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Events and Reports - The Dark Decadence Tour 2011 - Crashdïet and The 69 Eyes - Live at The Rock, Copenhagen, Denmark - 14th of April, 2011
Crashdïet
Having seen Crashdiet deliver a not-so-spectacular show at new year's eve 2010/2011, I was excited to see if they would manage to change my impression of them as a rather boring live act. Back at the new year's party, the guys delivered a performance I can only categorize as uninspired; it was hard to tell if their indifference came from a lack of experience as a group (new singer Simon Cruz had just joined the band), or a too laid back attitude to performing. It seemed that the guys had tried to calm whatever feeling it was with a little too much alcohol, as Simon Cruz tripped over a few times in his sky high heels...and that was actually the fun part of the show! Well, everyone has a bad day now and then, and as an avid follower of the Swedish glamsters, I was ready to give them another chance tonight.
The stage was nicely decorated, with a huge backdrop in the background, sporting a black and white photo of the band, and some standees with the Crasdïet logo on top of a painted on brick wall. A fitting setup. The band entered the stage to the cheers of the many fans that had shown up, and kicked things off immediately with the catchy and grabbing Down With The Dust from the newest album.
So Alive continued the show. The band used a smoke machine and had some nice orange and red lights on the stage, which helped to raise the feeling of a complete show.
Riot In Everyone is of course a real crowdpleaser, that had both fans and this writer rocking hard and screaming loud.
Crashdïet delivered my two personal favorites Queen Obscene (69 Shots), which really got the crowd moving and the emotional It's A Miracle. Duplicating the vocals of Dave Lepard from the debut album is of course impossible, and thankfully, instead of trying, Simon Cruz delivers his own version of the songs. He is a perfect fit for the band with his charismatic and powerful voice.
Simon Cruz bought out a mouthorgan for a little tension-building whistling, a nice way to set the mood before the band broke into Native Nature, which did well as a live song and brought out the wilder side of the band.
Generation Wild is an excellent album, but the true test of a records quality can be measured when the songs are played live, and the material proved to be as asskicking in a live situation as when you just jump around to it at home.
The band did seem happy to perform, especially bassist Peter London banged his bleach blond head in excitement and carried a huge smile on his lipstick smeared lips. The band still doesn't quite break the boundaries of the stage, and get personal with the crowd, though. To break down these walls and turn the hall into one entity, one big party, where there are no barriers between performer and audience is very difficult, but still an important aspect for a band to strive. Crashdïet aren't there yet, but man, they have improved!
After en energized performance of Rebel, the band left the stage, soon to return for the encores.
Choosing to play two songs from Generation Wild as encores shows that the band really believes in the newer stuff, and doesn't need to rely exclusively on their first hits and that is just great! The titletrack is pure awesomeness, with its melodic and catchy approach and sends the crowd to heaven!
Setlist, Crashdïet:
Down With The Dust
So Alive
Riot In Everyone
Native Nature
Queen Obscene/69 Shots
It's A Miracle
In The Raw
Rebel
Encores:
Breakin' The Chain
Beautiful Pain
Generation Wild
The 69 Eyes
The band started off with the magnificent Devils from the album of the same name, immediately grabbing the attention of the audience. A lot of people had entered The Rock since the beginning of the evening, and it was getting harder to get close to the stage. It was clear from the start that the atmosphere of this gig was going to be different from the warm-up we just witnessed.
If you're not familiar with the band they sound like someone put The Misfits (Danzig-era), Elvis Presley, The Sisters Of Mercy and H.I.M into a blender and pushed the button, a mix of Glam, Punk, Goth and old Rock 'N' Roll. The band appeared in ripped clothing, lots of leather, sunglasses and the singer had the worst case of helmet hair I've ever seen. Clearly, the visuals are important for the band, and the use of different colored light to create shapes and effects mixed well with the atmospheric, melancholic keyboard-heavy music of the Finns.
After an emotional rendition of the sensual Perfect Skin, the guys played one of my favorites Wings & Heart - this song is all, that Goth should be, but too often isn't: the relaxing, sensual keyboard, the deep mesmerizing vocals and melancholic feeling took my breath away.
It was obvious that the band have a solid background and are experiences live musicians, they delivered a professional performance, where technical ability and respect for the material walked hand in hand. The way a band like this acts on stage, is of course different from a band like Crashdïet: The Swedish boys belong to a crazy-wild tradition of over-the-top partying and being loud (just ask Mötley Crüe), where The 69 Eyes are far more understated and melancholic.
As I am not familiar with the band's complete backcatalogue (if you are, I salute you; it's huge), there was a great deal of songs I didn't recognize, but actually I think that´s a testament to the quality of the gig, that I could just get sucked in by the atmosphere and enjoy the music, despite not being able to sing a long.
Nevertheless, I couldn't believe my luck when the slow dragging intro of my favorite song, Sister Of Charity sounded from the speakers; this song just sets such an eerie, dark atmosphere, and it´s impact was felt clearly tonight.
After the single from the new album, Dead Girls Are Easy, the Finns played a laid back version of Feel Berlin with acoustic guitars. A very different way of serving the hit, but it worked out just fine.
Unexpectedly, the band went into a highly alternative cover version of Heartbreak Hotel next, which they even dedicated the Danish Psychobilly act Necromantix. I was astonished to learn that they even knew that band. The song worked rather well in an odd way, and Jyrki's Elvis-like voice helped matters.
Singer Jyrki 69 was rather talkative between songs, though he has a pretty understated and mellow way of chatting to the audience from behind his dark sunglasses, which he wore for the entire show. He commented on how nice it was for the band to be touring with Crashdïet, he gave praise to Danish Metal/Rock band D:A:D among other things.
The band ended with the enjoyable Lost Boys, which tore the roof off the building and put a smile on everyone's face. In conlusion, a great gig by the Finnish Vampires!
Setlist, The 69 Eyes (Not complete!):
Devils
Perfect Skin
Wings & Heart
Christina Death
Sister Of Charity
Never Say Die
Dead Girls Are Easy
Feel Berlin (w. acoustic guitar)
Heartbreak Hotel
Rocker
Brandon Lee
Lost Boys
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CrashDïet
The 69 Eyes
The 69 Eyes
All pictures taken by Nina | Written by Nina
Wednesday, May 18, 2011 |
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