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The Step Inn - Thu Oct 9
The night of burning dead stars begins with a near-epic bummer where one cannot help but feel for local synthpop stalwarts Tycho Brahe, who have to curtail their set in the middle of the second song due to a malfunctioning laptop. Frontman Ken Evans is however able to extract humour from the rather dour situation, brandishing his bass like a weapon and extorting “This is as hard as a rock, baby!” to the crowd’s cheers.
Daniel Myer – the man behind Germany’s Destroid – thankfully doesn’t appear to have equipment issues as he treats the stuffy Step Inn bandroom to his atmospheric tunes. His husky vocal delivery recalling VNV Nation’s Ronan Harris, Myer plays a number of industrial-leaning tracks from his Haujobb alter ego as well as more melodic Destroid electro, with the dramatic Judgement Throne being the set’s standout.
The crowd doubles once Teutonic darkwave juggernauts Diary Of Dreams invade the stage. Bandleader Adrian Hates sings in both English and German from the Dreams’ extensive back catalogue, while the guitarist (sporting a towering Mohawk) augments the glistening keyboards-dominated tracks with short and sharp riffs, none more so than on The Plague from last year’s Nekrolog 43 album.
No matter how solid Diary Of Dreams are, tonight’s audience are here for Sweden’s futurepop veterans Covenant. Flanked by Myer and Alberto Martinez of Sydney’s Junk Circuit, the suit-clad frontman Eskil Simonsson is having a great time onstage, working the adoring fans into fervour. Despite the venue’s lacklustre acoustics doing Covenant’s sequencer-laden anthems no justice, Simonsson’s cavernous voice still shines. Fan favourites We Stand Alone (crowd going nuts), Call All Ships to Port and Ritual Noise all explode like bombs, while ballads Invisible & Silent and Happy Man soothe the hot air. Pulsing classic single Stalker and the yet-unnamed new song get an airing among harder-edged material from 1996’s breakthrough Sequencer, however the 1-2-3-4 Dead Stars/One World One Sky (the crowd now going apeshit) encore is positively manic. Dead still, stars burn; we live, we die.
DENIS SEMCHENKO
1. Written by Lyle C Peaker, on 14-10-2008 22:24
This would have to be the most accurate and therefore perfect review I've ever read.
I was there and this is exactly how I would describe the night! |
2. Written by Pentankh Eternal, on 15-10-2008 08:11
An awesome night out!
I'd never heard of DoD before but I bought their "Dream Collector" cd and haven't stopped playing it since!
AWESOME!
I also bought Covenant's "In Transit" DVD. |
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