- date: November 21st, 2000
- venue: Atelier (Luxemburg)
- presale: 750 LUF
- audience: about 1000 (sold out)
One of the first gigs after the re-opening of the Kulturfabrik in Esch/Alzette was a Metal
festival featuring Desdemonia from Luxemburg, Ruination from Lituania and Apocalyptica from
Finland. About two years later, Apocalyptica have meanwhile released their third album and
were planed to play in Luxemburg again at Live At Vauban. To let old memories revive, Desdemonia
were again engaged as local opener.
Desdemonia had lots of personal problems during the last two years because it was impossible
for the three founding members Tom & Marc Dosser and Tom Michels to find a constant second
guitar player. Studies in other countries or activities in other bands were reasons why they
have to leave Desdemonia. Now they have Olie, a former Black Candle musician, and tonight
was already the third concert featuring these members.
It was a pity that Desdemonia had already to start at 8 P.M., but there were already a few
hundred people standing in front of the stage. Desdemonia got a perfect start and so it
was easy to them to attract the spectators with their classical straight forward Death Metal.
Normally the sound in the Atelier isn't so optimal, but tonight there were no problems at all.
Desdemonia were playing some classics from their debut CD like 'My Lord', 'Same' or 'Struggle',
but also new songs which will appear on their second CD which is supposed to come out in
spring 2001. It was interesting to compare the spectators' reaction at the known and unknown
songs. Highlight of this 45 minutes gig was without a doubt 'Zu Arel op der Knippchen', a very
old Luxemburgian folk song presented in a Death Metal like version. Lots of people accepted
Tom Dosser's invitation to sing along with him. By the way, this song will not only appear on
their next CD, but also on a national compilation called 'Planet Lëtzebuerg'. I think
that this was a good opportunity for Desdemonia to play again in front of lots of people and
to present new songs and classics.
The break between Desdemonia and Apocalyptica lasted quite long because the drumset had to be
put away from the stage. People went crazy when the four huge Fins entered the stage and began
to cover Metallica classics like '
It's impressive to see them playing their cellos while headbanging, climbing on the chairs
or moshing around with cellos. A very original kind of chamber music.
It's very strange that Apocalyptica are one of the few bands where the spectators are singing
more than the musicians. The only exception may be 'Die Kassierer' (a German Punk band) when
shouter Woelfi is too stoned and drunk to read his lyrics. But back to Apocalyptica. After
they had been able to put the audience into their ban, they also dared to play own songs
which weren't bad at all and also well accepted. My personal favourite of the concert was the
cello version of Slayer's 'South Of Heaven'. I wonder why they don't dare other songs by the
speed kings, but the reason may be that this is Slayer's most melodic track. After they had left
the stage, people were shouting at Apocalyptica to come back. They returned of course and played
two more songs, Metallica's 'Enter Sandman' and 'Hall Of The Mountain King', originally composed
by Grieg, but already covered in the eighties by Savatage.
At about 11 PM the concert was over and I wasn't disappointed at all. The sound and lights were
slightly better than two years ago when Apocalyptica performed in Luxemburg. The joke hasn't
become old yet and I'm already looking forward to see them live again. Maybe in autumn 2002?
