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Das Pop Live¶
583 words on Live
On Sunday, me, Björn and Susanne went to see Das Pop play in Hannover. I first heard about them two years ago and saw them play live last summer, which I enjoyed enough to write about their albums and consider seeing them play once more.
The gig took place in a really small venue, more precisely in the bar of that venue rather than its proper concert hall. And for a good reason. As Das Pop aren’t terribly well known and it was Sunday night, not a lot of people came to see the concert. Which was a shame, both for us as some more people would’ve definitely made it better, and for them as Das Pop are doing a really good show.
Since I saw them in summer the band seems to have lost their drummer. So the main singer did that job now, playing the drums while singing. This also meant that he couldn’t play with all the electronic toys for extra effects that he used in summer. Although it seemed like there was another guy behind the stage who made sure such technical details worked well. Indeed, the whole performance was technically very well done. Not only did they have little show routines in there every now and again, they also brought pretty cool lights with them.
Those lights went nicely with the music and were white. That sounds a bit harsh and boring for a concert, but I thought it was really cool. They had several sets of triple strip lights set up. But each of the three tubes in was a slightly different shade of white – yellowish, neutral, blueish. They were also set up in a way that they would instantly light up rather than taking a while. Thus they could be used for switching between colours and similar things, which I thought was very cool. Definitely something I appreciate.
Their performance was very good as and once more the singer talked to us in German all the time, which was a nice touch. And the Belgian accent is quite a friendly one. They also played the German version “Du” of their song “You” again, which I liked a lot when I saw them in summer. The only bad thing about the gig was that coming home and listening to their CDs is disappointing as it seems a bit dull in comparison. While the CDs may be very cleanly produced that definitely makes the music a bit too controlled and less thrilling for my taste. So I’d be in the market for a live CD, I guess. (Hm, I should’ve just taken a recorder or at least a camera to take some photos I guess…)
A while ago I complained about Das Pop’s German release containing the German version of “Du” while the Belgian release that I bought (at a time when there was no release in Germany and it wasn’t clear whether it’d actually happen) doesn’t contain that track. Strangely enough, I couldn’t find it on iTMS or other file sharing facilites either. Luckily they sold exactly that single at the gig. So I had something to take home as well.
The single has a very plain cover, but as most of the band’s things it seems thought through. While it’s not completely simple, it uses their typical typeface (what is it exactly? something like Helvetica Bold Condensed?), it uses proper quote marks and even has the German and English lyrics written on it.
