Luxor, Cologne, Germany31st August 2018
Prong - “Zero Days European Tour” 2018 - Special guest: Dew-Scented
Industrial Metal pioneers PRONG were coming to Cologne during their extensive club tour for a gig in the cosy venue Luxor and they were bringing their 12th studio album, ‘Zero Days’, with them.
Dew Scented
Supporting PRONG on their tour were the German Thrash Metal band DEW SCENTED from Walsrode. DEW SCENTED started back in 1992, and they have released ten studio albums since their beginnings. However, after 26 years of existence the band decided to call it a day “due to conflicting personal schedules and priorities”, so this support run constituted their farewell tour. https://www.facebook.com/dewscented / www.dew-scented.net
Music & Performance
Much earlier than originally scheduled, DEW-SCENTED entered the stage of the Luxor at 7:30pm, while most of the ticketholders were still outside, to play the opening song ‘Sworn to Obey’ from the trailblazing 2012 album ‘Icarus’.
A quick glance revealed only four band members with bass player Joost van der Graaf missing. This was explained with some kind of family emergency by singer Leif Jensen. Despite the absence of such an important piece in the rhythm fraction of the band, DEW-SCENTED sounded incredibly tight and precise. Especially the work of the two guitarists came across absolutely synchronous and in line with the brutal drumming, making DEW-SCENTED a worthwhile “attack on the ear nerves”, as singer Leif jokingly described their music. Generally, the mood of the band members was quite upbeat for a farewell tour. Singer Leif interacted with the audience in a positive way, and also joked with our photographer that he would not be able to take pictures in the first row in such a relaxed way during the PRONG gig.
In the meantime, the hall of the Luxor was filling up nicely, so at the end of the 45-minute gig, DEW-SCENTED had warmed up the crowd and paved the way for another great metal band to appear.
Setlist
01. Intro
02. Sworn to Obey
03. Turn to Ash
04. Cities of the Dead
05. Never to Return
06. Storm Within
07. Ruptured Perpetually
08. New Found Pain
09. Thrown to the Lions
10. Lots of the Rage
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 7.5 / 10
Prong
It all started back in 1986 when vocalist and guitarist Tommy Victor teamed up with a bunch of fellow musicians to form the band. Their first two albums (‘Primitive Origins’ and ‘Force Fed’) were released on an independent label, but attracted the attention of Epic Records, who offered them a major record deal. The two following albums, ‘Beg to Differ’ and ‘Cleansing’, marked the peak of PRONG’s popularity, with especially the epic single ‘Snap your Fingers, Snap your Neck’ receiving a lot of airplay. From 1997 until 2002, the band went on a hiatus, with the musicians pursuing different projects, such as Tommy Victor playing guitar for DANZIG. However, since 2002 PRONG have been touring relentlessly in the meantime and have released four albums in the last four years. The most recent album is called ‘Zero Days’ and has been released end of July this year. To find out more about the band, go to www.prongmusic.com / https://www.facebook.com/prongmusic
Music & Performance
At half past 8pm, the change-over was done, and singer Tommy Victor and his two band mates, drummer Art Cruz and bass player Jason Christopher, went on stage to perform the old school Punk song ‘For Dear Life’ from their major debut album ‘Beg to Differ’ from 2000. The second track was the song ‘Beg to Differ’ from the same album, so any fears that PRONG would only play their newer works were quickly alleviated. In fact, it took PRONG around twenty minutes into their set to play the first song ‘However it May End’ from their new album, which did not fail to entertain the partying crowd, as it fit nicely into the Punk atmosphere of the evening. Speaking of which, it is worth mentioning that Tommy after 32 years of stage presence was using all his experience to handle the double duty of singing and playing the only guitar incredibly well, all while firing up the crowd sometimes by just using grimaces, and it never felt like a routine performance to get over with.
He came close to the audience several times and leaned into the crowd, all while feverishly working on his signature guitar. The crowd was initially a little coy to react, but a few songs into the set list, everyone in the mosh pit unbuckled their seatbelt and started the familiar pogo dance routine. Tommy noticed this and likened what he saw to a Hardcore Punk show in the legendary Club CBGB’s (where Tommy worked as a sound engineer before he started PRONG). The energy level peaked around 65 minutes into the set, when PRONG played two of the uber hits of the ‘Cleansing’ album: First the brutal ‘Whose Fist Is This is Anyway’ and then the neck breaking ‘Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck’. After this, the band left the stage, only to return for a three-song encore, which satisfied any craving which might have been left during the 90-minute gig.
All in all it is mind-boggling to see a ground-breaking band which acted as an inspiration for so many heavyweight names in Metal (KORN, NINE INCH NAILS, METALLICA, just to name a few) play in a tiny club like the Luxor. However, it is great to see that Tommy and his band members show no sign of letting up, so there are great things to expect from them.
Setlist
01. For Dear Life
02. Beg to Differ
03. Lost and Found
04. Unconditional
05. Prove You Wrong
06. However It May End
07. Another Worldly Device
08. Turnover
09. Cut and Dry
10. Divide and Conquer
11. Revenge… Best Served Cold
12. Whose Fist Is This Anyway?
13. Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck
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14. Rude Awakening
15. Power of the Damager
16. Forced Into Tolerance
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 8.5 / 10
All pictures by Andreas Gey (Kommodore Johnsen)
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