Live Factory, Adelsheim, Germany17th April 2009
Elekktroshokk Festival Day 1: Frozen Plasma, Heimataerde, Straftanz, Das Ich, Phase III, Santa Hates You, Dupont, F.O.D, Glenn Love, dAVOS, Schneewittchen, Excubitors, Lost Area
Already very early on Friday we travelled to the little city of Adelsheim in Baden-Württemberg. Our hotel was situated a little outside the venue, the Live-Factory, and so we really needed to hurry as the first band was to start already at 2:15 PM. Did anyone actually consider that ordinary working people can’t go on a festival at this time? After arriving at the really beautiful and huge location we were certain we’d be right with our assumption: Emptiness everywhere!
Lost Area
LOST AREA was founded end of 2003 by Swiss Jan Moser and German Jan Bertram. Both were aiming to produce modern Electro with lot of emotions and deep lyrics. Ingo Ertel was next member joining the project. Short after he joined in, LOST AREA got its female touch with Daniela Dietz (ex-ILLUMINATE) who supported from than on front man Jan Moser in the vocal part. The EP ‘Gabriel’ was released in spring 2005 showing a huge musical bandwidth. The song ‘Painbringer’ develops to some kind of club hit. Live on stage, the band could be seen together with THE CRÜXSHADOWS in Switzerland or at the famous Dark Dance Treffen. Additionally, the charismatic stage presence is underlined with pictures of Jan Bertram’s wife, the well-known scene photographer Annie Bertram. After several additions to different compilations and certain remixes for other bands, the first studio album ‘Dare To Dream’ was released in November 2006 and following a period of intense studio work and personnel changes LOST AREA returned from hibernation in 2009 with their second album ‘Man-Machine’. LOST AREA is Jan, Andi and Markus. http://www.lostarea.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/lostarea
Music & Performance
There were two bands scheduled before LOST AREA gig, but as I learned when arriving at the venue, the schedule was already obsolete and the band was in fact opening the venue, also later as scheduled though. There were not too many people already gathering in front of the stage, but the three guys up there did not really visibly care about that and delivered a pretty good show. Musical highlights for me were the PROJECT PITCHFORK cover ‘I live your Dream’ and the last song of the set, ‘Amnesia’, for what the band also had recorded a video clip you can check out on their MySpace site.
Setlist
01. Intro
02. Unborn
03. Taste my Tears
04. Changes
05. Figure
06. Stimmen
07. I Live your Dream (Project Pitchfork)
08. Amnesia
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 6
Light: 6
Total: 6.7 / 10
Excubitors
After the three brothers Sascha, Stephan and Thomas gathered some experiences in various other project the time had come in September 2006 to produce and release music under a single moniker which would end up becoming EXCUBITORS (Lat. = Guardians) After one year of intense working on the debit the disc, entitled ‘Auferstehung aus Ruinen’ was put out in December 2007 earning widely positive critical reception. 2008 became the year for them to prove their live qualities to the people out there and became an overall success for them gaining new and loyal fans as well. Another year in the studio follows to create the next coup to eventually be titles ‘Operation: Observation’ and one of the live dates to get a live sneak peek at the new material was the Elekktroshokk Festival in Adelsheim. http://www.excubitors.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/excubitors
Music & Performance
After a little tour through the venue we got back to the main stage again where EXCUBITORS had already started their set. The trio from Hessen had to do this show without their keyboardist who got ill all of a sudden. It still was quite bright and the audience almost exclusively consisted of people from the press so it stands to reason why the band made such an unmotivated impression. Also adding to it was the chaotic state of a missing advance sound check. But musically the individual synth pop was a nice thing to listen to. The band played songs from their new second album ‘Operation Observation’ and songs from the debut ‘Auferstehung aus Ruinen’ which already received positive reception in 2007. Those were quite catchy tunes most of all enthralling with club appeal and deep lyrics.
