Posts Tagged ‘live review’

A sonic trip through the decades

Where were you the past 40 years? How many things changed in your life while New Model Army were releasing 20 albums? Which of these albums hit a nerve? How many of their gigs have you attended over the years? What does their 40th anniversary mean to you? How did you experience the streaming of this gig last year during lockdown? No matter what the answers to these questions are, I am sure that you have found (or are planning to) your place in the audience at one of the gigs celebrating their 40th anniversary this year and next.


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I am writing this review on a plane, having taken with me, the energy from last night’s powerful gig of The Chameleons at 229 the venue. This was the first of the two last gigs of 2019, which started with an electronic gig and ended with an experimental one.

Time he’s on my side…she said…” (lyrics: ‘Less than Human’)

Despite not having seen any familiar faces in the audience at this gig, it felt as if I was among friends.The Chameleons live photo There was strong anticipation in the air, people were discussing their experiences from other gigs of the band in other cities and others were just voicing their desire to listen to specific songs. There were two generations of fans in the venue and it was very evident that they all shared an adoration for The Chameleons.


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We had been waiting for this gig ever since the debut album of Whispering Sons was released in October 2018. The initial line up for this gig included Ice Baths, the debut album of which we also loved and were looking forward to listen to it live. Ice Baths were not included in the line up after all but this meant that we got to know the music of Ilia Gorovitz instead. Humble and without engaging too much with the people that had already arrived early at The Lexington, Ilia took his place at the Ilia Gorovitz livefront of the stage behind the drums and for the next 30’or so, created an improvised industrial sound which became more dynamic through the live drums that he had incorporated. The set did not have any vocals and Ilia often had to reprogram the pitch of the drums in between songs which became a bit distracting. His debut album entitled ‘The Noble Rot‘ was self released a few days after the gig and it is the first recording of an improvisational set. His EP entitled ‘A Dose of Uncertainty’ also contained recordings of improvisational sets and we had the unique chance to enjoy glimpses from both during this gig. Despite the fact that the sound in this debut album is very ‘dry’, during Ilia’s live set, his sound had much more depth, giving a captivating power to the beats. This is a promising musician and we will definitely have more chances to enjoy his music in the future.

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CAFÉ OTO has consistently exposed its members and devotees to pioneering music and acts that are artistically difficult to understand by conventional standards. Sudden Infant, Les Énervès and Dario Sanfilippo with SEC_ were no exception. Sudden Infant together with Merzbow who took Cafe Oto’s stage a few days earlier, are probably two of the most disturbing and ‘hard to swallow’ acts that an unfamiliar audience can come across…or so I thought.

30But let’s take things from the beginning. The evening started at 9 o’clock with Les Énervès, who, facing the stage offered us a deconstructed, almost cubist in style, sonic experience. Their set consisted mostly of a series of syncopated sounds without any vocals or musicality. The result was an extremely fragmented sound and felt as if someone was trying to fix faulty equipment. Both Giulio (Nacera) and Ron (Grieco) were manipulating sounds through computers but overall what I heard seemed to have neither a rhythm nor a logic behind it. This absence of rhythm seemed to almost prevent the audience from truly engaging with what was being played. The duo has released their debut album entitled ‘Estate’ in .mp3 format, earlier this year.

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Wovenhand photoTo be honest with you this was more an initiation ritual rather than a live gig and I enjoyed it so much that now after almost a week I still can’t stop thinking about it!

I’ve always believed that the only direct way to connect with a band is to attend at least one live gig and this live gig didn’t prove me wrong.

When it comes to Wovenhand, listening to their albums in any other way than ( during a live) only tells half the story about what this band is really about. But let me take things from the beginning…

It was the first time that I went to the Bush Hall  and the first time I was seeing Wovenhand live. The Bush Hall is a surviving example of Georgian architecture with great acoustics and it seemed to be an ideal place for the dynamic music of the band which has played live there four years ago. Unfortunately the tube’s delayed schedule didn’t allow me to arrive on time for Desert Mountain Tribe which played very briefly. This is a new and promising group and having listened to their debut EP ‘Desert Mountain Tribe’ it is obvious that their sound is classic heavy rock with an emphasis on electric guitar solos. I will be waiting to listen more from them in the near future.

When a setlist starts with such a dynamic and perfect song like ‘Hiss’ you can only expect that this will not be an ordinary live!

Wovenhand, respecting the announced stage time, appeared at 9.15 and played with a remarkable energy and passion for 1 hour and 45′. Bush Hall was almost at its full capacity and from the moment David Eugene Edwards started singing in an unknown and incomprehensible language coupled with capturing gestures, he gained everyone’s attention.

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