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July 27, 2012

Amphi Festival 2012: Viva Music Review, Jul-21&22, Cologne

Amphi Festival took over Cologne’s Tanzbrunnen for the 8th time! With a very clever choice of acts, and overall perfect organization, Amphi stated once more its position as one of the central events for the electro and industrial scenes. As it often happens, a sold-out event weeks before its start, Amphi Festival provided quality entertainment, very good facilities and considerable fuel for a crowd of almost two score of thousands. With early starts on both festival days, both on Saturday Jul-21 and Sunday Jul-22, the festival comforted the audience with a solid palette of both on the outdoor main stage and in the nearby Staatenhaus, as well as alternative entertainment in the Theater building. If you add to the set of concerts the wide array of stands, facilities, areas (including the famed beach zone), you could have practically spent a whole festival day just digging through bargains and taking your time in front of quite varied meals and still call it a full day. Or day and night! Because after countless concerts in the various venues of the area, DJ sets went on until the early hours of morn. But as a yearly convention of already sufficient stance, Amphi Festival meant, of course, a probe of temperature and color in today’s scene, and if audience reactions stand for anything, we’re all good, the entertainment is still varied, the ethos of the scene is still valid and vivid, people still feel the urge to dress up and make a stand, and the music sounds as good as ever.

 

Viva Music would like to take a minute to thank for the opportunity to be there and enjoy Amphi Festival 2012 to: the flawless clockwork organizing team, to the numberless artists and tech personnel who made concerts happen, and to the beating heart of the audience, which keeps our scene alive and kicking. And if you missed Amphi Festival this year, put these two things down on your to-do list: (1) read our act-by-act review and browse the individual photo galleries; (2) book in time your Amphi Festival 2013 experience: with tickets already on sale this coming week on Aug-01, and the first acts to be confirmed on Aug-13. Amphi Festival 2013 will take place on Jul-20 and Jul-21 in Tanzbrunnen Cologne. (more…)

April 19, 2012

Amphi Festival News: Second Theater Headliner, Conjure One, Ticket Info

Amphi Festival organizers are happy to announce the second headliner for the theater stage. Reading performance and concert ‘Henke Plays Goethes Erben’: on Saturday, Jul-21, Oswald Henke takes over Theater am Tanzbrunnen. First hitting the stage with his current reading performance “Die Zeit Formt“, he will make a second appearance later that day, playing one of the most definite concert highlights of the Amphi Festival 2012.

Amphi The Orkus Open Air 2012 Festival will take place between Jul-21-22 at Tanzbrunnen, Cologne.

 Amphi Festival 2012 program to date includes:

The Sisters of Mercy, And One, Eisbrecher, Blutengel, Project Pitchfork, Apoptygma Berzerk, Combichrist, Camouflage, Mono Inc., Corvux Corax, The Cruxshadows, DAF, Conjure One, Nachtmahr, 18 Summers, Coppelius, [:SITD:], Haujobb, Stahlzeit (Rammstein Tribute), Spetsnaz, Assemblage 23, Solar Fake, Henke, mind.in.a.box, Love Is Colder than Death, Spiritual Front, Seabound, Aesthetic Perfection, A Live Divided, [X]-RX, Tyske Ludder, Whispers in the Shadow, The Other, Eisenfunk, Lord of the Lost, Schoengeist, The Wars, Eklipse, Dr. Mark Benecke

Front Line Assembly cancels all shows this summer, therefore there will be no FLA show at Amphi. Here is the official band statement: “After much thought and considering we regret to inform our fans that we will be unable to perform at any summer shows we are currently booked for. After an extensive tranche of shows supporting our last record we have to decided to spend next year focusing on writing and delivering new albums; an instrumental of tracks that will be featured in the videogame AirMech from Carbon Games, a new full length LP, and possibly a new Noise Unit record. Our apologies to any promoters/fans this may affect in a negative manner, we look forward to releasing new material and playing shows further down the road. All the best, FLA

Conjure One/Rhys Fulber will perform a special live set at Amphi Festival. Rhys Fulber, known as long-time member and producer of many classic FLA tunes will perform a unique set, including Conjure One and Delirium tracks, as well as a selection of Front Line Assembly classics that have not been played live in recent years.

Original festival tickets can be booked in advance exclusively on the Amphi Ticketshop at www.amphi-festival.de/tickets. Festival tickets are further available online at www.protain-ticket.de and at all nationwide CTS/EVENTIM box offices. For further information please visit the festival site: www.amphi-festival.de and the official festival Facebook page: www.facebook.com/amphifestival.

 

March 21, 2012

In terms of musical variety, Amphi Festival 2012 stands out a mile

Amphi Festival 2012 news keep on coming, and we are very happy, since it’s one of the events we are really looking forward to this summer. Musical diversity gives the extra finishing touches to the superb lineup of the festival. Already announced, The Sisters of Mercy, And One, Eisbrecher, Blutengel, Apoptygma Berzerk, Project Pitchfork, Combichrist, Camouflage, Front Line Assembly, DAF, Mono Inc., Corvus Corax, Nachtmahr, Assemblage 23, Solar Fake, 18 Summers, Coppelius, [:SITD:], Haujobb, Stahlzeit, Seabound, Aesthetic Perfection, A Life Divided, [X]-RX, Tyske Ludder, Whispers in the Shadow, The Other, Eisenfunk, Schoengeist, Lord of the Lost – and many others. Today’s news? Three more acts, and what acts, if we may say so: mind.in.a.box, Love Is Colder than Death and Eklipse – the latter being the name of the seductive quartet, which loves to clothe contemporary pop music and soundtrack elements into a fascinating dress of compelling classic string sounds on our Theater-stage. Without vocals, yet even more emotional and spiced up with an extra portion of sex-appeal, the four ladies interpret songs by Coldplay, Lady Gaga, Hurts, Depeche Mode and many more, cunningly flavored with a magic note of dark-lascivious romanticism, wit and dreamy melancholy.