Setlist
01. Intro (eyes open)
02. Isolated
03. Resist
04. Neu geboren
05. Steh auf
06. Tanz der Toten
07. Fehler im System
Rating
Music: 6
Performance: 4
Sound: 6
Light: 6
Total: 5.4
Heavy-Current
The HEAVY-CURRENT project was born at the end of the 1990s. They’re using their music as a means to showcase their point of view about the human being, its mistakes, fears, and his fate. From their very first EP ‘Smash The World’ (1999) to their recent work ‘Push the Fire’, just released this year, their sound has gone through substantial changes in gradually widening the pool of influences to draw inspiration from - and not all of them are of an electronic nature. More traditional rock and psyched Punk elements for instance. HEAVY CURRENT is Jan Weisbrod (vocals, electronic, production), Nook (drums) and Felix (guitars). http://www.heavy-current.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/heavycurrent
Music & Performance
At the moment there’s no way around the next band on the schedule called HEAVY-CURRENT. Touring with LETZTE INSTANZ, DE/VISION and PROJECT PITCHFORK cause great excitement and so I was again curious about singer Jan, drummer Nook, and guitarist Felix. No big changes to the audience in front of the stage. On one hand you had enough room to dance otherwise it was just a pity for the bands playing there. Already the first song ‘Infected’ commanded to dance. The band throws industrial, punk, electro, and alternative rock in a blender and creates out of it a catchy sound; and everything with so much fun on stage that it was infecting. Even though the audience wasn’t that big they made some air noise and applause followed after every song. I also liked very much the fast ‘Temper’ or the rousing hit ‘Ratrace’. Sadly the set already ended after only six songs. Remarkable and praiseworthy how much joy of playing the band brought to display with such a little audience!
Setlist
01. Infected
02. One Way World
03. Temper
04. Project Chaos
05. DBN
06. Ratrace
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 6
Light: 7
Total: 7.6 / 10
Schneewittchen
SCHNEEWITCHN is the German duo consisting of Marianne Iser and Thomas Duda and was given birth in 1995; back then still under their respective names. As “Marianne Iser & Thomas Duda” they’ve released two albums before an article in a German newspaper in 2000 brought the change and the duo henceforth called themselves SCHNEEWITTCHEN. They’re known and renowned for their very special and theatrical way of performing as well as their flamboyant musical compositions. With ‘Perlen vor die Säue’ their third long-player as SCHNEEWITCHEN was released in June 2009. http://www.schneewittchenmusik.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/schneewittchenvonhannover
Music & Performance
We just stayed at the stage as I had never seen SCHNEEWITTCHEN live. But I liked the last two albums very much. The duo consists of Thomas Duda and Marianne Iser. Every comparison with ROSENSTOLZ or NINA HAGEN just isn’t applicable as on second sight SCHNEEWITTCHEN remains unique. With a good portion of eccentrics, dark death romanticism and grim, merciless lyrics the live performance was the exact counterpart to the rather cautious audience just watching it. The grotesque ‘Komm wir ritzen uns die Adern’ from the new album ‘Perlen vor die Säue’ or even ‘Sadistisch’ from the last album ‘Keine Schmerzen’ were showcased with a perfect and dramatic performance. Marianne even left the stage to roam through the little crowd to break the ice. Didn’t quite work out! In my opinion the performance would have fitted better onto the smaller stage with a darker atmosphere as the outstanding voice of Marianne and the dramatics are definitely worth seeing and remarkable.
