Final of Emergenza 2000

Average are using a didjeridoo on stage Sascha Lang from Fantabile was responsable that their was for the first time an Emergenza band contest in Luxemburg. What's unusual for a band contest in Luxemburg is the fact that each band had to pass the quarter finals (Check Inn) and the semi finals (Kulturfabrik) to pass into the final round. 29 bands started and only 10 could reach the final.

The quarter finals (April 6th - 9th) weren't an optimal start. The stage at the Check Inn was too small, the drinks were too expensive and the owners of the club were unable to organise such a big event. By their proper votes, the people decided that those 13 bands should be thrown out: Ex-Inferis, Faraday's Cage, First-H, Hard To Handle, Inner Dinner, Kitshickers, Lee, Night Shift, Purple Haze, Michael Shephard Band, Thousand Lakes, ?, ?.

The semi finals (May 5th and 6th) were much better organized. The Kulturfabrik in Esch/Alzette is one of the best venues in the country. He stage was much bigger, the drinks were sold at reasonable prices and the security didn't cause trouble. Sound problems didn't exist either. This time the audience kicked 6 bands out: Animage, D-Fact, Felicia's Journey, Mighty Druids, Neo Tokyo, ?.

This is Eldoradio's Cotton Eye Joan

So the day of the final arrived and ten bands had to play for a third time in front of about 800 spectators. At the beginning, I was a bit afraid that the Atelier wouldn't let the people outside and that I had to stay for hours in the hall. But it was a good idea of the organisators to put the entrance in front of the Atelier and not inside. So people could walk outside in the court without showing each time the seal on their hand to the security guys. As it was a hot night, people often stayed outside in the court where you could also hear the music. All bands had a good sound, but the lightshow wasn't as good as at the Kulturfabrik. Being a photographer, I had a problem with one of the two security guys. The only word this caveman with the brain size of a Zlatko could say was 'photo pass'. Nobody got a photo pass, but it wanted to see mine. Impossible to convince it that there was no photo pass. The other security guy was far more clever and able to answer my questions in whole sentences. He didn't see a problem in taking pics. But in general, the organisation of this final was excellent. There weren't too many delays and even if the concerts weren't broadcasted live on a national radio show, the fans at home could chat with each band after their gig. The two DJs from the just mentioned radio station also did a good job, especially the female one which Obi and I named Cotton Eye Joan. But let's now come to the ten finalists.

The show started at 8 o'clock. I thought that everything would begin half an hour later and so I missed the opener 'Out Of Rain'. I didn't regret having come too late as their gig during the semi-finals couldn't convince me totally. Their mixture of Pop and Folk just doesn't sound exciting enough to me. By the way, they had to be the opener in every round because their drummer is a left-hander and all the other drummers are right-handers. But so far these early appearances haven't been a handicap for Out Of Rain.

He can sing, but likes to pose on stage

Second band were Average who have just released their first EP. Somehow they remind me of rabbits: 4 members in the quarter finals, 5 members in the semi finals and now 6 members in the final. Will they be the new Kelly Family? At least there are as many girls and boys in the band. The girls are two singers and one bass & didgeridoo player, the boys are two guitar players and a drummer. As opener Average chose 'Not What It Seems' which you can also find on the Backline Sampler 'Made In Luxemburg '99'. I think it's a good choice because this song immediately sticks into your mind. But their other songs aren't bad either as they show a cool mixture of Pop, Rock and even a little Folk, but presented in an Alternative way. Only the song 'Yataka' which consists of a large rhythm section and didgeridoo goes more into a tribal direction. And one shouldn't forget that Average have an excellent singer who sounds a bit like that of the Cranberries. The other singer still shows a lack of profile on stage. There were only few moments where you could hear her out and she should move more on stage. But I suppose that this can still change as it was her first gig.

Third band of the evening were Born, who had reached like Average this final round in a very close way. Born play a kind of timeless Hard Rock which means that their music doesn't sound old fashionned like Thousand Lakes, but it's also free from modern elements like Clean State. Again Born have done a very good set which wasn't worse than their presentation during the semi finals. What they play isn't exactly the kind of music I adore too much, but I won't judge that fact on this place. I really think that there usual opener (which contains the Hey! shouts) is a cool song, but I can't remember very much about the rest. Even if the frontman likes to pose on stage, Born have a good stage acting and I think that people in Luxemburg will still hear a lot from that band.

Dreaming In Red did again an excellent job

Surprisingly two very hard bands had reached the final round and the fourth band of this evening were Dreaming In Red, Luxemburg's finest Death Metal band. After a musical break of about 18 months, they had come back just in time for the Emerenza festival and reached the final without greater problems. Actually Dreaming In Red can't show stage acting as their singer is handicapped due to a leg injury and so he had to sit on a stool during the whole set. But the music is of course more important and again, they didn't disappoint their fans. The singer has an enourmous growling voice and the addition of a second guitar player was a good choice for the band. Dreaming In Red showed nothing new compared to the two previous rounds, but why should one change a winning team or a winning song list? But it was good to see that a mixed audience could appreciate this Death Metal band. Let's only hope that more of that music will be played on the very very commercial radio station which sponsored this event.

