Nala Sinephro - Live 2025.10.28 Berliner Philharmonie, Berlin, Germany

Nala Sinephro put out one of my favorite albums last year, and considering how rarely I see live jazz, this show was an immediate priority for me. On top of that, she played in the Kammermusiksaal of the Philharmonie, a well-designed, modern venue with nice seats.

[Pictures were not allowed during the performance, so here’s the harp tuner.]

Despite my enthusiasm, I had no idea what to expect. After some delays, Sinephro and three bandmates came out. She went straight to her harp and played solo at length. I was already captivated; she played flawlessly and beautifully. Eventually she looked up and nodded to Lyle Barton (operating a synth bass rig) and a drummer who’s name I didn’t catch. I think it was Moses Boyd but might’ve been either of the drummers who played on the album (Natcyet Wakili or Morgan Simpson) or someone else entirely. They started playing simple parts at a low level and I could feel the energy slowly building. Eventually Nubya Garcia started some slow blows on her sax, more breathy air than harmony, and around the same time Sinephro pushed away the harp, got up, and sat down at her synth rig (a Prophet ’08 with a modular bay on the side). And from there, things really picked up.

They improvised in total for around 45 minutes without a break. It was transcendent. Sinephro stayed at the synth for the rest of the jam, modulating an arpeggiator just about the entire time. She was a deft manipulator of the knobs and kept introducing subtle shifts in tempo, tone, pitch, and effects, guiding us gently but firmly on an expansive journey. The drummer underpinned the rises and falls of the mood, heavily resting on beds of cymbals with shocks of snare for intermittent energetic bursts. Garcia’s sax started as merely texture, but she gradually warmed up to greater and more aggressive attacks as well. She also used effects pedals to wash her instrument’s rough edges out and grant it shimmering trails. Barton’s synth mostly faded into the background, merely underpinning the others’ more expressive performances. But near the end, as Sinephro cut back some of her layers and signaled to Garcia and the drummer to fade out, Barton’s synth stepped up and took a leading role, wildly oscillating in higher registers. I recognized the tone and style from several of the songs on Endlessness. And then, ever so slowly, they too faded out.

After just a brief pause for applause, they started over, again with Sinephro alone at the harp. In fact, they followed almost the exact same pattern. The order of the instrumentation was about the same, as was the general arc of the energy levels. They again improvised for around 45 minutes. The second jam was just as good as the first, only losing some marks due to the familiarity of the format. And after that, Sinephro said thanks, and they left.

I loved the juxtaposition of the serene harp with the wilder, freer synth exploration. I thought I recognized a few motifs from the album, but the structure was much looser and more open than those individual songs. I was amused to see Sinephro occasionally give direction to her bandmates, to which the drummer typically responded rather abruptly. I would’ve expected a more gradual transition, but it wasn’t exactly jarring. There were just a few moments where Sinephro’s synth had some rough transitions where the effects misaligned and caused a brief dropout or a nasty noise, but those were infrequent and quickly recovered from. Otherwise, they performed at an impressively high level.

Score: A

Thanks to Alyssa!

Soltero @ Schokoladen on Sept 9

 

We just back from playing at a festival in France and we're getting right back to it in Berlin. Come see us play with Balm at Schokoladen on September 9 at 8pm!

Patti Smith - Live 2025.07.11 Zitadelle Spandau, Berlin, Germany

I’ve seen Patti Smith twice before, both times at the same venue as this time. While the first was a bit tame, I was rewarded for giving her a second shot, as the second show in 2022 was superb. I wasn’t gonna resist another chance to see this aging star, even if she was touring with just one guitarist.

But strangely enough, when the announced quartet appeared on stage, a fifth member was present on keyboards! It turned out to be Oisin Murray, mostly known as a live audio technician. He also played a bit of bass and guitar on a couple songs at the start and end of the show. For the rest, it really was a quartet. However, her longest-serving bandmates Lenny Kaye and Jay Dee Daugherty were absent without explanation. Her other regular collaborators, Tony Shanahan (bass, keyboards, and backing vocals) and her son Jackson Smith (guitar), were still in tow. New to the fold was drummer Sebastian Rochford.

