Werk 2 HallA, Leipzig, Germany
30th October 2011
Subway to Sally, Nachtgeschrei
That Sunday, a lot of black-dressed people made their way to the Werk 2 Halle A in Leipzig to see SUBWAY TO SALLY - and so did we. After sipping some beers, we lined up with a lot of other people to get into the heated up hall. Waiting for another 30 minutes or something, the lights finally went out and NACHTGESCHREI was about to start their show in order to support tonight’s main act SUBWAY TO SALLY.
Nachtgeschrei (Anne Kuhfuß)
German medieval band NACHTGESCHREI formed in 2006. A little while later they would be signing a label deal with the renowned brand Massacre Records and release their debut album ‘Hoffnungschimmer’ to critical acclaim. The follow-up album ‘Am Rande der Welt’ came out on 20th March 2009 and continued their victory march. Besides that, the band has been heavily touring festivals and clubs this year. NACHTGESCHREI is Hotti (vocals, acoustic guitar), Joe (accordion, hurdy-gurdy), Nik (bagpipe, flute), Oli (bass), Sane (e-guitar, acoustic guitar), Tilman (e-guitar) and Stefan (drums). Their current CD ‘Ardeo’ has been released last year. Unfortunately, Hotti decided to leave the band after the tour and NACHTGESCHREI is looking for a new singer right now. http://www.nachtgeschrei.de / http://www.myspace.com/nachtgeschrei
Music & Performance
After making our way to the front of the stage, we were excited to see how NACHTGESCHREI would perform that night, especially after hearing that Hotti (vocals) is going to leave the band in spring which was a really bad news. After stepping on the stage one after another during the intro, the band started right away with ‘Herz aus Stein’ and showed the good mood they were in. Soon, the audience followed and danced to the songs. However, it was clear that only a few people knew the band. Only some were able to sing along. Usually, that is not something bad but due to the leaving of Hotti, it was one of their last performances (and probably the last time I will see the band before he leaves) and therefore it was a little sad that the audience wasn’t really into the band. As you can see in the setlist below there was an encore planned but wasn’t played after all. This was due to the audience who apparently didn’t want the band to play any longer (at least they didn’t ask for another song) which was pity because ‘Ardeo’ is such a great song. I guess, I wasn’t the only one being disappointed but the majority wanted to go on with SUBWAY TO SALLY. 
Unfortunately, the light wasn’t so great. It was all blurry, tone in tone and just way too mushy in my eyes. This didn’t really contribute to the overall performance but didn’t change the fact that NACHTGESCHREI did a great job on stage - just like they always did when I saw them.
Setlist
01. Herz aus Stein
02. Räuber der Nacht
03. Niob
04. Glut in euren Augen
05. Der Meister
06. Herzschlag
07. An mein Ende
08. Fernweh
09. Windstill
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10. Ardeo (on Setlist but not played)
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 6
Total: 8 / 10
Subway to Sally (Florian Schürmann)
SUBWAY TO SALLY were founded in Potsdam, Germany, in the early 1990s. With their second album ‘MCMXCV’ they established their musical style as a rock band with folk and medieval influences, later also with classical, gothic and metal elements. They are considered one of the pioneers of the German medieval metal scene. They continuously make use of instruments less frequently seen in bands, such as bagpipes, shawm, violin, hurdy-gurdy and lute. SUBWAY TO SALLY often use controversial topics of the present day and transport them lyrically into their world. They have released 9 studio albums, two live albums and two live DVDs. Their CD is entitled ‘Schwarz in Schwarz’ and was released September 23rd 2011. http://www.subwaytosally.com / http://www.myspace.com/subwaytosally
Music & Performance
The last time I saw SUBWAY TO SALLY at the site of the Zita Rock Festival 2010, I conceived that the band, despite playing a very solid concert, was running too heavily by routine to be compelling and I also personally perceived a decline of musical imagination during their last two records - until the recently released ‘Schwarz in Schwarz’ of which I was pleasantly surprised. For me the record managed to bridge the gap between old strengths and modern sound with a lot of good ideas when it comes to terms of song writing. So I was curious if the new found interest could be held up by that night’s performance. When bands once find devices to make their concert run, they seldom back away from it. So did SUBWAY TO SALLY, who over the years increased the use of pyrotechnics in a gradient curve. However, we were still puzzled by the fact, that the timeslot to take photos, which usually is throughout the first three tracks performed, was postponed by five songs. As expected the band heated up the air in every possible way. Besides flame pillars and balls shooting from the ground, there were spark cannons, which spread their content over the audience, fire breathing and torches that were fixed to the microphone stand, handheld half-rings which emitted sparks (of which only one worked) and thick pillars bursting steam just above the people. 
