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Ringlokschuppen, Bielefeld, Germany
31st March 2008
Wir sind Helden, One-Two

Since their song ‘Denkmal’ has been released, WIR SIND HELDEN are known all over Germany and other parts of mid-Europe. Then, they started playing big shows all over the country, and now, they are back with their new tour. Judith’s vocals you notice out of a couple of hundred and so, every concert of the so-called “Helden” will be an experience on its own. Already seen the constellation WIR SIDN HELDEN supported by ONE-TWO some month ago in Cologne, I was curious how this evening in Bielefeld would end up…


One-Two

Unfortunately I had to leave the office quiet late and had troubles finding a parking place at the venue. Besides that, ONE-TWO started half an hour earlier than scheduled. Due to this I missed the first 15 minutes of the set, which ran, compared to Cologne, fortunately about 15 minutes longer. So, same time for me but other setlist… ONE-TWO, that’s Paris base musicians Frédéric Beucher and Séverin Tézemas de Montcel, completed on stage by Mathias, Sebastien and Axel. So far, the EP ‘Oh Yeah, Alright’ followed by the albums ‘Love again’ and ‘The Story of Bob Star’ released on the Fine Music label. http://www.one-two.info/  / http://www.myspace.com/powerpopuptothetop



Music & Performance
Their website says, the band is presenting "Powerpop up to the top". I would not only categorize it as Pop but also as some kind of Indie Rock. In fact, the songs reminded me a lot of THE BRAVERY from USA who opened for DEPECHE MODE during their last tour. Now that the band had released a second album compared to the last show I have seen, also the setlist was not only longer but also consisted of a good share of both albums starting with ‘Bob Star’ out off the current release followed by three songs of its predecessor. Followed by several new songs like ‘Where’s my head at’ or ‘Annie Mall’, the band went back to the first album presenting the bleepy 60s pop song ‘Oh Yeah, Alright’ and ended the set with ‘O Hot Brain’ from the same album. All songs were marked by bass drum beats and analogue Synth sounds mixed up with guitars. Characteristic for most of the songs is the chant presented by two voices, namely the ones of Frédéric and Séverin.



The electronically based sound is quite catchy and full of energy even though the performance itself is not that varied. Again, Frédéric and Séverin shared the vocal duty and also the guitar parts. Already for the support act, the lights were quite well adjusted and put anyone on stage into the right light. Even though there was not the big “Rock-Pop-Show” on stage, the performance was really pleasing and very well received by the audience that followed happily all animations by the band like rhythmic clapping. The crowd really welcomed the band with more than honest applause and some dancing too.

Setlist
01. Bob Star
02. Heady Melody
03. Emma needs a love song
04. Pretty-pretty
05. Where’s my head at
06. Something in my Mind
07. Annie Mall
08. Seated by the Riverside
09. Oh yeah alright
10. O Hot Brain

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 6
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 7.3




Wir sind Helden

German band WIR SIND HELDEN, founded in 2001, (German for “We are heroes”) is difficult to categorise; the group's style has often been considered similar to that of the Neue Deutsche Welle or Rio Reiser and the music of the “Hamburger Schule”. Songs such as 'Denkmal' bear resemblance to NIRVANA, whilst others such as 'Nur ein Wort' evoke NEW ORDER. Also, the band is famous for its videos; so i.e. the video for 'Nur ein Wort' was an imitation of BOB DYLAN's famous 60s 'Subterranean Homesick Blues' "video". The sense of humour evident in many WIR SIND HELDEN lyrics and videos sets them apart from the more earnest end of Indie music, however. After Judith’s baby break, the band was back with a new album: ‘Soundso’  (‘Thingamabob’), a clear and direct album, released in May 2007. And now, the band presents the new songs finally live on tour! WIR SIND HELDEN are Judith Holofernes (vocals, guitar), Mark Tavassol (bass), Pola Roy (drums) and Jean-Michel Tourrette (keyboards, guitar). http://www.wirsindhelden.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/wirsindhelden



Music & Performance
Compared to my last show, the whole setlist had changed and also Judith seemed to be another girl looking totally different and much more grown up than during the Cologne show. Well, you can call her an experienced musician anyway. After Judith worked as a solo musician and released two CDs, she was looking for male musicians to form a band and soon after, the heroes were born. She described the music as “Synthie-Punk-Pop” being 28% Synthie, 34% Punk and 38% Pop. WIR SIND HELDEN became known within a wider audience with the single release ‘Guten Tag’ in 2003 followed soon after by the MCD ‘Müssen nur wollen’ and the album ‘Die Reklamation’. The portfolio of the band grasps uncomplicated direct songs as well as sensitive ballads, all impressing with good lyrics and felicitous melodies. Especially with their lyrics the band proves that they can handle the German language very well.



The band released a new album (‘Soundso’) already in spring 2007 and still is touring to promote it. So, of course several songs out of it were presented live on stage, just starting with ‘Ode an die Arbeit’ and the first single release of the album ‘Endlich ein Grund zur Panik’. Several more songs out off the album, like the title track ‘Kaputt’ followed within the set. The record contains also some saxophone solos. For the live show, such solos were brought on stage by three additional live musicians playing saxophone, trumpet or keyboards. Judith welcomed the three guys officially as new part of the family and all three showed their musical skills perfectly also when standing besides each other at the stage rim giving one of their solos. But there was not only time for music but also for a lot of talk, mostly by Judith in conversation with Mark. This girl is anyway simply incredible. It is a pleasure to see her on stage just having the audience under control during every single second of the show making them scream, clap, waving their arms or jump… and the whole packed venue followed her advices.



Besides several new songs, also several of the band’s big hits were presented and celebrated by the audience. So we all enjoyed songs like ‘Von hier an blind’, ‘Heldenzeit’, ‘Müssen nur wollen’, ‘Guten Tag’ or the break-through hit ‘Denkmal’ which found its place within the encores. After having seen THE CURE two weeks ago live on stage and seen THE EDITORS short after presenting a cover of that band as well as GOOD CHARLOTTE just two days before, also WIR SIND HELDEN had a place for THE CURE when mixing their own song ‘Aurélie’ and ‘Why can’t I be you’ which was sung loudly by the audience. Today, there was also again the chance for a fan to be on stage - this time it was a guy - and filming one song with a video cam. The pictures were directly shown on a big screen in back of the stage. Besides this, the screen also showed different videos and other projections during the show and added a certain pinch of salt to a perfect light show.



Setlist
01. Intro / Ode an die Arbeit
02. Endlich ein Grund zur Panik
03. Von hier an blind
04. Heldenzeit
05. Gekommen um zu bleiben
06. Wenn es passiert
07. Verschwinden
08. Kaputt
09. Echolot
10. Ist das so?
11. Müssen nur wollen
12. Die Konkurrenz
13. Guten Tag
14. Aurélie / Why Can’t I Be You
15. Nur ein Wort
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16. Blow Him Back Into My Arms (Moneybrother) / Ein Elefant für Dich
17. Soundso
18. Sledgehammer / Denkmal
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19. Bis du nicht müde

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: 10
Total: 9.2



All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com  / http://www.black-cat-net.de  / www.myspace.com/vorndranphotography)
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