Live Review: Semperfield / Insanity Moments - Lingen 15.07.2017

What a fantastic night! It was a great pleasure to discover two fresh bands at this very summer evening. A little story about feeling like going back to the days of your first concert visits.

Having arrived early at the venue was a plus. I had the pleasure to talk to some people outside of the venue and could easily get into the mood for the evening. The venue this time was a youth center that was kind enough to give new bands a chance and host the event. Sure it's small in there but I love the way the few space is used. For instance there's a area where you can put up your jacket. The holders are mounted underneath a nice collection of vinyl that are drapped at the wall. It feels a bit like home.

Precisely at 20h Insanity Moments took to the stage to open up their set. The band seized their chance and gave the crowd a good insight into their unique sound offers. It's one of those young bands that are able to express the situation they are living in through their music. It felt like a wild mix of Rock, Metal and some easier Pop elements. It talked to me as if it's all about what the guys are going through these days - you can feel that there's the power and sometimes the frustration in that comes along in life. I think it's something that feels like pouring out your heart to someone because you can't hold all of this back.

Insanity Moments live at Kotten Lingen 15.07.2017

Vocalist Jan Blume stood out a bit with his fearless performance. For some reason the audience held a distance to the stage but he filled the gap with going straight into there and perform directly in front of those people. I think that surprised most people and added to the good songs of the band. Check out a live recording done at another venue that the band uploaded to YouTube.


Shortly afterwards Semperfield took over and they played their hearts out this evening. While mostly sticking to the Heavy Rock formula the band played a long and very extended set to the audience. This concert sometimes felt endless to me - and that's a good sign. I thought they would never end this set. Semperfield mostly brought their own original material with them which surely has been inspired by the Foo Fighters but was a great pleasure to the writer of these lines. They also played a cover tune every here and there. Nirvana's "Smells like teen spirit" was warmly welcomed by the crowd and the audience changed into a pit feeling like a mirror of the power that was circulating on stage.

Semperfield rocked the youth center Kotten at Lingen 15.07.2017

Here's the videoclip for the band's own song "Dusty Paradise" for you to check out.

Finally it should be mentioned that this was part 3 of a new concert series in Lingen, Germany. Part 4 is already coming up and will take place on August 19th 2017 at Alter Schlachthof in Lingen. Kings Call will be the headliner of that evening. Make sure to pick all the further information from the Facebook page for the concert series.

Live Review: Monster Truck / The Dirty Nil / Billy Talent Emslandarena Lingen 10.12.2016

What a night! Three bands that gave the fans of the sold out venue what they really wanted: Rock 'n' Roll at it's best. I think that's the best proof that the show was worth the money the people spent on it.

The Dirty Nil seem to have been added the last minute to the package. I was pretty surprised to see the band's banner on stage since I didn't hear before that a third band would rock out on that evening. They put out a typical modern punk rock format with their music and opened with a pounding fist of songs. The audience that was numerous up to that point already warmly welcomed their offer.

The Dirty Nil Live in Lingen 2016, (c) by Jan Starcke, used with kind permission

I think the people eagerly waiting for the Billy Talent show could somehow connect easily to the band's sound. The vocalist ripped up his voice roughly on most tracks so agression came out clearly while the drums layed down a pumping constanty to the sound and the guitars having razor sharp riffs with them. The band had a good mix of tracks but kept it fast for most of the time, something that was a good choice in my eyes. With a loud and rude opening and few but good lights on stage the evening was going to start out great.

Monster Truck were the best band of the night in my ears. They had in contrast to both of the other bands a different approach in any way. The most significant one was the sound. They decided to put the volume down, something that I love when it comes to live shows. That little bit of volume they cut was replaced with a beautifull sound spectrum. All instruments came through clear and direct and I think this sound was the
best I encountered in a long time.

