Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - Live Review: Peter Heppner

Details: Written by: morTICIA; Published: 07 October 2015

Gloria, Cologne, Germany
30th September 2015
Peter Heppner – Acoustic

Once again PETER HEPPNER was touring with his acoustic set. The last show of this tour took place at the beautiful Gloria, a cinema with a rich tradition, formerly used as a cinema and theatre. Nowadays parties and concerts take also place. The seated show was nearly sold out. Again he was supported by his approved team of Dirk Riegner (piano, keyboards), Carsten Klatte (acoustic guitar) and Achim Färber (drums)

The compelling vocals of the German singer / songwriter crawls inside your ear and wanders deeper into your heart. From 1987 to 2007 he gained a growing prominence with the Synth Pop duo WOLFSHEIM. The band disbanded then. In 2005 he started his solo project and until today he released two albums, ‘Solo‘ (2008) and ‘My heart of stone‘ (2012), which both entered successfully the charts in the German speaking countries. Furthermore he collaborated successfully with several musicians like SCHILLER, PAUL VAN DYK, GOETHES ERBEN, JOACHIM WITT to mention only a few. The lyrics of the songs are in English as well as in German language. Currently he is working on a new album. http://www.peterheppner.de / https://www.facebook.com/peterheppneroffiziell

heppner01

Music & Performance
Last year I already had the chance to see PETER HEPPNER on his acoustic tour when he performed in Bochum in a church which was really amazing. Of course you couldn’t expect a change in the stage setting consisting of a piano and this time also a keyboard , a guitar, a drum set, a barstool, another one for his glass of red wine and ashtray, a microphone tripod and of course the music stand in front of him. Performing with a music stand is a kind of trademark of PETER HEPPNER. The show started with an instrumental intro on the piano then the other band members entered the stage and took their seats and finally PETER HEPPNER appeared and was greeted with a loud applause. And even though the setlist showed no variation - except the medley of two new songs - it contained a great mixture of songs in German and English language, songs of the WOLFSHEIM repertoire, songs of his collaborations with other musicians, as well as songs of his solo project of course. Nevertheless it was not boring as some songs were performed in a fresh new style, varying from the album versions. Each song was rewarded with a thunderous applause.

heppner03

The audience, clearly dominated by hard-core fans, was so quiet you could hear a pin drop while the songs were performed. But then every song was rewarded with loud applause and cheering. The live interpretation of ‘Care for you‘ reminded me a bit of the sound of STYLE COUNCIL with the mixture of Pop and Funk. For ‘God smoked‘ PETER HEPPNER announced to create the right atmosphere by lighting a cigarette. After a couple of songs he declared to sing now a more up tempo song or else the whole show would be unbearable. This statement was rewarded with some laughter and applause but surely you cannot expect more action at such a concert that is seated and with PETER sitting as well during the whole show. But this acoustic show is made to focus on the unmistakable beautiful voice and the perfect synergy of his live band, underlining each song by accentuating it in a beautiful minimalistic way. There were surely a lot of goose bumps moments on this evening. Before the last two songs were played PETER HEPPNER was pleased to announce that he can finally introduce some new material to us, two new songs presented as a medley and for sure as an appetizer for the upcoming album, which was well received. Thus we have something to look forward to.

heppner05

After nineteen songs the concert ended but before PETER HEPPNER left the stage he introduced each member of first class musicians that is his live band. Needless to say that the audience wouldn’t let PETER HEPPNER go without an encore and so we got two of it including ‘The sparrows and the nightingales’ in a funky airy STYLE COUNCIL manner and the tongue in cheek interpretation of MARLENE DIETRICH’S song ‘Ich weiß nicht zu wem ich gehöre’ (I don’t know to whom I belong), only accompanied by Dirk Riegner on the piano, which proved that he surely has some humour despite the severe and melancholic lyrics of most of his songs. The concert was rewarded by the audience with standing ovation. After the show some fans had the chance to catch up with him for a short chat and a photo. But once again I missed the merchandise. It definitely had been nice to have the chance to buy something after such a stunning concert.

heppner07

Setlist
01. And I (WOLFSHEIM)
02. Care for you (WOLFSHEIM)
03. God smoked
04. Meine Welt
05. Being me
06. Noch nicht soweit
07. Heroin she said (WOLFSHEIM)
08. Wherever
09. Annie (WOLFSHEIM)
10. Twelve
11. Künstliche Welten (WOLFSHEIM)
12. Easy
13. Deserve to be alone
14. This time (WOLFSHEIM)
15. Die Flut
16. Cry tonight
17. Gib mir doch einen Grund/ Good things break (Medley of two songs from the upcoming album)
18. Wir sind wir
19. Kein Zurück (WOLFSHEIM)
---
19. Leben …. I feel you
20. The sparrows and the nightingales (WOLFSHEIM)
---
21. Ich weiß nicht zu wem ich gehöre (MARLENE DIETRICH cover)

Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 9
Sound: 10
Light: 7
Total: 9 / 10

heppner09