Cassandra Steen - Aschaffenburg 2009

Colos-Saal, Aschaffenburg, Germany
30th September 2009
Cassandra Steen, Fetsum

The concert evening started in a relaxed way. I expected to be faced with a huge crowd in front of the Colos-Saal, but it wasn’t like that. After the admission had been proceeded, I entered the small hall and found a standing place in the first row. Firstly, it was pretty empty, but then the attendees gradually arrived. It was striking of what different ages the listeners were. I noticed children and pensioners as well as young couples and teenagers. Shortly before the appearance of support act FETSUM should begin, the venue had been well-filled but not overcrowded.


Fetsum

He was born in Egypt and grew up in Italy and Germany. FETSUM describes his musical style as “Urban Folk” combining Soul, Jazz, Reggae and Blues. Due to collaborations with MASSIVE TÖNE and MAX HERRE, he became well-known as a talented vocalist and songwriter. In August 2005, FETSUM released his first EP `Meine Musik´. Last year, he went on tour with PATRICE and soul singer ESTELLE. In this year’s May, his recent single `Meet you in Paradise´ was released. http://www.myspace.com/fetsum



Music & Performance
Dimmed lights and a simple stage gave an idea of what would follow: FETSUM and his guitarist presented a pure acoustic set. The likeable singer was able to fill the room due to his confident stage presence. All in all, he intonated six songs making curious about his music that is clearly influenced by his African origin. FETSUM´s expressive vocals performed the function of a well-tuned instrument. He instantly captivated the audience that listened attentively to his sometimes joyful and sometimes melancholic pieces that certainly deserved the description “Urban Folk”. When FETSUM animated the crowd to sing and clap along, the audience willingly followed his instructions. At the end of the way too short set, he invited the crowd to form a gospel choir by singing some lines of the song `Air´ which worked surprisingly well.

Setlist
01. Bobby
02. Emotional Android
03. Go
04. Egypt
05. Meet you in Paradise
06. Air

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 9
Light: 6
Total: 7.9 / 10




Cassandra Steen

Did you listen to the radio in the past few months? Then you will definitely know the song `Stadt´. The rousing duet sung by exceptional vocalist CASSANDRA STEEN and ADEL TAWIL (who is usually known as the male voice of German Pop duo ICH & ICH) has been one of the most played songs in this year’s summer and made it to #2 in the German charts. Though `Stadt´ was the final breakthrough for the Stuttgart-based vocalist, she has already been part of musical productions for several years. Thus, she was responsible for the backing vocals on tracks of SABRINA SETLUR, FREUNDESKREIS, BUSHIDO and XAVIER NAIDOO. When she became front woman of the Soul band GLASHAUS, Cassandra gained a lot of attention and was able to build up a certain fan base due to her warm and the same time fragile vocals.



At the beginning of this year, she released her most recent solo recording `Darum leben wir´. In this year’s February, she represented the federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg at the Bundesvision Song Contest and finished fourth after she had intonated the song `Darum leben wir´. At the moment, CASSANDRA STEEN is touring Germany. On 30th October 2009, her upcoming single `Glaub ihnen kein Wort´ is going to be released. Meanwhile, the hall was nearly filled up to capacity and I noticed many photographers who wanted to take some pictures of the German shooting star and her band. Finally, the lights went off and it was time for CASSANDRA STEEN´s performance. http://www.myspace.com/cassandrasteen / http://www.cassandra-steen.de/



Music & Performance
It shouldn’t be an acoustic concert, as Cassandra had brought a complete band and two backing vocalists her support act FETSUM also belonged to. The audience began to clap and to cheer when the band members walked to their instruments, but anyone was waiting for the host. Finally, she came on stage; dressed in black and with a smile on her lips she took her micro and started to intonate her first song `Darum leben wir´. The excellent vocals totally matched with the voice we all know from the radio: A gentle and dreamy singing that causes goose bumps. The singer was a bit shy and seemed to be nervous at first. Later on, she appeared more self-confident and turned out to be a pleasant person that gratefully acknowledged the crowd’s attendance. Showing expressive gestures and with closed eyes, Cassandra swayed to the beat of her melodic soul pieces.



There wasn’t anything like what you might call a stage show - and it didn’t matter anyway as the emotive soul ballads were reason enough to create a special atmosphere. However, she also delivered a Rock-influenced version of the SELIG song `Ohne dich´. Furthermore, the pretty singer presented cover versions of the AMY WINEHOUSE track `Love is a losing Game´ and the ballad `If I ain´t got you´ which was originally sung by ALICIA KEYS. Cassandra’s own songs were mainly taken from her recent album. Besides the nice soundscape, they were able to impress me due to the poetic German lyrics. Last but not least, CASSANDRA STEEN and FETSUM presented the eagerly awaited hit `Stadt´ that made the audience go wild. Everyone was dancing, singing and clapping. Thus, I experienced an atmospheric concert of a gifted vocalist who still seemed to be surprised by her own success.



Setlist
07. If I ain’t got you (ALICIA KEYS cover)
08. Lost without you (ROBIN THICKES cover)
09. Love is a losing Game (AMY WINEHOUSE cover)
20. Glaub ihnen keinen Wort
21. Unendlich
12. Funken Liebe
13. Ohne dich (SELIG cover)
14. Wie du lachst
15. Eis
---
16. Wann
17. Hip Hop Snippets
18. Engel
19. Stadt

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Sound: 9
Light: 8
Total: 7.9 / 10





All pictures by Katrin Renner (http://www.creavision-webdesign.de/)
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