LIVE REVIEW
Aesthetic Perfection - Frankfurt & Oberhausen 2019
Das Bett, Frankfurt & Kulttempel, Oberhausen, Germany
20th & 21st April 2019
Aesthetic Perfection - “Into The Black” Tour 2019 - Support: Amelia Arsenic, Priest
Written by Silke Jochum
Published at Reflections of Darkness
On a very sunny Easter weekend I travelled to Frankfurt to visit my first out of two AESTHETIC PERFECTION concerts of the “Into the Black” tour. After having listened to the new album, ‘Into the Black’ which was released three weeks ago, I was really looking forward to seeing the band on stage again. My expectations were very high. And what can I say - I was not going to be disappointed at all.
Das Bett, a very cool venue in Frankfurt, was already pretty crowded when I arrived.
I was a little late and the first act AMELIA ARSENIC, a charismatic musician and fashion designer from Sydney, Australia, was already playing. In Frankfurt as well as the next night in Oberhausen, she managed to fascinate the audience with her infectious sounds and her energetic appearance. In my opinion, the vocals in Frankfurt were a little bit too low compared to the music. In Oberhausen, the mixing was much better. I hadn’t heard of her before but I really enjoyed the gig. I think getting her as support was a good choice.
The second support band was the Swedish Synth Pop band PRIEST. This newcomer band from Stockholm already demonstrated their qualities to the German audience a few weeks ago at the E-Tropolis festival in Oberhausen. The crowd enthusiastically welcomed the band, one keyboarder at each side of the stage wearing a Black Death mask and the singer in his spiky mask in-between. It didn’t go without notice that most of the songs were very well known to the fans. PRIEST did a really good job in Frankfurt and Oberhausen.
Full of expectation the crowed waited for AESTHETIC PERFECTION to begin their show. The “Into the Black” tour is the first AESTHETIC PERFECTION tour with the current line-up. Besides the charismatic and talented mastermind Daniel Graves, Elliot Berlin (TELEMARK and COMBICHRIST) played keyboards and guitar again. And lately, Joe Letz (EMIGRATE and COMBICHRIST) joined AESTHETIC PERFECTION to play drums in his own unique and vigorous way. It’s always a pleasure watching him perform and he seamlessly fits in with the AESTHETIC PERFECTION universe.
The concerts in Frankfurt and Oberhausen opened with the powerful first song from the new album, ‘Gods & Gold’, and AESTHETIC PERFECTION made it very clear right from the beginning that this was going to be a vast party! The song selection was brilliant. The energy level never fell off. I think, new songs like ‘Wickedness’, ‘Echoes’ and ‘No Boys Allowed’ were celebrated in the same excessive way as the fantastic, catchy tunes of ‘Antibody’, ‘Inhuman’, ‘Never Enough’, ‘The New Black’, ‘Spit it out’ and ‘Love like Lies’.
One very special moment happened when Daniel and Elliot played the only ballad of the night, ‘All Beauty Destroyed’, as first encore. The party people turned quiet and delightedly listened to Daniels voice intoning this beautiful song. But no rest for the wicked, the last two songs of the night, ‘Love like Lies’ and ‘Spit it out’, hit right into our faces again and were a perfect ending to a great show.
Comparing the shows in Frankfurt and Oberhausen, I have to say that Frankfurt was already really good but Oberhausen was awesome. From the very beginning, the sold-out house was dancing, jumping, singing and screaming until the last sound of the night. Daniel, Joe and Elliot reflected the energy of the fans and vice versa. It was really a pleasure to be part of it although it was a little bit challenging to take pictures right out of the raging front and second row, but hopefully the pictures convey the huge energy of the night at Kulttempel, Oberhausen!
Rating Frankfurt
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 8
Total: 8 / 10
Rating Oberhausen
Music: 9
Performance: 10
Sound: 9
Light: 9
Total: 9 / 10
Setlist
01. Gods & Gold
02. Inhuman
03. The Siren
04. Antibody
05. Wickedness
06. Rhythm & Control
07. Never Enough
08. Echoes
09. Big Bad Wolf
10. No Boys Allowed
11. The New Black
12. The Dark Half
13. The Great Depression
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14. All Beauty Destroyed
15. Love Like Lies
16. Spit it out
Aesthetic Perfection is
Daniel Graves - All music, vocals and lyrics.
Elliot Berlin - Live Synthesizers, Theremin, Bass and Guitar
Joe Letz - Live Drums