Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - Schiller

Details: Written by: Sebastian Huhn; Published: 18 May 2010

Ringlokschuppen, Bielefeld, Germany
16th May 2010
Schiller

German musician Christopher van Deylen gave life to the project SCHILLER over a decade ago with his companion Mirko von Schlieffen as a club-oriented music project. But already with the second album ‘Zeitgeist’, the music veered more towards softer territory, emphasizing dense melodies and ambient textures. Even before the album ‘Leben’ came out in 2003, Mirko left the project, shrinking SCHILLER to a one man project with that. However, van Deylen’s creativity was big enough for two, even 3 persons. Ever since doing it alone he released three further successful albums with ‘Atemlos’ from 2010 being the latest one in the line. SCHILLER live is Christopher van Deylen (synths, keys), Christian Kretschmar (synths, keys), Ralf Gustke (acoustic drums), Cliff Hewitt (electronic drums), Andreas Binder (guitar), Tissy Thiers (bass), Anggun (vocals), Kim Sanders (vocals) and Kate Havnevik (vocals). http://www.atemlos.tv/ / http://www.myspace.com/schillermusic

Music & Performance
Talking about a SCHILLER live show apparently goes hand in hand with using as many superlatives as possible. Amongst them were such attributes as mind-blowing or breathtaking. It would be the understatement of the decade if I say that I was only a little curious now. The stage setup already looked impressive with tons of synths, two drum kits, a light battery in the back and much more. The show started instrumentally and continued in the same vein for a certain time, immersing the venue in ambient thickness. Then it was time for the first vocal block of the evening which would be performed by the Asian lady Anggun. Having never heard her before I was completely unbiased regarding her chanting qualities! Maybe that's why I was that much impressed by the first lines of 'Blind', illuminated in shimmering colours, especially adapting to the song's mood.

Overall, the light show was a sensation in its own right. You had to detach your eyes several times not to miss other things happening on stage and that was quite a lot, especially when another vocalist entered the stage. But first of all it was time for another set of instrumentals, started with 'Ruhe', having Benjamin Völz, who will be known as the German voice of David Duchovny to many, speaking a few urgent sentences. Unfortunately he was not there himself. Would've been cool even if only short! Next vocalist on stage was well-known Kim Sanders, frenetically welcomed by the crowd. 'Under My Skin' was her first song and her vocal colour and range made it a really special experience to witness. The following 'Let Me Love You' then saw her literally exploding and infecting everybody with her unbelievably good temper.

One of my favourites of the following instrumentals was 'Schiller'. Only initially calm, it developed a power you'd hardly expect in its first moments. That is also due to the impressive live instrumentation; the lively drum work and the vivid performance of Andreas and Tissy at the front. Kate Havnevik was the one to complete the circle of vocalists. I don't want to call her voice bad, but compared to the other two her voice lacked something. I can't even pinpoint what it was exactly. The show kept on switching between instrumentals and vocal pieces and kept amazing the audience. After such musical class it was unavoidable the band had to come back for a few encores that eventually pleased everyone fully. One point I missed to mention until now is the sound. No matter where you would stand, it was brilliantly clear. The only downsides were the extreme bass vibrations on many tunes. Sadly we couldn't catch full blast of the highly praised quad sound, because we just couldn't find a decent spot. All occupied already! I'm lost for more words to describe the event, so I'm just saying it was amazing.

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 10
Sound: 9
Light: 9
Total: 9.3 / 10