Gleis 22, Münster, Germany18th May 2015
Motorama & Mind Fox
MOTORAMA from Rostov-on-Don have been thrilling more and more people for a few years for their cool but melodious new wave / post punk somewhere between JOY DIVISION, INTERPOL and EDITORS. Now the band was playing a concert in Münster supported by MIND FOX from Gothenburg who have a truly extraordinary singer and can be categorised musically between TEAM ME, EINAR STRAY and PHOENIX.
Mind Fox
MIND FOX from Gothenburg / Sweden play melancholic and energetic Indie Rock. It all started five years ago when childhood friends, Johan and Niclas, started to play a little something together. So far, the band released two EPs and an album. The debut EP ‘2010’ was out in total DIY-style in 2010, followed by the EP ‘To Arms’ in April 2012 going along with a German tour. Finally, the debut album ‘Ringarang’ was out in summer 2014. “The most important thing for us is that the listener will find environments and songs to use to reinforce feelings that she or he wants to freeze in time”, says Johan Gustafsson, guitarist and singer. MIND FOX is Petter, Gustav, Johan, Marcus and Niclas. http://www.mindfoxband.com / https://www.facebook.com/mindfoxband
Music & Performance
I really was not familiar with the five Swedish guys and when they entered the stage, the looked like some school boys, except singer Johan with his hipster beard looking much older than the others. It is said that their live shows are spectacular. Well, I was not totally convinced. Musically, I found it really appealing. This mix of melancholic Indie Pop with kind of rough guitars totally met my personal taste. The songs were quite slow and the soundscapes have kind of soundtrack potential. What I could not really go along with was Johan’s voice… and this is surely a matter of taste. His voice is quite high and he seems to be crying when singing. I found the vocals hard to understand, but that might have been a sound problem. Not sure since I cannot compare.
Still, the band seems to love what they were doing and as bass player Niclas once said, they “play every gig as if it was our last,”. To cut a long story short: musically great but in overall context not convincing to me.
Setlist
01. Machine
02. Rufus
03. Slowmotion
04. Epos
05. Fall Deeper
06. Riff
07. Nya Nya
08. Papercities
Rating
Music: 6
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 4
Total: 6 / 10
Motorama
Russian Post-Punk and New Wave band MOTORAMA comes from Rostov-on-Don. The band took its name from the 1991 released movie ‘Motorama’ and was founded in 2005 by Vladislav Parshin and a befriended musician who later on left the band. Besides Parshin, bass player Airin Marchenko is responsible for the compositions. Besides four self-released EPs and the self-released album ‘Alps’, MOTORAMA released the EPs ‘Eyes’ and ‘She is there’ as well as the albums ‘Calendar’ and the 2015 release ‘Poverty’ via Talitres Records. Musically the band is influenced by Post-Punk of the 80s and reminds of bands like INTERPOL or EDITORS. Live, the band was lately supported on bass by Parshin’s wife Irene Parshina, but currently, she is in parental leave and so, Vladislav and Maxim are changing bass and guitar since also Airin is not on tour with them. MOTORAMA is Vladislav Parshin (vocals, guitar), Airin Marchenko (bass), Maxim Polivanov (guitar), Alexander Norets (keyboard) and Oleg Chernov (drums). http://wearemotorama.com / https://www.facebook.com/wearemotorama
Music & Performance
I remember last year’s Wave Gotik Treffen when the only band on the festival Monday I really wanted to see was MOTORAMA since I love their records. Then, waiting for the show, we got the news that they won’t play because their car had an engine damage on the autobahn and they could not make it. Happy girl I was when a show in my home town was announced. And even though I was deadly tired after an open air festival the weekend before and another concert at the venue (CHAMELEONS VOX) just the previous night as well as a long working day, I was joining the band at Gleis 22. After MIND FOX finally hat cleaned the stage, MOTORAMA started to build up their equipment and when I thought they would still do some line check it turned out to be already the first song ‘Impractical Advice’ which they started with any announcement. And announcement were not be made later either. As I learned this is something usual for MOTORAMA gigs.
Just like their support act, the guys looked like some school boys, especially singer Vladislav in his cardigan, and kind of unmotivated. Guess that’s their attitude and people like it. They just had played two songs when Maxim suddenly had to leave the stage to change a string of his guitar. In the meantime, Vladislav on bass and drummer Oleg presented the next one all alone without guitar or keyboard sounds. The setlist on this evening presented all songs of the current album ‘Poverty’. The other half consisted of older songs, even though one or another fan favourite surely was missing. But there was something special in the setlist coming up too. With ‘Special Day’, the band also presented a B-side in their set and besides there were also two totally new songs included. Are they already working on a new album so short after the release of the last one? The encore ‘Write to me’ was also presented with bass and drum sounds only, marking a very intense, monotonous and gloomy end of the set.
The Russian band really played a good show even though there was not much action on stage and the sound was not the best… at least in front where the vocals were too low. It was better when standing in the back of the club. I only wish I was not so deadly tired to enjoy it more. But I am sure another chance will occur to see the band.
Setlist
01. Impractical Advice
02. Corona
03. To the South
04. Dispersed Energy
05. She Is There
06. Red Drop
07. New Song #1
08. Heavy Wave
09. Lottery
10. Rose in the Vase
11. Old
12. Similar Way
13. Special Day
14. New Song #2
15. Ghost
16. Alps
17. During the Years
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18. Write To Me
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 7
Sound: 6
Light: 4
Total: 7 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
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