ENGLISH: The “Kult-Tour” folk concert. A Review by Matze and Stef. Translated by Oliver.
If vitality should ever need a new soundtrack, then please check out the Canadian band Shred Kelly, as they presented it in the Nexus. What the quintet announced on the album „Sing To The Night“, they showed on stage in a more than convincing way: They passed on loads of fun to more than 100 guests as well as to the team of helpers. The birthday of the guitarist was certainly a celebration-worthy aspect – but certainly it couldn’t be the main explanation for this highly infectious exuberance. The audience was infected. Even the skeptical reviewer (Matze) has become a big fan!
Text: Matthias Bosenick/Stefanie Krause | Translation: Oliver W. Krause | Pictures: Stefanie Krause | German version
I must say this first: When I listened to the album, it was indeed clear to me that this is the kind of music that probably works very well on stage – but on CD it stressed me. These voices, this pace, this pressed energy, that was all not quite my cup of tea; but it immediately had something pleasant, which made me understand the fascination that might come from the young modern party folk rock. Well, I might not be the target audience, but I still can recognize the quality in the songs and the production. Fine. To the Nexus I went anyway: I’m always sure to get involved somehow as a matter of course, whenever Stef’s “Kult-Tour Der Stadtblog” gets something going – because I can assume that it’ll be filled with soul. And this time, despite my skepticism, there was also great curiosity as to how the band might actually sound live.
And what the band released on to the crowd then, knocked me off my feet even in the penultimate row. Maybe it was the great work of the sound mixer – Mr. Ebel is easily one of the best that you could wish for – because what bugged me in the studio version was withdrawn completely here: The once cheesy keyboard was here the required accentuation of the folky rock sounds, which had been more in the background on the CD, leaving the almost stressful banjo in the supremacy. In the live concert, everything was mixed perfectly, even the voices fit together really well, which on CD seemed overambitious. In summary, Mr. Ebel gave the “dirt” back to the music, which the production had taken away.
And then there was the audience. The longer the band played, the more exuberantly they were dancing. Everything culminated in the title track of their third album „Sing To The Night“, with the one-shot-ski video that many of the concert-goers had watched previously at Stef’s friendly recommendation. Although nobody could really know the band here in Germany – their home town is a ski resort in the Rockies called Fernie – people celebrated them like old heroes. Shred Kelly then made really great friends with the encore, the escalating party smasher „I Hate Work“, which also corresponded perfectly with the attitude of the Nexus – despite the fact that supporting the Nexus of course is a lot of work. With this song, the Canadians stapled a grin into the guests’ faces. Well done!
This enthusiasm lasted long after the concert. The albums sold like hotcakes, the pen for autographs ran hot. Many asked questions about the origin and oeuvre of the band, and whoever intervened in the discussions, learned among other things, that the video for „Sing To The Night“ was the fifth of seven one-shot shootings. The young band turned out to be humorous and likeable on their first tour outside of Canada. Guitarist Ty reported about the fact that this was his best birthday he ever had in Germany. All band members were impressed by the hospitality in the country and were very charmed especially by the Nexus.
That really is understandable because the Nexus is like a family. You like to contribute something, and this time I shared the cash desk with the team members. So I was in direct contact to the friendly audience, which incessantly had fun showing me the entry stamp on their hand, even later, in the concert and then with an even wider grin. This activity however made me miss the opening act “Mandolinenterror” and the first beats of Shred Kelly. The response of the smokers for the opening act was at least positive; maybe they should fill my substantive gaps in here. Otherwise: „I hate work, I hate work, I hate work …“
Really, Matze! Here I can slide in quite well. Hi folks, here is your still pretty speechless Stef. Since I am still at a loss for words to describe my enthusiasm about this evening, I am most grateful for his very spot-on report! Thanks Matze, thank you dear Kult-Tour team! But a big thanks goes out especially to the many helpers from the Nexus, who gave me this experience and who made the organization a relaxing affair.
When I arrived approximately at 17 o’clock in the Nexus, not only the band arrived very soon after me, but also several helpers were already there or arrived at that time. Without you I would have been screwed. Really great! Each one has made a great contribution to this – for a Thursday in Braunschweig – truly amazingly successful evening. The catering cooked very tasty food, sleeping places for the band were prepared and the technique was perfectly adjusted to the bands. The entire Nexus was puttering around busily and in a friendly atmosphere! I’ll never forget the moment that Shred Kelly arrived. We all caught fire immediately and they were part of that heartwarming evening. It turned out that a band member (Ty) celebrated his birthday with us. So my offer to drink a decorous lemonade was immediately followed by a request for the local beer specialty. Well, let’s start the evening then! Cheers! They already knew „Prost“ because their first tour in Germany led them to cities such as Hamburg and Munich. And then everything went really quick in Braunschweig. The food was perfectly served to the point, so we could start a well-attended concert evening. Although I did not even have to make an announcement on stage this time, I was more than excited. How many people became curious over the last days? As the first guests expectantly entered the Nexus just in time and wobbled to the stage, I felt a bit of relief in my mind. But as the stream of visitors did not stop and they added up to just over one hundred guests, it took me almost until the end of the concert to realize all this. WOW!
I wrote in my first announcement for the concert here on the blog that I was in an „ambiguous mood“ for personal reasons. But out of „with one eye laughing and one eye crying“ became an „eye weeping of joy“. In fact, I got a lump in my throat when I looked at the dancing crowd and into the bright faces of the band members and the audience during the concert. Already during the opening act, this comfortable feeling spread gradually, which for me defines the „Kult-Tour-Moment“ quite well: It works, I thought! The positive energy flows through the veins of this event. And so it was. Even during the quieter music of Mandolinenterror, most of the visitors stood in front of the stage. Björn performed with Tobi on contrabass and provided us with unusual covers of old and new folk and indie songs. That was a completely different direction than Shred Kelly: deep, melancholic, sometimes moody and complex appealing to the soul – but beautiful! It was just the right place, just because Mandolinenterror were so different from the Canadians. Björn and Tobi electrified the atmosphere with thrilling expectations, which were then released in the far more light-footed appearance of Shred Kelly. At this point I shall send Mandolinenterror a quite extraordinary thanks! You gave this evening a very individual twist. I was enthusiastic about Mandolinenterror (as a solo act at that time) already at the 1-year anniversary of Kult-Tour, but now I can say: The bigger stage fits you! Keep it up!
Now my only remain is to thank all helpers, visitors and musicians for the perfect evening – thank you all from the bottom of my heart! Although my nerves are quite frayed before an event every time, and I it gives me at least one sleepless night: I’ll do it again, no question! Thank you friends!
