Event: Melodica
Festival Berlin 2017 Day 1
Venue: Klunkerkranich
Location: Berlin,
Germany
Date: 29 July 2017
I'd been aware of the
Melodica Festival for a while and finally now had a chance to
experience it firsthand. It was also my first time at Klunkerkranich,
the chosen venue for this year's Berlin edition. I was immediately
intrigued by the directions that instructed me to go to a shopping
mall, find a specific elevator, and take it to the top of the parking
garage. It turns out that the place is a rooftop bar with a fantastic
view of Berlin. Part of it is covered and forms something like a
café, and inside is the stage.
First was Oh
Lonesome Me, a
singer-songwriter trio from Berlin. The guitar and keyboard interplay
was pleasant, but the real draw was the dynamic harmonies of the two
women vocalists. The drummer occasionally offered some backing vocals
as well, but he held his own with his kit, which helped keep the
songs moving.
[Oh Lonesome Me.]
Next
was Lisa Kudoke, a
solo guitarist/vocalist also from Berlin. I liked her fingerpicking
style, but the tone was too bass-heavy and got lost in the noise from
the crowd. There might have been something entrancing in her songs,
but without any flourishes,
the performance came
across too monotonous.
Third
came Next Stop: Horizon,
a bit of a break from the expected folk and singer/songwriter genre.
The Swedish trio delivered upbeat,
dancable electro-pop with
a few slower, sparser songs
as well. They expanded their guitar/bass/keyboard instrumentation
with a drum machine, programming, vocoders, and a lot of effects.
They sounded
polished, confident, and oddly convincing.
Ida Wenøe
from Denmark initially
appeared solo with just her acoustic guitar, but after just a few
songs brought out Ian Fisher to provide
harmonies, guitar, and banjo. Another song also featured her roommate
Espen on vocals. The added interplay embellished the songs quite
fortuitously, even though the stage was becoming
increasingly harder
to see and hear.
[Ida Wenøe
with Ian Fisher and Espen.]
Tom Klose
from Hamburg came next. Although
his bluesy, percussive style had some promise, it became so loud and
difficult to see that I couldn't understand his words and could
barely even discern the music. Eventually I gave up and decided to
just enjoy being on the rooftop with a nice view.
Oddly,
it was entirely impossible to see the stage from almost anywhere on
the rooftop except in the covered section, and although there were
speakers outside to spread the music, they were rendered practically
inaudible from the crowd. Hence, my willpower was overcome and I
entirely missed the performance from Jonathan Kluth.
The Klunkerkranich is a really cool venue, but not quite ideal for an intimate singer-songwriter performance. The Melodica Festival is similarly a great idea, and being able to see a bunch of good musicians for 5€ is certainly a bargain, but the choice of venue this year might not have been very well suited to the goal. I enjoyed what I saw, but I wish I could have taken it in with less distraction.
