Live Club Barmen, Wuppertal, Germany12th December 2014
Die Kammer
The weather on this evening was more than unpleasant when I was on my way to the Live Club Barmen in Wuppertal in order to see DIE KAMMER. And actually I was not in the best mood but with the prospect of a wonderful concert evening, I knew this will lift it up again. The Live Club Barmen is a small venue for familiar shows and actually perfect for this kind of concerts.
Singer Marcus Testory, ex member of CHAMBER and Matthias Ambré, former member of ASP founded this project in December 2011. Oliver Himmighoffen (drums), Dirk Klinkhammer (tuba), Matthias Raue (violin and viola), Tabea Müller (cello) and Aline Deinert (viola) completed one after the other the chamber orchestra. Their music is purely acoustic of high quality in the old singer / songwriter tradition. The lyrics contain sarcastic, humorous, melancholic, morbid and tongue-in-cheek charm elements. Just this year the band had released the second album. http://www.die-kammer.com / https://www.facebook.com/diekammer
Music & Performance
The show started with a kind of audio book intro before the band members entered the stage, took their seats and started to play. And finally, under the clapping of the audience, Marcus and Mathias entered the stage, each one with a glass of red wine. Although the show was not sold out and only 70 people showed up it did not lessen the excellent mood that was transferred from the band to the audience right from the beginning. After ‘Fate/ Illusion’ the candles of the two big holders on stage were lit while the strings played some soft tunes which gave the whole a festive atmosphere.
Despite the classical setting the performance was not a stern affair but filled with funny anecdotes Marcus told between the songs and their joy of playing is so catching that you will find yourself suddenly in a cheerful mood. But I would like to come back to the intro, where the audience was introduced to the little girl Sophie who is in search of the chamber. Sophie is a Leitmotif and on her search for the chamber she meets friends who accompany for a while. And when she finally found the chamber she decided to found a circus and to conquer the world. This little story is the golden thread that runs through all the songs and especially through the performance where Marcus and Mathias seem to challenge each other. And of course the rhythmic sound of the tuba creates a circus atmosphere.
But at ‘Riding the crest’ - played in "a Grunge major key" - Dirk showed that his tuba could also replace a bass and be a real Rock’n’Roll instrument. Btw. Dirk’s instrument was claimed to be the tuba of death when Marcus introduced all band members at the first encore. Before they performed ‘Sinister sister’ a cardboard stand- up of a little girl with a bloody hatchet and some of the Hardcore fans were prepared as they had some toy hatchets with them. They also had confetti with them that they threw around at ‘That's When I Reach For My Revolver’. Though the set list contained 20 songs, including the two encores the concert was so entertaining that time only seemed to fly. After the show there was the chance to talk with the musicians or get an autograph at the merchandise stand. When I finally left the venue and drove home I had a big smile on my face. And I’m quite sure that I was not the only one who left in an excellent mood.
Setlist
01. Slipping around the Corner
02. Be Careful
03. Line of Last Resistance
04. Labyrinths of Despair
05. The Seeming and the Real
06. Fate / Illusion
07. The Invitation
08. The Orphanage
09. Sophie's Circus I
10. Sophie's Circus II & III
11. Praying Mantis
12. Mirror
13. Riding the crest
14. Endangered memories
15. Hither & Thither
16. Sinister Sister
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17. Black as coal
18. Final Days (Of Mankind) (incl. introduction of band)
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19. That's When I Reach For My Revolver (Mission of Burma cover)
20. The Painterman's Spell (long end)
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Sound: 9
Light: 8
Total: 9.5 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
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