Setlist
01. Komm wir ritzen uns die Adern
02. Der Tod hat sich verliebt
03. Ohne Liebe
04. Rosengarten
05. Sadistisch
06. Perlen vor die Säue
07. Du hast die Liebe verraten
08. Loch im Kopf
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 6
Light: 7
Total: 6.9 / 10
dAVOS
The band has been founded by two founding members of SHARON NEXT complemented with a solo artist as front man. Ever since those three have joined forces a lot has happened. They’ve released three EPs on three different labels and through joint-ventures with AND ONE or L’AME IMMORTELLE they’ve gained quite a high reputation in the German electro scene. At the end of 2007 they eventually unleashed their first full-length ‘Just like mine’ on Synthom Records. dAVOS is Gerd Hall (music), Michael Ruin (music) and Eric Nelson (vocals). http://www.davos-music.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/musicdavos
Music & Performance
Due to the chaotic organisation we now headed downstairs not to miss something we actually wanted to see. The trio dAVOS from Vienna played here on the cosy little stage. On the right and left side on keys there was Gerd and Michael and singer Eric was at the front. The band was founded in 2004 and stylistically is comparable to the likes of DURAN DURAN or NEW ORDER. They released their debut album ‘Just like mine’ in 2007 with production help of Per Anders Kurenbach. Personal matters were packed into pleasant sounding vocals and mellow instrumentation. There’s always a bit of a retro feeling resonating within the songs which made for a relaxed listening for the people in front of the stage. ‘My New Pearl’ and ‘For Heaven Sake’ stood out the most for me. Both songs have hit potential and sound quite intense.
Setlist
01. Start again
02. These days
03. My new pearl
04. For heaven sake
05. Collite
06. Decline
07. Illuminate
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 6
Sound: 6
Light: 5
Total: 6.3 / 10
Glenn Love
Through numerous live performances in Canada and Europe as well as his various releases, the name GLENN LOVE has become a trademark. His first release ‘Cruel Utopia’ (2001) got rave reviews from critics spread all over the world and stayed for six months in the Canadian College Radio Charts. 4 years later in 2005 the time had come for his second album ‘Belle Epoque’ showing a stylistic change of Glenn’s music to a more Dark Electro sounding style and his their instalment ‘Cryptesthesia’ continued to go down that road and is the first disc to feature vocals. http://www.glennlove.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/glennlove
Music & Performance
Slowly it was getting dark outside and we walked back to the main stage just to see the crowd didn’t get much bigger after all. Having arrived upstairs GLENN LOVE had already started and blew us away with lashing, electronic beats. Finally the lightshow had an impact and drew the attention to the Canadian guy from Toronto wearing a Cowboy hat and his companion on keys. Back then his work was all dedicated to Rave/Ambient but now dark industrial sounds from the current album ‘Cryptesthesia’ invaded our ears and made Glenn jump up and down at the stage rim whilst singing with a dark and slightly distorted sounding voice. The duo successfully animated all attendees to dance along and received loud applause.
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7.7 / 10
F.O.D
Initially planned as a studio-only project, F.O.D went public short time later due to pressure from the fans. First singles already were released in 2002 as appetizers for the upcoming debut ‘Crucified’, released in 2003, followed by a top chart notation and a successful concert tour, closing with a placement amongst the Top 10 of the Europe-wide Sonic Seducer “Battle of the Bands” contest. In 2005 followed the next album ‘Made in Germany’ accompanied by a tour starting in Tel Aviv in November 2005. In spring 2007, the band eventually signed a record deal with the Fear Section label of Chris Pohl (BLUTENGEL, MISS CONSTRUCTION). Works for a new album began which would eventually be released in February 2008. It’s called ‘Synthesizer Tanzmusik’. F.O.D is Daniel “eXcess D” (vocals, keys, composition, arrangement, programming), An/dress (lyrics, keys, composition, arrangement, additional programming), and André (keys, live special effects, presentation, PR, G.C). http://www.fod-band.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/excessdance
Music & Performance
Now the stage was rebuilt for F.O.D from Oschatz having built-up two white beach shelters for decoration. With an own genre, the so called eXcess Dance (Mixture of EBM, Electro and Dance) Daniel “eXcess D”, An/dress and André “von den gerk” appeared on stage wearing white suits and they brought some female support with Ex-BLUTENGEL singer Eva Pölzing with them. Already the opener ‘Synthesizer Tanzmusik’ with its wit and irony reminded strongly of AND ONE and while we’re at it, F.O.D have been supporting AND ONE during their “Ladies and Men’s Night Tour 2009”. The mood was good and even the cover of the MODERN TALKING song ‘You’re my Heart, You’re my Soul’ did it no harm. On the generous space one danced and had much fun.
