Universum, Stuttgart, Germany4th May 2007
Funker Vogt, NoyceTM, Dioxide
Once again this evening, the Universum Stuttgart, which has celebrated its farewell party recently on May 19th, had invited to a special event for the friends of electronic music. FUNKER VOGT, the German Electro/EBM heroes, were to present their newest release ‘Aviator’ to their fans, and were the night's headliners. But there should be more goodies for the visitors, like the openers DIOXIDE from Germany and NOYCETM, Oliver Goetz and Florian Schäfer's electronic music project. The Universum was about half-filled, and during the first two bands' performances the audience was quite retained, which observably changed when Jens Kästel and his band mates from FUNKER VOGT entered the stage.
You need some patience to find something about this band opening the evening in Stuttgart in the net. Johan van Roy of SUICIDE COMMANDO was the first one helping the band to contribute a song to a compilation and later on in 2002 the band signed at the German label Dying Culture. http://www.dioxyde.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/dioxyde
Music
The German band DIOXIDE play the quite ordinary mix of Electro and EBM with electronically distorted male vocals and the obligatory keyboards / synths, here with the female band member handling them. I don't know, maybe it's because of some lack of knowledge or understanding from my side concerning this music, but my feeling is that there are hardly bands nowadays in this sector being really innovative. Surely also DIOXIDE's sound is not bad, their songs are danceable and they have some nice melodies as well, but all this I have heard for a thousand times before now.
Performance
The duo played in relative darkness, with gloomy green or blue lights, from time to time interrupted by brighter spotlights. The keyboarder stood behind her instrument all the time, looking like a pretty doll in the coloured light, and occasionally smiled dreamily. The vocalist, however, lurched and romped about the small Universum stage, showed strange grimaces and sometimes kneeled down in despair, just to throw his arms up in the air in the next moment. With his latex gloves on and his t-shirt saying "Ich bin schuld" (=It's my fault), he was a very special appearance, and he always tried to get a little more movement into his audience, but only with moderate success.
Rating
Music: 5
Performance: 6
Sound: 7
Light: 5
Total: 5.6
NoyceTM
In 1997 the German band SILENCE GIFT decided to change their name into NOYCETM; in the following year the duo released their first EP ‘Panique’ through their own label Focile Art Tribe, which brought them some first club hits. Another year passed before the appearance of their first album entitled ‘The White Room’. Their third release, the EP ‘White Hypnotized Noise’ (2000), was followed by a creative break lasting seven years. In 2006 finally their fans could listen to new stuff when ‘Coma’ appeared in September. http://www.noycetm.de/ / www.myspace.com/noycetm
Music
Concerning their music, NOYCETM did not get out of line this evening. Their sound can be denoted a danceable, sometimes harsh, sometimes more catchy, mixture of Electro and EBM, furnished with elements from future Pop and Techno; and somehow it's the same with them as with DIOXIDE, their music by all means meets one's approval, but is nothing really new and does not stay in mind for a long time. Nevertheless, the duo consisting of Florian Schäfer, who delivers the vocals, and Oliver Goetz, who is responsible for the programming and stands behind the keyboards / synths when playing live, managed to get the audience in the Universum to move and dance and heat up for the things to come.
Performance
In consideration of the fact that NOYCETM are only two guys on stage, the energy they could unleash was considerable. They had a very nice light show and especially Florian was over and over again plunged into interesting and moody light. His distinct gestures and facial expressions also added very much to making their show absolutely worth seeing.
Rating
Music: 6
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 6.6
Funker Vogt
The German Electro band FUNKER VOGT has been founded in 1995 by Gerrit Thomas and Jens Kästel. The name of the group was chosen to symbolize the concept of the band having to do much with soldiery and war; Vogt is the name of a friend of the band members, who at the time of the band foundation indeed was serving as a radio operator in the Armed Forces. Concerning the assignment of tasks within FUNKER VOGT, Gerrit Thomas is responsible for the music, whereas Jens Kästel does the vocal performance; both Jens and Gerrit are writing the lyrics together with Kai Schmidt. On stage they are supported by Björn Böttcher on keyboards and Frank Schweigert on guitars. One year after the establishment, the album ‘Thanks for Nothing’ appeared. While their first publications were released through the smaller labels Zoth Ommog and Bloodline, the band has in the meantime changed to SPV Records in 2002. This year, their latest release ‘Aviator’ has been available to their fans.
http://www.funkervogt.de/ / www.myspace.com/funkervogt
Music
Though I am not really into most of the contemporary electronic music, FUNKER VOGT represented an exception here, as I very much like them, on CD as well as performing live. Their EBM/Electro/Industrial mix-up may not be something completely new or extraordinary, but most of their songs sound fresh and energetic to me, they offer beautiful melodies as well as very danceable beats and do not lack a special portion of harshness. On their in the meantime eight full-length albums you find quite a lot of catchy songs, and their stuff does not get boring, even when listening to it several times.
Performance
After the two support bands the fans impatiently waited for the main act, which already announced its coming with the well-known orange and black striped keyboard constructions. The band from Hameln surely was this evening's highlight, and I was looking forward to them - and as most of the attendees, I guess - I was not disappointed. Though the Universum stage does not offer that much space, they nevertheless delivered a show full of energy; well-known hits like their new single ‘City Of Darkness’ and older ones like ‘Fallen Hero’ were played, and they gave an encore consisting of ‘Funker Vogt’ and ‘Tragic Hero’.
Charismatic front man Jens talked to the audience, calling them in front of the stage to dance and party together with the band. As always, Gerrit Thomas showed up on stage with camouflage face paint and clothes, and unlike most keyboarders I know, at least the ones playing in Electro bands, he did not stand behind his instrument all the time, but on the contrary sometimes took up his instrument, ran and jumped over the stage, and significantly added to their powerful performance. Frank Schweigert also matched, only Björn Böttcher was a little more unimposing in the background of the stage. All in all a fantastic completion of this concert evening, and the tired but happy audience hurled themselves into the after show party.
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 8.1
All pics by Ruth Gräbeldinger
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