PASSION PLAY (electric/acoustic) @ E-40° SOMMERFEST in DRESDEN, 20 August
Formed in 1994 in the UK, Passion Play is a gothic rock band that has so far released two albums and whose front man and sole original member is none other than Justin Stephens (member of Frank The Baptist, Telegram Frank). Passion Play is definitely not a band you listen to once and then toss aside. The song “Saints” from their debut “Name No Names” EP – the Martyr Mix of which was later part of a “Pagan Love Songs” compilation – was the defining factor to embark them on the way to fame and success in the dark music scene. The chain of tours and concerts soon followed, thus leading them to open for various bands including such names as The Chameleons.
We had been waiting for this event for such a long time and it finally took place on a nice Saturday evening in Dresden. This was the first live appearance of the band since 2004 which included both Justin Stephens and Ralf Huenefeld (also in Frank The Baptist) as members.
The concert was planned to start around 9-10 PM so we had some time to visit the city before, as it was our first time in Dresden. “Lucky” us, some kind of city festival took place in the same time so every single street was very crowded: people drinking or eating the local goodies, free concerts, DIY merchandise stands and so forth. Despite all of this, Dresden is indeed an extraordinarily beautiful city, thus proving that there is a reason behind calling it “one of Germany’s most beautiful cities”.
Good thing we met some friends from Dresden who showed us the way to the venue otherwise we wouldn’t have managed to find it at all. We walked on an industrial platform aside various factories and … seemingly somewhere in the middle of nowhere we found the club entrance. The venue featured an open air stage [good thing it didn’t rain] as well as a bar, plus a campfire for those who wanted to warm up a bit during the night.
We were very happy to meet so many familiar faces from all parts of Germany and even further afield! I would say there were about 130 people waiting for this event just as much as we were. Half an hour after our arrival, the musicians took the stage playing “Frantic”. I don’t know what expectations the audience had - since it was an electro-acoustic gig, not an original full band performance – but the people certainly enjoyed it a lot. The sound was pretty bad at the beginning, but it got fixed afterwards. After “Name No Names”, my favorite track followed – “Caught by the Nails”. I found the atmosphere to be mystical and intimate; the lights, the trees and plants around us, the moon – nature itself – served part of this dark celebration. Justin’s voice – the vocals were as good as on the studio album – embraced us with warm tones while guitar riffs made our bodies move slowly and dreamily. Each song was rewarded with heavy applause and whistles. “Falling Upwards” and “Saints” were next on the band’s set list. Unexpectedly the audience sang alongside the band not only on the famous “Saints”, but on various tracks. Once they played “Down To You” people started to behave more dynamically and to sing along – I suppose it must be one of the favorites. “Drift” – a song I wasn’t familiar with – was followed by “Leaving”, “The Missing Link” and “A Crystal Life”, all tracks off the masterpiece “Dreaming Spikes” [2001], an album I warmly recommend to all gothic rock lovers. Then Passion Play took us back once more to their first album, “Stress Fractures” [1999] with the track “Sight For Sore Eyes”, only to get back to the 2nd one with the song “Running On Empty”. I guess this was the time when the curtains should have fallen, but in this case the artists left the stage to the heavy noise of the public’s continuous applause. The band was chanted back on the stage not once, but twice!! The encore was a very nice surprise for us all – it included a cover version of The Chameleons’ “The Fan And The Bellows”, the track “Trust” which was played for the first time this century [can be found on their 2nd Demo “Character Assassinations” from 1996] and “Analgesia” [also taken from the 2nd album, “Dreaming Spikes”, 2001].
It is hard to put into words the magical atmosphere of Sommerfest [Congratulations to the organizers for such a nice evening!]. One thing is for sure – it will be hard to forget such an evening. And it didn’t end there: after the gig, there was an old school tunes themed after-party inside the club. The traditional flour fight was of course included in the schedule. [See the following pictures]
Written by Ina Dinu, photos by Thorleif Wiik & Katharina Schreiber
Berlin, 20 Sept. 2011