Matrix, Bochum, Germany
22nd March 2013
Neuroticfish, C-Lekktor, BhamBhamHara, CygnosiC
It is nearly five years ago that NEUROTICFISH entered a stage for the last time and stopped releasing new songs. But now, there is a first sign of live and the band is back playing their first gig after the break at Matrix Bochum. And it was quite a long wait for the fans before the duo entered the stage since first there were three supporting acts trying to warm up the audience.
CygnosiC
Athens-based CYGNOSIC is the one-man project of Georg Psaroudakis (vocals, music composition & arrangements), originally formed late in 2006. 2007 saw the self-release of the EP ‘In the lag of time’. One year later, CYGNOSIC signed to BLC Productions, an American indie label specialized in industrial music, releasing the debut album ‘A deity in pain’ in 2009. In 2010, the project finalised recording its second album and being signed to Death Watch Asia (DWA) where in 2011, the EP ‘One Step Forward’ and the album ‘Fallen’ were released, from many critics praised as THE Dark Electro album of the year. Besides those releases, CYGNOSIC has been involved in more than twenty-five remixes, and shared the stage with other great and well-established bands. For the gig in Bochum, George had some live support, namely label manager of DWA, Jamie Nova. With danceable dark electro sounds, the duo tried to warm the audience up, but people were very hesitant to come closer to stage at that early hour. Georg seemed to had some issues getting closer contact to the audience and often you saw a shy smile on this face. // http://www.cygnosic.gr / https://www.facebook.com/cygnosic / http://www.myspace.com/cygnosicmusic
Setlist
01. To spread the chaos
02. Zero tolerance
03. Bury your hate
04. This is the night
05. Realize
06. In the lag of time
BhamBhamHara
Jan Bicker (machines, vocoder) and Axel Ermes (machines, delays), the men behind BHAMBHAMHARA, first met back in early nineties and started experimenting with different musical styles, reaching from Electro to Dark Ambient and Minimal, simply being called by the duo “Progressive Body Music”. Then, both lost contact while working on their own musical careers, Axel i.e. as member of GIRLS UNDER GLASS or as producer and sound engineer, and Jan in his band ABSCESS. Accidentally in 2012, Jan and Axel met again in Hamburg and started working together again under the moniker BHAMBHAMHARA. The name of the project had its origin in a Hindu Kirtan where BHAM is the description of the sound of god Shiva’s drums whereas HARA is one of Shiva’s names, meanings as much as “the one that catches / chains / connects or destroys”. The planned debut album ‘Progressive Body Music’ is planned to be out later in 2013. 
The name of the duo was headline for the evening: they want to attract different people with their sound and bring them together by removing their blinkers and open their mind for something new by connecting various musical styles like Dark Ambient, Minimal Electro, Trance Pop or EBM. So, they see their music as constant developing process towards something perfect. During their show, Axel was the calmer part while Jan was constantly moving, sometimes a bit too much for my taste. But musically, I found the stuff quite appealing and I am curious for their debut album. // http://www.bhambhamhara.de / https://www.facebook.com/BhamBhamHara
Setlist
01. C’est pas Vrai
02. Kreislauf
03. Life = Noise
04. Your Eyes
05. Anchorman
C-Lekktor
Mexican dark electro project C-LEKKTOR is something for lovers of bands like HOCICO or SUICIDE COMMANDO. Under the alias of “C-Lekktor”, Marco makes his first appearances in quality of disc jockey in events that gather to the pioneer bands of the electro scene in Mexico in the early and mid-nineties. In 2000, C-LEKKTOR settled down as a band. Their latest release ‘X-Tension In Progress’, out in April 2012, followed on their debut ‘The Silence Progression’ (2008) and the remix release ‘Tendencias Suicidas’ (2010). C-LEKKTOR is Markko B. (voice, lyrics, samples, sequences) and Jorge M. (synths, music, sequences). http://www.clekktor.com / https://www.facebook.com/Clekktor / http://www.myspace.com/clekktor
Music & Performance
If you like the already mentioned HOCICO or SUICIDE COMMANDO, the C-LEKKTOR gig at Matrix was probably something for you. But when looking into the hall, I mostly saw people waiting for NEUROTICFISH and more or less hoping for the band to get ready. There were only a few fans heavily dancing to the music and celebrating the trio performing on stage. Your read trio? Exactly! Normally a duo consisting of Markko and Jorge, for their live show they had Jamie Nova on stage as well playing keys and keytar, latter one looked quite unusual during a Dark Electro show, I rather connect keytars to Pop or even Metal. The set being presented mostly contained songs from the band’s latest album, ‘X-Tension in Progress’. As a little surprise, you even got a KRAFTWERK cover, namely ‘Radioactivity’. But it was not a good cover in my humble opinion, I first did not even recognize which song was played at all. Overall, the band tried to get the audience going, especially Markko who was constantly running across the stage, but people were hard to motivate and so, C-LEKKTOR received only modest applause when leaving the stage.
