blk mntFestsaal in Kreuzberg is a cool venue, seems quite small but has ample space, the delusion in size i think comes from the theatre-esque balcony that stretches all around 3 walls facing on the relatively small stage. The stage looked quite hectic, as they often do at the start of a night with 2 or 3 bands equipment on, now tonight was only 2 bands, between them having 7 members (2+5).
urlaub in polenI first noticed a drum kit set up at the front of the stage which intrigued me, then i noticed the peculiar set-up of the drums, having one of the toms to the left of the snare....hmmm....and then of course there was the colossal rack of synths, samplers and units again to the left of this. This was of course Urlaub in Polen. A two piece, youngish band from the west somewhere who were louder than most “full” bands i would have heard in England, though not loud in the the “thrash”, amps up to 11. They were loud in the multi-textured, thick, eyebrow curling way. They kind of had a Joy Division feel to them but seriously updated (sorry i hate it too when reviewers use comparisons to other bands). I think this feel was mostly down to the intense drummer who hacked out regular but powerful rhythms all set. Now, when i said “updated”, i meant they were including elements from 90´s rave through to grunge and right the way through to 70´s revival (which we were going to hear later with the headline band). The singer was very charismatic, which assisted them in the fight to give a show which they might have easily lost just being a two piece. He had control of a guitar, Moog, Nova, two microphones, a Melodica and a plethora of synths, samplers and effects units that kept interest and satisfactorily filled the sound out. This was especially heard through the beefy bass lines and modulations through his old commentator´s microphone (that was seriously distorted), although the sound in general in Festsaal Kreuzberg was a little distorted at the front. Memorable tracks would have to be something about “Scream” and “Motion”. I would definitely like to see these guys again, actually, fuck that, i want to be in their band!
urlaub in polen IIOk, so after a short break and being offered numerous joints by some guy, Black Mountain came on, 5 Canadians containing a bass player reminiscent of Dave Grohl, a keys player who would have easily slotted into The Charlatans, a guitarist (who i thought led the band) who looked like he was from Built to Spill, and a female singer/percussionist who, i only realised late on had eyes. She had quite an interesting voice where she would stutter from the back of her throat the longer held notes, but to be honest this was a little annoying after a while. The had a somewhat orchestral ambience to them, and i really enjoyed the slow head nodding-ness of the 70´s riffs and also the comparisons of the intricately broken down, minimal sections, which showed great musicianship. Their crescendos were roof cracking. The keys player had a very interesting synth, Memotronic or something and also had a slight Manzarek presence when he was on his Hammond. Cool. Listening to them again they are obviously very, very good musicians, the structure of songs was second to none and the instrumentation was, well, interesting and for a musician, inspiring.
Friday 24th November, Festsaal Kreuzberg/Berlin.
black mountain
