Zeche, Bochum, Germany
20th February 2009Alexander Veljanov
I haven’t been following the solo path of DEINE LAKAIEN voice and front man Alexander Veljanov that much, even though I heard songs from his two previous solo albums ‘Secret of the Silver Tongue’ (1998) and ‘The Sweet Life’ ( 2001) here and there. After four years of work, the new album ‘Porta Macedonia’ was released in November 2008 that was said bringing together the typical Veljanov sound with his Macedonian roots, Now I was curious and when the chance to see that live arose I took it gladly. http://www.veljanov.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/veljanov
Quite sharp at 8pm the lights dimmed, a chiming melody emerged and fog drifted over the stage. As soon as the silhouette of the man with the distinct haircut appeared a wave of excitement swept through the audience; and he started with ‘Der Kongress’, the opener of his current third solo album ‘Porta Macedonia’ which he was going to present in its entirely this evening. I had heard and read a couple of things about songs on the album; they’re said to be strange at times and yeah you could call the chanson-esque sounds of the slow tune strange others would call it culture, but I’m starting to get off-topic, I believe. Next track was ‘His Vita’ having a couple more dark rock elements and pretty massive drum parts. The most distinctive attribute as always was the warm and sonorous voice of Alexander Veljanov, who’s never really rushing over the stage. He elegantly strode, and showcased various gestures and mimics.
‘We can’t turn back’ was more of a driving song and soon people started moving leisurely to the rhythms but it was never that you saw someone in an ecstatic rush, dancing wildly. It was all different this evening; and different leads me straight to ‘Lily B’, one of the songs Alexander’s singing in German on ‘Porta Macedonia’. I don’t quite know how to describe the feeling I had during the song. It sprays a mood that is at the same time compelling as it is a little bit odd. Perhaps, that’s what’s making up the fascination of this track; this melange of dark, folkloristic sounds. But he had also a few other nuances in his repertoire like the electronic dancing rhythms of ‘Königin aus Eis’, the really eclectic, complex sounds in ‘The New Order’ or a solemn, epic song like ‘Mein Weg’ always impressed by the voice!
Of course no one thought of settling with just 11 songs after the set ended and so we all kept clapping until finally Alexander and his band came back. But before the first of all in all two encore blocks started Mr. Veljanov took some time to introduce his colleagues form the band and talked a little bit about the new album but then it could go on with some music from the ‘Sweet Life’ album; the soft ‘Seraphim’ and the title track with its exploding chorus. Later on he would be asked by a guy to undress now. His answer: “Later Baby!” Loud laughter everywhere! Well, all good things must come to an end sometime and after we had, as mentioned, the pleasure of a second encore block ended properly with the last open track from ‘Porta Macedonia’ which was ‘Dirt’ all clapping couldn’t bring them back on stage. It was a great pleasure and I’d say. See you next time!
Setlist
01. Der Kongress
02. His Vita
03. We can’t turn back
04. Königin aus Eis
05. Lily B.
06. The New Order
07. 2 Vor und 3 Zurück
08. Black Girl
09. Man with a Silver Gun
10. Mein Weg
11. Your House on my Hill
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12. Seraphim
13. Sweet Life
14. Fly Away
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15. The Wind
16. Nie mehr
17. Dirt
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 9
Total: 8.8 / 10
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com/ / http://www.black-cat-net.de/ / www.myspace.com/vorndranphotography)
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