3 Points Review: Sleaford Mods + Ill Till

1) Any opening band is bound to get boring after 30 Minutes. Up to 30 minutes = I might check out the record when I get home. Over 30 minutes = Gawd, I am so bored, this is dull.

2) Sleaford Mods exceeded all expectations - and that's saying something when queues started to form outside Bei Ruth from 8 pm and all tickets were sold out within 30 minutes. What a great new favourite band!

3) J. put it nicely when he said "The sweat dripping off the ceiling is disgusting - and fascinating". This was one hot, sweaty, dancy night. Yum.

Halloween Competition: Total Heels + The Fingers

Don't know what to do on Halloween's night yet? Here we have a little something for you: 

Send us an e-mail to win@thecraze.de until Wednesday 6pm and tell us what your favorite costume is. The winner will get a guestlist spot +1 for Total Heels and The Fingers at bei Ruth on Thursday (see the facebook event here). Listen to some Total Heels tunes below.

Double Review: Deux Boules Vanille and Bell Witch

I often attend shows that I don't write a proper review about afterwards. Sometimes I'm just too lazy, sometimes I'm too busy, sometimes nothing really worth mentioning takes place and sometimes things like these happen:

May is well known for being a busy concert month, countless bands crawl out of their wintery holes and are eagerly getting back on stage again. Also more and more people finally go out again instead of spending their time indoors in front of laptop screens and books. So in just a single week actually I saw three shows that will definitely and without a doubt make my top of the year 2013 list. 

The first of them was Deux Boules Vanille at bei Ruth. I had listened to them before and had kind of instantly known that this would be good live. I had watched some youtube videos, had listened to some songs and had read some stuff online and even if I had already really liked all of that, actually seeing them live was a million times better. Big Eater were the support band that evening and after they finished, the two guys from Deux Boules Vanille started carrying shitloads of equipment out of the backstage area of bei Ruth. They built their set up in front of the stage, two drum kits facing each other and being connected to a wall of amps and cabinets behind them. Both of them had some more electronic devices gathered besides their drum kits, self built analog synthesizers and some effect pedals, it all looked fascinating and weird at the same time.

thx to Coco for the picture

Without a real soundcheck they started to play and I was instantly blown away. They triggered the synthesizers with their drums, creating melodies and harmonies accompanied by driving drum sounds. Stylistically this was a crazy ride through so many genres that at the end I was not sure whether I had just attended an electro-party or a Lightning Bolt show. They definitely referred to some early 70s electronica in the vein of Silver Apples, then switched to frantic grind-core influenced parts just to end with something that was so rhythmic and pulsating that it somehow sounded rather technoid. Their whole set was a highly energetic and highly entertaining outburst of joy and the unfortunately rather small audience went kind of crazy. I really truly hope these guys will be back some time soon, this was an awful lot of fun.

Review: PTTRNS + Slow Steve

Was the booking agent insane when he chose Bei Ruth as the record release party venue for PTTRNS? Quite possibly.

When we entered the sold out and packed-to-the-rim ex-Roy, my partner's first words were "They are clearly too popular for this venue". A quick personal check for guest list credentials at the bottom of the stairs had warned us of a chocker full venue, but we actually never made it past the first 5 metres of the concert room. We were literally stuck by the entrance for the entire evening - it was that packed.

Just when you start feeling sorry for us, think again. Because if you have been to bei Ruth, you know that the stage is right by the entrance. We had a first-class view and we were lucky to be fed pineapples by the band, who were passing the juicy chunks around as a gift to their audience. So, to recap: right in front of the stage, pineapple chunks, great atmosphere. Alright!

Musically, Pttrns' new songs don't stray a million miles from the previous album, but the boys have definitely chosen the path of dance music. It is even more rhythm driven than before, the melodies are very catchy, and the overall sound is a lot more commercial now. This may explain why they have already received a lot of attention and press for the new longplayer. 

Although the new sound does not move me personally as much as the first record, I do think the buzz surrounding PTTRNS is deserved. I have always maintained that would the band be based in somewhere like New York, LA, or London, they would probably be stars by now. Talented, likeable and knowledgable on a good dance tune, they fit right in with current indie music in the anglo-saxon world. And the new record is obviously well-written.

What I did miss a little was the dynamic on stage. I used to love when they would swap instruments mid-song, as well as the epic drumming sessions at the end of every other song. Though there were still some elements of this on this occasion, the band has overall become more static, each individual having found his place and predominant instrument. Musically, this probably makes a lot of sense - performance-wise it is not quite as much fun.

Another great show by our favourite German dance troupe. They just never disappoint.

PS: Unfortunately, we missed most of Slow Steve. The Fenster affiliated one-man-project made his performance debut and I was convinced. Though I only saw three songs, I thought they were well-crafted, catchy tunes. With time, he will most likely have a performance concept around this and I reckon he can go far. Catch him at one of his upcoming shows.