Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - Peter Heppner & Band

Details: Written by: Sebastian Huhn; Published: 06 February 2010

Pulp, Duisburg, Germany
4th February 2010
Peter Heppner & Band, Melotron

Finally, no snow on the streets anymore! Still the possibilities to get to Duisburg were limited to trains if you weren’t in the lucky position of having someone to drive you, or even drive yourself. So I arrived quite early at the venue and a big part of the remaining time was spend with waiting, luckily not alone for the entire time. Our waiting was worth the while, that’s what I can say at this point already.

Melotron

MELOTRON is a renowned Synth Pop trio from Germany which was formed in 1996 and is known for their beautiful catchy songs with German lyrics regardless of which they’ve a still growing international following. Over the years they released six albums; the current album called ‘Propaganda’ and was out in February 2007.A new yet untitled album is currently in the works. 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 & Performance
Even though many, I assume, had mainly come to see PETER HEPPNER that didn’t mean they couldn’t have fun with MELOTRON as well, and the guys didn’t leave much room not to like them. The sympathetic trio entered the stage to the intro loops of ‘Brüder’, a song originally sung together with Dennis Ostermann of IN STRICT CONFIDENCE. The song and Andy’s passionate performance grabbed the audience by their feet right from the start. With the next song ‘Stucked in the Mirror’ followed a new one from their upcoming album which is still in production. Strange thing to hear a song in English, because you’re so used to the German lyrics but it didn’t sound particularly bad.

However, the German stuff dominated the set with songs such as their RIO REISER cover of ‘Menschenfresser’ or ‘Der Anfang’, carried on dark piano movements and initially heavy beats which gear up towards a clean club compatible section eventually. Basically, we can say it was decent performance with great songs I haven’t heard in years and some I wouldn’t need to hear again so soon. Also the audience was satisfied and MELOTRON were given a huge applause.

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

Peter Heppner & Band

For 20 years, Heppner is known as the front man of one of the most successful and most influential bands of the recent German music history. With the Electro Pop and Dark Wave act WOLFSHEIM, he accomplished everything that’s possible: Still present radio hit singles (Kein Zurück, Once In A Lifetime, Find You’re Here, Blind), awards for the albums and their top chart placements (Casting Shadows, Spectators), headliner performances on big festivals and sold-out tours in Europe and the US + the highest reward, the music industry has to offer: The ‘Echo’; and all this on a small, independent label without losing the indie credibility or making compromises. In September 2008, he’s finally released his long-awaited solo debut, aptly titled ‘Solo’, containing electronic gems, ranging from softly melancholic to even danceable stuff, always with the lyrical depth the fans know and love this man for. On his live dates, he’s accompanied by a live band comprising Lothar Manteufel (keys), Carsten Klatte (guitar), Dirk Riegener (keys) and Achim Färber (drums). http://www.peter-heppner.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/peterheppner

Music & Performance
Not so incredibly long after MELOTRON had left and the sound check had been completed, the first members of the band appeared on stage and began to strike the tones for ‘I Hate You’, the first song of the evening. The moment Peter came on stage with the mandatory text book, the cheers were overwhelming, and as soon as he started to sing the first lines with his matchless timbre, everyone was simply fascinated. I guess the title ‘Alleinesein’ kind of contradicted how everyone was feeling this evening. They wanted to spend an evening with like-minded people and good music, and there was definitely no lack of good music. Following another album track of ‘Solo’ was ‘Die Flut’, the track that actually was my first contact with Heppner and led me to WOLFSHEIM in the end. The new version with the live instrumentation created the same undertow that made up the fascination of the original, even though it would have been cool with WITT as special guest.

Speaking of a special guest, this concert had one definitely amongst the audience. He attracted my and other people’s attention during the beautiful ‘Künstliche Welten’ and would keep getting it throughout a certain part of the show. He rocked to the songs as if they were metal tracks or something. Not sure what he was hearing exactly but it wasn’t the same as anybody else that’s for sure. Was good for some big laughs but disturbing if you wanted to focus on the show, which was dominated by the outstanding performances of Peter and the band, rather than by much movement! Improvisations were not a seldom thing and showed everyone in the band was granted enough space to unfold their creative skills. The musically ambitious and colourful journey through the main protagonists varied output found its preliminary peak with a pervasive showcase of ‘Das Geht Vorbei’. Kudos at this point must be given to the live elaboration of the songs that had all in all more urgency in my eyes than their album pendants, even though they had already plenty of that.

Apart from what the title of the last song said, no one wanted it to come to this already and the crowd insistently demanded more. The reward of their persistence was a triple song encore, crowned by a WOLFSHEIM classic in new clothes: ‘The Sparrows and the Nightingales’. After this highlight, the time was definitely up and the people made their ways back home or stayed, for a party was on the schedule at the Pulp. But they all had one thing in common. They’d just attended an extraordinary show.

Setlist
01. I Hate You
02. Alleinesein
03. No Matter What It Takes
04. Die Flut
05. Künstliche Welten
06. Being Me
07. Wherever
08. Kein Zurück
09. Wir sind wir
10. Easy
11. Suddenly
12. Vorbei
13. Vielleicht (without Alvarez)
14. Once In A Lifetime
15. Dream Of You
16. Wundervoll
17. Das geht vorbei
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18. God Smoked (New Song)
19. Leben... I Feel You
20. The Sparrows and the Nightingales

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 8.1 / 10