P60, Amstelveen, The NetherlandsJune 23rd 2006
IAMX, Götterdämmerung, 3 Cold Men
By the time the doors of the venue opened there were just a few people waiting at the doors. Did everybody just forget to drop by or didn't people know about tonight's headliner? With IAMX announced on the venue's website as a band you have to see live before they become too big for smaller venues, the total amount of visitors made one thing clear. The whole scene excluding those 60 present sure missed something.
3 Cold Men
Before we get to the UK fireworks at the end of the night first the stage belongs to the Brazilian band 3 Cold Men. Consisting of 3 members and 2 additional musicians for their live performances. Singer Franck Lopez started the band back in 1999 but it took the band till 2003 to get their first cd released. The rest of the band consists of Alex Twin (Synth), Maurizio Bonito (Programming), Rui Ramos (Drums), Catherine Marie (Backing Vocals).
Music
The band itself calls their music retro wave and as a matter of fact that might just as well be true. The music reflects pain and misery that is brought to you by the capable vocalist Franck. Although his singing was okay it did have the tendency to get boring after a while. With a drummer being totally off the beat at times the rest of the band struggled to make something out of this show. Unfortunately technical problems with one of the mics added to all this, but Franck handled things quick and adequately. And then out of the blue comes the worst and most dumbfounding woman. After she's gotten hold of the mic the only thing that was popping up was: who is this and who let her in? Even though the sound was levelled nicely as a mix of the instruments, for some reason at certain spots in the audience the vocals seemed to disappear. Not a really bad band if they decide to get rid of the drummer and background singer, but not especially good either.
The band itself calls their music retro wave and as a matter of fact that might just as well be true. The music reflects pain and misery that is brought to you by the capable vocalist Franck. Although his singing was okay it did have the tendency to get boring after a while. With a drummer being totally off the beat at times the rest of the band struggled to make something out of this show. Unfortunately technical problems with one of the mics added to all this, but Franck handled things quick and adequately. And then out of the blue comes the worst and most dumbfounding woman. After she's gotten hold of the mic the only thing that was popping up was: who is this and who let her in? Even though the sound was levelled nicely as a mix of the instruments, for some reason at certain spots in the audience the vocals seemed to disappear. Not a really bad band if they decide to get rid of the drummer and background singer, but not especially good either.
Performance
With a tall and majestic singer the band immediately draws attention. Combine this tall figure with two guys behind laptops, one looking like a prisoner and the other one having this very distinctive red painted mask. With Franck waling around on stage the rest of the band is left to standing still and playing music. Unfortunately the guys behind the pc lack some acting talent, next time just pretend playing your music is kind of hard. And all of a sudden the background singer jumps on stage and starts to act like a lunatic. No idea what she was doing there or trying to communicate but all she achieved is make a fool out of herself. A bit more changes in light and performance would have been nice, but getting rid of the extra live musicians seems essential. A very mediocre score is all that's left.
Setlist
01. The Tower
02. 3 Cold Men
03. X-Fragile
04. Portrait
05. Truth
06. I Need You
07. My Greatest Greta
Rating
Music: 6
Performance: 6
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 6
Götterdämmerung
A Dutch gothic/punkrock band that has been around ever since 1991 and released a number of EPs and albums. Their latest album was released in 2004 and is called 'KIN-BURST 9104'. After a break for a few years the three men are back together and seem to take it slow when it comes to touring. After a gig at Wave Gothic Treffen it was time now to convince Amstelveen of their music.
Music
No drum kit, no keyboards, just 3 men on stage making their music while the rest of the sound comes from the well known hard disk. But please don't think this band is just pretending to be playing, the instruments they are playing sound very well. Deep guitars and even deeper bass nicely fit in with the other music. The vocals are spot on, not extremely clean but full of emotion as it should be with this music. Overall the sound in the venue was weird because in front of the stage the vocals were louder than in the back.
No drum kit, no keyboards, just 3 men on stage making their music while the rest of the sound comes from the well known hard disk. But please don't think this band is just pretending to be playing, the instruments they are playing sound very well. Deep guitars and even deeper bass nicely fit in with the other music. The vocals are spot on, not extremely clean but full of emotion as it should be with this music. Overall the sound in the venue was weird because in front of the stage the vocals were louder than in the back.
Performance
Whether you like this style of music and the inevitable dress code is all up to you but the way this band has styled itself for today's show is very well done. A (male) guitarist wearing heels, a singer with androgen looks and ditto clothes and a bass player dressed with a more masculine look though perfectly fitting the music. Feminine moves, expressive singing, taking off the t-shirt only to reveal what seems like black isolation tape wrapped around the upper body. To further the theatrical performance even black paint was pored over the singer's body which was then smeared out during the rest of the gig. The music was right, the performance was right, and in between the sometimes dense smoke even the light fitted the show with bright and moody colours flowing along with the music.
Whether you like this style of music and the inevitable dress code is all up to you but the way this band has styled itself for today's show is very well done. A (male) guitarist wearing heels, a singer with androgen looks and ditto clothes and a bass player dressed with a more masculine look though perfectly fitting the music. Feminine moves, expressive singing, taking off the t-shirt only to reveal what seems like black isolation tape wrapped around the upper body. To further the theatrical performance even black paint was pored over the singer's body which was then smeared out during the rest of the gig. The music was right, the performance was right, and in between the sometimes dense smoke even the light fitted the show with bright and moody colours flowing along with the music.
