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Weststadthalle, Essen, Germany
1st April 2007
J.B.O., Hämatom

Releasing their current album ‘Rock Muzik’ in 2006, it was time for J.B.O. to finally tour through the concert halls of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. They also stopped at the Weststadthalle in Essen to perform a great show and first of all, to present entertainment.


HÄMATOM

HÄMATOM is a young German band that plays Thrash Metal and also sings in German, which is pretty unusual for today’s music. A lot of their lyrics are emanated from German fairytales like “Butzemann” or “Hänsel & Gretel”. In September 2005, they released their first album ‘Nein’ (No).

In their beginning in 2004, they played small concerts, trying to get the people to notice them on stage. In 2005, they started touring with J.B.O. for the first time, earning a big feedback by the audience. During that tour, they sold their first single ‘Butzemann’ which was followed by the single ‘Häschen’ soon afterwards. Only one year later, they toured with DIE APOKALYPTISCHEN REITER on their German tour. On that tour, they sold a special tour single which included the songs ‘Leck mich!’ (Lick me!), ‘Schmerz’ (Pain) and ‘Mit dem Kopf durch die Wand’ (Bashing with the head through the wall). At the moment they’re working in the studio to record their new album.



Music
Looking at the band with their masks and their really special make-up (different version of corpse paint if you ask me), I couldn’t really tell what kind of music they are playing. Starting their show with heavy guitar riffs and screaming vocals of the front man, I thought “ok, maybe, you’re gonna like them” and so they played their first song. After the next 2 or 3 songs, I realized that they were not really my kind of music but I couldn’t really tell why. They were not bad, not at all. Looking into the audience I saw some faces who showed the same thought. Having a lot of drums and guitars in their music, they were much harder than I thought they would be. But don’t get me wrong: that wasn’t bad ;) And with their lyrics about German fairytales, the audience knew how to sing their songs without having them heard before. Quite interesting! After all, their music wasn’t really my sort but they were still a good band.



Performance
As I said before, the band looked really interesting with their make-up and the masks. In addition to that, the front man wore some kind of a mummy dress which looked pretty strange but it fit to his whole appearance. The other members wore masks or just a bag on their hats. It was almost impossible to get a good shot of the front man because he was constantly jumping around the stage, being always in motion. With that, he was the main point of the band because the other members only stood there playing their instruments. You couldn’t see their gesture, so you had no idea how these people were like.

Rating
Music 6
Performance 7
Sound 6
Lights 5
Total: 6.2




J.B.O.

After having the interview with the bassist of J.B.O., I was really excited to see how the band would perform that night. And I have to say: the band really knows how to entertain the audience!

J.B.O. (James Blast Orchester) was founded in 1989 as a fun-metal band in Erlangen, Germany. Known for their cover versions of various modern rock and disco songs, each of their covers often has humorous modifications to the lyrics. Since 2000, the band has begun producing more self-written compositions, however they continue to produce Blöedsinns (this is an intentional misspelling used by the band: The correctly spelled word is "Blödsinn” (nonsense) which refers to the nonsensical covers they perform. The original name was JAMES BLAST ORCHESTER. Due to a legal argument with the record company of James Last, they changed the name in June 1996 into the shortened form they are known by today. Erlangen resident “Brauerei Kitzmann” contributes the band with a series of comical gimmick products, and has several times been featured in the band's lyrics. On July 31st 2004 the band celebrated its fifteen year of existence under the motto "30 Halbe!" (30 halves!).


Music
Playing songs of their current album ‘Rock Muzik’ and classics like ‘Tag zum Sterben’ (day to die), they showed a big variety of their music. The guitars were strong, the drums well coordinated. The whole setting was really nice and so, you had a good quality of their sound. Some solos of the guitar just perfected the sound of that night. Some songs which marked the maximums of the concert were songs such as ‘Ich sag J.B.O’ (I say J.B.O.), ‘Hose runter’ (pants down) and ‘Tag zum Sterben’ (day to die). The audience was in a good mood and so the music was even better with them singing the songs together with the band.



Performance
When you think of J.B.O., usually the first thing that comes to your mind is “ok, funny guys dressed in pink singing funny songs”. Funny guys - still true. Funny songs - still true. Guys dressed in pink - not really true anymore. J.B.O. changed their appearance by not wearing only pink anymore but changing to a combination of black and pink with black dominating. The guys looked pretty good that night wearing skirts and a lot of spikes on their clothes. They were in a good mood and so, the mood on stage was phenomenal. The audience sang their songs like they would have never done something else in their life. The guys really showed a good performance with other people from their crew coming up onto stage to act to their songs. For example, as they played their song ‘Erection’ they had this guy coming up stage wearing a bathrobe. As soon as he opened it, you saw him having this long piece of bread in his bands, so it looked like he had a huge erection in his pants. After all, their performance was great and it was more entertainment than a concert.



Setlist
01. Intro
02. Rock Muzik
03. Verteidiger
04. Erection
05. Faulheit siegt
06. Wem nutzt das schon
07. Fränkisches Bier
08. Medtl Gschandzl
09. Bums Bums
10. Sie-ben
11. Könige
12. Glaubensbekenntnis
13. Du liebst mich nicht
14. Du bringst mich um
15. Ich sag J.B.O.
16. Kuschelmetal
17. Spatz in der Hand
18. Danke
19. Hose runter
20. Schlumpf-Tod
21. Arschloch und Spaß
22. Medley (Alde im Playboy - Bolle - Ejaculatio - Schlaflied)
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23. Tag zum Sterben
24. J.B.O.
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25. Party
26. Ein Fest

Rating
Music 9
Performance 10
Sound 8
Lights 7
Total: 8.9



All pictures by Anne Kuhfuß
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