2000-08-05 - 13:18

There are no more flowers

Yesterday, I was still in recovery from the New York City trip. Ten or eleven hours of sleep seems to have done the trick, though, as I'm feeling more energetic. So, here goes with the concert review:

Wednesday night's Einst�rzende Neubauten show was unlike any concert experience I have ever had or ever expect to have again. Over the past year, I have become a huge fan of the Blixa Bargeld-led German group, picking up all of their CDs. The band marked their 20th anniversary this year with the release of Silence Is Sexy, one of their strongest albums, which they followed with a brief U.S. tour.

Unfortunately, I only found out about the tour on Monday, and it ended Wednesday in New York City. However, I was able to pull things together and make the trip; and I'm very glad that I did.

Einst�rzende Neubauten play an incredible brand of experimental industrial music. Their early albums are exercises in noise-as-music, definitely not for the fainthearted. In recent years, the band has become more accessible; but no less daring and uncompromising.

The crowd at the Irving Plaza was close to the human freak show that I was anticipating . . . very cool. Many of those in attendance seemed unaware of what Neubaten is all about; and even those who knew the band were in for a spectacle. Neubaten challenged the audience right from the start, opening with the title track from Silence Is Sexy, complete with long pauses in which the only sound is Blixa smoking a cigarette.

After that, it was "Sabrina," one of their mellower tunes. Then the band let loose with their heavy material, starting with the incredibly catchy "Dingsaller." To understand what Neubaten is all about, and why their concerts are so unique, you have to know how they produce their percussions and rhythm.

Neubaten is a five-piece studio band, who tour with a sixth member, who handles programming. Blixa sings, Alexander Hacke is incredibly fierce on bass, and Jochen Arbeit supplies the guitar work. After that, it gets interesting. Rudolf Moser plays behind a drum kit that consisted of a bass drum, a steel drum where the snare drum would normally be, and a long metal table that holds a changing array of instruments. N. U. Unruh provides additional percussion and rhythm, playing an amazing variety of homemade metal, plastic, and wooden instruments.

"Dingsaller" was the first track in which the blue plastic bin was wheeled onto the stage, and Unruh went wild on it. On several of the newer songs, Rudi played a jet turbine with drumsticks, to amazing effect. It was very interesting to realize how the sounds are made on the albums; and to hear the boys recreate such unusual effects live.

The small stage was very dynamic, with instruments changing quite frequently. The transitions were handled very smoothly, although on one song, Blixa noted, "This is where the second verse would start, but they are still assembling the plutonium reactor back there." Blixa was very funny and charismatic all night, playing with the crowd. On a jam session, he began mimicking someone who was hollering in the crowd. As Blixa picked it up, the guy started yelling a counter-melody, prompting Blixa to respond, "That's a very complex melody you have there . . . I'm afraid I cannot follow it."

The set was amazing. The band concentrated on material from its latest disc; but also dipped back into their previous disc, Ende Neu, for its title track and the well-received "Nnnaaammm." "Des Interimsliebenden" was also a highlight, since it was the first track that showcased Blixa's amazing ability to launch into a high-pitched wail. (Very impressive for a man who has been screaming and smoking for 20 years.) The band reached as far as 1985, for one of my favourites, "Y�-Gung (F�tter Mein Ego)."

Neubaten came back for two encores, stretching the evening to two-and-a-half hours of music, which is the longest I have seen a band play. The encore was led by Alexander Hacke playing the bass with a vibrator as an intro for an extended version of "Installation No. 1." Very cool.

Einst�rzende Neubauten played an awesome show that I will remember for a long, long time; and I'm very glad that I took the opportunity to witness an incredible performance from an uncomparable band.