A new KIRLIAN CAMERA album (Invisibile Front.2005) is just out, following on their last studio release, Absentee back in 2001, and while the band are gearing up for presenting it on new (some uncharted) stages, I thought it was appropriate to dig out a few reports about the band activity during 2003, which was a very significant year in the history of the band, as they managed to reach new territories that they had not conquered before for a variety of weird reasons. It's difficult to translate into words the glacial, yet passionate world of KC and I hope these little notes will make them justice. SIDERARTICA and the STALINGRAD project appeared as opening acts complementing in an excellent way the memorable gigs.

Fields of Sunset III, Osthafen, Rostock (D) 2.5.03 - with Siderartica
Krudttonden, Copenhagen (DK) 3.5.03 - with Siderartica, Sieben, :Of the Wand and The Moon:

Spring 2003 proved to be a very fruitful season for Angelo Bergamini and Elena Fossi, with a decent stream of live dates, but, most importantly for having broken the waters and managed to play for the very first time in about 25 years of career in countries such as UK and Denmark. All of this following a comeback to Belgium (the previous winter) after many years of absence, with a weird show in Antwerpen. Weird… in a cinema, seats only…

It all seems to indicate a more relaxed (and long time due) attitude towards the band, who have been since years the target of an infamous and slanderous campaign, staged by a bunch of charlatans in order to make them appear as monsters with an unwelcome political agenda. Needless to say, anyone slightly familiar with KIRLIAN CAMERA knows that the band sits firmly at the antipodes of that, their agenda being simply to translate their inner feelings, passions (and talents) into musical productions. Still a planned show in Paris (F) was denied at short notice and two later German performances were pulled as a result of intimidators. As firm response to this, the band have diffused a public statement anticipating they would pursue legal action in the future in order to stop the libellous allegations. It were about time! You can read the complete statement here.

Spring 2003 has also seen a few irresistible performances by SIDERARTICA, the band headed by Elena Fossi, who, since 1999 has become full-time creative part of KC and, more recently of STALINGRAD (whom we have covered in Darklife nr. VIII). SIDERARTICA are Elena with Andrea Fossi (bass, guitar, synths) and Andrea Savelli (guitar, synths) and performed before KC  in Rostock and Copenhagen. Their debut album, Night Parade (reviewed in Darklife nr. VIII), had received generally positive responses, it was therefore thrilling to see the band perform on stage such pearls Arkhangel'sk, The Fourth Day of Light, Explosive Die, Season of The World and, of course, their superior cover of JOY DIVISION's Atmosphere. Throughout the shows, the warm and passionate vocal performance of Elena wrapped the audience in soft and powerful tones, backed by a minimum of synth sequences, while Andrea&Andrea perform the synth leads and guitar lines. A well balanced mix of synthetic and human performance, with Elena's voice dominating the proceedings. The beautiful Night Parade was performed nearly in its entirety both in Rostock and Kopenhagen and I spotted one new title, maybe two, at both shows. The band succeeded in enchanting the audiences at both venues, gaining no doubt many deserved new friends.

Granted, the main attraction of the shows were KC. Fields of Sunset had already promoted what it was their most accomplished performance I had the fortune to witness to time, when they played the second edition of the festival in Burg Stargard (D) back in September 2002 with AURUM NOSTRUM and :OF THE WAND AND THE MOON:. I remember walking back from that concert with the heart pulsating of emotion, after a flawless performance including such touching songs as Ascension (a rarity!). Fields of Sunset III was hosted by a different venue in Rostock and, what a nice surprise, we were still light-years away from the polished discos hosting the vast majority of contemporary "alternative" artists' performances of the dark variety. Unfortunately this came at the price of poor acoustics and maybe engineering. Some missing monitor problems and low vocal levels were worked out relatively slowly during the first three songs performed. Unfortunately, one of those was Drifting, which suffered enormously due to its delicate and crystalline structure. With hindsight, one could say that this would have better been performed later in the set. It is not uncommon for the first songs in the set of many gigs to be hampered by bad sound or so. Unfortunately, the quality of the PA sounded intrinsically low, so that some of the more demanding numbers (such as The Desert Inside, which sports complex layers of beats and synths) ended up sounding a bit messy, which was a bit of a pity as it seemed not to be a fault of the band. Angelo swears so and I do believe him, as the same song, in exactly the same version sounded majestic in Copenhagen, where the venue was one of these, er… polished discos (hosting etc. etc…). The shows in Rostock and Copenhagen were basically identical, impactful and flawlessly executed (and they were *only* a short ferry-boat shot far away… almost!!!), the only difference being the quality of the sound (which was top-notch in Copenhagen) and the response of the audience: typical zombie-like, pragmatically static by the Germans or dripping genuine enthusiasm by the good old Danish fellas, who forced the band back on stage 'til they ran out songs and had to perform again Dead Zone in The Sky, which was their only new track in the set, as far as I can remember. A typically eighties sounding number that will titillate the appetite of those hooked on such titles as Blue Room or News, as I am. These two were performed as well to wide acclaim and, while Drifting was one of the highlights of the set, other heart warmers (or chillers?) included some of the milestones in the band's long career: Heldenplatz (still sporting a pounding backbeat that completely alters the feel of the original song to excellent effect), Fields of Sunset, Eclipse V.4, Erinnerung, Solaris and, above all, a spine-chilling acoustic version of In The Endless Rain, which I'd heard live for the first time only the year before and again left me now speechless for a while. While Andrea Savelli has recently left the band, he was a live member of KC in 2003 together with Andrea Fossi and both proved to be well trained musicians, able to cope flawlessly with electronic and acoustic instruments alike. It's just not so common to have bands performing the vast majority of their electronic parts live and KC push strongly in this direction, giving full body to their live performances. I have no hesitation in declaring the Copenhagen show one of their most accomplished ever, along the Fields of Sunset II gig of September 2002, with the Rostock gig a very close runner-up. These are the best days of KC, who have found a new solid stage dimension, able to evoke an unique spirit and a great connection with the audience. And I'm glad I can say 'I was there to witness!'