Setlist
01. Intro
02. Synthesizer Tanzmusik
03. Spiegelbild
04. Runaway
05. You’re my Heart, You’re my Soul (MODERN TALKING Cover)
06. Germany
07. Dreams
08. Allein
09. Gleichstrom
10. Counting the days
Rating
Music: 6
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 6.6 / 10
Dupont
Swedish DUPONT debuted with the release of the demo ‘Deliver’. Back then the band consisted of Riccardo, Danucci and Johan Damm on vocals. That same year they signed a record deal with German label LIP Records and the first official single ‘Behave’ which climbed up Germany’s Alternative Chart very swiftly, was fired out at the beginning of 2000 and attracted the attention of a wider audience followed by the debut album ‘Ukrainia’ in 2001. End of 2002 the guys supported COVENANT on their “Northern Lights” tour. During the recording of the second album ‘Intermezzo’, singer Johan Damm called it quits leaving Danucci and Riccardo without a vocalist. Everything went on hiatus for quite some time and solution on how to continue the band were considered which eventually led to Riccardo becoming the new singer so they could finally complete and release ‘Intermezzo’ in 2005. Right now the band is preparing the release of their new long player ‘Entering the ice age’. http://web.comhem.se/dupont / http://www.myspace.com/dupontsweden
Music & Performance
We were staying at the main stage not to miss the performance of the Swedish duo DUPONT. The band exists since 1999 having still been a trio some while ago until the singer quit the job. But keyboard player Riccardo took over the job and now the two of them are DUPONT. They gained a lot of popularity whilst touring with COVENANT and also this evening some people were eagerly anticipating the Swedes… like out photographer. ;) With the EBM laden and Old-School sounding ‘Casino’, the duo started the show where Riccardo’s distinctive vocals stood out the most. The following ‘Sugar Honey’ reminded me heavily of NITZER EBB.
After ‘Money’, a new track from the new album ‘Entering the ice age’ which they (hopefully) will be releasing soon came with the minimalist offering ‘Dope of Love’ with cool vocals. The last song ‘Behave’ was sung by Riccardo and Danucci together whilst standing at the stage rim and playing with the audience. A great performance of the sympathetic Swedes blending with the crowd several times through the course of the festival!
Setlist
01. Casino
02. Sugar Honey
03. Money
04. Dope of Love
05. Run for protection
06. Motel Lover
07. Behave
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 9
Sound: 7
Light: 8
Total: 8.2 / 10
Santa Hates You
As strange as the name sounds as strange is their appearance if one takes a look at the photos on their MySpace profile. The mastermind of this project should be fairly familiar to the creatures of the dark music scene. Peter Spilles (PROJECT PITCHFORK) created this project in 2007 with a woman called Jinxy. The debut release goes by the name of ‘You’re on the Naughty List’ and was released by the end of October 2007. On the WGT the project celebrated its live debut. http://www.myspace.com/santahatesyou
Music & Performance
Not really sure who’s playing next downstairs on the small stage, I headed downwards to check. Luckily I did not miss out the SANTA HATES YOU show because this one was on my “Must see” list. Already seen them a few times before I knew they were up for a pretty good live performance with music making you shake your hips. With their beat driven sound, the duo on stage infected the (little) crowd right away. Sexy dressed up Jinxy was heavily dancing behind her key while Peter also took the chance to leave the small stage and sing in-between the people dancing in front of it. Sadly I could not see the whole show just because I needed to check upstairs which band was coming up now. In the course of the day no one really knew who was coming up where. Even the revised schedule was obsolete already after an hour.
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 7.2 / 10
Phase III
After a little refreshment we were able to see a part of PHASE III, originally planned to play as co-headliner on the small stage and now were scheduled to the big stage to play before DAS ICH. So far, I never heard about this Bavarian band consisting of singer S.T.E.F.F.E.N (MASTERTUNE), Leviathan, Spif Anderson (SUICIDE BOOTH, LENNART) and Graf Tarek. This are only the names of the steady band members. Optionally, there are usually different guest vocalists and musicians on stage. So, also during this evening, a female singer was supporting the band who reminded with her rather fainthearted chant more of (dark) Schlager. Songs off the debut album ‘Es wird dunkel’ followed which you can put into the drawer Darkwave / EBM. They did not really leave a big impact on me.
