Live Review: Einstürzende Neubauten - Cologne 2024

E-Werk, Cologne, Germany
14th September 2024
Einstürzende Neubauten - “alien pop music” 2024

No other band or artist has shaped modern music like the EINSTÜRZENDEN NEUBAUTEN. The simplest instruments, such as steel sheets, large industrial metal springs, old oil drums or even disused shopping trolleys, provided a sound that was unfamiliar at the time. Add to this the vocals of the charismatic Blixa Bargeld, who turns even the operating instructions of a kitchen appliance into a lyrical work of art. https://neubauten.org / https://www.facebook.com/EinstuerzendeNeubauten.TributePage

Music & Performance
NEUBAUTEN took to the stage of the packed E-Werk in Cologne relatively punctually - a city in which the band gave one of their first concerts over 40 years ago. They opened the evening with the songs ‘Pestalozzi’ and ‘Ist Ist’, both from the new album ‘Rampen (apm: alien pop music)’. On a brightly lit stage with a large yellow cloth in the background, Blixa Bargeld performed his lyrics barefoot and in a black suit. On this evening, Blixa Bargeld was quite talkative and talked about the improvisation of the song ‘Ist Ist’ at the last concert in Cologne. Alexander Hacke mainly played the electric bass on this day and sometimes switched to drumsticks to play on a modified steel cable.



But the percussionists N. U. Unruh and Rudolph Moser also played on instruments they had built themselves, old plastic canisters and sheet metal. Guitarist Jochen Arbeit and keyboardist Felix Gebhard had the quieter job here. After the song ‘How Did I Die?’ the EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN went into a short break. Shortly afterwards, the band and the limping Blixa returned to the stage. Blixa had been limping all evening, which few people noticed after the break, as the long feather boa around Blixa’s neck was much more noticeable to the fans. Unfortunately, the Berliners didn’t play the well-known hits, but all in all, the concert was typical for the band again.



Setlist
01. Pestalozzi
02. Ist ist
03. Wedding
04. Grazer Damm
05. Isso Isso
06. Möbliertes Lied
07. Sabrina
08. Die Befindlichkeit des Landes
09. Sonnenbarke
10. Seven Screws
11. Trilobiten
12. Gesundbrunnen
13. How Did I Die?
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14. Ten Grand Goldie
15. Alles in Allem
16. Besser issues
17. Everything Will Be Fine
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18. Susej

Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 9
Light: 9
Sound: 9
Total: 9. / 10

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All Pictures by Andreas Klüppelberg