They opened with “Redondo Beach”, which certainly would’ve suffered if Shanahan had had to pick between bass or keyboards; the song is built on the interplay of both. That was followed by a cover of Steve Earle’s “Transcendental Blues”, which is new to this tour. I didn’t know the song before, but I thoroughly enjoyed their take on it. It was droning yet still had motion, and Jackson’s open tuning served it well. Murray left the stage after that while the rest did a run of Patti’s standard favorites. I particularly enjoyed “Spell”. Last time I saw her, she read the footnote to Howl, but this was a full-band rendition. They built it up to a really high energy (and volume) level, far beyond the original studio version, similar to the live take on Land (2002). She ad-libbed some extra holy places, including Palestine and Gaza (and Berlin). The crowd seemed into it. They also cheered for the extra line declaring immigrants as holy. This might be basic-level rock star activism, but I’d rather have it than not.

“Nine” isn’t my favorite of hers, but she also built that into a much longer and more dynamic piece than originally recorded. And then she said she wanted to try something new but wasn’t quite sure she had it. Finally she sang the opening words: “The world is a vampire sent to drain”. What!? She forgot how it continued and had to check a lyric sheet, but sure enough, they played a weirdly classic-rock rendition of The Smashing Pumpkins’s “Bullet with Butterfly Wings”! It was a strange arrangement with a different melody and lacking most of the aggression and dynamics of the original. It’s not exactly my favorite SP song, but I mean, it was still pretty cool. And this was the debut of her take on it! 17-year-old me might’ve fainted.

The rest of the set was pretty similar to her usual setlists, albeit with the Charlotte Day Wilson cover “Work” (new to this tour) and a reading of “Cry Humanity”. The rest are all good songs, so I can’t complain, but it was a bit predictable. Patti forgot how to do the guitar rhythm at the start of “Beneath the Southern Cross”, but once she got going and the band joined in, it made for another powerful song as it peaked. The “Within You Without You” interpolation by Jackson and Tony was once again really cool. It rained off an on through the night, and I wondered if they played “Pissing in a River” as a bit of a joke in reference to that, but they have been playing it regularly on the tour. Murray came back out for that one and stayed through the end. “Because the Night” and “People Have the Power” predictably got the largest audience response, but I was sad to leave without “Gloria”. She hasn’t been doing it on this tour for some reason. That’s probably the one song I wanna hear every time. Oh well.

Despite the different membership, this show wasn’t particularly different than the past shows I’ve seen. I felt like the performance was a bit tame and Patti wasn’t at the top of her game, but it was still fun. The band was tight regardless, albeit a bit thin when it was just four people. The tempos felt a bit slow and I wish they’d rock out more, but when they did, it was great. I’m glad she still gets political with and between her songs, and I still find her pretty inspiring. I like that she always tries to see the best in people while speaking plainly and directly of injustice. She brings a great energy, even if she is getting old and maybe not quite as sharp as she used to be.

Here’s the setlist:
01. Redondo Beach
02. Transcendental Blues [Steve Earle cover]
03. Ghost Dance
04. 1959
05. Cash
06. Spell [Allen Ginsberg adaptation]
07. Nine
08. Bullet with Butterfly Wings [The Smashing Pumpkins cover]
09. Dancing Barefoot
10. Beneath the Southern Cross / Within You Without You [The Beatles cover tease]
11. Work [Charlotte Day Wilson cover]
12. Cry Humanity [poem]
13. Peaceable Kingdom → People Have the Power [partial]
14. Pissing in a River
15. Because the Night

Encore:
16. People Have the Power

Score: B

P.S. There is a bootleg of this concert, although not of the highest quality. The Hamburg show from two nights prior was also bootlegged, and it’s not only higher quality, but Patti also performed a little better.

P.P.S. Thanks to Mirah!

St. Vincent / Cult of Venus - Live 2025.07.05 Tempodrom, Berlin, Germany

I’ve seen St. Vincent twice. First was at ACL in 2014 on the tour for her self-titled album with a full band, and then in Berlin in 2017 on the Masseduction tour, where she appeared solo. Her only other scheduled show in the meantime in Berlin in 2021 was canceled, so that’s been it. I was a big fan of her latest album, All Born Screaming from last year, so I was looking forward to this show.

