21:05-21:50 Joasihno

I’ve rarely seen so many instruments condensed all together in the central part of Les Docks’ stage! Don’t let yourself be mistaken from the appearance though, the Joasihno is just formed by two guys but what they can do with those instruments is pretty impressive! Their sound is sometimes post-rock with a touch of electro and other times more quiet and peppered with soft lyrics. Their sound in general however is complex, with loads of different instruments; there are bells on the drums to add another sound, a xylophone, synthesizers and much more. The two guys both play multiple instruments at once. Frequently the sounds are suddenly getting harder and building up into a majestic instrumental piece reminding of Maybeshewill (check them out if you don’t know them and if you liked Joasihno!). During each song the lights on the poles light up in a different colour so that the visual experience is heightened.

For the song “We Are Dreaming Of The Dark”, there are soft vocals for a start and than a dark drums beat makes its way in. Do you remember the flute you used to play in school and always asked yourself what its use was? Well, Joasihno found the answer: in between the synth and the riffs just put a sprinkle of the shiny yellow flute notes and the result is beautiful! Do you know the feeling when you really get into a band that you just saw live for the first time? That’s what happened here, go and check them out if you haven’t done so already! This is the proof you should NEVER miss the opening band 😉

 

22h20-24h The Notwist

The Notwist live sound less indie and a lot more post-rock (instrumental bits) reaching also electronic music and minimal sounds. As Joasihno, they have plenty of different instruments on stage, but this time the musicians are six, among whom also the two guys of Joasihno, who played with The Notwist all along. In front of singer and guitarist Markus Acher there are two microphones, one of which is used to produce an echo sound. During some songs he holds both and he sings once into the one producing the echo and then sings in the normal one. The effect it creates it’s interesting and enriches the music giving to it an electro touch with the vocals repeating themselves. The very soft and relaxing voice of the singer is further highlighted when they play “Consequence” and he sings the words “Leave me paralyzed, love. Leave me hypnotized, love.” on repeat keeping the same calmness all along. Here also the sounds are rather quiet at the beginning before the electronic beat starts coming in. Other times his voice clashes with the music and is barely heard when the instrumental bits start taking over. With the tune “Kong” we are back to indie with the riffs chasing each other and the constant drums beat in the background. Sometimes the instrumental bits with the drums, electronic beats and such, become so distorted as to reach the point of being beautifully disturbing reminding some songs by Sufjan Stevens.

The lights dim for the slower songs, which are played mostly on the guitar. The guitarist has a truly fascinating way of playing the guitar in the slower songs in which the sound comes out so pure and clean. At times the songs start slowly and the sound is built up to reach a catchy electronic beat which makes you feel as if you are in a disco but here it’s cooler since there’s an actual band playing in front of you. The notes of the xylophone render everything colourful and softer at the same time. Within the songs themselves there is frequently a long instrumental bit and then everything starts back from were it was left as if the instrumental bit was just a sort of dream.

The Notwist delight the public with not just one but two encore! The first encore includes a 15-20 minutes song which turns to something like house music, it’s very cool and people are grooving to it. The second encore leaves the audience with a slow song but still with their characteristic energy and eclectic music. Mind-blowing!

 

 

Simona @TakeMe2aConcert