Hello? Can anybody hear me? Now it was time for a little comic. Eighties metalheads Still At Large climbed the stage. They sound old-fashioned and look so strange that they remind me of British comedy acts like The Young Ones, Bad Taste or Monty Python. Everyone knows the strange facts and rumours that are told about Still At Large, but their gig this evening will write history. The singer was already drunk when he came on stage and his performance was catastrophic. The opener 'Rock'n'Roll Is Dead' is their most unpopular number, but he was unable to sing it correctly. This comedy/drama continued like that for two more songs. During the fourth song, the singer was leaning forward and I thought that we would begin to puke on stage. Luckily this didn't happen and he didn't sing anymore. The band did the best out of this embarrassing situation and decided to leave the stage. This singer was making fun of the Still At Large fans, and there are lots of them. They pay money to see such a ridiculous number. The deserved result was that nearly no one was voting for Still At Large and the landed on the last rank. There was more action at the backstage. The three other band members began shouting at their singer and he began to hit and strike. So security accompanied him out of the venue.

Clean State were the next very hard band who came on stage. Nowadays they are playing much more brutal and faster Neo Metal than on their CD which was released at the beginning of this year. Their presentations during the first rounds were totally convincing, but today, they unfortunately had a really bad day. During the first two songs, the different musicians seemed not to be tuned to each other. Then the singer forgot some parts of the lyrics. He was just confused, not drunk like the Still At Large clown. But the next songs of their gig didn't cause any more problems, but may be it was too late to convince the audience. The musicians themselves weren't too happy about these starting problems and they didn't search the contact with the public today. Nevertheless it was a big success for Clean State to have reached this final round and maybe they are more lucky next time. Because they are much better than what we could hear today.

Clean State didn't have their best day tonight I can't understand how the next band has entered the final. The band is called Fireball, and this name underlines that this is a clone of Deep Purple. The musicians are playing authentic seventies Hard Rock, well done, but not at all original. The singer with his big glasses doesn't look at all like a rock star, even if he's dressed in leather. I have to admit that he has a good voice, even if he's not an Ian Gillan. But people who like this kind of retro music may have adored it. I saw their gig at the Kulturfabrik and wasn't too eager to see them again this evening. As it really was so hot, I preferred staying half an hour outside the court.

Now it was time for the three favourite bands and it's quite bizarre that they had to play last. But the playing order was decided by drawing lots. Fluyd have already won some national contests and they also were first placed in the quarter and semi finals. Very strange is that they have seven musicians: two drummers (two brothers taking turns), a guitar player, a bass player, a keyboarder and two singers. The male singer is a real showman and he likes standing in the spotlight. He's running around like a maniac and is always searching contact with the public. The female singer is not only quite beautiful and dressed like a film diva, but she also has a loud and clear voice. I just wondered who of both had more make-up in the face. Today was the fourth time that I saw Fluyd on stage and I think it was their best set I've ever seen. Crossover maybe a very trendy music actually, but the presentation was simply perfect today and I really thought that they would win again.

Fluyd's madman live on stage Band number nine is another crossover band called Schlagloch (some people like to call them Arschloch or Scheißloch). Many people don't like them too much because they won their semi-final in a very dubious way by charting a bus for their friends who also got free entrance tickets and free beer. This may be OK for the semi final, but at the final, there was a jury to judge. *****loch (call them how you like) behaved like clowns on stage and were playing around with toys. I don't think either that a Luxemburgian band should sing in German. I like German music, but only if it comes from a German speaking country. Their crossover is less hard than the music presented by Fluyd and of a much lower quality. But they had brought again lots of friend who were voting for them at the end.

The last band of the evening were again Low Density Corporation, the only band that has nothing to do with Rock or harder elements in the music. For a technical sound reason, they always had to play last, which so far had never been at their disadvantage. With the aid of guest singer Lynn Kuffer, they presented some great songs from their self-titled EP (Disconnected, Journey, It All Comes Down) and the extremely well done David Bowie cover version of 'Ziggy Stardust'. Their combination of Trip Hop and Pop is sounding quite professional and there is no Luxemburgian band you can compare to them. A lot of spectators knew to appreciate this presentation.

Then came the next moment every one was waiting for. Which five bands did come into the very last round? Here is the choice done by the public:



Congratulations to the winners: Low Density Corporation My personal opinion was that Fluyd would have deserved the victory and to me, they were the most convincing band this evening. The jury which was composed of the following people:
Harald Poeschel / Oliver Fritzen (Harry, City-Magazin Trier), Didier Quating (Atelier), Genevieve Joly (Backline), Berny Zeches (100,7), Jerry Schlentz (RTL), Yann Logelin (Eldoradio), Marco Caciagli (Emergenza) and René Penning (Kulturfabrik).
The jury's choice was Fluyd or Low Density Corporation. Both band really did a professional job and each one would have deserved the victory. At the end, Low Density Corporation was able to make it and they will represent Luxemburg at the Taubertal Festival in Bavaria from August 11th to 13th.

And at the end, here's a little play on numbers concerning Emergenza: Totally, 3000 spectators were watching 55 shows played by 130 musicians in 27 hours. But I don't know how many liters of beer the spectators have drunk during that time. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next editon of a Luxemburgian Emergenza.



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