Usually when that much of a fuss is made, there is some kind of lack the band wants to compensate, i.e. the vocalists unwillingness to communicate with his fans as in the case of RAMMSTEIN. Problems of that kind I couldn’t see here, so I conclude that the musicians just had fun with it and wanted to deliver something for their money. However, in my opinion I would have went with the saying “less is more”. Apparently with that in mind, they utilized the four vertical LED panels, which were attached at different heights in front of a backdrop (which I think was a rendition of the latest album artwork), very sparsely throughout the gig, if not to say redundantly. Often there was just lightning bolts or something equally indifferent displayed, while in certain songs contextual symbolisms appeared, like crosses and skulls in ‘Wo Rosen blüh’n’ or the number seven in ‘Sieben’. If that is necessary for the understanding of the songs I dare to doubt, but it added an extra depth to the stage and was in most cases beneficial to its overall image. Enough of the gimmicks, let’s talk about the gig itself. The band seemed to be as cheerful as you can be considering the stress of touring. The atmosphere was denser than I had experienced it the last time I’ve seen them. That was probably because they were aware that the audience of the well-crowded hall with little exceptions only came to see them as opposed to a festival appearance. Another device they adopted to make the people react, was the usual invitation to scream occasionally on command. 
Of course there were the usual offhand comments and anecdotes, which came across not very extensive, but alright, considering the abovementioned routine of presumable recitation. The request to form a circle pit at the beginning of ‘Nichts ist für immer’ however, I found completely inappropriate (but that might be my general aversion against any kind of pits during a concert (especially arm pits)). During ‘Das schwarze Meer’ singer Eric Fish was heaved onto the people’s high held hands and circled a few moments above the audience before he got back onto the stage. One of my biggest issues with the otherwise great concert, I have left untouched so far, which is the song ‘MMXII’. Despite the epic music and the catchy vocal line throughout the chorus, I have to admit, I do not totally get what the band wants to express lyrically. It is a song about the end of the civilization, which goes along with the overall end time topic of 2012, so as the title. I understand that the band wants to express a kind of social criticism, but in the end the image comes along more as a physically than socially damaged dystopia. To be more sophisticated than Roland Emmerich is not the problem I have, it is more the imaginary shown behind the band on the screens during the performance of that track. Some very strong symbolism appeared in fractions of seconds on the LED panels, such as nuclear and biohazard icons, skulls, falling bombs, as well as an U.S.American flag and the burning World Trade Center towers. 
That together with the strongly oriental influenced middle part leaves a strange feeling in my gut. What do they know that we don’t? Does the band want to warn us from terrorists? Rising awareness has been a layer that inhabited the band’s lyrics for a while now and would still be okay, if the music and the lyrics wouldn’t coincide as a glorification of purging civilization. Back to the big picture: musically there is not much to point out. With a four digit number of played concerts, SUBWAY TO SALLY know to perform on stage as well as handling their instruments properly, which they did successfully with no unintentional divergence from the recordings. However, there still was room for variation, which took form in i.e. playing ‘Feuerkind’ as a merely acoustical song. The vocal performance of Eric Fish also gave no occasion to complain. As expected the focus of the concert was on the latest record, but the band restricted itself to playing only 7 out of 12 songs on the CD. That was a wise decision and made room for the large back catalogue they have to offer. Personally I was quite disappointed that they only played ‘Mephisto’ (besides the obligatory ‘Julia und die Räuber’) from the entire first four records, but was pleased that one of my favourites, ‘Tag der Rache‘, made it into the set. Some of the people already sung along the new tracks and the audience mostly seemed to enjoy the whole concert, but there certainly was more reaction to observe during the “classics” of the band. The people sung along the songs like ‘Eisblumen’ or ‘Falscher Heiland’ way louder and physically enjoyed the gig even more. 
The encore also was handled well, since it managed to break the circumstance of having a lot of tracks with a typical pop song structure with many repetitions. Therefore they formed a blend of three fan favourites in a medley: ‘Sieben’, ‘Ohne Liebe’ and ‘Veitstanz’. At last the second encore satisfied the remaining chanting fans in the hall with the well-known band hymn. Overall SUBWAY TO SALLY played a very enjoyable gig which made me rethink my mindset towards the band, which I thought could offer nothing interesting anymore. I was wrong.
Setlist
01. Kämpfen Wir!
02. Schlagt die Glocken
03. Tag der Rache
04. Unsterblich
05. Mephisto
06. Die Trommel
07. Das schwarze Meer
08. Wo Rosen blüh'n
09. Eisblumen
10. Lacrimae '74 / Feuerkind (acoustic performance)
11. Mir allein
12. Böses Erwachen
13. Wenn Engel hassen
14. Nichts ist für immer
15. Besser du rennst
16. Tanz auf dem Vulkan
17. Kleid aus Rosen
18. MMXII
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19. Sieben / Ohne Liebe / Veitstanz (medley)
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20. Falscher Heiland
21. Julia und die Räuber
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9.5
Sound: 9
Light: 7.5
Total: 9 / 10
Pictures by Anne Kuhfuß (Nachtgeschrei) and Florian Schürmann (Subway to Sally)
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