Cult of Venus appeared first, alone on stage with just a guitar, a keyboard, and a powerful smoke machine. The highlight was her strong voice. She also produced quite a bit of sound, but I wondered if all the layers were being controlled by her via her synth setup or if it was handled offstage. Regardless, the sum total was very clean and produced, which limited her opportunities to engage and explore. Her songs were fairly short and so was her set. The beats were good and the music was fine, but there was no life to it. It felt too staged and manufactured. Her aesthetic definitely fit the St. Vincent mold, and it felt like Venus had drawn quite a bit from St. Vincent’s solo setup.

But when St. Vincent came out, I was relieved that she was touring with a full band. I wasn’t a fan of the highly programmed solo show in 2017 and much preferred the rawer band performance from 2014. This time she had an even larger band, very much in the rock mode. Notably, the band included guitarist Jason Falkner and drummer Mark Guiliana. Falkner is perhaps best known for playing with Beck and Air; I saw him on stage with Beck on that same day I saw St. Vincent in 2014. Guiliana has a long resume in the jazz world but got a lot of attention for playing on Bowie’s Blackstar (2016). The others were Rachel Eckroth on synth and vocals and Robert Ellis on bass and keyboards. All together, they were a formidable team, and it’s cool that St. Vincent can get some big names to back her up.

[St. Vincent.]

The setlist was great. She played a bunch of songs from the new(-ish) album and a wide selection from across her back catalog. I would’ve gladly taken more from her self-titled album, but even the songs from Masseduction, which wasn’t my favorite when it came out, turned out great on stage and had all the energy I missed when she tried them solo. The sound could’ve been better (the vocals were hard to hear and the bass was muddy) but it still came over really well. I loved the guitar interplay and was happy to have that back. St. Vincent also used a Soma Pipe and a Stylophone Theremin for some extra little effects. And of course she handed her guitar into the crowd during “Cheerleader” and then stage dove during “New York” while continuing to sing as if it were no big deal. During the latter, another woman came out to play Ellis’ synth. She had been bringing St. Vincent her guitars, and she looked a bit like Cult of Venus, which made me wonder if it was the same person.

[At the fence. Note the extra synth player.]

I hadn’t peeked at setlists in advance, but I was hoping she’d play “Candy Darling”. The definitive song about the actress is of course “Candy Says” by The Velvet Underground, but nonetheless, I appreciated St. Vincent’s homage to the trans icon. Sure enough, she played it as the encore, but she played it rather loose and coy. She interrupted it and talked through it in a way that made it feel insincere. I was happy to have any version of it, but I would’ve preferred a straighter (lol) performance or a different arrangement. And then she left. I was hoping for just one or two more bangers to end on a high note, but instead it was just this formless rendition of a short, slow, sentimental song. It wasn’t the best way to end a show. I think I’m picky about this sort of thing. Regardless, the rest of the show was a delight, so I can forgive it!

[Singing while crowdsurfing.]

Here’s the setlist:
01. Reckless
02. Fear the Future
03. Los Ageless
04. Broken Man
05. I Wanna Be Your Dog [Stooges cover tease] → Birth in Reverse
06. Dilettante
07. Pay Your Way in Pain
08. Flea
09. Cheerleader
10. Big Time Nothing
11. Marrow
12. Violent Times
13. New York
14. Sugarboy (with “Los Ageless” lyric tease)
15. All Born Screaming

Encore:
16. Candy Darling

Scores:
Cult of Venus: B-
St. Vincent: A-

Thanks to Keagan!

Nine Inch Nails / Boys Noize - Live 2025.07.01 Uber Arena, Berlin, Germany

Yes, I saw Nine Inch Nails twice in the span of a week. To make a long story short, Keagan and I bought tickets for this show first, and when his friends wanted to see the Vienna show, we weren’t gonna turn down the opportunity to join them. The last time I saw a band twice on the same tour was The Faint back in 2008, for similar reasons. At any rate, I won’t repeat what I already described there and will focus on what made this show different than the last.

[Trent, Atticus, and Alessandro on the second stage for “Ruiner”.]

