Matrix, Bochum, Germany
18th September 2012
Laibach
The movie Iron Sky boosted the popularity of Slovenian cult band LAIBACH a little more as they produced the soundtrack for this ironic sci-fi flick from Finland. The release of the soundtrack album this spring was completed by the 'We Come In Peace' tour by LAIBACH. Fortunately the band added a few more dates this autumn, even with yet another release up their sleeves: The compilation 'An Introduction to Laibach / Reproduction Prohibited'! Enough reasons to attend one of LAIBACH's breathtaking shows.
The Slovenian collective LAIBACH has been active for more than 30 years now. Back then Slovenia was still part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a totalitarian system under the rule of Tito. This detail from the band's background is important when you try to understand the phenomenon LAIBACH. The band has had always to deal with totalitarianism, both in their private lives and in their art. For the dictatorial regime of Yugoslavia the band's name alone was a provocation, as Laibach was the old German name of Slovenia's capital Ljubljana. In their early years, LAIBACH was blacklisted and under a stage ban in their home country, the government simply couldn't handle the provocative demeanour of LAIBACH. In the repressive social and political climate of the 1980s LAIBACH developed their own form of subversive criticism. Pointing fingers in a dead serious way wasn't their cup of tea, using irony and ridiculing the state of things wasn't possible either. Instead of creating a distance between their object of criticism and oneself by such means LAIBACH chose the opposite - no distance at all! The concept of over-interpretation was born. “All art is subject to political manipulation, except for that which speaks the language of this same manipulation” is one of LAIBACH's slogans hailing from those early days as artists from an authoritarian nation.
Soon LAIBACH expanded their objects d'art and also dealt with authoritarian, totalitarian elements of the so-called free western world, of capitalism and especially in Pop culture. A prime example here is 'Geburt einer Nation' from their 'Opus Dei' album, released on British label Mute Records in 1987. LAIBACH were, though not first and neither the last time, accused of right-wing tendencies and being overly nationalistic because of 'Geburt einer Nation' (“birth of a nation”) but soon the public realized that the song is simply a cover version of 'One Vision' by QUEEN with the lyrics translated word by word into German language. On the same album LAIBACH covered the simplistic party favourite 'Life is Life' in the same pompous Wagnerian Industrial Rock style. Both songs are now featured on the latest release 'An Introduction to Laibach / Reproduction Prohibited', also released by Mute Records. It's a collection of cover version from original artists like THE BEATLES, BOB DYLAN, EUROPE ('The Final Countdown'), DAF ('Alle Gegen Alle') and many others. In LAIBACH's history cover versions have always been crucial and essential in their work, although the band would reject the concept of originals and covers. To them their interpretations of other people's songs are simply “LAIBACH originals”.
Just in time with the release of their latest compilation, LAIBACH started another leg of the 'We Come In Peace' tour with 14 dates in Europe. The first leg of the tour this spring supported the launch of the Iron Sky movie, and the soundtrack of it was what the fans got to hear at the Matrix, Bochum, while they waited for LAIBACH to enter the stage. It was a rather long wait, as almost the entire original film score was played from a playback while the tour logo shined from the two screens at the back of the stage. But LAIBACH reserved a few songs from the soundtrack, and with no warning they suddenly entered the stage to start their performance with 'B Mashina'. It was a bit weird that the entire crowd was completely silent when the musicians appeared, not even a single pair of hands moved to give some applause. After the opener the audience woke up and the following 'Final Countdown' with its hammering beats was the perfect wake up call. While not part of the Iron Sky soundtrack, this song from the 1995 album 'NATO' was visually supported by footage from the movie. However, with lines like “And maybe we'll come back to earth, who can tell?” this song suggests itself to be part of a theme about Nazis from the moon. The Iron Sky part at the beginning of the show was completed by the two ballads 'Under The Iron Sky' and 'Take Me To Heaven', both sung by keyboardist Mina Špiler. The visuals were impressive but all the more it was a pity that the venue itself isn't really suited for a bombastic and visually opulent show like the one of LAIBACH. Basically the Matrix Bochum is a long and narrow subterranean tunnel with a rather low ceiling. The latter makes it necessary that the two video screens in the back of the (rather small) stage are on the same level as the five musicians. In other words: Instruments and band members partially obstruct the audience's view on the projections. Less than optimal for a live show for which the visual side is a very important factor!
