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diehappy8Christuskirche, Bochum, Germany
9th April 2011
Die Happy, Greg Holden

With their newest endeavour, DIE HAPPY will be following a different approach in presenting their hits in a different sonic fashion, an acoustic variation and chose a special location with the Christus church in Bochum!


Greg Holden

GREG HOLDEN is a Scottish born singer/songwriter living in New York at the moment. His first release was a little EP, titled ‘Sing For The City’. He was already singing for New York at the time. On one of those showcases he was offered to tour with Ingrid Michaelson and received nationwide exposure in the further course and his popularity wouldn’t cease to grow to the present day. At the end of May he’ll release his new album ‘I Don’t Believe You’. http://www.gregholdenonline.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/gregholden

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Music & Performance
So there was this polite young guy walking in after having been introduced and he simply started, started singing with a voice like milk and honey with a boyish charm but the experience of a lifetime and a keen sense for the life happening around him melded with sadness. That was kind of a long sentence wasn’t it? But I couldn’t express it any other way. If you got all these things there’s no need for a too rich orchestration of music as it works with the simplest of means. In case of Greg it was his guitar that compelled the audience inside the church, and the occasional German-worded statements he would read from a note broke the ice completely and except for a few they all kept quiet during the performance but to all the more louder after a song much to Greg’s likes. On the rhythmical ‘Hell & Back’ it was time for a little audience participation with clapping and a sing-a-long on ‘Bar On A’ …with a bit of a rough start. That’s been the end of a remarkable performance. One or the other surely became the new owner of a copy of the new album I guess.

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

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Die Happy

DIE HAPPY are amongst Germany’s busiest bands! Already six albums and one “Unplugged” record have been released by the band around singer Marta Jandová since their inception in 2001. The single ‘Supersonic Speed’ made it into the Top 50 of the German single charts in 2001. Their last long player, aptly titled ‘Six’, was released in April 2008, and as far as reactions from the press and fans go, it’s one of their best works to date. 2009 saw the release of their band retrospective ‘Most Wanted’ but a new album would follow in 2010 with ‘Red Box’. http://www.diehappy.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/officialdiehappy

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Music & Performance
Now just a little rebuilding and redecorating on stage and the first DIE HAPPY band members appeared to start the fiery acoustic intro, preluding Marta’s appearance on stage before the show’s actual kick-off with ‘Big Boy’. For everyone there was a stool set up, mostly at the stage’s front and most band members were doing just fine with sitting and playing their instruments but Marta just couldn’t sit still at all during the whole show. She was almost dancing on the thingy, swinging, even standing on it or just jumping down to walk on stage to quench the thirst to move, depending on which song would be played.

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That in turn electrified the audience in the church in a way that they themselves would wriggle about on the banks, clapping or singing, occasionally both at the same time. It’s just what she said in the beginnings of the show. DIE HAPPY don’t just unplug the instruments and play little acoustic versions, they have fun, joke and stuff. While we’re on the subject of talking: Marta did of lot of that between songs which was contributing nicely to the audience getting even more into the show’s special vibe. Catching up a little on some of the music being played we’re getting on best-of road with played songs such as the urgent ’Perfect’, ‘The End’ or ‘Cherry Girl’ just to name a few. One song turned out to be the cover version of DESTINY’S CHILD hit ‘Survivor’, presented here with a Spanish fire that made it somewhat more bearable. Really don’t like the original.

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For the crowd pleaser ‘Like A Flower’ the band had a nimble-fingered percussion and drum solo for us, more like an intermezzo before the rest of the band returned. On ‘Goodbye’ the mood had reached a peak with the entire audience standing, dancing and coming closer to the stage. The highlight and ending of the evening for us with memories of a very special evening!

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 8.3 / 10

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


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