Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - Melotron

Details: Written by: Carsten Leopold; Published: 11 June 2007

Matrix, Bochum, Germany
8th June 2007
Melotron & X-Divide

On Friday 8th June 2007 once again we went to Bochum into the Matrix club to enjoy a concert in this famous nice location, famous for good atmosphere during concerts, but also notorious for very hot temperatures during concerts. The evening was opened by X-DIVIDE from Cologne.

X-Divide

X-DIVIDE consists of Jens (second vocals, synths, lyrics) and Eric (vocals, programming, synths). At the beginning of the 90's Jens had collected his first stage and band experiences performing among others at Depeche Mode parties. Over the last few years he mainly organized electro parties. Eric likewise conquered his first musical ways in the 90's and wrote several songs during that time. These songs are the today's basis of X-DIVIDE’s style. Also, in the past he has been and still is quite successful in another music category. Since these two work together, one had noticed at some point, that there are musical similarities and both decided to give a common project a shut. Therefore X-DIVIDE was created in 2005! Since 2007 X-DIVIDE is patronized and produced by Vasi Vallis - the mastermind of FROZEN PLASMA, former NAMNAMBULU and REAPER. http://www.x-divide.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/xdividemusic

Music
The music of X-DIVIDE was a kind of typical Synth Pop - catchy melodies, harmonic sounds and melodic vocals. They didn't reinvent this kind of music but it was a pleasing sound and a refreshing show. The set started with ‘Sympathy’, the song which was voted for the 10th place at the "Battle Of The Band" - contest of the German music magazine "Sonic Seducer" in 2006. Of course the song ‘I don't care’ wasn't missed out in the setlist, which was released on the current "Elektrisch Vol. II" compilation. After six songs and about 30 minutes the show finished with ‘So in Love’.

Performance
The performance was authentic and convincing even though it was just the second gig of the band at all. The band was looking for interaction to the audience and animate them. In the beginning I was a little bit confused by the unused second keyboard on stage, it was a keyboard of MELOTRON that already was arranged on stage. Altogether an amusing support show and may be after some laundries the suit of Eric will suit him too ;-)

Setlist
1. Intro/Sympathy
2. My Love is Guarantee
3. I don't care
4. Sometimes
5. Calling
6. So in Love

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 9
Light: 7
Total: 8

Melotron

After a long break - the rebuilt was finished after a few minutes but the main act started after about one hour - the audience could welcome MELOTRON - the headliner of the evening. MELOTRON is a famous Synth Pop band from Germany which was formed in 1996 and is known for their beautiful catchy songs with German lyrics. Over the years they had released six albums; the current album called ‘Propaganda’ and was out in February 2007. MELOTRON are Andy Krüger (vocals, composition), Edgar Slatnow (keyboard, lyrics) and Kai 'Hilde' Hildebrand (keyboard, programming). http://www.melotron.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/melotronmusic

Music
Before the intro started, a kind of pre-show-music was played, which remembered a little bit to the pre-show-music of DEPECHE MODE at their last tour. Finally the lights went out, the intro started and MELOTRON entered the stage. After the intro, the set started with ‘Liebe ist Notwehr’ and ‘Lebe ungewöhnlich’, both taken from the current album ‘Propaganda’. After it songs taken from all periods of band history followed, alternating with current songs again and again.

Highlights were the both cover versions ‘Menschenfresser’ (original by Rio Reiser) and ‘Blauer Planet’ (original by Karat), the thought-provoking ‘Für Dich gestorben’ (Died for you) and hits like ‘Gib mir alles’ and ‘Brüder’. The main set has been finished with ‘Vaterland’ - my favourite song of the current album. Before MELOTRON were allowed to leave the stage finally, they had to play an encore which consisted of ‘Wünsch mich nicht zurück’, ‘Blauer Planet’, ‘Wohin’ and last but not least ‘Gläserne Zeiten’.

Performance
Fitting to the current releases, red was the dominant colour on stage. Edgar and Hilde, the both keyboarders, were dressed in red shirts while lead singer Andy was dressed in black pants and a white shirt combined with red shoes. Once again Andy really was a great entertainer on stage. All the time he was dancing in his very expressive style and tried to animate the audience, who followed him unhesitant. The stage setting was a little bit scanty, only the both keyboards and a few monitor-speakers were arranged in the foreground and the background was dominated by a blank platform - only used to put down towels and drinks. None banner, none video projections, rather the stage looked like during a rehearsal. However, the soulful and powerful performance of the band compensated it. Altogether a worthwhile evening with a good tempered band.