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Friday May 30th 2008Paradiso, Amsterdam
Unheilig, FabrikC
On a sunny spring evening, the Graf honoured the Netherlands with a visit. While most people preferred to spend a steamy night on the terraces of Amsterdam, a small amount of people chose to spend an evening inside with the Graf, warmed up by German industrial band FabrikC. Performing in a former church, the setting was worthy of the count.
FabrikC
FabrikC is a German solo project by Thorsten, backed up live by ‘Ivy Chrome’ and ‘halfevil’. Thorsten has been composing electronic music for a while, becoming more active in 2003, and independently released the first FabrikC album ‘Farblos’ in 2005, following two indepently released EPs. Two follow-up albums have been released on the ProNoize label: “Gleichstrom” (2005) and “Impulsgeber” (2007), which is now in the Dutch Underground Charts (D.U.C.) on no 8. FabrikC’s music is typically harsh, and in FabrikC’s own words it sounds like ‘machineries on steam power’.
Music & performance
Pretty early, even before 20.00h, FabrikC started their set in front of a practically empty Paradiso. They started right off with some serious beats, predicting a steamy gig. However, that promise didn’t hold. Even though (singer) was regularly screaming to the audience (ignoring the fact that he actually did have a mic), FabrikC failed to communicate enough energy to get the audience going. The lack of response clearly demotivated Thorsten, who in a wave of desperation wanted the lights turned up and screamed “I wanna see you dance now!”. Even that didn’t really help. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just a lack of chemistry and a lack of audience. The music itself nearly only consisted of monotonous beats, with hardly any variation during and among songs. Even though it was played pretty tight, they didn’s succeed to grasp attention. Halfway, Thorsten joined halfevil on the digital drums for a minute and then threw the drumsticks into the audience; it was so empty, you could actually hear them fall on the ground.
Ratings
Music: 6
Lights: 7
Sound: 8
Performance: 6
Total:6.8
Unheilig
Since his first single (the clubhit “Sage Ja!”) in 1999, Unheilig has put a solid foot in the dark scene. The Graf’s biography is impressive, and lists performances on all important goth festivals as well as successfull tours and even media hypes. His music ranges from electro rock dance hits to sensitive ballads, and all of that in German, of course. The Graf’s latest album “Puppenspiel” was released in February 2008, immediately followed up by a long-awaited tour after his festival-only break in 2007.
Music & performance
When Unheilig started quickly after FabrikC, the audience had doubled. Still, while Unheilig had sold out the complete Columbiahall in Berlin a month before, tonight about 75% of the much smaller Paradiso space remained unused. The Graf didn’t let it get to him at all; he performed with enough enthusiasm to have entertained an entire stadium by himself. He completely lost himself in the music, let himself go completely and filled up the stage (and indeed the Paradiso) all by himself - as any proper artist should. It made the performance totally convincing. At one point, the Graf wasn’t sure anymore whether the audience could actually understand German, so he switched between English and German in order to get every soul in the Paradiso to party with him, an attempt which was pretty successful. Even when the Graf’s music might at times be too sentimental for most Dutch goths, the well-balanced setlist secured that the gig was very catchy and entertaining for everyone and was over way too quickly.
Setlist
FabrikC is a German solo project by Thorsten, backed up live by ‘Ivy Chrome’ and ‘halfevil’. Thorsten has been composing electronic music for a while, becoming more active in 2003, and independently released the first FabrikC album ‘Farblos’ in 2005, following two indepently released EPs. Two follow-up albums have been released on the ProNoize label: “Gleichstrom” (2005) and “Impulsgeber” (2007), which is now in the Dutch Underground Charts (D.U.C.) on no 8. FabrikC’s music is typically harsh, and in FabrikC’s own words it sounds like ‘machineries on steam power’.
Music & performance
Pretty early, even before 20.00h, FabrikC started their set in front of a practically empty Paradiso. They started right off with some serious beats, predicting a steamy gig. However, that promise didn’t hold. Even though (singer) was regularly screaming to the audience (ignoring the fact that he actually did have a mic), FabrikC failed to communicate enough energy to get the audience going. The lack of response clearly demotivated Thorsten, who in a wave of desperation wanted the lights turned up and screamed “I wanna see you dance now!”. Even that didn’t really help. Unfortunately, it wasn’t just a lack of chemistry and a lack of audience. The music itself nearly only consisted of monotonous beats, with hardly any variation during and among songs. Even though it was played pretty tight, they didn’s succeed to grasp attention. Halfway, Thorsten joined halfevil on the digital drums for a minute and then threw the drumsticks into the audience; it was so empty, you could actually hear them fall on the ground.
Ratings
Music: 6
Lights: 7
Sound: 8
Performance: 6
Total:6.8
Unheilig
Since his first single (the clubhit “Sage Ja!”) in 1999, Unheilig has put a solid foot in the dark scene. The Graf’s biography is impressive, and lists performances on all important goth festivals as well as successfull tours and even media hypes. His music ranges from electro rock dance hits to sensitive ballads, and all of that in German, of course. The Graf’s latest album “Puppenspiel” was released in February 2008, immediately followed up by a long-awaited tour after his festival-only break in 2007.
Music & performance
When Unheilig started quickly after FabrikC, the audience had doubled. Still, while Unheilig had sold out the complete Columbiahall in Berlin a month before, tonight about 75% of the much smaller Paradiso space remained unused. The Graf didn’t let it get to him at all; he performed with enough enthusiasm to have entertained an entire stadium by himself. He completely lost himself in the music, let himself go completely and filled up the stage (and indeed the Paradiso) all by himself - as any proper artist should. It made the performance totally convincing. At one point, the Graf wasn’t sure anymore whether the audience could actually understand German, so he switched between English and German in order to get every soul in the Paradiso to party with him, an attempt which was pretty successful. Even when the Graf’s music might at times be too sentimental for most Dutch goths, the well-balanced setlist secured that the gig was very catchy and entertaining for everyone and was over way too quickly.
Setlist
01. Vorhang auf
02. Puppenspieler
03. Spiegelbild
04. Astronaut
05. Sage Ja
06. Fang mich auf
07. Sei mein Licht
08. Feuerengel
09. Lampenfieber
10. An deiner Seite
11. Sieh in mein Gesicht
12. Kleine Puppe
13. Spielzeugmann
14. Maschine
---
15. Freiheit
16. Der Vorhang fällt
---
17. Mein Stern
02. Puppenspieler
03. Spiegelbild
04. Astronaut
05. Sage Ja
06. Fang mich auf
07. Sei mein Licht
08. Feuerengel
09. Lampenfieber
10. An deiner Seite
11. Sieh in mein Gesicht
12. Kleine Puppe
13. Spielzeugmann
14. Maschine
---
15. Freiheit
16. Der Vorhang fällt
---
17. Mein Stern
Ratings
Music: 8
Lights: 8
Sound: 8
Performance: 10
Total: 8.5
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More photos on page 2
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