Setlist
01. Es Wird Dunkel
02. Friendly Damage
03. Die Neue Zeit
04. True Faith
05. So Say We All
06. Monkey Business
07. BACK
08. Taktlos
09. Trauermarsch
10. Willkyr
11. Open your Eyes
12. Fade to Grey (Visage)
THE topic of the festival I only knew from hearsay: on the main stage, DAS ICH were scheduled now, several hours later than originally planned though. Singer Stefan Ackermann was obviously stressed and did not appear on stage in his usual body paint. During the second song he disappeared because of an aching back. At this time we did not really know if this was the true reason or if it was just the view of not even 100 people. Later on, a MySpace blog of the band told about the cancellation of all German shows. The official reason: a nervous and physical breakdown of Stefan.
Straftanz
STRAFTANZ is a German electro project which became known through the same-titled first single released in October 2006 and would become a huge success in German electro clubs. About two years later followed the next invasion of the dance floors with the name ‘Tanzt kaputt was euch kaputt macht’ but it was just a little vanguard for the full-length attack ‘Forward Ever’ released in June 2008. STRAFTANZ are "k-x", "j-l", "J-ing" and "Cyberdominator". http://www.straftanz.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/straftanzmusic
Music & Performance
On the little stage it got cosy now as some deck chairs were set up so you could sit right next or directly on stage. I was anxiously awaiting the co-headliner STRAFTANZ. So far there‘s only two opinions about them: Either you love them or hate them! I was looking forward forming my own opinion. The extremely tall seeming singer k-x and his band colleagues J-ing and j-l from the Ruhr area took the stage and started with ‘Eintausend’ making lots of noise at this late hour. Yes, they were taking away the weariness. Hard, technoid, with a dash of Future Pop and most of all loud! People in front of the stage got into action just like it has to be. Video projections and fitting light show catered for even wilder movements. For a vital club culture and against Couch Potatoes! I found it very entertaining how the scene was scrutinized with ironic lyrics. Also k-x moved on the dance floor, off the stage now and then taking a little break on the deck chairs. In-between a young lady was waving a red flag and a festival attendee with perfect Joker make-up just danced amidst the band.
Also the hard-hitting single ‘Tanzt kaput was euch kaputt macht’ was played that night. The band relentlessly fired brachial dance floor stompers through the little room, especially I found ‘Burn down Heaven’ to my liking. The late-night performance found its end with the club hit single ‘Straftanz’ when as known from earlier shows, people from the audience were pleased onto stage to dance there. With the right kind of people on a festival / concert it’s much fun to party to STRAFTANZ’s music and we’d always do it again.
Setlist
01. Eintausend (Intro)
02. Blood In, Blood Out
03. Tanzt kaputt was euch kaputt macht
04. Industrieschnee
05. Burn down Heaven
06. DZE
07. Gummimann
08. Finale Vollendung
09. Straftanz
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 9
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 8 / 10
Heimataerde
This project goes a fairly unusual way with its fusion of medieval sounds like bagpipes for instance with electronic sound, what was causing a stir, when the project released the track ‘ ‘Du fehlst mir’ on the first compilation of the label Infacted Recordings, HEIMATAERDE later signed a contract with. Behind this project stands a man with the alias Ashlar von Megalon and his appearance remained a secret, because Ash initially refused to play live to let the music speak for itself, but in 2007 on the Wave Gotik Treffen, the fans could finally experience HEIMATAERDE live. Until today, the project has released two albums the EP ‘Leben geben, Leben nehmen’ and three singles the most recent one being ‘Vater’ released in November 2008. HEIMATAERDE is Ashlar von Megalon (vocals, instruments, concept) supported on stage by a live crew consisting of Bruder Ansgar v. Hucretha, Bruder Andreas, Bruder Peter von Thüringen, Bruder Nikolaus and Berchovesche. http://www.heimataerde.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/heimataerde
Music & Performance
Meanwhile HEIMATAERDE, also a band I’ve never seen live before, played already on the upper stage. The project was formed by Ashlar von Megalon in 2004 and until 2007 he would dismiss playing any live shows. But on this evening obviously some other members of the live crew were joining him on stage to accompany the vampire background of the subject matter Templar. They played songs from all released albums, named ‘Gotteskrieger’, ‘Kadavergehorsam’ and the EP ‘Leben geben, Leben nehmen’. Melodic elements and medieval instruments were combined with hard, aggressive electro sounds. The audience visibly liked it and I would have loved to see the complete show.
