Saturday, July 10, 2010

concert review: The Dead Weather in Huxleys Neue Welt, Berlin


A few days ago I was at the concert of the Dead Weather in Berlin - a quite amazing performance I must say. I've been following the Kills for a while now, so when Alison Mosshart joined the Dead Weather, I was quite curious about this new band - though I never really listened to the White Stripes, the Queens of the Stone Age or the Raconteurs.

The Dead Weather have been posting great live videos on the Web so for a while I was happy just with them and bought their first album just a few months ago - and realised that they were more than just another supergroup à la Them Crooked Vulture (though I'd like to see them on stage too actually).

Anyway, the concert was really impressive, everything seemed really thought and mastered, but the whole thing kept spontaneous and emotional. Usually I'm just interested in the music but the stage set - a giant eye in a baroque architecture painted on  a canvas and lit with black light - and the light show were sharp and beautiful, contributing to the strong atmosphere. I love the almost primitive simplicity of the Dead Weather's music, and Mosshart's voice and stage presence are at the core of it. Having superstar Jack White as a side man creates a strange tension, because thus she can never really be the central focus, also with Dean Fertita being essential playing guitar and keyboards.

This night's version of Will There Be Enough Water? was mind-blowing - it's the only quiet song in a quite energetic set, and then White handles his infamous custom white Gretsch Billy Bo Jupiter Thunderbird for a beautiful and powerful solo, his only one of the concert - more was not necessary (I checked afterward different live versions of the song on YouTube, I can tell that the Berlin one was exceptional).

Didn't see a rock concert with guitars for a long time - I think that all my last concerts were about electronic ultranoise - and I'm happy I waited for something so good - though it doesn't console me of having missed PJ Harvey + John Parish last year!

A last thing, the sound engineers of Harvey's Neu Welt sabotaged the sound of the opening act, like often. People who do that are pure morons. They have all the material, they could do a proper job even if the guys are not world famous. Wonder if these people even care about music.

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