I won't neglect to mention that Metropolis, the impeccable promoters of the Danish show, offered in the packet nobody less than SIEBEN (Matt Howden of SOL INVICTUS) and :OF THE WAND AND THE MOON: making the evening a memorable one. A praise is due to them, as they have been busying themselves bringing to Denmark all the top names of the of the international dark/electro/industrial music scene, and, of course to the Fields of Sunset team who admirably promote and support KC, who are too often mistreated in other contexts.

Chapter II

Slimelight, London (GB) 17.5.03 - with Stalingrad, Naevus, Tho-so-aa

It was then difficult to resist to the temptation to follow the band again for their first London show ever since they started! Actually London was not for many years exactly the place to be for a good response to such music genres, but since some years, the perseverance of the Hinoeuma Malediction / Hagshadow promoters, leaded by Gaya Donadio has changed the agenda of an otherwise mildly interesting scene. She insist putting on bands whose popularity is not much widespread, except for a small but dedicate following and provides excellent food for fans of dark electro / industrial / apocalyptic and so on. The London bill was quite appetising, kicking off with STALINGRAD. Angelo, Elena and Andrea Fossi take the stage solemnly, while the bombastic Neither Honour nor Glory blasts out of the speakers. Their set isn't too long and is hampered by some technical faults on the PA side, causing a short interruption: starting a new song only produced a killer feedback. After a few tries and a good five minutes of silence, the offending cable was plugged in the right socket at the desk and the show went on. They play five or maybe six long tracks, including also some new material, which seemed a bit toned down when compared to their first album. Perhaps the bad sound quality played a role. Acoustics at the Slimelight might be effective when dealing with industrial or power electronics, but when orchestrations come into the scheme, the music suffers quite a bit. Although they came across with some of their bombastic raw power, the show was nothing close to their memorable live debut at the 2002 WGT in Leipzig. Following up were the dark-doom ambiences tinted in industrial tones of THO-SO-AA, aka Lutz Rach, a quite tall, masked German gentleman, operating a variety of machines nearly in darkness, extracting effective and absorbing drones out of them. London own NAEVUS were on stage next, proposing their melancholic dark ballads articulated with bass, acoustic guitar and the unmistakable vocal of Lloyd James. Their sound has some dark folk influences and they were definitely a high point of the evening. KC played a standard set, shorter than the previous gigs and the real surprise of the evening was that Gaya Donadio herself replaced the absent Andrea Savelli operating one of the synth boxes. They made sure the set would include the cream of the crop out of their lengthy discography, a thoughtful move considering they were introducing themselves to a new audience. The cheering crowd demonstrated their appreciation. A no whistles concert, well suited for a live release, which has surfaced not long ago, offering 3 tracks by STALINGRAD and 8 by KC. Thumbs up to Hinoeuma / Hagshadow for another thick evening of unconventional music and, of course, for having signed the first KC UK appearance.

Magnet, Berlin (D) 1.10.03 - with Manipulation

A long awaited return to Berlin was not to disappoint the thick crowd that came to witness this new incarnation of KC complete with both Andrea's. Last glimpse on the band for the Berliner public would date back over three years (see Darklife nr. 5), with a line-up including Emilia Lo Jacono and Gianluca Becuzzi (LIMBO) with Angelo and Elena. The concert room at the Magnet is packed to capacity but the sweating wait was not in vain! Sporting white shirts and ties and a relaxed attitude, the band does a great job pulling a tight show in front of an enthusiastic (well, within the limits of the local dogma) audience. Angelo and Elena pull the masks right at the beginning of the show and the band go through the full set characterising their 2003 performances. A nice surprise came right at the end, when that majestic version of Atmosphere signed by SIDERARTICA was performed to give the audience the unexpected treat for the evening, another successfull promotion by Fields of Sunset .

Gianfri

www.kirliancamera.net
www.sideratica.net
www.fieldsofsunset.de
www.club-metropolis.dk
www.geocities.com/hagshadow

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