Setlist
01. Introductio
02. Deus Lo Vult
03. Der Verfall
04. Moerder
05. Endlos
06. Vater
07. Eins Sein
08. Ich hab die Nacht getraeumet
09. Gib mir
10. Die Brut
11. Wiedergaenger
12. Pater Noster
13. Heimataerde
14. Lebloser Koerper
15. Morituri Salutant
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7.3 / 10
Frozen Plasma
After the split of his very successful band NamNamBulu, Vasi Vallis founded FROZEN PLASMA in 2005 together with Felix Marc. The Debut Single 'Hypocrite' was released in November 2005, the first album 'Artificial' followed in April 2006. Both founded the fresh duo top reviews in the press. But FROZEN PLASMA had another load of music up their sleeves for the fans and press in 2006, pressed onto an EP with the name ‘Emphasize’. After a phase in which both band members pursued their respective projects work on the second album whose title was recently revealed as being ‘Momentum’ started. The first harbinger came with the single ‘Tanz die Revolution’ and the latest effort exploring the other spectrum of FROZEN PLASNMA is called ‘Earthling’ and is the last stop before the album will hit stores in summer. FROZEN PLASMA is Vasi Vallis (music, lyrics) and Felix Marc (vocals). http://www.myspace.com/frozenplasma
Music & Performance
At this point it still wasn’t clear where the actual headliner of the second stage FROZEN PLASMA would play. First it was upstairs, then downstairs, upstairs and in the end we were standing downstairs again… where the original schedule had placed them as headliner of the second stage. It was already way past 2:00 AM and so we were patiently waiting for the show in front of the stage - together with the band. We waited until 3:30 AM (until HEIMATAERDE finished their set) for the show so Friday’s headliner nearly became Saturday’s opener. Still everyone of us was looking forward the upcoming show and my deepest respect goes out to Vasi and Felix for pulling off the program in such a professional way and without airs and graces. Despite the long day Felix was bubbling over with energy, dashed twirled over the stage and sang perfectly and heart-warming. The crowd clapped along to well-known and loved songs such as ‘Irony’ or ‘Crossroads’. The mood was great and frisky and as a thank you we gave the last our vocal chords could give.
The new single ‘Earthling’ followed and blended in perfectly with the rest of the danceable set. Vasi was visibly happy about the reactions and was sympathetic as always whilst standing behind his keyboard. Felix on the other hand proved his waggish sense of humour by dancing wildly with one of the mannequins set up as decoration. Then he climbed up a box and nearly broke his foot when jumping back down again. This duo’s very entertaining! Towards the end of the set both once more kicked it up a fair notch with the club filler ‘Warmongers’ and with the recently released single ‘Tanz die Revolution’ already whetting the appetite for the upcoming second album ‘Monumentum’ which hits stores end of May.
Setlist
01. Lift the veil
02. Condense
03. Crossroads
04. Generation of the lost
05. Irony
06. Earthling
07. Hypocrite
08. Warmongers
09. Tanz die Revolution
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 8.4 / 10
And so the first festival day ended at 4:30 AM and despite the chaotic day we happily collapsed into our beds… and slept long, very long.
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com/ / http://www.black-cat-net.de/ / www.myspace.com/vorndranphotography)
Written by Cathie Niemann & Daniela Vorndran, Translation & Band Intros by Sebastian Huhn & Daniela Vorndran
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