Zentrum Altenberg, Oberhausen, Germany14th October 2015
Kite
It is no secret that I see a lot of concerts every month. And it is getting harder and harder to impress me with a show. KITE from Sweden is a band that perfectly manages to blow me away. Their show at this year’s NCN was my favourite one of the whole festival and it was for sure I had to see them on their first ever tour through Germany. My show to go was Oberhausen where the band played at nice Zentrum Altenberg.
Swedish Synth Pop group KITE, originating from Malmö and now based in Stockholm, consists of Nicklas Stenemo (The Mo, Melody Club) and Christian Berg (Yvonne, Strip Music, The April Tears). Just reading the band names both musicians were involved in is a strong hint for the quality KITE is presenting. The band is signed to Swedish Progress Productions label and has released six EPs since their debut in 2008. The band voluntarily stick to release EP's only. Each EP was released on CD and as a limited vinyl record edition. The latest EP, ‘Kite VI’, was out this year and received (just like the previous ones) enthusiastic reviews. But still, the band is rather unknown in Germany and I hope this will change soon. https://www.facebook.com/KiteHQ
Music & Performance
I already said that KITE are rather unknown in Germany so far. And so, the crowd coming to Oberhausen to see the band was really manageable. I guess it were not more than 50 people showing up. But those were rewarded with an extraordinary concert. The recipe of success is simple: take some Nordic coolness of SIGUR ROSS, a dose of experimental sounds from RÖYKSOPP, a pinch of JOY DIVISION atmosphere, a sip of the voice of GLASVEGAS’ singer James Allan, lots of spherical keyboard and synth layer and a big portion of good old 80s Synth Pop appeal in the likes of OMD. Mix all those ingredients very well and you get KITE, sometimes even named the Swedish DEPECHE MODE. If you haven’t heard the band before you will probably be really surprised. The duo does not only play music sounding like early 80s, the just managed to put a whole decade into their music. And this is really worth a listen! The combination of fluffy pop sounds and the expressive voice of Nicklas Stenemo is extraordinary. The songs just carry you far away.
But not only musically the show is extraordinary. Playing in front of much bigger crowds in Asia, KITE is used to play big and to use an opulent light show. For their German tour, they brought their usual equipment with video screen, lots of lights, lasers and high hats being used as reflector for additional lights giving great effects. On the sides of the stage, two colourful statues of big cats were placed with illuminating laser eyes. In the middle of the stage, there were all in all 4 keyboards, synthesizers and analogue modules placed. Due to the richness of their sound, some sounds were coming from backing tape, but still moth musicians played a lot live. At the beginning, there were some technical problems with the backing sounds with some interruptions, but this was solved quickly. Also the beamer for the videos did not work at the beginning, but this was also solved during the first songs. From that moment on, you could experience a fantastic show! Even though the crowd was not very big, anyone was excited. The sad thing was that the band left the stage already after forty minutes (I know such short shows already from several Swedish bands and this is a common thing there).
Long-lasting applause called the duo back for two more songs though and afterwards they were really happy about the audience’s appreciation. After the show, you could meet up the band at the merch and this place was highly frequented. Not only for some chat but also for some shopping. I had the impression that nearly everyone bought one or more items at the merch, some even bought the whole EP collection. Seems the band really made an impression. I just wish that many more people could be convinced of the high quality KITE is delivering. You really should check them out!
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 9
Total: 9 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
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