Despite these few obstacles LAIBACH did not fail to impress. Not at all! Though LAIBACH did not intend to make it easy for the audience. After the Iron Sky party they performed heavily reworked versions of early material with Slovenian lyrics, which surely were pretty challenging for those who were there to hear electronic anthems like 'Tanz mit Laibach'. The discord of 'Smrt za Smrt' (“Death for Death) with it's hammering piano lines was no light fare at all, just like the following 'Brat Moj' (“Brother of mine”) and 'Ti, Ki Izzivas' (“You, who challenges”). For 'Ti, Ki Izzivas' Mina Špiler grabbed a megaphone to deliver additional vocals over the slowly pounding Industrial beats of the song. It is a pleasure to see that Špiler plays a bigger and bigger role in LAIBACH's life performances. The attractive young lady has a beautiful voice which is the perfect complement to the dark, growling voice of main vocalist Milan Fras. It's no surprise that the BEATLES cover 'Across The Universe' with Mina Špiler doing the lead vocals was one of the highlights of the show. The second half of the concert featured a 'greatest hits' collection many people have waited for. From the rumbling 'Alle gegen Alle' to ' to the crucial dance-floor smasher 'Tanz mit Laibach' to the legendary 'Geburt einer Nation' and ‘God is God’ in the encores. Also featured were some of the new cover versions from 'Reproduction Prohibited' album. e.g. 'Warme Lederhaut' (a German-language version of 'Warm Leatherette') and an ominous version of 'Ballad Of Thin Man', which gave the BOB DYLAN classic a bizarre Industrial treatment. There were also two cover versions which for some reasons didn't make it onto the latest album: 'See That My Grave Is Kept Clean' (originally from BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON) and SERGE GAINSBOURG's 'Love On the Beat'.
Every single song was supported by customized video projections, and the imagery was typical LAIBACH. From slogans and song lyrics to old black & white films to the swirling swastika made of bloody axes during 'Life is Life' LAIBACH kept it provocative and thought-provoking. Iron Sky footage, however, was limited to the first few songs and 'Across the Universe'. (and the swastika of swirling axes were taken from an old anti-fascist poster from the 1920s, by the way). With 23 songs, the show in Bochum was one of the longest of the 'We Come In Peace' tour. A strong hint that LAIBACH thoroughly enjoyed their own performance, although they prefer to keep their faces straight on stage in the name of seriousness. LAIBACH keep a distance to their audience in good old Art Rock fashion. Singer Milan Fras taking a deep bow as a sign of humble gratitude at the end of the show was pretty much the only interaction with the crowd he showed all night. Mina Špiler is once more his antonym in this regard, as she occasionally encouraged the fans to clap along to the heavy beats. During the epic 'Du bist unser' she even dared to dance behind her keyboard rack - dancing on stage must be a novelty for a LAIBACH show. But then every move of her seemed to be carefully orchestrated, just like the rest of the show. LAIBACH are perfectionists, nothing happens randomly. After all, this is an art performance and not a standard Rock show. 
“We are no humble Pop musicians, we don't seduce with melodies, and we're not here to please you“, as LAIBACH once put it themselves. And that's why LAIBACH live is one of the most amazing concert experiences you could imagine! http://www.laibach.org / https://www.facebook.com/Laibach
Setlist
01. B Mashina
02. The Final Countdown
03. Take Me to Heaven
04. Under the Iron Sky
05. Smrt za smrt
06. Brat Moj
07. Ti, Ki Izzivas
08. Drzava
09. Le Privilege Des Morts
10. Leben-Tod
11. See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
12. Ballad of a Thin Man
13. Across the Universe
14. Alle Gegen Alle
15. Du bist unser
16. Hell: Symmetry
17. Warme Lederhaut
18. Love on the Beat
19. Tanz mit Laibach
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20. Leben heißt Leben
21. Geburt einer Nation
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22. God Is God
23. Das Spiel ist aus
Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Sound: 7.5
Light: 9
Total: 9.5 / 10
All Pictures by Jens Arndt
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