KMFDM LIVE IN LONDON!!

 

Venue:- 02 Academy Islington, London.

9/9/2017

”Ventenner are, as I’ve stated in another review a very good band, i love the angsty feel to the sound, a sound slightly Numanesque/NIN, heavy, dark, atmospheric and abrasive but not too repetitive!!The sound was better tonight than their previous show i saw with Skinny Puppy and the crowd i observed were more appreciative!! The mix was just  right for my ears I absolutely love ”The Start is The End” and the other fav track of mine is ”Be Still”. What’s the word i want to use to sum up Ventenner?? Oh yes,  satiating!!”

”Lord of The Lost i have not heard of before!! Hailing from Hamburg they are a sugary mix of industrial metal a la Marilyn Manson with anthemic overtones! They also remind me of Lacrimosa for some reason and Mortiis. They are showmen with a well honed stage presence that went down well with the crowd!! Most definitely crowd pleasers this lot, the crowd sang along often and the air was seldom not filled with devils horns! I liked them but i  would get bored  pretty quickly. They are like a cream cake that gives a quick sugar boost before another energy dip!! Personally they are to be enjoyed on special occasions unlike Solstafir who i saw the week  before and who i can listen to over and over…  To end this part of my review i can say without contradiction that Lord Of The Lost are great to photograph!!”

”Unlike Inertia, who irritated  me!! I know a band does not take to the stage to cater to the whims of the gathering throngs of photographers in the pit, you deal with the conditions as they arise!! But from the off Reza Uddin traversed the stage like a hyperactive who had consumed too many expressos. I tracked him across the stage like a sniper after an un obliging kill to the point where i started to lose my patience!! There was no interlude from the darkness either with brief flashes of spotlight!!  This affected my appreciation of the music  because i started to get bored and fidgety and these feelings never really left me for the duration of the set!! Sections in songs went on for too long and i lost focus. The crowd were not as animated as with Lord Of The Lost in my view either, they were politely attentive  waiteing for KMFDM. I make no apologies but this set did absolutely nothing for me!! Even the rendition of Peter Gabriel’s ”Games without Frontiers” did nothing to bring me back onside!!”

”KMFDM or to give them their long name ”Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid” are a German Industrial band that have been creating music since 1984 and currently consist of Lucia Cifarelli, Jules Hodgson, Andy Selway, Steve White and Sascha Konietzko who has been a constant since the bands inception over 30 years ago. Not a band i follow closely like i would with many others although i have been aware of their existence since the mid 1990’s and I will dance to them when they are played at clubs like The Slimelight and Reptile in London along with other industrial luminaries such as Front Line Assembly, Nitzer Ebb, Oomph and Nine Inch Nails. They put on a blinding show and throughout their set  had me shoulder dancing as if i had an uncontrollable tick in both deltoids!!  They also have charismatic stage presence which facilitates the taking of some good photos!! The set was mixed up with metal/industrial/ebm/ sounds that kept your interest and kept the set fresh and as with the aforementioned Lord Of The Lost the crowd sang along and fist pumped/devil horned the air with the enthusiasm of a crowd at a political rally. In fact the front of the stage where Sascha Konietzko stood was furnished with his musical ”lectern” on which was placed the box of wizardry that accompanied the lyrical manifesto. The front of the stage was a bit crowded with stage furniture so  taking  good photos did involve plenty of movement from the photographers to shoot through gaps in the throng of stands!!I would highly recommend seeing KMFDM if you haven’t already as they are value for money and the facilitators of a great night out!!

 

LINKS:-

https://www.facebook.com/pg/officialkmfdm/about/?ref=page_internal

https://www.facebook.com/pg/lordofthelost/about/

https://www.facebook.com/pg/inertiaband/about/

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Ventenner/about/

 

SOLSTAFIR LIVE IN DUBLIN

 

 

Solstafir

”I was having a short break in Belfast with a friend at the end of August which included a road trip around County Donegal and when i got back to Belfast it was suggested that i go to Dublin to attend this festival. I was reticent at first but after a short bout of coaxing i relented and bought a ticket. So 3 days after getting back from Donegal i was off again to the Irish Republic for an afternoon and evening of heavy psych!!”

”The Voodoo Lounge is a club/music venue situated on the north bank of the river Liffey with 2 bars, 2 stages and a woman selling flip flops and chuppa chups in the loo, my first port of call when i am feeling hungry!! And the sound system was very good, manned by attentive engineers!!”

”All of the bands on the bill sounded very Black Sabbath/Led Zeppelinesque  except for Vulpynes, a female duo that were very L7 sounding with a hip thrusting and lip sneering attitude. Just drums and lead guitar with plenty of reverb and fuzz. In fact, apart from Solstafir i’d heard of none of the bands on the bill so this festival was in a sense a blind punt! A punt that turned out well!! The aforementioned Vulpynes were worth the listen along with Crowhammer and Lord Vicar, Gorilla Pulp and Witch Sorrow. If you like your music sludgy and the consistency of  blackened treacle then check out the bands i have mentioned!!”

”And then there was Solstafir:- Very earthy and peaty in sound, with undertones of sulphur. It’s a sound that conjures up images of a sparse landscape scarred by millions of years of geological activity, i see geysers and sulphur clouds and windswept beaches overlooked by snow topped volcanoes. This is a sound that cannot be mistaken for anything else, no other band sounds like Solstafir, this sound is unique in flavour except perhaps for a hint of  Fields Of The Nephilim in the bass sound , just a subtle hint though!! They are another band that conjure up images of open landscapes, feelings of desolation, isolation and introspective thought. When you watch a Solstafir video one gets the rawness and honesty of the landscape, the stripping away of pretence, you are in the moment where you can live and breath without restriction from without or within, there is a focus in my view, everything superfluous evaporates because it is exposed for what it is!! Superfluous!!! I think the track they opened with was ”Silfur – Refur” from the new album ”Berdreyminn” or ”Dreamer of Forthcoming Events”, which i have listened to a few times, it gets better and better with each listen though it’s not ”Otta” so don’t expect it to be!!”

”Solstafir played for around 60 minutes, an enjoyable 60 minutes i must say, the set felt like they had played for a lot longer, an hour and a half would’ve been great but i won’t grumble!!”

”As i said, this was a punt that paid off, i thoroughly enjoyed the festival and it’s offerings and i think i’ll pay a visit again in the future!! ”

 

LINKS:-

https://www.facebook.com/pg/solstafirice/about/

https://www.facebook.com/pg/crowhammerdublin/about/

https://www.facebook.com/lordvicar/

https://www.facebook.com/pg/vulpynes/about