DRESDEN DOLLS ::

DRESDEN DOLLS
flex / vienna, austria
28th feb. 2005

another day, another gig. ahh, sweet music! :)
anyways, this was one gig to remember. the DRESDEN DOLLS describe themselves as brechtian punk cabaret - and sure enough that is pretty fitting. what made me take notice of this neat boston band was their constellation before i knew their music: piano and drums + vocals. that sounded intriguing and as i listened to their album i also found out that it was very much to my liking.

this night held a couple of surprises. first of all the fact that the show was SOLD OUT! which means that about 1000 people had shown up to see DRESDEN DOLLS on stage. which, i think, is pretty amazing, as they are not at all well known in austria. even the booker and promoter who put the show together were quite baffled at their success. of course, a lot of kids just showed up because they thought that the band looked "cool" and "gothy" - but, hey, as long as they DO show up, what do i care? and to be fair: the crowd was rather well mixed, from young teens to elderly music and theatre enthusiasts. actually, this was one of the concerts you could go to and namedrop because virtually everybody from alternative press and media and arts was there. well not EVERYBODY, but, you know, you get the gist.

also quite surprising was the rather unspectacular stage performance. i had expected more antics going on and perhaps some theatrical lighting (spotlights, color casts and the like), but none of that. yet, also very surprisingly, that didn't lessen the experience at all. very good show, excellent sound engineering and outright charming performers.

another surprising (also in a good way) thing happened on my way home. i took off right after the show. tired as i was i decided to take a cab home and this turned out to be a good decision. not only did i get to be driven around in a pt cruiser, a car that i particularly like, but also i did have the chance to talk to a rather interesting person. my cab driver was from nigeria and somehow (i can't really recall how) a conversation about politics, money and power started. he had many fascinating and shocking things to tell from the suppressive nigerian military regime, under buhari, babangida and especially under abacha. we discussed censorship, communication control, government power and many other things and i learnt a great deal of things about nigerian history and politics that weren't know to me.

to sum it up: great concert, great night, alright!

KAPTAIN SUN ::

KAPTAIN SUN
arena / vienna, austria
21st feb. 2005

swedish (i think) stoner rock act that has gone berserk! this needs explanation. i knew KAPTAIN SUN from their first ep, but not too well really. listened to a couple of their tracks on mail-order sites and similar related sites. back then they seemed to be going into very much the same direction as GRAND MAGUS for instance. only much heavier and more metal in the mix. which is absolutely fine with me. so, i thought to myself, wait until their first album and then see what's what. by the time their first album came out i kind of had forgotten about them and it never really showed up on my radar. to my surprise i found out that they'd be performing in vienna. so i went to see the show. how much surprised i turned out to be!

they were much more going into the direction of ENTOMBED than GRAND MAGUS! and ENTOMBED is my most favorite band of all time! of course, this wasn't quite the sleazy, gutty, all-out death 'n' roll that ENTOMBED pump out, but it was not bad at all. definitely worth my missing out on GIRLS AGAINST BOYS, who were performing the very same night at the fluc_mensa with SUNSHINE as support... although, come to think of it, that was probably also a great show... oh well, gotta learn to split myself in 2 next time.

USAISAMONSTER ::

USAISAMONSTER / VIALKA
fluc_mensa / vienna, austria
15th feb. 2005

before i go into this review there's a little story i need to tell: in vienna there's the ERNST KIRCHWEGER HAUS. about 14 or 15 years ago a group of enthusiastic and zealous autonomous anarchists and turkish kurdish communists occupied the building, that was in the possession of the austrian communist party, and renamed it after ernst kirchweger, who was an anti-fascism activist that was manslaughtered by neo-fascists in 1965. since then the EKH has become a focal point for various anarchist, communist and social political agendas as well as cultural exchange and events. my own feelings towards the EKH are very ambivalent. i've spent some time there and had some very frustrating as well as enlightening encounters in there, played some of my very first gigs at the EKH, but over time became ever more jaded towards their whole standpoint as it became clearer that they were just as full of bullshit as those they opposed. but one thing must be stated clearly - the work that people within the EKH are doing is vital for the cultural and social atmosphere in vienna. alone the positive things they have done towards asylum seekers and foreigners in vienna are worth mentioning.
now the head of the austrian communist party (KPÖ) has sold that house to an anonymous buyer without conferrign with either his parties administration or the occupants of the EKH - of course they are not willing to go, therefore a series of beneficial events were and will be organized to help them defend their position.
the USAISAMONSTER concert was one of those events. that much as a lead in. on to the real issue.

it was a bloody busy day. JAMES BLUNT was in town for promotion (nice guy really and his manager is ravishing, gotta track down her phone number) and after that there was the monthly monkey.lounge (informal biz get-together). so i was pretty tired and hectic when i finally arrived at fluc_mensa at about 23:00. fortunately the show hadn't started yet. i also was lucky enough to see the support band, VIALKA. first time i ever heard of that act, but was impressed. not unlike USAISAMONSTER, VIALKA consist of drums and 1 guitar and some effects for guitar. who's thinking of WHITE STRIPES, BLACK KEYS or DEATH FROM ABOVE now is off. VIALKA is highly experimental in their strcuturing of songs and tend towards the more extreme application of voice and beats. a very intriguing show.

USAISAMONSTER are also only a 2-piece, with drums and 1 guitar and some effects, with the addition of a clanky keyboard that the drummer plays. and other than VIALKA, who rather use dramatical and theatrical songs and structures, USAISAMONSTER are clearly coming from the rock end. similar perhaps to LIGHTNING BOLT, only not as noisy. unfortunately i was so beat that i could barely keep my eyes open and sometime halfway into their third track i just had to go home and crash. of course i bought their latest cd on my way out. and it was worth the exhaustion all the way: supported EKH, got to know a new exciting band (VIALKA) and have seen USAISAMONSTER for the first time and was not disappointed. nice.

LAST VEGAS ::

LAST VEGAS / LOWDOWN HIGH
arena / vienna, austria
13th feb. 2005

man, it's been a while since i last posted something here! which doesn't necessarily mean that i didn't go to any concert (i've been to FEIST, BREATHER RESIST, FETTES BROT, UK SUBS + VIBRATORS, SCORN, LUKE VIBERT, DJ ZINC and that's just to name a few that i have kept from you) , but i didn't quite manage to write a review about those concerts. anyway, i will pick this up again right now with a double entry.

LOWDOWN HIGH are good friends of mine. it's not too long since they are playing as a band under that name, probably a year, but all of them are seasoned musicians and finally live shows are coming in. this time they supported THE LAST VEGAS from chicago. let's not talk too much about them though, because while they were good for all that matters (solid, glam-styled, boot-down MÖTLEY CRÜE tinged rock and roll) and also their singer looked nerdy something fierce (he had all the characteristic 80ies teen movie heavy metal nerd insignia going on) they weren't quite spectacular enough to write too much about them. nice band, nice music.

LOWDOWN HIGH on the other hand... weren't that much better, but then again these guys are only getting started. and also they're friends of mine. so, i'll definitely follow their exploits and see what they get up to. personally i enjoy their brand of earthy high gear rawk, but it's nothing i would lose a filling over. worthwhile anyway.