I skipped most of the Boys Noize set because I wasn’t particularly interested in a second round. No hate, it just felt a bit stifling to be in the seats for a techno set, and I again wasn’t really feeling that vibe. The sudden shift to Trent Reznor at the keyboard was still just as cool, and this time he started with “A Minute to Breathe” from the Before the Flood (2016) soundtrack. The rest of the first half of the show was the same, which had me a bit nervous that there wouldn’t be much further variation. Regardless, it was still just as good, and I had even better seats, so the view was great and I was able to get up and move a bit, which made up for the lack of variety.

[Copies of Trent for “Copy of A”.]

But when Trent and Atticus joined Boys Noize on the second stage, after repeating “Vessel”, they started switching things up. “Only” was on par with the other mid-period remixes, but “I Do Not Want This” was a total surprise. It was certainly a strange choice, but the radical reinterpretation worked. And then “Sin”! That was a delight. The techno version didn’t even feel that far off from the original, and they kept a lot of the original samples and sounds.

[Trent, Atticus, and Boys Noize on the second stage.]

And back with the full band on the main stage, the deviations continued. “Somewhat Damaged” finally filled my desire for something from The Fragile (1999), and it rocked harder than “1,000,000” did at the last show. And while I missed “I’m Afraid of Americans”, “Burn” was a welcome addition, and the live performance was perhaps even more intense. It went hard. The rest of the final set was the same, but also had the same level of focused yet free energy.

[The band on the main stage, with Robin projected in the background.]

In terms of both performance and staging, this show matched the Vienna show, which is to say it was excellent. I was again transported to another place full of memories and associations I don’t always want to access, yet it felt comfortable, safe, and catharctic. I didn’t have quite the same level of immersion as the first time, simply because there was less surprise and pure excitement. But the crowd was more energetic, my seat was an upgrade, and the sound was perhaps even a notch better (perhaps due to the seat). I really appreciated the setlist variations, and this might’ve even been the better overall set. It’s hard to judge. They were both absolute top notch.

[Trent and Atticus on the second stage for the techno set, projected on the curtain around the main stage.]

Here’s the setlist:

Second stage:
01. A Minute to Breathe [Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross song; Trent solo]
02. Ruiner
03. Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
Main stage:
04. Wish
05. March of the Pigs
06. Reptile
07. The Lovers
08. Copy of A
09. Gave Up
Second stage with Boys Noize:
10. Vessel
11. Only
12. I Do Not Want This
13. Sin
Main stage:
14. Somewhat Damaged
15. Heresy
16. Closer / The Only Time [partial]
17. The Perfect Drug
18. Burn
19. Head Like a Hole
20. Hurt

Scores:
Boys Noize: didn’t see enough to judge!
Nine Inch Nails: A+

Thanks to Keagan and Dave!

Tangerine Dream - Live 2025.06.29 Volkstheater, Vienna, Austria

While in Vienna for the Nine Inch Nails show, I saw advertisements for this show. Rarely does that work on me, but for once it did! My friends were as excited as I was to see the legendary band in a beautiful venue, so for our last night in town, that’s what we did.

I’d last seen Tangerine Dream in a church in Berlin six years ago, and I loved it. Since then, Ulrich Schnauss left the band, but Paul Frick has gone from being a mere “guest” to a become a full member. Thorsten Quaeschning remains the central figure and Hoshiko Yamane continues to perform violin and pads. This show was apparently originally scheduled for the village of Grafenegg but had to be moved. Too bad for anyone who was excited for that, but I would’ve missed it in that case.

Quaeschning opened the show by announcing the outline of the show: first a main set of old songs, new songs, and really old songs, next an improvised piece, then by a break, and finally another set of old, new, and really old songs. He said the improv would be in the key of D minor because that’s what sounded best in the space, and he played a few deep synth tones and explained their effect: one shook the screws loose of the building, another gave a sense of well-being (“Wohlgefühl”), and so on.

[Tangerine Dream with video of Yamane.]

The show proceeded as planned. The main set was about an hour with very few pauses. I recognized some parts (particularly something akin to the classic synth sound of “Phaedra”) but not most. I let the music wash over me instead of hyperfocusing on the details, which seemed to be the appropriate means for enjoying it. There were distinct sections, but the pieces generally flowed seamlessly from one to the next. Most featured sequencers controlled by Quaeschning, keyboard melodies by Frick, and violin by Yamane, but they all switched it up and played synths, pads, loops, and other electronic instruments of indeterminate nature. Yamane’s violin was often heavily effected, sometimes to the point where I couldn’t even tell what sound was being conjured from the instrument, and while she rarely played virtuosic parts, she consistently played with sharp precision and fluid grace. It was usually hard to see what exactly Quaeschning was doing, but for one song he served up an impressive keyboard solo effected to sound similar to electric guitar. If it had been guitar, I probably would’ve dismissed it as self-indulgent, but on the synth it sounded sick!

