Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - VNV Nation

Details: Written by: Daniela Vorndran; Published: 25 April 2005

Kulturfabrik, Krefeld, Germany
April 22nd 2005
VNV Nation, Diorama and Soman

We arrived at about 19.30 in Krefeld... just 30 minutes before the doors should open. There were just a lot of people waiting. Short before 20.00 a guy came out of the venue to hang up a sign that says entrance at 20.30. We all were wondering and then someone told us that the band was more then 4 hours late because of a huge traffic jam on the highway. So everything that evening was delayed. And later we should recognize some more problems due to that delay...

Soman

Soman is not only a chemical weapon but also a German industrial project that released it´s debut CD "Sound of Pressure" in 2003 on the "Out of Line" label. Soman, that´s the sound engineer Kolja Trelle from Dresden/Germany. The music can be described as a danceable mixture of noise, electro and industrial with some trance and techno influences. All songs are without lyrics but use some voice samples.

Music
Soman entered the stage taking his place behind his computer-technic-system at the front of the stage. Besides him there were two light installations showing the name "Soman" in white on a red ground. His music was totally instrumental with hammering sounds and high bpm figures. He also brought a remix of a VNV Nation song.

Performance
All alone behind his "keyboard" it couldn´t be really called a show but some kind of performance. He fired up the adience and there seemed to be some fans of his music who went mad and also the others started dancing to the beats. The lights were very poor, only some reds and greens from the back with some strobe effects so that it was hard to see the face of Kolja.

Rating
Music 6
Performance 5
Sound 6
Light 4
Total 5 (5.4)

Diorama

Diorama frontman Torben Wendt founded the band in 1996 and signed at the Accession records label of "Diary of Dreams" mastermind Adrian Hates who also could be heard as a guest musician on Diorama´s first album. The new album "Amaroid" was released just at the beginning of April 2005. "Amaroid" combines warm analogue sounds with high end, state of the art production techniques to deliver timeless songs full of driving refrains, dancefloor grooves and infectious hook lines - including the potential new hit "The Girls".

Music
Diorama on stage during the VNV Nation tour are Torben (vocals), Felix (Keyboard) and Sash (Guitar). The band started with the song "Logic friends" from the just released album "Amaroid". For about 30 minutes they presented a very nice mixture of their songs ending with the hit "Her Liquid arms". Torben´s voice always reminds me of the voice of "Diary of Dreams" singer Adrian. Also that charismatic so it affected all people in the audience. Even they had only a little time for preparation in Krefeld, the sound was very good but a bit too loud.

Performance
Different to the sound, the lightshow wasn´t really good. But that was due the same reason than with all the other bands at that evening. Simply bad luck. The band gave all to release a satisfied audience... giving all power to their songs they could. Even though most of the people weren´t dancing but listening to the music they applaused heavily after every song. Unfortunately the set was very short and it would be nice to see the band once on a headliner tour.

Setlist
01. Logic Friends
02. Last Minute
03. Advance
04. The Girls
05. Smeone Dies
06. Howland Road
07. Her Liquid Arms

Rating
Music 7
Performance 6
Sound 6
Light 5
Total 6 (6.25)

VNV Nation

One of the most frequently asked questions is what the letters VNV stand for. They stand for "Victory not Vengeance". The meaning behind this stylised motto is that one should strive to achieve, not sit in bitter regret. VNV Nation are Ronan Harris (electronics, lyrics, vocals) and Mark Jackson (drums). VNV Nation´s inspiration was originally the clash of modern and classical Europe cultures, where mythology and technology live in an uneasy fusion but this has since broadened to encompass a world view. The music ranges in style from electronic dance music to ballads and classical inspired music. Inspirations are taken from a wide range of styles including contemporary underground club culture, industrial and classical music. The lyrics draw on philosophy, literature, art, politics and different forms of symbolism. VNV Nation does not advocate any ideology. It is a metaphor for expression.
http://www.vnvnation.com

Music
After a short break Ronan Harris and Mark Jackson aka VNV Nation entered the stage accompanied by Soman and Vasi from "NamNamBulu" on the keyboards. A bit strange to see that additional musicians on stage because in the past VNV Nation managed concerts without them and I think they were not really neccessary. Most of the synth lines are coming from backing tapes so I think the both guys behind the keyboards had to hit only a key from time to time. Mark took his place behind the electronic drum set in the middle of the stage and acted with the same power we know from him. After the Intro, the show started with the powerful actual single "Chrome". Due the fact that this was the second last concert of the European tour, you could hear that Ronan´s voice was a bit affected. But the audience did not really care about that.

Performance
As you know it from VNV Nation shows Mark did not move away from his drum set and Ronan ran like a berserk from one side of the stage to the other. There was supposed to be a great light show with 2 video screens but also because of the technical problems a lot of the stuff couldn´t be installed. But at least the viceo screens worked partly so the show was accompanied with some atmospheric videos. Too bad that Ronan absolutely doesn´t like front light so the light engineer has to deal with that fact and create a light show without any or very poor front light.

The audience started dancing from the very beginning... cheering up to the stage after every song and waving glow sticks. After some fast songs like the hit "Darkangel" or the powerful "Entropy" the band calmed down to perform the beautiful ballad "Holding on". The main set ended with a great performance of "Honour 2003". After a long break where the audience screamed and applaused heavily, the band returned for 2 encores. Sadly some guys in the audience were using whistles the whole concert long what was really annoying. Ronan felt the same and told them several times to stop that... but they didn´t really react to that request. So you could see and hear that Ronan was a bit pissed of by that. On the other side the band had a lot of fun on stage seeing the audience celebrating and dancing up to the last row. The band ended their set with the intrumental "Electronaut" where the two additional guys left the stage and Mark and Ronan entered the places behind the keyboards. After about two hours VNV Nation released a very satiesfied audience.

Setlist
01. Intro
02. Chrome
03. Joy
04. Darkangel
05. Arena
06. Standing
07. Epicentre
08. Entropy
09. Holding On
10. Legion Live
11. Honour 2003
-----
12. Homeward
13. Distant/Rubicon
14. Perpetual
-----
15. Further
16. Beloved
17. Electronaut

Rating
Music 7
Performance 8
Sound 6
Light 4
Total 7 (6.7)