Matrixx, Nuremberg, & Moritzbastei, Leipzig, Germany16th & 17th November 2018
Diorama - Tour 2018 - Support: Code Canary (cancelled due to an accident of a band member)
DIORAMA are coming back for a short intermezzo with two German gig dates in Nuremberg and Leipzig, once more to celebrate the genius ‘ZSA’ album, released in 2016, before coming back 2019 with new projects (Torben Wendt and Zura Nakamura are touring with COMA ALLIANCE in January and February 2019) and probably a new DIORAMA album is on the way, according to some insights via Instagram and Facebook directly from the studio.
Code Canary
CODE CANARY (former STARPOST) was founded in 2008 in Nuremberg and their music style can be classified as Dark Pop or Dark Wave. The first EP ‘The Future Is Now’ was released in 2009, the first full-length album ‘Opticks’ followed in 2011. CODE CANARY won the ‘John Lennon Talent Awards 2012/2013’. The current album is called ‘</>’ (however you might pronounce it) and was released in 2017. CODE CANARY already supported DIORAMA e.g. for their gig in Oberhausen on the Eastern weekend this year. For more info follow https://www.facebook.com/codecanary/. Just a few hours before the gig in Nuremberg we got notified that CODE CANARY unfortunately had to cancel the two gigs on a short notice due to an accident. We wish the band member to get well soon!
Diorama
DIORAMA are known for decades now for their sophisticated and philosophical club hits like the well-known ‘Synthesize Me’ and ‘Advance’, nostalgic ballads like ‘Das Meer’ or such smash songs like ‘Girls’ (unforgettable when Boris May from KLANGSTABIL entered the stage at another gig as surprise guest for this song!). http://diorama-music.com / https://www.facebook.com/dioramawastaken
Music & Performance Day 1 - Leipzig, 16th November 2018
For me it was the first time in Nuremberg and the cosy city enchanted me just from the start. After the check-in in our hostel and a short dinner we decided to just walk down to the Matrixx which is about five km, so an hour walk, but we were super excited anyway and needed to use all that energy somehow. When we arrived at Matrixx, outside of the venue we already met some friends. That’s one of the cool things about travelling for concerts, you will be meeting people you know even in places you have never been before. The doors opened even five minutes before schedule, but we still had to wait in front of the concert room, I guess the band was still sound-checking when we were allowed to enter the venue. So we had to wait about half an hour before we could finally go inside and find our place in front of the stage, but at least not in the cold outside and the music was pretty good. Another hour later spent talking with other friends we met, DIORAMA finally got on stage. The excitement in the audience had enough time to grow, so they were welcomed very warm and enthusiastic.
The gig started with the instrumental ‘Nebulus’ from the current album ‘Zero Soldier Army’, followed by ‘Beta’ from the same release. In total the setlist contained six songs from the current album, also some that we haven’t heard much before. Before the third track of the setlist - ‘Odyssey Into The Vacuum’ - DIORAMA used the intro of ‘Shut Up And Smile Forever’. Really cool effect! ‘Polaroids’, the next song on the list, became very fast one of my all-time favourites and the displayed pictures on the screen taken by the fans when the album was released, make the song really special. Other more “classics” like ‘Child Of Entertainment’ made instantly for a good party mood in the crowd and have been sang along by the audience. It was a very special moment, when Torben took place at the stage piano and started talking about the next song. He started the story with their attempt to perform also songs at their gigs that they haven’t played at all or for a long time, to give some more surprises to the audience and especially the people who attend their concerts regularly. *gasp*
The following song was suggested to them by Vasi Vallis (FROZEN PLASMA, NAMNAMBULU, FUTURE LIED TO US etc.) who called it “the best DIORAMA song ever”. Just before the song started, Torben added “We all are here tonight. But someone is missing”. Music on and a picture of the cutest dog ever was shown on the screen. The song Torben was talking about , was ‘The Convenience Of Being Absent’ and turned out to be one of the most emotional moments of the gig. Torben’s soft voice was full of mourning about his companion. Pictures of the charming creature were shown during the whole song and the whole Matrixx was listening quietly spellbound by the sadness and authenticity in Torben’s voice. When the song was over, Felix touched Torben’s shoulders gently and the moment we all shared here was full of deepest human vulnerability. A technical problem occurred during ‘Hope’, sound and video projection error. The band checked first, restarted, but unfortunately had to stop again and tried to fix it. Though Torben excused and of course was probably not most comfortable in this situation, the reaction of the band and the way they handled the situation was totally professional.
While Torben left the stage to get things fixed, the other guys just improvised a bit and played a minimalistic, instrumental version of ‘Hope’ for a moment. After the problem couldn’t be fixed completely, the band decided to go on without the screens. Torben just said “well, we still can use plan B, and then C. And if that doesn’t work, we just go and have drinks”. Felix Marc immediately reacted to this like “Ah, that’s an option? Let’s go for that!” Well beside of the not working screens, the rest of the gig went well and the guys had to wait a bit longer for the drinks (though one or another beer was already shared on stage). The way they handled the situation still staying humorous, showed ones more their quality as a live band. Another thing that is always great to see, is the interaction of the band members. The DIORAMA guys show their sympathy and respect for each other every then and now. Also smiling a lot to each other, making some jokes and even sharing hugs and dancing with each other. This is one of the most important things to me about live performances, seeing band members enjoy their time on stage and really appreciate each other.