Monster Truck put a highlight with their sound at the liveset in Lingen 2016, Photo (c) by Jan Starcke, used with kind permission

The soundstructure provides space for warmth, details in the performance and most of all it gave the possibility to enjoy each and every riff like having a good meal on which you spend a lot of time to taste every little nuance that is inside. The band opened up with a couple of faster tunes before they changed to a more slower and progressive format and also included a half-ballad in their set. This may have been too lengthy for some people especially when it came to the solo sections but the band once again changed the style and closed their set with rougher tracks that more people in the crowd enjoyed. After all I think the band was able to make some people open up their minds and discover their sounds.

Finally it was time for Billy Talent to rock the packed house. The first third came around filled with classic tracks while the new songs had to wait until they had their time. "Afraid of Heights" was my favorite they played on the show along with a clear statement on the meaning at the beginning. The show was wrapped in a nice stage setup that included a monsterous backdrop of the album artwork that was filled with lights and also had a second floor were the musicians placed themselves later in the set.

Billy Talent in his typical pose captured live in Lingen 2016, Photo (c) by Jan Starcke, used with kind permission

My personal favorite was "Ghost ship of cannibal rats" a razor sharp number with the typical punk attitude in it. As for me it's a highly symbolical way of saying how today's society looks like. The band showed some heart and decided to give one euro of each sold ticket on this event to a social organisation for people in need. It shows that the band has not forgotten where they are coming from. The audience was wild on the show and it's not often that you can spot moshpits and pogo in cities like Lingen. Billy Talent returned after the set for some additional tracks and left a happy crowd in the thought that this was the first real proper heavy music event to grace the Emslandarena in Lingen. Thanks for the great show and the fine memories to all the bands that played on this evening!

Live Review: Purple Rhino - Rock am Pferdemarkt Lingen 16.09.2016

Not all the young bands are into modern styles of the hard genre - this one in fact goes more back to the days of classic Hard Rock and Blues Rock of the 70s.

Introduction

I've heard of Purple Rhino several times before I saw them first live. The local newspaper here had some show announcements of the band in their news section and I knew it was one of the bands that could be worth it. But in fact it never happened due to several circumstances that it took until this years Open Air season that I could check them out.

Purple Rhino live at Rock am Pferdemarkt Lingen 2016, (c) by Jörg Everding Fotografie

Summary

To make things a bit more exciting I didn't look up the band on the internet before. I knew of several other live shows that it was more fun if you know nothing about them beforehand and have all the surprise at the gig. I didn't regret my decision since they put on a great set. This band reminds me of classic Rock and Metal bands in the style of Jimi Hendrix and Deep Purple.

Especially the first named influence shown through many times at their set at Rock am Pferdemarkt. Guitar player Chris put's on a good signature on the band's sound while the rhythm section keeps it more in a basic tonality and style staying mostly in the background. It should be mentioned that vocalist / bassist Felix also adds a lot to the music and gives it a fresh drive everytime things seem to get a bit in far too deep with instrumental solos. They had this one slow song on their set whose name I don't know of (that's the downside of not listening to a band's music in advance of a show :-). It had a distressing and calming effect on me while I had some sort of thrill all the while - thank you for this special moment!

Purple Rhino live at Rock am Pferdemarkt Lingen 2016, (c)  by Jörg Everding Fotografie

Purple Rhino offer a good mixture of entertaining rock and metal music that goes straight into the heart of the listener combined with sections that will satisfy the fans that love the technical aspects, precision and timing of progressive music. The signature move toward the end when vocalist Felix and guitar player Chris got down on their knees to drive towards each other rounded out a impressive performance which is a good reason for me to keep a eye upon the further band's activities. As for me Purple Rhino were by far the best band on this year's edition of Rock am Pferdemarkt. Here is their current official video to give you a idea of the band's sound and performance.



Contact Data

Make sure to see the band's Facebook page to stay in touch or head on to the webshop where you can purchase their record for a fair price that could make a nice gift for christmas to rock and metal fans. They are regulary playing shows so a look at the homepage is also a good idea. Here are the next dates:

23.12.2016 - Gaststätte Stock, Hagen - Germany
29.12.2016 - Lagerhalle, Osnabrück - Germany
21.01.2017 - Truck Stop, Wildeshausen - Germany
02.03.2017 - Fernsehkonzert Kanal 21, Bielefeld - Germany