Oomph! - Moscow 2010

Club B1 Maximum, Moscow, Russia
3rd June 2010
Oomph!

On the 3rd of June in Moscow, there went off an event that many people were expecting for several years: OOMPH! visited Russia for the second time! The fans of the formation started to gather long before the beginning of the show in order to take places closer to the stage. Strictly speaking this concert can be definitely entered in the list of the brightest events of the summer or maybe the whole year. Of course, some still remember the band’s breathtaking performance in Moscow in 2007 but for others, including me, this year it was the first ever concert of OOMPH!. Besides I also tried myself as a concert photographer for the first time and came to be in the photo pit that was indeed rather exciting. It’s necessary to say that the opening song was ‘Beim ersten Mal tut’s immer weh’ (It always hurts for the first time) which seemed to be a nice coincidence and indeed a great beginning for such a long-awaited show.



There was no need of any warm-up band as the fans were ready to rave even looking at the empty stage in anticipation of something amazing. The concert started later and when the musicians finally came to the audience they were met with a storm of applause. Last year, this German formation celebrated the 20th anniversary and in February 2010 released the fourth compilation album entitled ‘Truth or Dare’. This year, OOMPH! is also going to release the 11th studio album but it will be later while now all Russian fans got a chance to see the concert of this legendary band. OOMPH! is Dero (vocals), Crap (lead guitar, keyboards), Flux (rhythm guitar), Hagen (live bass) and Leo (live drums). http://www.oomph.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/oomph



Music & Performance
So after the first driving composition that immediately set the pace for the gig there came another vigorous piece, ‘Träumst du’. Actually the setlist mainly consisted of the songs off ‘Monster’ and ‘Glaube Liebe Tod’, but there were played even such old tracks as ‘Mitten ins Herz’ out off ‘Defekt’ and ‘Sex’ from the band’s sophomore album ‘Sperm’. It looked like somewhat sacrament to listen to such “ancient” things. Among other interesting songs I’d like to mention ‘Fieber’ that sounded rather unusual without NINA HAGEN but still a way too impressive. OOMPH! intended to prove that they could be not only aggressive and strict but rather melodic and even melancholic and performed two acoustic compositions namely ‘Sex hat keine Macht’ and ‘Auf Kurs’. If the latter is originally peaceful and mellow, the former sounded strikingly strange yet pleasant. The crazy energy that was coming out of the stage overwhelming everyone and everything and the venue turned into a gigantic boiling pot so from time to time pale people ran out of the middle of the crowd to have a breath of fresh air. But on the stage there was going something hilarious.



Two times, Dero did stage diving and it was hard to say who enjoyed that process more: the fans that got an opportunity to touch their idol or the singer himself. Some songs were preceded by short intro speeches that allowed guessing which track would follow. However, when Dero said that he was pregnant it was hard to figure out about which song he was speaking. But it was just ‘Lass mich raus’ (let me out) and when the music fades it was offered to call a new-born baby Ivan. Well, the mutual contact with the audience was set already at the very beginning of the concert and all the time the band’s charismatic front man joked, said that they all were very happy to be in Moscow, and even used some phrases in Russian like “spasibo Moskva” and “kak vam dela?” that make the crowd absolutely impressed. Actually the fans also tried their best to welcome these guests from Germany so I think the both sides were satisfied.



In addition OOMPH! prepared some surprises especially for Russia, so Dero even managed to dance Kozachok. When he’s started singing Peggy Lee’s ‘Fever’, at first the hall was mesmerized before the explosion. The main part was followed by two encores and the whole show ended with heartfelt ‘Sandmann’. Afterwards the musicians took a photo against the background of the sea of raising hands, traditionally threw drumsticks and guitar picks and left the stage, that time for real. So almost two hours flew and the concert was over but everyone still wanted more. Anyway the hope is left that the band will keep the promise and return someday.



Setlist
06. Du willst es doch auch
07. Wach auf!
08. Das letzte Streichholz
09. Sex
10. Mitten ins Herz
11. Bis zum Schluss
12. Sex hat keine Macht (acoustic)
13. Auf Kurs (acoustic)
14. Revolution
15. Mein Schatz
16. Lass mich raus
17. Die Schlinge
18. Niemand
19. Gekreuzigt
20. Labyrinth
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21. Gott ist ein Popstar
22. Augen auf!
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23. Die Leiter
24. Sandmann

Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 10
Sound: 10
Light: 10
Total: 10 / 10



All pictures by Nataly Night and Elena Budanova
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