Also in the news today:  Amphi Festival warmup parties – they are numberless! and great occasions to meet other Amphi enthusiasts, plan your trips and get in the mood for the festival, if need be. Apr-07: Paris, Apr-08: Amstelveen, Apr-14: Brighton, Apr-28: Stuttgart, Apr-28: Thessaloniki, Apr-28: Antwerpen; Apr-28: Karlsruche, May-04: Manchester, May-05:  Northampton, May-09: Wuppertal, May-12: London, May-16: Heidelberg, May-19: Krefeld, May-19: Zuerich, May-19: Vienna, May-24: Duisburg, May-25: Bonn, May-25: Bielefeld, Jun-02: Frankfurt, Jun-02: Essen, Jun-02: Augsburg, Jun-03: Dresden, Jun-09: Bonn, Jun-09: Bremen, Jun-16: Siegen, Jun-21: Oberhausen, Jun-22: Athens, Jun-29: London, Jun-30: Ingolstadt, Jul-20: Cologne.

Tickets are available via the Amphi ticket shop under http://amphi-festival.de/tickets and also from http://protain-ticket.de, as well in all German CTS/Eventim box offices. For further information please visit http://amphi-festival.de and http://Facebook.com/amphifestival.

February 29, 2012

More Great News about Amphi Festival 2012!

Great news from the organizers of Amphi Festival 2012 – the Orkus Open Air festival – the list of confirmed acts is getting an irresistible contour. Band suggestions were volunteered by festival fans as well, and in the end the new and replacement bands that make Amphi Festival the event to be at on July 21&22 at Cologne’s Tanzbrunnen.

Apoptygma Berzerk, The Cruxshadows, Spiritual Front, The Wars, and Spetnaz are some of the new names that are added to the already gorgeous list of acts that will keep you beaming for two days: The Sisters of Mercy, And One, Eisbrecher, Blutengel, Project Pitchfork, Combichrist, Camouflage, Front Line Assembly, DAF, Mono Inc., Corvus Corax, Nachtmahr, Assemblage 23, Solar Fake, 18 Summers, Coppelius, [:SITD:], Haujobb, Stahlzeit, Seabound, Aesthetic Perfection, A Life Divided, [X]-RX, Tyske Ludder, Whispers in the Shadow, The Other, Eisenfunk, Schoengeist, Lord of the Lost – and many others.

Tickets are available via the Amphi ticket shop under http://amphi-festival.de/tickets and also from http://protain-ticket.de, as well in all German CTS/Eventim box offices. For further information please visit http://amphi-festival.de and http://Facebook.com/amphifestival.

October 18, 2011

The Cruxshadows – “Valkyrie”: Viva Music Album Review

Filed under: Album Reviews — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 8:00 am

Tracklist: “Valkyrie” * “Valkyrie (Radio Edit)” * “Anthem” * “Valkyrie (Rise of the Valcyrge –The Dreamside Remix)” * “Strange Skies

Read about The Cruxshadows’ performance at Amphi Festival 2010 here | See the photo gallery from The Crxushadows’ performance at Amphi Festival 2010 here.

About The CruxshadowsValkyrie:

Following the success of their most recent Billboard #1 single “Quicksilver”, international darkwave sensation The Cruxshadows return to the spotlight with the powerful new club anthem “Valkyrie”. The mixture of dark electronic dance elements, classical elegance, and new wave sensibility compound to produce The Cruxshadows unmistakable signature sound in this five track maxi-single.  The disc features three uniquely targeted versions of their newest track “Valkyrie”, as well as two new bonus tracks. Always a favorite across several genres, the boys and girls of The Cruxshadows have produced yet another song sure to become a fan favorite.  “Valkyrie” is presented as a digipack with cover art by lead singer Rogue. (source: label site)

The CruxshadowsValkyrie”: Viva Music Album Review:

The Cruxshadows’ newest single, “Valkyrie” to be released by Wishfire on Nov-08 includes alongside the title track in various version, two new preview tracks, “Anthem” and “Strange Skies” from their forthcoming album “As the Dark against My Halo”.  The source track for the single release, “Valkyrie” borrows heavily and charmingly from the old Norse myth of the supernatural beings who decided the fate of warriors on the battlefield, transporting the reason and the progression of the battle in the realm of contemporariness and, what is more, in real life. Except for the general release version, which we had the chance to listen to in July this year, and the radio edit, a third excellent version of the track is provided, and we are talking about “Valkyrie (Rise of the Valcyrge –The Dreamside Remix)”, which has a definite edge and carefully transposes the listener into a different realm, inspired by hazy dreams and the same essence of myth, rendered in beautiful music. Added depth comes also with the other two tracks from the compilation, generously released as a sneak preview into what their forthcoming album is going to look like. The definite feel brought over by “Anthem” is not at all vain, it is heartfelt, energetic, and curiously serene, despite its overall dark shroud. Very much in connection with its 1980’s side, the other track, “Strange Skies” is a relevant addition to the single release, and in a more confrontational manner than the preceding “Anthem”, it provokes sheer enthusiasm, encapsulated in great soundscape and perfectionist instrument. It would be a great thing if “As the Dark against My Halo” sounded in its entirety like that, and this is something that’s not only feasible, but also highly probable. For the time being, enjoy the single release of “Valkyrie”!

The Cruxshadows – Official Website | on Facebook | Discography on Discogs

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