Artist: Leo Grande
Venue: Prachtwerk
Location: Berlin,
Germany
Date: 20 October 2018
Leo Grande played the
first night of their German tour in their hometown at the cozy
Prachtwerk. Antonio Hoffman led the group with acoustic guitar and
vocals, preferring a folky fingerpicking style over anything heavy.
His vocals were stronger than I was expecting, although his
annunciation was casual and loose such that I didn't quite catch
every word. The lyrics were in German, and from what I could I
understand, they were personal but amusing and often focused on
social connection and understanding. Their looming cover of Ton Stein
Scherben's "Mein Name ist Mensch" ("My Name Is Human")
fit right into their themes.
However, Leo Grande was
far more than just a singer/singwriter with a backing band. The
interplay of all four musicians was what made their performance
successful. Jonathan Kirchgeßner played keyboards that sometimes
kept to the shadows but often swelled with drama. His tones set the
mood of their songs towards darkness or light. Raffael Bernhardt
supplied superb harmonies while holding down an upright bass. His
variety of techniques meant that the bass was more than just filler
for the low end. Andrea Zuliani also offered a mix of styles and
rhythms with his drumset that kept the pace from being monotonous.
Their style was jazzy,
but not just because of the upright bass and the brushes on the
drums. It was more about how the musicians worked together to
construct a cohesive and compelling sound without getting lost in
pretentious complexity or pandering with simplistic clichés. Their
sense of balance was essential: Antonio took a few brief solos, but
for the most part, they played off each other and just let the
instrumentals build up together. That feeling of collaboration was
what made them special. No one member was the star: they all had
something to contribute.
No comments:
Post a Comment