Apoptygma Berzerk

Following Stephan Groth and APOPTYGMA BERZERK since their initiation in the early 90s with his first releases I stopped when he commercially successful changed over to the Future Pop genre, which I really hate and so I lost track of the Norwegian cats. Now, I surprisingly got hold of the promo CD to the band’s sixth record Rocket Science and was downright curious how APOPTYGMA BERZERK would sound in 2009. Not only on CD but live ;) Of course… hehe.
On the way to the town that doesn’t exist we were pondering about the fact how APOPTYGMA BERZERK wanted to fill the huge Ringlokschuppen, especially, since all the other shows were confirmed for small clubs and venues. Well… the answer was simple: the Ringlokschuppen also houses a small venue and an even smaller club. A new lesson learnt ;) Anyway, the smaller venue – the tonight’s place, was well-filled with approx. 500 people, which were surprisingly from the older generation. I had expected much more of these screaming teenies…

:: pics ::

L.A. rockers :: THE ANIX :: kicked off the evening, a band I never have heard of before. But luckily there are some music platforms around to get a first impression of what a band is about musically. And my first and downright positive impression got certified :) THE ANIX delivered a great show, even if in darkness. Feedback wasn’t gushing but the guys got heartily welcomed what got much appreciated by the band. Especially keyboarder Greg thanked the audience several times with all his heart. THE ANIX wonderfully blend guitar dominated Rock with synthie Pop, likewise influenced by the 80’s as well as by current bands such as Muse or 30 Seconds To Mars. Most songs came from the band’s debut record Demolition City, plus the Filter cover Hey Man, Nice Shot, and two other ones. I really like this show and the band’s style of playing. Just great!
Setlist: Long Way Out, Bullets Without A Gun, This Game, Half The World Away, Hey Man, Nice Shot, Don't Save Your Breath, Resident One, Take My Future

While waiting for the Norwegian cats :: APOPTYGMA BERZERK :: the hall got crowded, seeing the fans gaining momentum when the intro to Weight Of The World set in. The guys didn’t waste any time and started out rocking right from the first second. And finally there were some lights on stage, special light curtains, of course after the first three tracks *grrrr* Well, music was much Pop-like and trendy now, but fortunately sound is much earthier and more powerful live on stage and propitiates for the softened tunes on CD. Though, the old classics such as Love Never Dies enthused the fans much more than current material from Rocket Science. But that didn’t keep the fans from partying, adoring and cheering the band, and they got rewarded for their feedback. When the probably best song on the current album Shadow was announced, drummer Fredrik left his sticks aside and instead maltreated the guitars. He generally was the winner tonight ;) He had the best lights and many girls screamed at him. Looks like he is much popular ;) Key wiz Geir meanwhile destroyed the band’s beer stock and having lotsa fun.
What more I can tell? Great show and a thrilled audience demanding for more songs, which was granted with much pleasure, seeing the fans singing along to Mourn, even then, when APOPTYGMA BERZERK had long left the stage and the lights were turned on again ;) Yes, nice trip through APOPs space ;)
Setlist: Weight Of The World, Apollo, Eclipse, Mercy Kill, Asleep Or Awake, Lost In Translation, In This Together, Shadow, Black vs. White, You Keep Me From Breaking Apart, Love Never Dies, Until The End Of The World, Butterfly Defect, Bizarre Love Triangle (New Order Cover), Kathie’s Song, Shine On // Starsign, Non Stop Violence // Mourn Mesh