Live Review: Cranberries, The - Berlin 2012

Max-Schmeling-Halle, Berlin
8th October 2012
The Cranberries & Stonedrifters Sound Brigade

On this autumnal evening, the Max-Schmeling-Halle was nearly three quarters full. There was a broad variety of public waiting for THE CRANBERRIES: Middle aged people, who had spent their youth listening to THE CRANBERRIES, younger fans of today and even some older guests were crowding the hall.

Stonedrifters Sound Brigade

STONEDRIFTERS SOUND BRIGADE were founded in 2004 by Gary Ferguson. They consist of Gary Ferguson (vocals, guitar), Jamie Dawson( guitar, background vocals), Dan Stokes (bass, background vocals) and Jared Smith (drums). Since 2009, they live in Berlin and have published their first album in 2011. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stonedrifters-Sound-Brigade/204438686241275



Music and Performance
I must confess that on my first CRANBERRIES concert, over ten years ago in Düsseldorf, I thought that the supporting act GOLDJUNGE was the worst one I’ve ever heard. But, after this concert, I changed my opinion, because this supporting act was playing really shallow pop, with one song sounding like the next, without rhythm and passion. Although it must be also said that our camerawoman and I disagreed in this point: she liked the band much more than I. In any way, the band did not catch the attention of the audience and appeared and disappeared silently.




The Cranberries

THE CRANBERRIES were founded in 1989 in Ireland and consist since 1990 of Dolores O’Riordan (keyboard, guitar, vocals), Noel Antony Hogan (guitar), Michael Gerard Hogan (bass) and Fergal Patrick Lawler (drums). They are one of the most famous independent Rock bands all over the world. They have sold more than 38 millions of discs and published a total of six albums, the newest is the so called ‘Roses’, out in 2012. http://www.cranberries.com / https://www.facebook.com/TheCranberries



Music and Performance
Punctually at nine o’clock, a slow intro announced the coming of THE CRANBERRIES, and Dolores, dressed in glittering black, entered the stage which was illuminated in purple. They started with one of their most famous songs: ‘Just My Imagination’, taken from their third album ‘Bury the Hatchet’. Although her performance was, musically spoken, very professional, the public remained a little bit cold. Also Dolores noticed it and tried to elate the public telling them that she loves Berlin and that she visited the Alexanderplatz, the cathedral and that she went for shopping. But it didn’t help. Also in the second and third song, the audience remained lukewarm, or even cold. It must be said that at some songs, the sound was really bad, something inapprehensible at such a big hall like the Max-Schmeling-Halle. Above all it was noticeable at the third song, called ‘Losing My Mind’.



At the fourth song, the famous ‘Linger’, things changed a little and people became a little bit more passionate. Dolores, sitting on a chair, gave the microphone to the audience to sing the refrain; but it didn’t work well. The fifth song, ‘Free To Decide’, was a excellent opportunity for Dolores to show the mastery of her voice. Also on ‘Dreaming My Dreams’, two songs later, she sung in an extraordinary beautiful way, but was not able to catch the audience’s attention. ‘I Can’t Be With You’ later on was a really passionate piece of rock, full of anger and pain, and Dolores started to bang her head, playing a white guitar, and leaving the stage still head banging. Then, the song ended with a long instrumental outro and earned a lot of applause. The next song was completely instrumental and a little bit lukewarm, but afterwards, Dolores re-appeared wearing a green dress with long gloves and performing a song from her new album. The public, who had become a little bit more enthusiastic during ‘I Can’t Be With You’, had fallen again into its lethargy. Although I must say that I didn’t understand the lack of enthusiasm of the audience, I must confess that the next song, also taken from the new album, was really little inventive.



Dolores gave it all entering the stage boisterously jumping at ‘Ridiculous Thoughts’, but it was not until second last song of the main set, ‘Salvation’, that the attendees became really ecstatic. And at the last song from the regular set, ‘Zombie’, finally even the singing of the refrain by the fans did work. For the encore, Dolores did appear in a black dress with black gloves, adorned with a lot of rhinestones. ‘Promises’, the second song of the encore, earned a lot of applause, and Dolores performed it really outstanding, playing the guitar herself and singing it with a lot of passion and power. But, at the last song, ‘Dreams’, the public was not able to sing the refrain and Dolores turned the show around trilling passionately.

Setlist
01. Just My Imagination
02. When You're Gone
03. Losing My Mind
04. Linger
05. Free To Decide
06. Ordinary Day (Dolores O’Riordan song)
07. Dreaming My Dreams
08. Tomorrow
09. Still Can't…
10. Desperate Andy
11. I Can't Be With You
12. Instrumental Interlude
13. Conduct
14. Fire & Soul
15. Not Sorry
16. Show Me
17. Ridiculous Thoughts
18. Salvation
19. Zombie
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20. Shizophrenic Playboys
21. Promises
22. The Journey (Dolores O’Riordan song)
23. Dreams

Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 8
Total: 8.5 / 10




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