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Kulturfabrik, Krefeld, Germany
20th September 2007
In the Nursery, EGOamp

The family business of the twins Klive and Nigel Humberstone from Sheffield / UK presents a new studio album for its 25th anniversary. ‘Era’ presents the sound fiddlers in best form: dramatic arrangements and cinematic opulence dominate the new compositions. This time, IN THE NURSERY are working again with vocals which carry the songs above the sound wall of synthesizers, drums and strings. The eagerness to experiment brought the band known also for several movie sound tracks (i.e. ‘Aviator’) to a new level. Support for the show in Krefeld was the local band EGOamp.


EGOamp

EGOamp is a new project influenced by 80´s electronic music and the love for silent movies like "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" (where IN THE NURSERY were responsible for the sound track btw.) and others. The first song Asmodi and Cesare recorded was a cover of the classic ‘The cabinet’, originally released by the English band DAS KABINETTE. The first tracks came to the attention of Chris Lietz, i.e. producer of German electronic pioneers DIE KRUPPS who decided right away to produce EGOamp's first album ‘Welcome to the Cabinet’. You can listen to demo-snippets of several tracks at the band’s MySpace site. EGOamp are Asmodi Caligari (vox, synth, songwriting, lyrics) and Cesare Insomnia (arrangement, synths, sound design, management) - as you can guess just synonyms for the two guys’ real names. http://www.ego-amp.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/egoamp



Music & Performance
German EGOamp have not released an album yet but they are working on their debit album at the moment. As you could expect, the stuff they had presented during their support gig will all be found on this first album ‘Welcome to the Cabinet’. That the band is influenced by silent movies was very obvious when the two guys entered the stage with strange face paintings. Also a banner was shown in the back reminding a lot of the atmosphere of silent and B-movies. Musically, the songs are pure melodic electronic tunes presented by Cesare on the key while Asmodi is doing the vocal part on his own.



Very fast, he got into the show and soon he started to animate the audience which very fast followed his clapping. During the medley, you could even here them singing along. Well, that was a song they know from their youth. The light show fitted very well to the artistic band concept, mostly consisting of moving scanners from the back in different shades. The sound in the small club was ok, but not perfect. All in all a very nice opening show from a band you’ll surely hear more in future.   

Setlist
01. Intro
02. Holstenwall
03. Lady and the Tramp
04. We are Freaks
05. The Cabinet / Sweet Dreams (Medley)
06. The Veil
07. The Carnival
08. Egomanic Maniacs

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 6
Sound: 6
Light: 6
Total: 6.8




In The Nursery

The Sheffield based musical project formed in 1981, is centred around the nucleus of the twins Klive and Nigel Humberstone. For more than two decades, the band constantly expressed their desire for progress and experimentation. During the long band history, ITN has released more than two dozen albums which always showed the creative progress of the band based on contemporary influences. The band’s music has been used on several movie soundtracks and trailers, i.e. ‘Interview with the Vampire’, ‘Along Came a Spider’ or the already mentioned ‘Aviator’. Besides this work, ITN has developed their “Optical Music Series”, means new scores for classic silent films, including among others ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’ or ‘Man with a Movie Camera’. The latest studio album ‘Era’ has been released at the beginning of 2007. ITN are Klive Humberstone (percussions), Nigel Humberstone (keys, synths), Dolores Marguerite C (vocals) and David Electrik (percussions). http://www.inthenursery.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/inthenursery



Music
ITN’s sublime, cinematic music blends electronica, classical arrangements, orchestral percussion and soundscapes evoking a timeless quality. Most remarkable during the love set were the several percussion instruments which created a special sound in all their different tunes. Just having released a new album you could have expected the band presented lots of songs out of it, but only three songs - ‘Material & Form’, ‘Blueprint’ and ‘Silent in Time’ - out off it have been presented. Also the new songs were based on dramatic arrangements and cinematic sounds - the typical ITN elements. Having banned vocals on some albums, the new one presents vocals again; and with the voice of Dolores they have the perfect voice. Combined with the voices of the twins who delivered smaller parts, it was the perfect combination supported by a wall of sound made of strings, stomping drums and synthesizers. Sometimes you have the impression that the voice is used just as another instrument what is just great in my opinion.



According to the very long band history, there were too many great songs that really could not have been missed out. The audience - mostly above thirty ;) - celebrated and danced to songs such as ‘Bombed’, ‘Groundloop’ or the final song of the main set ‘Compulsion’ which was my personal highlight with the powerful use of drums. Encores were heavily demanded and so, the band had to come back twice, finishing the evening with a great ‘Deus Ex Machina’ where Dolores’ voice was so perfect climbing up different heights with little yells. Only the sound was not totally satisfying. I believe the wide music of ITN needs much more space to spread and develop than such a small club.



Performance
The first thing that really attracted the attention was the mass of different percussion instruments… from smaller ones to really big timbals. And all have been used during the show extensively by Klive and David, but also several times by Dolores. Especially Klive was the powerful guy on stage according playing his instruments. Fantastic! Generally, the whole show was based on those percussions creating a fantastic atmosphere of rhythm and stomping beats. But also the use of light is an important part of ITN shows. Even though they had not too many possibilities in the small club they tried to create a cinematic atmosphere with light.



Setlist
01. Material & Form
02. Blueprint
03. Hymn Noir
04. Bombed
05. Silent in Time
06. Mystere
07. Allegory
08. Sixth Sense
09. Groundloop
10. Cobalt
11. A Rebours
12. Compulsion
---
13. L’Esprit
14. Stone Souls
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15. Deus Ex Machina

Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 8
Sound: 6
Light: 8
Total: 8.5



All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com/ / http://www.black-cat-net.de/ / www.myspace.com/vorndranphotography)
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