Live Review: Deichkind - Dortmund 2024

Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Germany
7th December 2024
Deichkind - “Kids in meinem Alter 2024 Tour”

A children’s birthday party for adults. That’s how DEICHKIND describe their concerts. Last Saturday in the Westfalenhalle in Dortmund, they showed just how right they are. But it didn’t really want to fill up. And indeed: the hall was far from sold out. Of course, it was most crowded in the inner area. That made sense, because DEICHKIND fans know that the band gets up close and personal with the fans inside during the course of the evening. But even there it was quite spacious at the back. In the upper level, however, there was even more space. In total, the Westfalenhalle was probably 2/3 full. Did this have any negative impact on the concert? Not at all.

There was no support act in the classic sense. Instead, the audience was entertained by VJ WASTED. The Hip-Hop and Electro sounds were accompanied by videos on the big screen, which obscured the view of the stage. This sound system did not yet create a great atmosphere. But that was about to change when Porky himself made a video message shortly before the DEICHKIND concert began. “We want our concert to be a safe place. We do not tolerate any form of discrimination or violence, so please take care of each other!” From then on, the atmosphere began to improve. Probably also because the fans knew that it wouldn’t be long before DEICHKIND would take the stage. But before that happened, the mood was raised to an even higher level with the video clips for ‘Killing In The Name Of’ by RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and ‘I Want To Break Free’ by QUEEN.



Music & Performance
But then it was time for DEICHKIND. ‘99 Bierkanister’ kicked off a show that had it all. The concert began with the opener and the following songs ‘So’ne Musik’ and ‘Geradeaus’, which were relatively inconspicuous. Inconspicuous in terms of the band’s performance, because the band largely dispensed with the extraordinary show for these first three songs, which picked up speed immediately afterwards with ‘Auch im Bentley wird geweint’. Although the band was already in costume on stage right at the start, there were no visual highlights apart from the so-called omni-pods, the small mobile towers that are an active part of the stage performance for many songs at a DEICHKIND show. Of course, that didn’t dampen the mood. On the contrary: right from the opener, the fans were completely caught up in the show on offer. The 7-piece band, partly supplemented by other costumed crew members, had the audience completely under control from the start.



As mentioned, in the following ‘Auch im Bentley wird geweint’, the performance began with a break from the omni pods. During this song, Kryptik Joe rode and sang across the stage in rodeo style on an oversized Gucci handbag, while the other members of the live band adored him. During ‘Pozellan und Elefanten’, the men performed an almost unspectacular interlude with umbrellas. In contrast, the performance during ‘Die Welt ist fertig’ was visually harmonious, with a large part of the band in red and white outfits presenting a choreography on the omni pods with glowing red sticks in front of a red and white backdrop. The men were still standing on the small pillars when three more crew members in green protective suits enveloped the stage in thick fog in the following ‘In der Natur’.



Other highlights in the first half of the set were certainly ‘Wer sagt denn das?’, in which the seven “Deichkinder” all performed on stage in white jogging suits with the song title printed here and there in large black letters, and ‘Kids in meinem Alter’ also had charm. During this track, Kryptik Joe made himself comfortable in his bright yellow mountaineering outfit in his portaledge on the left edge of the stage and philosophised at length all by himself about what all the kids are doing these days. The question “Would you like to hear a few more classics? The mood is right.” introduced the second half of the evening. And this is where DEICHKIND ignited the afterburner. The classics ‘Komm schon’ and ‘Bon Voyage’ kicked things off, followed by ‘Bück dich hoch’ and ‘Leider Geil’, two of the band’s most successful songs to date.



Things quietened down a little afterwards with ‘Richtig gutes Zeug’, during which Kryptik Joe made another solo appearance and pulled a huge smartphone and selfie stick out of his oversized rucksack to take a selfie in front of the enthusiastic crowd. Great! DEICHKIND delivered another visual highlight a little later with ‘Arbeit nervt’. The omni pods were used again. However, there were only five “Deichkinder” on the six stages, the sixth stage was occupied by a working robot, which, like its human colleagues, also wore a glowing pyramid helmet. Against a backdrop of yellowish chequered patterns and an otherwise black background, this set made quite a visual impact. And then, after the fantastic ‘Bude voll People’, the famous giant barrel was finally rolled into the hall and through the audience for ‘Roll das Fass rein’. Two “Deichkinder” performed in the barrel, a third “Deichkind” sat on the barrel as usual and waved a huge flag, while billows of fog from the barrel provided another visual gimmick.



Following this, DEICHKIND worked their way to the finale ‘Limit’. Then it was over, but after a short time in the backstage area, DEICHKIND and presumably all the other crew members returned to the stage to set a final chord with ‘Remmidemmi’. For the encore, a crew member got into a large inflatable boat and emptied several bags of feathers over the heads of the audience while they carried the boat through the crowd. Meanwhile, the stage was crowded. The crew was completely present. Outfits that had already been worn during the show were put on again. Somewhere in the background, a three-metre-tall turd emoji posed. Yes, this is how you imagine a children’s birthday party for adults. But now it was really over. The band and crew celebrated for several minutes, and the audience loved celebrating their heroes. What DEICHKIND deliver live sets new standards.



Setlist
01. 99 Bierkanister
02. So’ne Musik
03. Geradeaus
04. Auch im Bentley wird geweint
05. Porzellan und Elefanten
06. Die Welt ist fertig
07. In der Natur
08. Wer sagt denn das?
09. Wutboy
10. Ich bin ein Geist
11. Kids in meinem Alter
12. Komm schon!
13. Bon Voyage
14. Bück dich hoch
15. Leider geil (Leider geil)
16. Richtig gutes Zeug
17. Oma gib Handtasche
18. Arbeit nervt
19. Könnt ihr noch?
20. Bude voll People
21. Roll das Fass rein
22. Niveau weshalb warum
23. Hört ihr die Signale (with snippet of "The Power of Love" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood)
24. Keine Party
25. Limit
26. Remmidemmi (Yippie Yippie Yeah)

Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Light: 9
Sound: 9
Total: 9.5 / 10

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All Pictures by André Wilms