Review: Beak> (again)

Beak> paid Berlin a second visit for the year and after I was so intrigued by their show in July at Berghain's Kantine (read the review here) and also by their newest record, I did not want to miss this chance to see them live again.

This time they played at Bi Nuu, a venue I somehow knew but had not visited yet since it got renamed from Kato. I think they now form some sort of partnership with nearby Lido but I don't really know more about that. I only had very vague memories of the place, since my last Kato visit was a Weakerthans show in 2006. Also I did not remember the venue to be that big and also not that, let's call it "professionally" looking. In a way it has a pretty unpersonal touch but I guess if you run a concert venue for a living you have to make compromises. For a venue of that size I have to say I've seen worse and I didn't feel totally uncomfortable. Although the entry price of 17€ also wasn't exactly on the cheap side.

Without former Bi Nuu experience I had no idea of when their shows start, so when I arrived somewhen between 9.30pm and 10pm I had completely missed the support band. Good to know for possible future visits. At least I didn't have to wait long, as Beak> were already on stage and more or less ready to start playing. The room was pretty full and at first I was stuck at the back and it took me some while to elbow my way through this huge mass of people not willing to either let me through nor do anything besides standing, staring and/or loudly talking to each other. I somehow managed to come closer to the stage and at least I felt a bit less annoyed there and was able to enjoy the show.

Review: Beak>

This was a bit crazy, I just found out a day before that Beak> were playing at Berghain Kantine and I was pretty excited about it. I totally love their first record so I was even more excited to learn that they were going to present their newest record that night.

We had a nice bike ride to Berghain and we were pretty early, so we grabbed something to drink and spent some time outside. Anika (read our review from her last Berlin show here) was DJing before and after the concert but I wasn't really in the mood of staying in a dark and hot room any longer than I'd have to. So we just went inside shortly before Beak> started to play.

It was my first time at Berghain Kantine and I have to say I've seen worse venues. I liked the low stage. There's nothing fancy about it but it's also not uncomfortable in any way. It probably doesn't really live up to people's expectations when you try to link it to Berghain itself, but for smaller concerts it's actually a pretty neat location. The entry price of 15€ for just one band (plus Djing, but yeah...) wasn't that cheap but since I really wanted to see the band I didn't care too much.

Beak>

I'm not sure how this happened but until this morning, I had no idea that Beak> are playing at Berghain Kantine tomorrow!
Beak> is a UK based band featuring Geoff Barrow from Portishead, who also plays in Anika (review of their last Berlin gig here). They play experimental and dubby music and are pretty much awesome! You definitely should check them out if you like bands like Anika, Excepter or Peaking Lights.