Gleis 22, Münster, Germany9th May 2019
Lea Porcelain, Cass. & Ricardo Domeneck
LEA PORCEILAIN from Germany’s capital Berlin are one of the upcoming Post-Punk bands of the moment. The Krautrock / Post-Punk / Indie duo was finally playing at Gleis 22 in Münster. Above their music project, the ghost of JOY DIVISION or THE CURE floats in an electronic form. With their mesmerizing Post-Punk sounds - recently banned on a first album - the project is regarded as one of the most exciting German newcomers of recent years!
Cass.
Tonight’s support act is CASS., aka Niklas Rehme-Schlüter from Osnabrück, a neighbour city of Münster. He produces Ambient electronic music under the name CASS. since 2012, creating loop-based compositions with pianos, strings, and other acoustic instruments, as well as field recordings. His first release was ‘Loops & Farewell Sketches’ from 2013, and since then CASS. touched various styles from the rather organic and loop based Ambient pieces on the ‘Red Atlantic’ EP on Throne of Blood in 2017, influenced by 80’s Pop sonics, to the more Balearic and percussive recordings on ‘The Sound of Glades’ together with Wolf Müller in 2016. On his newest record, ‘Postclub Prism’, released in autumn 2018 on the Greek label Into The Light, Rehme-Schlüter explores his affinity to calm and atmospheric ambient music at the threshold to the reverberant sound of club music. https://www.facebook.com/casswheel / https://cass0.bandcamp.com
Music & Performance
A single person on stage twiddling knobs and modulators is never the most exciting view but Niklas Rehme-Schlüter also had a guitar hanging from his neck which he used for sparse special effects and occasional string input. But the visual side didn’t matter much, it was all about the music and as long as you were willing to engage with it the music took you on a nice little journey. Atmospheric and hypnotic, CASS. is able to create your own personal little movie in your head. Probably the perfect music for laid-back rainy days, so feel free to check out Niklas Rehme-Schlüter’s Bandcamp page!
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 8
Light: 6
Total: 7 / 10
Lea Porcelain
What happens when a successful Techno producer and a singer-songwriter from the Indie Rock scene join forces? LEA PORCELAIN is the answer, at least in this case. It’s not a given that such a combination would result in such a heavy-weight, dark and enigmatic sound but in the case of Julien Bracht and Markus Nikolaus, aka LEA PORCELAIN, it is the case. THE CURE and especially JOY DIVISION are names which are often dropped to describe LEA PORCELAIN but there are also a Krautrock, Shoegaze and Garage Rock components to the duo’s sprawling, slowly unfolding songs. In 2015 they released their first self-titled EP but it was in particular the 2016 single ‘Warsaw Street’ which placed LEA PORCELAIN on the radar of Post-Punk and Indie lovers. Their debut album, the aptly titled ‘Hymns To The Night’ from 2017, was a winner and their latest release, the single ‘I Am OK’ from earlier this year, saw the duo expanding their sound to a more Folk-ish style. https://www.facebook.com/leaporcelainofficial / http://www.leaporcelain.com
Music & Performance
Right before LEA PORCELAIN entered the stage it was up to spoken word artist RICARDO DOMENECK to set the right tone for the gig. The Brazil-born poet delivered four or five short recitations of his own poems, backed by ambient synth sounds from a playback and in English language, and a poem by Hans Magnus Enzensberger in German language. An unusual way to start a concert but it worked really well. LEA PORCELAIN started their own performance with ‘Warsaw Street’ and step by step they managed to suck the approximately 150 attendees into their compelling and beautifully expansive sound.
Backed up by a drummer and bass player for their live show, Markus Nikolaus, on vocals and guitar, and Julien Bracht, on synths and occasionally delivering additional guitar work, increased the intensity of the performance from track to track. During the psychedelic ‘12th Of September’ Markus Nikolaus lit up some incense sticks to roam the auditorium with them, and for the climaxing ‘Endlessly’ he grabbed his guitar and mike stand to perform in front of the stage right in the crowd. The main set was only ten songs strong but LEA PORCELAIN returned for an encore featuring their own version of BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN’s ‘Streets Of Philadelphia’, something that has the potential to really, really go wrong but LEA PORCELAIN mastered it superbly and gave the song their very own haunting and eerie signature.
Their latest single, ‘I Am OK’, finished this pretty intense yet fresh sounding live performance. LEA PORCELAIN is definitely a must-see at the moment!
Setlist
01. Warsaw Street
02. Remember
03. For The Light
04. A Year From Here
05. Gotta Run
06. Love Is Not An Empire
07. Bones
08. A Faraway Land
09. 12th Of September
10. Endlessly
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11. Streets of Philadelphia
12. I Am OK
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 8.3 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
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