Sono - Krefeld 2007

Kulturfabrik, Krefeld, Germany
29th November 2007
Sono
Their first single ‘Keep Control’ became a hit; in Germany and even in the American billboard charts where the single stayed for six weeks. ‘Keep Control’ was also the first German hit ever, which was awarded with the title ‘Track of the Year’. With their first album ‘Solid State’ - which also became a great success they also attracted the attention of people from the most different scenes and was also an indicator for the variety - SONO provided that they are not limited to a specific scene or genre. The second album is called ‘Off’ and was released in October 2005. The third and latest album with the title ‘Panoramic View’ has been released on 5th October. SONO are Lennart A. Salomon (vocals, guitars, writing, production), Florian Sikorski (keyboards, writing, production) and Martin Weiland (keyboards, writing, production, DJ). http://www.sono.fm/ / http://www.myspace.com/sonomusic



Music
If I had to describe the music SONO produce I would use the term Electronic Pop Music. It's not purely electronic though. Organic elements were and are always woven into the sound of SONO. The omnipresent guitar parts whether they have a rocking attitude or are in a more acoustic manner in the balladry tracks together with Lennart’s convertible chant add something like a soul what distinguishes their songs from many other electronic pop bands. As the most recent album has been released only about two months ago it was totally clear that many of the new songs would appear on the setlist of the evening, starting off with ‘The Brightest Star’ and followed by ‘All Those City Lights’ which is also the single that preceded the album release. Now we're switching to the first album ‘Solid State’ because ‘2000 Guns’ was the next song played and immediately made people dance. Next songs were the Cure-esque ‘Someday’ and ‘Miles away’ from the second album ‘Off’ which was introduced as a special song for Martin’s Mum. ;-)



The set went on with ‘Dangerous’ and ‘Always Something Missing’ from the current album ‘Panoramic View’ with its catchy hook and massive beats. The rest of the main set mostly consisted out of tracks from the latest album like ‘Too many Madmen’ or the wonderful ‘Carry on’ and was ended with ‘A New Cage’ which is one of my favourites from the second album. The band had to come back on the stage to play some more songs including their very first hit ‘Keep Control’. But it was still not the end of the show. The audience called and the band returned for a second time and played two songs which weren't included on the setlist namely ‘Whatever’ and a fusion of the already played ‘2000 Guns’ as a remix version with a cover of the song ‘Killer’ by ADAMSKI & SEAL.



Performance
I've never seen SONO Live before, so I was very curious how the guys would perform the songs live. The gig took place on a smaller stage, but this wasn't a problem as things later turned out. The atmosphere during the concert differed quite a lot from the usual as not only the already mentioned stage was smaller but also the room was. It was a familiar atmosphere like a bigger group of friends celebrating a party with good live music and I prefer such an atmosphere over that one you can experience at bigger concerts over and over again. The mood within the audience was overall very good even though the people were somewhat restrained at the beginning but as time drew on this also change and you could see the crowd dancing, singing and clapping their hands while singing along to the songs. Some folks just nodded with their heads and feet, but at least a little bit of movement was everywhere.



The band also had much fun on stage and Lennart used the limited space he had very well. At some songs he was just standing behind the microphone singing and playing the guitar and I was really impressed what sounds you could get out of such an instrument if you know how to use it right. The interaction with the audience was excellent and Lennart often made jokes and gained laughs of the whole audience, especially when he was telling a little story. They obviously had big problems to get a proper car and had to take a real small one in which they had to squeeze “The whole shit” like Lennart said so he always “had a part of the guitar in his right and a part of a keyboards in his left ear” if I remind that correctly. A funny picture. ;-) Florian and Martin were “Pulling the strings” behind their keyboards and synths. Sometimes you could rather sense than actually see them because of the dense fog on stage.



Another special part of the show was the performance of ‘Keep Control’ where the crowd was loudly singing the song together with Lennart who was visibly delighted to see that and encouraged the people to “make some more alarm”. The evening not ended after the last sounds died away. The band showed up later with some merchandise and sold their stuff, signed cards or chatted with the fans.

Setlist
01. Intro
02. The Brightest Star
03. All Those City Lights
04. 2000 Guns
05. Someday
06. Miles away
07. Dangerous
08. Always Something Missing
09. Too Many Madmen
10. Open the Door
11. Carry on
12. Stuck In the Middle
13. Your Favourite Place
14. Blame
15. A New Cage
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16. Technicolor Dreamgirl
17. Keep Control
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18. Whatever
19. 2000 Guns (RMX) / Killer

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: 7
Total: 8.7



All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com/ / http://www.black-cat-net.de/ / www.myspace.com/vorndranphotography)
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