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 8
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 8
IAMX
Sneaker Pimp's Chris Corner's side project which seems to become much more than just that. With his first album 'Kiss and Swallow' (2004) and the second one: 'The Alternative' just released it seems the world should better get ready for this talented guy who likes to go from fragile to aggressive and back just because it seems right in the song. No restraints, this is his music without compromise.
Music
While listening to the music on cd it appears to be something special, at times laid back and sweet while at other times anger and passion take the lead. But this is not at all what you get when you listen to Chris playing live. Live he is a bit less suitable for a quiet evening with friends, live this man is power and emotions quadrupled. With the use of live instruments played by a couple of his friends the music gains impact while the dynamics in Chris' voice are even more evident. The music just keeps you stuck in a good party mood with free flowing emotions both on stage and in the venue. While the music is already good, the singing is even better. Just try to imagine Radiohead, Muse and Coldplay put in a blender with a bit of steroids and quite a lot of pepper. Nah, you are not even close while imagining this. Best thing is to check out when he's playing close to you and go have a look for yourself. The sound in the venue was well mixed while any downsides in the vocal volume where only caused by Chris' frantic performance. All in all very promising, well worth checking it out yourself... soon!
While listening to the music on cd it appears to be something special, at times laid back and sweet while at other times anger and passion take the lead. But this is not at all what you get when you listen to Chris playing live. Live he is a bit less suitable for a quiet evening with friends, live this man is power and emotions quadrupled. With the use of live instruments played by a couple of his friends the music gains impact while the dynamics in Chris' voice are even more evident. The music just keeps you stuck in a good party mood with free flowing emotions both on stage and in the venue. While the music is already good, the singing is even better. Just try to imagine Radiohead, Muse and Coldplay put in a blender with a bit of steroids and quite a lot of pepper. Nah, you are not even close while imagining this. Best thing is to check out when he's playing close to you and go have a look for yourself. The sound in the venue was well mixed while any downsides in the vocal volume where only caused by Chris' frantic performance. All in all very promising, well worth checking it out yourself... soon!
Performance
The venue has quite a decent stage and also offered a nice large video screen. And a video screen it needed, IAMX is a total concept with its own beautiful and bizarre videos. Not that you get a lot of chance to look at them because the band and Chris are claiming a lot of attention as well. With shocking moves as if they were freaky malfunctioning robots both Chris as the lady behind keyboards were dancing while making music. This hardly affected their sound, just hitting the mic or fiddling around with the mic stand was just about the worst. Lying on the ground at one moment, ferociously cheering up the audience just seconds later, you just don't know what to expect till the gig is over. While the lights were flashing away most of the time they didn't interfere with the video projections while still following the song's mood. Sometimes fast, sometimes static, one colour or a colour carnival it was all there depending on the music, as it should be. The band was wearing very stylish outfits with Chris wearing a glove on just one hand his shoes were covered with white tape. The female vocalist that joined in on two songs was the opposite of Chris moving more fluently while the lady behind the keys was moving like Chris: staccato. Small venue, relatively new band, just a few people to witness the concert, so many music fans who missed out on a great show!
The venue has quite a decent stage and also offered a nice large video screen. And a video screen it needed, IAMX is a total concept with its own beautiful and bizarre videos. Not that you get a lot of chance to look at them because the band and Chris are claiming a lot of attention as well. With shocking moves as if they were freaky malfunctioning robots both Chris as the lady behind keyboards were dancing while making music. This hardly affected their sound, just hitting the mic or fiddling around with the mic stand was just about the worst. Lying on the ground at one moment, ferociously cheering up the audience just seconds later, you just don't know what to expect till the gig is over. While the lights were flashing away most of the time they didn't interfere with the video projections while still following the song's mood. Sometimes fast, sometimes static, one colour or a colour carnival it was all there depending on the music, as it should be. The band was wearing very stylish outfits with Chris wearing a glove on just one hand his shoes were covered with white tape. The female vocalist that joined in on two songs was the opposite of Chris moving more fluently while the lady behind the keys was moving like Chris: staccato. Small venue, relatively new band, just a few people to witness the concert, so many music fans who missed out on a great show!
Setlist
00. Intro
01. The Alternative
02. Kiss + Swallow
03. Bring me Back a Dog
04. Skin Vision
05. Negative Sex
06. President
07. Song of Imaginary Beings
08. Missle
09. You Stick it in Me
10. Nightlife
11. Spit it Out
---
12. Your Joy is my Low
13. After Every Party
14. Mercy
01. The Alternative
02. Kiss + Swallow
03. Bring me Back a Dog
04. Skin Vision
05. Negative Sex
06. President
07. Song of Imaginary Beings
08. Missle
09. You Stick it in Me
10. Nightlife
11. Spit it Out
---
12. Your Joy is my Low
13. After Every Party
14. Mercy
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 9
Total: 9
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More photos on page 2
3 Cold Men
Götterdämmerung
IAMX
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