The whole gig lasted almost 2.5 hours, because the audience just didn’t let the guys go and so DIORAMA came back three times in total! The first encore included the amazingly meaningful ‘ZSA’, classic ‘Her Liquid Arms’ and the fan song ‘Why’. The band left, the fans didn’t even think of being less loud and so the guys had to come back for another encore. Torben just asked what the fans were looking forward to hear and waited until someone shouted ‘Defcon’. Good strategy! The concert was supposed to end with ‘Ignite’ that got very intense for me at the end and created that moment of being completely present and at the same time so far away from reality. The band left another time. Well. The fans were still not going to “shut down” and after a few minutes Torben came back alone on stage. He seemed very touched by the reaction and a little bit overwhelmed. He sat down and just asked what we wished to hear. Most heard wish was ‘Das Meer’ and so he followed the request and performed the song being alone on stage.
I could perfectly watch directly into his face while he was playing and singing, nothing and no-one in between and this moment was pure magic to me. The end of the song surprisingly transformed into ‘Hope’ and the last few chords we heard were from the song that caused a bit of chaos before and made the end of the gig just perfect. When the last chord was played and words sung, Torben just said “Now a drink” and though we still didn’t have enough, he and all the other guys have absolutely earned their drinks and time to celebrate the successful gig now! What a magical gig it was.
Setlist
01. Nebulus
02. Beta
03. Intro: Shut Up And Smile Forever - song: Odyssey Into The Vacuum
04. Polaroids
05. Kein Mord
06. Child Of Entertainment
07. The Convenience Of Being Absent
08. Summit
09. Forgotten
10. Hope
11. Exit The Grey
12. Last Minute
13. Synthesize Me
14. Off
---
15. ZSA
16. HLA (Her Liquid Arms)
17. Why
---
18. Defcon
19. Ignite
---
20. Das Meer last chords of Hope
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Light: 7
Sound: 8
Total: 8.8 / 10
The next day started with a lack of sleep, big smiles on our faces, some sightseeing in beautiful Nuremberg and hot chestnuts that now became a DIORAMA tradition as they are usually sold in the south of Germany where we mostly only travel to see the guys from DIORAMA. Later taking the surprisingly empty train, we arrived two hours later in Leipzig to see DIORAMA for the second time on this weekend in the sold-out Moritzbastei.
Music & Performance Day 2 - Leipzig, 17th November 2018
We arrived at Moritzbastei Café around quarter to seven, said “hello” to some friends and like the day before in Nuremberg, the doors to the actual venue opened even earlier than scheduled. While waiting in front of the stage, more people we knew came to say “hi” and we got to talk to other fans we didn’t know yet. Though the time was spent well, we waited impatiently for the gig to start. We were a bit “scared” by the fact that the “Veranstaltungstonne” at Moritzbastei was sold-out as we experienced it a few times during the Wave-Gotik-Treffen very crowded and it’s not difficult to get anxious when it’s too crowded inside of it. But until the end it stayed really okay in front of the stage, so our worries were totally unnecessary.
The gig started at half past eight. Though I already thought that the audience in Nuremberg was really-really amazing, the crowd in Leipzig just topped it. From the very first sound the people were so loud and ecstatically celebrating DIORAMA. And I felt like they deserved it so-sooo much! The setlist stayed the same as in Nuremberg, beside of a little change in the last encore part and ‘Hope’ just worked this time without any problems and you could see the guys making signs that could be interpreted like “let’s hope it’s going well this time”. It did, and how well it did! The venue was vibrating and became an energetic hot party mass. While being very loud in between and at the right timing during the more danceable songs, the people very able to stay really quiet during the ballads which makes the perfect audience to me. It’s also to mention that the light was much better and suitable than in Nuremberg.
The announcement of ‘The Convenience Of Being Absent’ changed a bit and Torben was also talking directly to Vasi Vallis as he was present today with the words “Your wish is our command” and then he added that “someone was missing since Tuesday and he was missing him very badly”. That just broke my heart into pieces. There are not many bands that make it possible to cry and celebrate so much during a concert and this bittersweet mixture makes the live performances of DIORAMA so special. This memorable gig ended with ‘Advance’ instead of ‘Das Meer’ and so got a totally different finale. Another DIORAMA concert ended. It left me with this special, warm feeling of excitement inside that is hard to describe but some might relate, somewhere between feeling home and lost at the same time, trying to extend the time before turning back to reality as much as possible and not to fall in that hole of not knowing when the next full-time gig will be. Hopefully not too far away!
Setlist
01. Nebulus
02. Beta
03. Intro: Shut Up And Smile Forever - song: Odyssey Into The Vacuum
04. Polaroids
05. Kein Mord
06. Child Of Entertainment
07. The Convenience Of Being Absent
08. Summit
09. Forgotten
10. Hope
11. Exit The Grey
12. Last Minute
13. Synthesize Me
14. Off
---
15. ZSA
16. HLA (Her Liquid Arms)
17. Why
---
18. Defcon
19. Ignite
20. Advance
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Light: 9
Sound: 9
Total: 9.5 / 10
All Pictures by Nastja Iz
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