KIRLIAN CAMERA + TANZ OHNE MUSIK concert review
Last Friday, 29.04.2011, yours truly went to watch Kirlian Camera and Tanz Ohne Musik in Bucharest at Control Club.
A quite sizable crowd gathered at the venue, among which I could recognize many familiar faces from the Bucharest dark underground scene. After 22:00, the opening act, Romanian Tanz Ohne Musik, Dan Serbanescu’s side project, went on stage with his signature combination of moody minimal wave and intensely gloomy cartoon visuals (by Color Nurse + Vali Chincisan) creating a heavy atmosphere penetrated by Serbanescu's drone vocals.
Setlist:
01. LITTLE BABY TRIANGLE
02. MESCALINE SWIMMING
03. I’VE LOST MY BONE
04. HIDE AND SLEEP
05. CHEWING GUM SUICIDE
06. ARABIAN TONGUES
07. LEMONADE BLOOD
08. SEX ON THE MOON
09. SUGAR LIES
10. WHITE SUMMER DAYS
11. PILLOWS
12. LEMONADE BLOOD (version)
On to the main act...
With over 30 years of controversial and varied musical experience, Kirlian Camera offered the promise of a journey among the sounds of electronic music, combined with the organic and passionate female voice of Elena Fossi. These it delivered, but not thrillingly so.
I had expected that their sound would be tamer than the waves of EBM, industrial and aggrotech popular now on the dark scene. Still, I could not shake the distinct impression that I was listening too often to the kind of music played in clubs when I was growing up in the 80's. I kept wishing for a more variation and richer textures of sound and composition and it did not help that, with a few notable exceptions, the songs reminded me of various other bands, all with different styles. It felt as if I was witnessing a recap of the last 30 years of the scene, combined with clean and strong female vocals and instrumental arrangements in the classical vein of the band's imperial symbolism.
Beyond a few vocal glitches in the collaboration between Rossi and the back-up vocal (another strong female voice, with extremely high potential) - really, given the band's experience, those should have been avoided - the performance was satisfying, within the confines of the musical material. If not absolutely perfect, Rossi's singing was intense and nuanced, from dance marches to ambiental landscapes and it transmitted authentic joy in performing and sharing the band's messages.
Setlist:
01. EIN DEUTSCHES REQUIEM
02. E.D.O.
03. EDGES
04. MEGAMIX (THE IMMATERIAL CHILDREN + ABSENTEE + CORONER’S SUN + DEAD ZONE IN THE SKY)
05. HYMN
06. ERINNERUNG
07. IN THE ENDLESS RAIN
08. K-PAX
09. BLUE ROOM
10. ECLIPSE
11. ODYSSEY EUROPA
12. COMFORTABLY NUMB
13. HELDENPLATZ
Overall, it was a bittersweet experience, with old memories, an opportunity to see friends and a decent, occasionally impressive, performance.
Written by: Alexandra Petrof