Theaterfabrik, Leipzig, Germany
30th October 2012
An acoustic evening with: Diary of Dreams, The Beauty of Gemina and FAQ
Time to try something new! After DIARY OF DREAMS included an acoustic bloc into their shows of past years or even played some acoustic shows, now it was time for a completely acoustic evening presenting all in all three bands under the headline “An acoustic evening with DIARY OF DREAMS, THE BEAUTY OF GEMINA and FAQ”. After the band presents beloved 10 songs in acoustic outfit on their new album ‘The Anatomy Of Silence’, the acoustic concerts present all in all nearly 20 songs, some of them not played live for a very long time or even never presented on stage so far.
The planned concept seemed to worked during the past few acoustic shows of the tour so far and also at Leipzig’s Theaterfabrik, about 400 people showed up to enjoy an unforgettable evening where DIARY OF DREAMS was supported by two Swiss bands, FAQ and THE BEAUTY OF GEMINA.
FAQ
Formed in 1994 under the name CARPE DIEM, the band soon became "the spearhead for Swiss made independent electro-pop music" (Bravo magazine). Electro band FAQ from Switzerland released its fifth long-player `Whitechapel´ in May 2009 after the records `Substitute´ (1998), `Self-Fulfilling Prophecy´ (2000), `Carpe Diem´ (2003) and `Is Pornography Art?´ (2005) followed by concept album about Jack the Ripper, ‘Whitechapel’, in 2009. The band also became popular in the international electro-scene after supporting and touring with bands like DEINE LAKAIEN, DE/VISION, MESH, CLAN OF XYMOX and later on also UNHEILIG. Most recently, the band released an acoustic EP, ‘FAQoustic’. FAQ is Philip Noirjean (vocals, guitar, 6-string bass, keys) and Pille (guitar, back vocals). https://www.facebook.com/faqofficialonfb / http://www.faq-music.com/ / http://www.faqoustic.com/
Music & Performance
Swiss duo FAQ, consisting of singer Philip Noirjean and guitarist Pille, were opening the evening with a little, 25 minutes lasting set. As the duo told during the show, third band member had to be “replaced due to financial reasons” and so, Pille had to play the second guitar line as well, which he did through looping his own guitar play. The FAQ show in Leipzig was indeed successful! Philip was in good mood and joked a lot, told little anecdotes along with the songs and was visible enjoying the Leipzig audience, telling them also how much he loves their city. The band itself declares its music as Electro/ Indie / Rock and those elements were also transported to the acoustic version of their show. Besides own songs – there were only 5 pieces, as Philip told – they also presented a cover of PLACEBO’s ‘Every You, Every Me’. One of the show’s highlights was a song partly sung in Swiss-German causing a lot of laughs within the audience, being commented by Philip with the words “your Saxon dialect is not really better!”.
Setlist
01. I Wish You Enough
02. The World Is Cold Enough
03. Till Teh Sky Falls In My Arms
04. Year One
05. Every You, Every Me (Placebo Cover)
06. Something Beautyful (partly in Swiss-German)
07. Song 2 (fragments of the Blur song)
Full Gallery
The Beauty of Gemina
The band, emerging from former members of the Swiss band NUUK, debuted with the album ‘Diary of a Lost’ in 2007 and received overall positive feedback from fans and press alike, followed by some very successful concerts in support of the album. Rolling on to 2008, Michael Sele and his band were not lazy as the successor, entitled ‘A Stranger to Tears’ was released in autumn 2008 and earned favourable reviews. 2010 has seen the band returning with their album ‘At The End Of The Sea’. Their newest achievement is called ‘Iscariot Blues’. THE BEAUTY OF GEMINA is Michael Sele(words & music, vocals, guitar, keyboards), Mac Vinzens (drums), David Vetsch (bass) and Marco Gassner (guitar). http://www.thebeautyofgemina.com / https://www.facebook.com/TheBeautyOfGemina / http://www.myspace.com/thebeautyofgemina
Music & Performance
Even though FAQ presented already an acoustic show, the following set of THE BEAUTY OF GEMINA seemed even calmer and dignified. Michael Sele, front man and also from Switzerland, welcomed the audience and took a seat between he colleagues o string instruments, Marco on guitar and David on bass. Drummer Mac was placed a little further in the back behind them. Convenient to the acoustic collection album to be out in January, the band got in the right mood for the following program with calmer sounds. Besides, they took away a little from the cheeriness und youthful easygoingness out of the basic mood. Anything went a little more seriously. Confidently and with only little audience contact, the four musicians presented their 45 minutes lasting show where they could not be pigeonholed into any musical direction. The empathic voice of Michael, psychedelic guitars mixed with acoustic elements formed an all-over well-balanced picture. Highlight in my eyes was the last song ‘Last Night Home’ from the current album ‘Iscariot Blues’.
