Diorama - Schwarzes Treffen Aarau 2008

Flösserplatz, Aarau, Switzerland
1st March 2008
Diorama, Transit Poetry

Sunday evening short past 7p.m. High above the ground I sit in the plane on my way home from Zurich; the lights down on earth look like huge spider webs crossing the land and glittering in the dark. In my ears, there is still the sound of yesterday; my eyes still see the scenery on stage and already in a melancholy mood I think about the great weekend with DIORAMA and TRANSIT POETRY at the “Schwarzes Treffen” (Black Meeting) in Aarau / Switzerland.

On 1st of March, already the 6th “Schwarze Treffen” took place at a very nice venue at the Flösserplatz (http://www.floesserplatz.ch/)  Suisse Aarau presenting two fabulous German bands. The events under the moniker of “Schwarzes Treffen” are organized by the young promoters Solanaceae (http://www.solanaceae.ch/) who made this evening a memorable experience. There were not only the live shows which made the event worth visiting, there were also several DJs spinning the records on two dance floors until the early morning hours. People had a lot of time to dance, chat and have a drink.  



Furthermore, the scene photo artist Annie Bertram (http://www.darkview.de/) presented her works in an exhibition and a beamer presentation which also made up for the right frame of the live shows because it was projected to a big screen behind the stage. With her pictures, Annie tells stories that seem to be from another reality with her fantastic pictures full of creativity shot on hidden places. Besides her artistic work she also does promotional photography and artworks for famous bands of the scene such as DIARY OF DREAMS, DIORAMA, UNHEILIG, BLUTENGEL, SCREAM SILENCE or STAUBKIND among many others.

Already before the doors opened at 20:00, people started gathering outside the venue which filled up quite fast. All in all, about 400 people attended the event taking place in a lovely decorated club. There was still a lot of time until the first band started at about half past nine, time people used for chatting, meeting friends and one or another drink.


Transit Poetry

First band of the evening was the Berlin based TRANSIT POETRY consisting of  Sascha Blach (vocals, programming, production), Andrei Alexandru (guitar), Diana (bass), Juuri (keyboards) and "SiS" Siegl (guitar, backing voc). In Aarau, the quintet shrunk to a four-piece missing out Andrei on second guitar. Musically, the band can be put somewhere between atmospheric Gothic, danceable Electro and heavy Guitar Rock. Very important is always the poetic aspect of the songs… as you can already imagine when reading the band’s name. So far, the band has released two records - ‘Themes from the Desolate Ocean’ (2004) and ‘Shamanic Passage through the Embers’ (2005). The release of the third album ‘Evocation of Gaia’ has been planned for April 2008. http://www.transitpoetry.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/transitpoetry



Music & Performance
At half past nine it was finally time for the Berliners to enter the stage. Already after a few songs they impressed the audience in front of the stage. I must admit that I did not know the band before (what a shame!) and did not expect anything. But sometimes when you expect nothing, positive surprises come up. TRANSIT POETRY was such a surprise for me. The four people on stage presented songs from their second album as well as already several songs out off the upcoming release, such as ‘Endymion’, ‘Ambrosia for the lost Lords’ or ‘Vegan Revolution’ which was announced by a statement of Sascha that we all should show respect against animals.



Musically, the band got me right away, I only missed some live drums which would have suited the sound very well. Sascha’s warm voice definitely did reach more people in front of the stage but only me. During the whole evening, the sound was pretty good and because of the decibel restrictions not too loud. Under huge applause and without even leaving the stage, the poets presented the RAINBIRDS cover ‘Blueprint’ as encore which was sung loudly by the audience… a moment when I realized how old I am finally being able to sing all the lyrics.

Setlist
01. Shamaniac Invocation (Intro)
02. Locust Pilgrimage
03. Love in Aeon’s Joy
04. Endymion
05. Ambrosia for the lost Lords
06. One with the Season
07. Retaliation of Prometheus
08. Vegan Revolution
09. Edentea
10. The Dionysian Dancers
11. Earth Rhythm
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12. Blueprint (Rainbirds Cover)

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 6
Sound: 9
Light: 7
Total: 7.4




Diorama

DIORAMA was founded by Torben Wendt between 1994 and 1996. His long-time friend Felix Marc soon joined him as a co-producer and keyboard player. Some time later, bass player Bernard le Sigue and guitarist Sash Fiddler, who were fellow students of Torben and Felix, gradually grew into the line-up and last but not least drummer Marquess became a member of the band. Unfortunately Bernard le Sigue left the Band in October 2006. The latest album ‘A different life’ was released in March 2007 sadly not followed by a real tour. Today’s line-up is Torben Wendt (words and music, vocals, keys, percussion), Felix Marc (Co-production, keys, vocals), Sash Fiddler (guitars) and Marquess (drums). http://www.diorama-music.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/dioramamusic   



Music & Performance
For several weeks I was looking forward 1.5 hours of DIORAMA on stage. And finally, after a slightly longer rebuilding break, the band entered the stage at about 23.15. Again, you could see a “piano” on stage which was already used for the intro that was leading over to the classic ‘Advance’ - a song that belongs to my favourites anyway - and people started singing loudly from the very beginning. Immediately it was clear that DIORAMA won favour with the audience right away. With the following song ‘Klarheit’ the only track of ‘The Art of creating confusing Spirits’ was presented - this one is really a special track with nearly no lyrics but it put a charm onto the crowd.



After ‘E minor’ - which hasn’t been played for a while - one of the audience’s favourites ‘Kein Mord’ followed where Torben took the first bath in the crowd during the evening. He obviously enjoyed singing this song together with his fans. Another crowd mover followed with ‘The Girls’ before calmer sounds floated through the venue. When the first sounds of ‘Belle?’ appeared, I was not the only one getting goose bumps. I just closed my eyes and started drowning in the sweet sounds of this song, a song being one of my favourites as long as I know DIORAMA, so sweet, so touching. Even though Torben’s voice was affected by a cold he sung this tune with all caress it deserves. Together with Felix’ backing vocals (which were really great during the whole evening btw.) this song was just perfect and one of the evening’s highlights.