Competition: Dead Skeletons

Gig of the year alert anyone?! Dead Skeletons easily won my "Gig of the year" award for 2012 and you should read my review and feel you cannot miss this for the world. The Craze team is making this their team party and we would love to welcome one of you and your mate to join us to this epic event.

To win a ticket for you and a friend, send us what you deem the most creepy song or video to win at thecraze dot de by 8 pm Tuesday, 3 December 2013. Make sure you label your email in a way that we see which competition you are entering.

See you on Wednesday, yeah yeah!

A sunny morning with Dead Skeletons

For those of you who missed Dead Skeletons' amazing gig at KaterHolzig, my number one contender for gig of the year, you can now listen to the entire full-length album on YT. It may make you cringe that you missed this, but I am certain they will be back before you know. Until then, take a load of this:

Review: Dead Skeletons

Oh wow, just wow! I had high hopes for this gig and this Icelandic group did not disappoint. There, really, that's all you need to know about last night.

A while ago, on a warm spring evening in Austin, TX with some pizza, we talked about what makes an artist successful and an NPR feature was quoted, which was all about the story behind the artist and the aura and illusion created. It argued that if people had a story to associate with the artist or, even better, to identify with, they would connect with the music in a different way and would more likely become loyal followers. I have often thought about that conversation since and have looked at musicians that I admire in a new light. I also think, this holds true for arts other than music, most famously Andy Warhol and Joseph Beuys, who constantly reinvented their lives to create an image and tale that people would want to connect with and find out more about. A prominent musical example is definitely Jack White, who receives such admiration in part due to the story and aura he has fabricated over the years.

I am telling you all this because the one thing I took away from yesterday's show is how effortlessly music and art can be combined and how creating an aura and mystique around you can truly aid the perception of the music you produce. Now there may be purists who feel that music should be enjoyed for what it is. But with today's abundance of bands and the internet to confuse listeners, you need something to stand out, to set you apart from the flock. Dead Skeletons skillfully appeal to all your senses and thus magically create an experience that puts you into a trance and, at the same time, has you rock like you are in a garage in 1967. 

Before the band came onstage, the DJ team mixed several Indian dance songs into their set, while kaleidoscopic projections were screened at the back of the darkened stage. I do not actually know whether this was cleverly crafted by the band to prepare the audience for the performance or whether this was just naturally done by Kater Holzig and the 8mm DJ team. Either way, it worked - the tension was mounting, the packed room was getting hot, and any pre-check of the equipment was receiving the closest attention in case this was the gig finally starting.