Setlist
01. Voices of Winter
02. Narcotica
03. Golden Age
04. Stairs
05. Dark Rain
06. Last Night Home
Full Gallery
Diary of Dreams
Since 1989, DIARY OF DREAMS enchants a still growing fan base all over the world with beautiful and at times fragile tunes. Already 1.5 years after 'Nekrolog 43', the album '(if)' was released on 13th March 2009. In October 2009, the 'King of Nowhere' MCD including a brand new video clip has been released. In early 2010, the band was supporting UNHEILIG on their "Große Freiheit" tour. As a vanguard to the upcoming new album 'Ego:X' the track 'Echo in Me' was released digitally with the fans being able to choose what they'd like to pay for the download. 'Ego:X' has been released at the end of August 2011. Following up this last studio album was the ‘Dream Collector II’ compilation in summer 2012 and now in October 2012, the band released its first acoustic album, ‘The Anatomy Of Silence’, followed by an acoustic tour to present the album’s songs and a lot more in a totally new dress. DIARY OF DREAMS during this acoustic tour was Adrian Hates (vocals, guitar), Gaun:a (guitar, big bass, backing vocals), Flex (guitar, cello, backing vocals), Dejan (drums)and finally Torben Wendt from DIORAMA (keyboard, vocals). http://www.diaryofdreams.de / http://www.myspace.com/diaryofdreams / https://www.facebook.com/officialdiaryofdreams
Music & Performance
After two bands, finally excitement was immensely increasing. Anyone was curious what DIARY OF DREAMS will present on this special tour. First new exciting fact was that Torben Wendt, mastermind of DIORAMA and former steady member of DIARY OF DREAMS, accompanied the tour on piano and vocals. As last band member, Adrian Hates entered the stage on that evening, and with a smile on his face and the words “it’s a while since we played in Leipzig” he greeted the applauding audience. For the acoustic tour, DIARY OF DREAMS created a special, cosy atmosphere: there was a stylish music stand made of wood, little tables for every musicians with a glass of white wine and several little presents from fans, all collected in a little cupboard placed on stage. Every song being presented during the evening was chosen with deliberately, and this time, also ‘Giftraum’ fitted better to the venue than the day before when the band was playing in a church in Dresden… apart from Torben on keyboard, also Flex and Gaun:a supported the songs very well with their different string instruments and additional vocals. Furthermore, decent drum works by Dejan completed the acoustic presentation of the songs.
Not always quiet during the songs, especially during some emotional and calm moments, the audience showed its excitement with clapping and some heckling in-between the songs. Most interesting during the evening were the new interpretations of usually very strong and pushing songs like ‘Giftraum’, Chemicals’ or ‘The Curse’ getting a completely different impact due to the new instrumentation. Ending the set with very calm ‘Colorblind’, the band came back for two encore blocs. And of course one of the absolute audience favourites was once more ‘Traumtänzer’ even though the strong audience chants like on the usual version were not given but could anyway be heard at the end of the song. Most people just listened carefully to the gentle sound of Adrian’s voice. On Gaun:a’s wish, as was told, also ‘She And Her Darkness’ was selected for the set… since he loves to play that song so much. Seem like there is kind of democracy within the band ;)
Finally during the second encore, the long awaited duet with Torben Wendt happened where he performed ‘Flood of Tears’ together with Adrian, accompanied by the gentle guitar play of Flex. Causing Goosebumps, fans already got a bit wistful that the evening was already over. Thanking the band with standing ovations and blustering applause the band was said good bye. An absolutely successful fantastic evening found its end. Thanks to all people being involved!
Setlist
01. Kindrom
02. Butterfly:Dance!
03. Immerdar
04. The Curse
05. AmoK
06. Tears of Laughter
07. O' Brother Sleep
08. Chemicals
09. Rumours About Angels
10. Malice
11. Chrysalis
12. She
13. Giftraum
14. Colorblind
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15. Colours of Grey
16. She and Her Darkness
17. Traumtänzer
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18. Flood of Tears (duet with Torben Wendt)
Full Gallery
All pictures by Mandy Privenau
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