Goldene Krone, Darmstadt, Germany
12th October 2012
Private Line, Godex, Bitch&Chips
About four years after their last visit to Germany, the Finnish rock band PRIVATE LINE returned to Germany for a three-gig tour, visiting Hamburg, Darmstadt and Lichtenfels. They were accompanied by the German band GODEX and Czech band BITCH&CHIPS. The second stop of this tour was at the Goldene Krone in Darmstadt on 12th October 2012.
Bitch&Chips
Opener for the evening were BITCH&CHIPS, a currently unsigned band of four people from the Czech capital, Prague. They consist of Tom LePaul (guitar), Touby Lane (vocals), Peter Kizz (drums) and David Nillez (bass). https://www.facebook.com/bnchofficial / http://www.myspace.com/bitchandchips
Music & Performance
The first band of the evening proved to be both coming from the rock department and, contrary to their young appearance, being quite practised and experienced on stage. It is not often that an unknown opening act gets to warm up the audience as thoroughly as they did but they succeeded, even though by the time they started the venue was very far from being crowded, a fact that went unnoticed for those choosing to stand in front of the stage rather than sitting on one of the benches on the side.
Setlist
01. Intro
02. Lights Out
03. Late Night Vibe
04. Hot Hotter You
05. Tomorrow Doesn't Exist
06. So Divine
07. God Give Me Everything
08. I Don't Care
09. Go Go Sensation
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10. Too Good For Hollywood
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 7 / 10
Godex
After the split of THORA in 2009, THORA's singer Tommy Tom started GODEX. Their line-up for live performances consists of four: Tommy Tom (vocals), Casey Faßbender (guitar), Martin Ignatzy (bass) and Janusz Korzen (drums). Their debut album ‘Gates of the Universe’ was released in 2010, its follow-up album ‘Lovesick’ is scheduled to be released in early 2013. www.godex-music.de/ / https://www.facebook.com/godexmusic
Music & Performance
The second band playing was by far calmer and more quiet than their forerunners. GODEX' music can best be described as romantic gothic. The same goes for their show, there was no running or jumping around, instead the musicians mainly focused on their music without putting on too much of a show. Probably a bigger stage with some more decoration would have been helpful to emphasise their more romantic and serene approach, especially since their music or to be more accurate their lyrics seemed to focus on love in a way that reminded of HIM somehow. Unfortunately being placed between two performance-orientated rock bands did not help them to win over the audience, either.
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 4
Sound: 6
Light: 7
Total: 6 / 10
Private Line
PRIVATE LINE was formed in 1995 in the Finnish town of Jyväskylä and are currently signed to the Helsinki based label Bad Habit records. Since 2002, their line-up is composed of Sammy Aaltonen (vocals), Jack Smack (guitar), Illy (guitar), Spit (bass) and Eliaz (drums).They have released three albums so far, the latest one being ‘Dead Decade’, released in 2011. http://www.privatelineweb.com / https://www.facebook.com/privateline
Music & Performance
With their music being mainly rock, their performance followed suite, concentrating on demonstrating both their skill in their respective instruments and their ability to engage their audience into interactions, guiding them with few gestures only. Several technical problems with their sound brought unintended breaks about that were used to entertain the waiting audience with stories or even short acoustic sessions – or to allow the band for a round of shots on stage. All in all, one could sum their performance up as a perfect mixture between their older songs and their newer ones with just the right choice of rock songs and calmer ones that left the audience wanting more even when their gig was finished already.
For those staying a little longer after the gig was done, there was the (unscheduled) possibility to meet the band and chat with them a little afterwards.
Setlist
01. Deathbedtime Stories
02. Black Swan
03. Gods Of Rewind
04. Dead Decade
05. Down Came The Rain
06. Uniform
07. Deathroll Casino
08. Alive
09. Ghost Dance
10. 1-800-Out-Of-Nowhere
11. Prozac Nation
12. Broken Promised Land
13. Live, Learn and Grow Apart
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14. Evil Knievel Factor
15. Billion Star Hotel
16. Cheerleaders & Dopedealers
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 7
Sound: 6
Light: 6
Total: 7 / 10
Pictures by Sandra Bentz & C. + S. Stahl
