeling!
Setlist
01. Headlong into the Abyss
02. Chapel Song
03. Cruel City
04. Augustine
05. Juarez
06. Ballad of a Patient Man
07. Philadelphia (The City of Brotherly Love - slow version)
08. Don't You Look Back
09. This Ain't Me (stripped version and band introductions)
10. Walkabout
11. Strange Days
12. Nothing To Lose But Your Head
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13. The Avenue (unplugged from the side stage)
14. Now You Are Free
15. Book of James
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16. Weary Eyes (unplugged in the crowd)
17. East Los Angeles (unplugged in the crowd)
18. Pressure Drop (Toots & The Maytals-cover) (unplugged in the crowd)
19. New Drink for the Old Drunk (unplugged in the crowd and then back on the main stage)
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 10
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 8.75 / 10
All Pictures by Nadine Ginzel (www.ginzel-photography.com)
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