The improvisation began slow and dark in the expected key of D minor, but shifted and expanded dramatically over the course of 45 minutes. I hadn’t expected it would be quite so long, and while there were of course some dull moments, I was impressed by how varied and engaging it was for most of its course. Quaeschning triggered a couple voice samples on his laptop that felt a bit out of place, but he manipulated them to give them some extra texture. One sounded like someone recounting a dream, and the other was just wordless vocalization. Otherwise, the band incorporated a wide array of different rhythms, sequencers, and moods throughout the piece. It wasn’t quite as smooth or dynamic as the main set, but it came close, which is remarkable for an improv.

[Note the on-stage disco hemispheres.]

After the break, the band’s second main set was similar to the first, but was a little more energetic, rhythmic, and powerful. In retrospect, the first half was calmer, quieter, and more atmospheric. I again recognized a few parts, but most was a bit of a blur. It grooved more and I felt like I woke up a bit and wanted to move more. They didn’t play an encore, but after two and a half hours, I didn’t really expect more.

I didn’t find this show to be quite as successful as the last one I saw. While this show sounded quite good and was instrumentally solid, I suspect having four members on stage made for a bigger, fuller sound, and I missed a bit of that this time. And while the video and lighting were quite good, the light show in the Passionskirche was on another level. Regardless, it was still a very enjoyable show and a welcome bonus for my brief trip to Vienna.

[The ceiling of the Volkstheater with the reflected disco lights.]

Score: B+

Thanks to Keagan and Dave!

P.S. The weirdest moment of the night was that early in the show, an older man near us in the balcony turned around and punched another man in the face. He was escorted out, and his presumptive partner left with him. I have no idea what the context was, but I’ve never seen something like that, least of all from older men seated in a classical venue. Who would’ve guessed that the Tangerine Dream show would be more violent than a Nine Inch Nails concert?

Nine Inch Nails / Boys Noize - Live 2025.06.27 Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria

Sometimes life’s coincidences seem a lot like omens. Earlier this year, in the midst of dealing with various health concerns and pining for the live music experiences I haven’t had much of since 2019, I told my partner that I’d really like to see Nine Inch Nails if they ever toured again. I was a fan as a teenager but lost my enthusiasm when With Teeth (2005) and Year Zero (2007) didn’t carry the same nuance and impact as earlier albums. Well, just a few days after my pronouncement, rumors started swirling, and soon enough the Peel It Back tour was announced. On top of that, one-time guest author Keagan got in touch, as he got frustrated with Ticketmaster’s antics in the USA and was considering coming to Europe to see me and the band. We ended up getting tickets along with some other like-minded friends for Vienna, where we’d spent a semester studying together in 2007. (That’s when I saw John Cale the first time, which was the show that inspired me to start the blog.) Sometimes, the stars align.

Anyway, suffice to say I was excited. The throngs of Nailers outside the venue were a sight to behold, and the presence of gummy candy and popcorn vendors in the venue made it seem like some sort of goth carnival. I caught the entirety of the opening set from Boys Noize, who performed a solo techno set with plenty of samples, including Kraftwerk’s “Tour de France” and Fehlfarben’s “Paul ist tot”. He was set up on a small stage in the back of the venue, and I was in a seat close to the main stage, but I don’t think there was much to see even if I’d had a better view. He performed for a solid hour, and while the beats were good, my spot wasn’t well suited to dancing and I got pretty tired of it.

[Trent solo at the keyboard.]

But then at just about the hour mark, Boys Noize suddenly stopped and knelt down while the curtains fell around another stage in the middle of the venue, revealing Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails sitting at a keyboard. He performed “Right Where It Belongs” alone, and after starting into “Ruiner”, Atticus Ross eventually joined on keyboards and whatever else he does (samples? electronics? programming?), followed by Alessandro Cortini on keyboards and bass. “Piggy” was the Further Down the Spiral (1995) version with minimal bass and frantic choruses with wild guitar provided by Robin Finck. As the song ended, the high-energy drumming continued while the band members left the stage, walked down a corridor, and then mounted the main stage. Meanwhile, a projection on the curtains showed Ilan Rubin drumming, and he was revealed to be already on the main stage as the heavy curtain rose.

