After having had triumphal success during the 20 Years Of Electronic Avantgarde Tour with Deine Lakeinen and the orchestra of Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt in 2007 ALEXANDER VELJANOV finally found time to work and to finish his third solo album Porta Macedonia. It took almost five years for all these songs. Porta Macedonia was released in November 2008. Already on October 16 VELJANOV played an exclusive live show in Berlin that worldwide broadcasted via internet and enthused hundreds of fans.
Now in 2009 VELJANOV finally brings his new songs to his fans personally. And those, who weren’t afraid of the expensive tickets (30 Euro +) could here at Zeche Bochum experience a 2-hours lasting fantastic… no, stunning concert night.

:: pics ::

On time at 8pm light got turned down to deep blue spots, while smoke waves over the stage. With the intro setting in Mr. VELJANOV emerges from the fog, solemnly striding, and gets warmly welcomed by the Bochum audience. :: VELJANOV :: monopolized the evening, no other artist shared stage. A two hours entertaining show that consisted all songs of Porta Macedonia, plus five songs from the predecessor The Sweet Life and the classic The Man With A Silver Gun from the solo debut Secrets Of The Silver Tongue.
No, I’m not familiar with the first two records, although I know their known singles. But Porta Macedonia I already could enjoy in all its beauty and musicianship. I tell you, it is a fantastic record, very quiet and contemplative on CD, but live, here and tonight; it was a very rocking experience, thanks to very skilled musicians and a well-chosen instrumentation. No… it was way more like this! The live performance was a feast for senses! Porta Macedonia is cabaret, is theater, like a performance of buskers and jesters, like a comedy one would have experienced in the middle age. The tonight’s show was abstract, likewise bizarre and enthralling. Musical imagination. Stunned and captivated I listened to the music, following the master with my eyes, while many, many pictures and visions popped up in my mind. With every melody, lyric line or gesture… a flood of images you cannot elude from. Sooner or later you succumb its magic, what inevitably causes a lot of strange abstractions ;) Porta Macedonia and its performance offer a potpourri of styles, genres, elements and influences. Live sound is much drum & bass dominated what perfectly suits the music. Everything is allowed: jazzy elements, Trip-Hop-like drum work, sometimes opulent symphonic elements, sometimes music oriental touched. You always get surprised… by the live performance of a special song you didn’t expect this way, or by the expressiveness of a song live. That - and with what love and fervor - VELJANOV once has studied dramatics and film shouldn’t be a secret anymore ;)

During the entire evening, VELJANOV was strolling stage, sometimes very solemnly and reserved, sometimes nonchalant, sometimes more lively, showing emotions, gestures and mimic. Bramstoker’s Dracula came often to my mind… ;) He also rocked a little bit out, knocking over is micro. And above all… his wonderful warm and sonorous, enchanting and captivating voice you definitely cannot elude!
Audience is quiet as a mouse, patiently waiting for the end of every song and then bursting out in applause. As more as the official part of the show is over and VELJANOV got ordered back on stage for encores. And again he starts to enchant the audience, this time with older songs, well known by the fans. And they don’t get enough; still spend frenetic applause after the second encore. And although Nie Mehr would have marked the perfect end, VELJANOV comes back for the last song Dirt to close a breathtaking evening.
Setlist: Der Kongress, His Vita, We Can’t Turn Back, Königin aus Eis, Lily B., The New Order, Zwei Vor und Drei Zurück, Black Girl, The Man With A Silver Gun, Mein Weg, Your House On My Hill // Seraphim, Sweet Life, Fly Away // The Wind, Nie mehr // Dirt

Yes, it was an exceptional concert. Totally different, enchanting, marvelous, stunning. Exceptional musicians accompanying one the most unique artist ever. Terrific!

story & pics © Dajana