Underground, Cologne, Germany
2nd June 2011
The Exploding Boy, State Of Martial Law
Another little day of summer, sun and concert. This time around it became a rather intimate affair with Swedish THE EXPLODING BOY playing at that little club called Underground. Needless to say we were looking forward to an entertaining evening.
State Of Martial Law
Ever since 2006 the four guys are doing songs together as STATE OF MARTIAL LAW. Their first success was making the first place at a German contest named “AZ Szene Star”. They debuted with the album ‘Dead End’ leading to shows played on large festivals and located all across the globe. A new EP was out in summer 2010. http://www.state-of-martial-law.de
Music & Performance
The band from Kempen in Bavaria had travelled far to play their gig in Cologne this evening. That’s what they have in common with THE EXPLODING BOY. The music couldn’t be more different from them though. Much like a mixture of AUDUISLAVE and SOUNDGGARDEN with a little bit taken from others and remodelled to an own, groovy sound! Unfortunately, this was just the problem. The audience were tuned for something different to come and even though the guys on stage did what they could in those minor scopes of the stage, the applause was, let’s call it reluctant. Wrong setting for an otherwise acclaimed show.
Setlist
01. Slogans
02. Eric
03. Close Ups
04. Bean Gun
05. Point Of No Return
06. Groovemonster
07. Uneven Road
08. Alex
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7 / 10
The Exploding Boy
History of THE EXPLODING BOY starts in January 2006. When Swedish artist Sophie Rimheden heard the first demo recording she offered to produce upcoming material. Since the demand for a live presentation grew considerably, the band started expanding their line-up and eventually debuted live in May of their foundation year. The band released their self-titled debut album in 2007, being followed by an extensive tour. In September of the same year, the single ’40 Days’, which got very good critics beforehand, was released! Spring 2009 saw the pack embarking on a German tour and in May the new album ‘Afterglow’ came out. THE EXPLODING BOY is Johan (vocals, acoustic guitar), Les (lead guitar), Stefan (vocals, guitar) and Nick (keyboards, programming). http://www.myspace.com/theexplodingboyse
Music & Performance
Last time I’ve seen them they were laying down a show at a Belgian festival in front of a little more people. This time THE EXPLODING BOY entered the stage to do a kind of living room show for 70 people max. But those were more than excited to see the guys playing. A tinge of ‘Human’ warmth went through the little room in the show’s early stages. Ethereal moods were floating around everywhere and brought back a feeling of nostalgia as well. The band has a new album out called ‘The Black Album’ and of course was keen on presenting even more songs off the record on their first show ever in Cologne. For example ’Loneliness’ which had a real crunchy mid-tempo rhythm base and acoustic flourishes to comply with the vocals. 
‘Sweet Little Lies’ on the other hand was more of a tribute to old heroes such as JOY DIVISION. Post-Punkish and with a little slice of Wave music it came along to rock the little crowd while the room got increasingly more hot. Old songs had their fair share in the setlist as well, just that they were in a minority. That didn’t narrow the pleasure hearing songs like ‘Heart of Glass’ or ‘Desperados’ at all. Even though the air in the room was hardly bearable anymore the crowd demanded an encore and got one of 2 songs that closed up the little living room show.
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 7.9 / 10
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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