The moment Ilan finally stopped, band launched into an intense set with almost no pause between songs. I was immediately taken in. A videographer ran around the stage, shooting the various members while the feed was projected on assorted curtains on, behind, and around the stage. The videographer must’ve had an exhausting job, but the effort totally paid off. On top of that, the lighting was incredible. It was full of surprises and rarely fell back on just flashing and blinding the audience. There were loads of patterns and techniques I’d never seen before, like lines of red lights moving through the crowd like waveforms, presumably only fully apparent from up in the seats. For “Copy of A”, Reznor’s silhouette was projected live with varying delays across the many curtains for a disconcerting effect.

After six songs, the band walked off while noise continued. I noticed Boys Noize in the middle stage, and Trent and Atticus joined him there for techno remixes of two Year Zero tracks and “Came Back Haunted” from Hesitation Marks (2013). I’ve come to appreciate the latter album (and NIN’s subsequent work), but while those mid-00s albums still don’t do much for me, the live remixed versions gave them vitality that they’d previously lacked. Boys Noize’s dance-oriented sensibility fit right in and the songs were total jams. Again, the lighting was in top form, and the change of pace was a welcome variation. I would’ve taken more, but after the three songs, Boys Noize kept up the noise and then once again knelt and disappeared while the other two rejoined the rest of the band on the main stage.

[Trent and Atticus with Boys Noize.]

The band went right back into the high energy from the first main set. “1,000,000” isn’t a standout song, but all the rest were absolute winners. I mean, we got “I’m Afraid of Americans” and “The Perfect Drug”!? And “Heresy”?  I could always do with more Pretty Hate Machine (1989) and I would've liked anything from The Fragile (1999), but it's hard to complain. “Closer” was done with a little surprise segue into “The Only Time” while Trent sang the outro lines. “Head Like a Hole” went hard even though the band did without the usual bassline. And “Hurt”, I mean, what can I say? I was on the verge of tears.

The band were in top form. There were no flaws, no mistakes, and no technical problems. Despite that level of precision, it didn’t feel restrained or constrained at all. They were raw and full of energy. The sound was quite good, particularly the vocals. My only complaint was that the bass was a bit muddy, but that’s likely due to my position up in the seats. Robin sang the chorus parts of “Gave Up” and “Head Like a Hole”, presumably to give Trent a break from screaming, and he also did backing parts in several songs. Alessandro switched between keyboards, bass, and guitar, and also sang some backing parts, but lower in the mix. Ilan focused on the drums, but occasionally played keyboards, most notably on “Hurt”. Who knows what exactly Atticus was doing.

The combination of the aggressive songs, the constant movement, the pacing, and the brilliant lighting kept the show highly engaging. The stage design felt dynamic, alive, and full of action. There was no encore, but after about an hour and 45 minutes with that setlist, I don’t know what else they could’ve done. It was an emotional ride. Trent admitted to having had a rough day with depression and anxiety, and his thanks for being present and making a connection felt real. The heavy nature of the music is a lot to hold, but it still hit me as hard as it did when I was younger. This was an incredible show.

[Trent on tambourine with the band. Note the projection of Robin in the back.]

Here’s the setlist:

Second stage:
01. Right Where It Belongs → Zero Sum [partial] [Trent solo]
02. Ruiner
03. Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
Main stage:
04. Wish
05. March of the Pigs
06. Reptile
07. The Lovers
08. Copy of A
09. Gave Up
Second stage with Boys Noize:
10. Vessel
11. The Warning
12. Came Back Haunted
Main stage:
13. 1,000,000
14. Heresy
15. Less Than
16. Closer / The Only Time [partial]
17. I’m Afraid of Americans [David Bowie song]
18. The Perfect Drug
19. Head Like a Hole
20. Hurt

Scores:
Boys Noize: C+
Nine Inch Nails: A+

Thanks to Keagan, Dave, and the rest of the gang!