Setlist
01. Plug in
02. Welcome to my World
03. See my Hate
04. Wrecked
05. World of Fantasy
06. Radioactivity (Kraftwerk cover)
07. Helektro Convulsion Theraphy
08. El Comienzo de la Muerte
09. Juicio final
Rating
Music: 5
Performance: 6
Sound: 6
Light: 6
Total: 5.8 / 10
Neuroticfish
Born in the early 90s, NEUROTICFISH was first the alter ego of Sascha Mario Klein. Inspired and influenced by the sound of SKINNY PUPPY, NINE INCH NAILS and DEPECHE MODE, the project experimented with elements of Industrial, EBM and Pop to create a new blend of electronic music. The first album, ‘No Instruments’, was released 1999 via Strange Ways label. In 2005, Henning Verlage (known to many as band member of UNHEILIG) joined the project as steady member after he already supported Sascha since 2001 on live keys and as producer. With ‘Gelb’ in 2005, the last studio album was released, followed by the best-of compilation ‘A Greater Good - Neuroticfish 1998 - 2008’ in 2008. The same year saw also the band’s farewell concert at the Wave Gotik Treffen. In last year’s summer, the band all of a sudden appeared again, announcing works on a new album. Many fans were happy about these news and even more when the band announced their first concert in Bochum after the long break. At the Bochum show, you could also buy the limited version (100 copies) of the new EP, ‘Behaviour’, containing three new songs and one remix. NEUROTICFISH is Sascha Mario Klein (music, lyrics, vocals and production) and Henning Verlage (keyboards and production). http://www.neuroticfish.com / https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNeuroticfish / www.myspace.com/neuroticfish
Music & Performance
Finally the time came so many people had waited for. During the rebuilding break, people came closer to stage and now, the hall was really crowded and you could sense the excitement already. On stage, there were lots of papers pinned to the floor. It was lyrics of some songs. Seems, after five years Sascha could not remember any single word…. Or maybe did not totally remember the lyrics of his new songs to be presented during the show. When Sascha Klein and Henning Verlage finally entered the stage, they were welcomed with loud cheers and the first song, ‘Why Don’t You Hate Me’ from the 2005 ‘Gelb’ album was highly appreciated. Sascha seemed to be really nervous after so many years of stage absence, but there was no need for it, the audience just loved the show from the very first moment. During the first song, I witnessed some vocal insecurities (maybe this was caused by the cold Sascha was suffering from?), but with the second song already, the voice sounded strong as ever. As second song, we got presented the first new song of the set, named ‘Former Me’. Sounded great and blended well to the older songs, like ‘A greater Good’ that was following afterwards. When ‘Bomb’ from 2004 was faded, it was time for the next new song, ‘Behaviour’. And also this new piece received excited applause.
From new songs to old fan favourites. ‘Skin’ from the band’s debut album ‘No Instruments’ made the hall boiling and people loudly sang along. With ‘Velocity’, a song followed that cannot be missed, as also Sascha stated. This one, like several others, was underlined by fine video projections, making the show visually even more attractive. Not that it was visually boring without the videos… watching Sascha performing is always real fun. He somehow looked like the mix of a mad professor, making faces, and Reinhold Messner with his beard and little ruffled hair. Singing already loudly along, the call to ‘Wake me up’ was not needed. Anyone was already awake. After three pushing dance songs, it was time to calm a bit down with ‘Somebody’, the third new song. At the start, Sascha messed up the lyrics a little, but that made him even more likable. With MFAPL from the debut album, the show reached its climax, anyone was dancing, singing and clapping. The mood was just fantastic and you could see how impressed the band was by the audience’s reactions. Hennig as well as Sascha were smiling and feeling very well up there on stage. They were really missed! 
‘Suffocating Right’, also from the ‘Gelb’ album, was slowly leading to the inevitable end of the set. The mood here was really special and blue starts were colouring the audience. Henning on stage was turning on a lighter and some people in the audience were following his example. ‘Need’, the final song of 2002 album ‘Les Chansons Neurotiques’, was ending the show and both musicians left stage under thundering applause. An encore was duty and so, the band returned to stage, starting the encore bloc with calm and moody ‘I Don’t Need The City’. As very last song, we got the crazy ‘They’re Coming To Take Me Away’, originally recorded 1966 by Jerry Samuels under the name Napoleon XIV. Under long applause, Sascha and Henning were bowing and waving to the audience and happily left the stage, promising to see their fans later at the merch booth. And there, they had long chats with their excited fans. All what’s left to say for me after this extraordinary and powerful show: Good to see you back, NEUROTICFISH!
Setlist
01. Why Don’t You Hate Me
02. Former Me
03. A Greater Good
04. Bomb
05. Behaviour
06. Skin
07. Velocity
08. Wake Me Up
09. Somebody
10. MFAPL (Music For A Paranormal Life)
11. Suffocating Right
12. Need
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13. I Don’t Need The City
14. They’re Coming To Take Me Away
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 9
Total: 8.8 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.black-cat-net.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/vorndranphotography / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
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