Saturday, August 13, 2011

Festival report: Fluff Fest 2011, day two

23 July, day two

After an unbelievable night filled with many ups, downs and remarkable twists of having nowhere to sleep, meeting people and finally sleeping in a car, the second day of the festival began and the lineup was just amazing. A trip to the town and some complications along the way halted us a bit, so we were really running late and hearing "Lemuria" playing in the distance. Felt bad about missing them, but then again I don't love them that much to feel sorry about it. Luckily we got just in time to settle up at a nice spot and get ready for "Trainwreck". To say that I was extremely impatient about hearing them live would be an understatement. The weirdest thing personally was the fact that I started listening to them not long before the actual Fluff Fest, yet I began enjoying their music so much that the desire to feel their tunes live increased extremely dramatically and fast. Their sound was as predicted, abnormally rushing and destructive, yet precise and passionate. The moment they started playing I just became so euphoric and excited that I have some memory gaps when it comes to their set. Some songs I can't remember, thought the pinacle of the set, pinacle for me at least, I can recall every minor detail about. "Piano Gigante" was the track I was most eager to hear and when it was announced near the end of the set, I felt like I was going to explode. And there comes the only "problem" concerning their show, that being the completely dead crowd. People were zombified, just mildly swinging their heads even at the very front of the stage, while I was the only maniac who wanted to dance and jump and scream the damned lyrics. I somewhat felt sorry for the band, since they got a really low amount of feedback even despite the fact that they were exceptionally good. Luckily, the band seemed happy doing their thing, getting on stage and blowing brains away with their music. Overall, excellent show.
After a minor break spent in front of the stage, "Battle Of Wolf 359" arrived and killed the audience without remorse. From the very first day I heard their tunes I fell in love with what they do, since there was something overtly unique about their sound and general mood which was invoked while listening. Their performance on Fluff Fest just skyrocketed and ultimately sealed my adoration for them, since the band managed to exceed all my expectations, taking their instruments and just smashing at the people in front of them without stopping. If I remember well from all the excitement, songs like "Apostasy", "In Search of Gaia", "Martyr O.D." were played and all of them sounding absolutely perfect. That above mentioned uniqueness and mood can be literally touched during their live performances and that is what blew my mind away the most. My favorite song was also played, namely "Cyberdine", and it is actually during this track that the crowd went completely insane and a sudden circle pit started. I was caught in the very middle of it and it was probably my first circle pit in ages, which was made all the more special because of the accompanying tunes. The audience finally became alive and the whole enjoyment was additionally increased thanks to all the movement during the band's performance. Definitely one of the best acts on this year's festival, unbelievably glad I had the privilege to see them live.
After some roaming through distros and food venues, we got back to the main stage to brace for impact with "Year Of No Light". Ok, with this band I have a very strange relationship. Back in the day of their release named "Nord", I was listening to them quite a lot, yet somehow as time passed by I nearly forgot about them, not even being aware that "Ausserwelt" came out in the meantime. I was, of course, quite happy when they were announced for this year's Fluff, yet I didn't know what to expect and was somewhat nervous prior to their appearance.As it turns out, they got up on stage and succeeded in completely stunning me. During their entire performance I was in a trance-like state, just soaking up every possible note floating from the stage. The sound they created was enormous, an unbelievably gigantic monster unleashed upon all senses. I was standing somewhere at the center of the audience and I clearly remember my whole body vibrating from the massive sound just hitting every inch of skin. The basses and double drumming were so powerful that the insides of my stomach pulsed. Their entire act was highly artistic since it was both an audio and visual spectacle. Each song the band members exchanged places on the keyboards, while the two set of drums and their players were extremely interesting to watch with their identical rapid movements. The string players were slow and at certain instances even not moving as if time stopped for them, which went extremely well with the sluggish pace of the beastly tones. Even the very climate obeyed, as the wind blew making the trees move and the Sun went away behind the clouds on several occasions during crescendo moments in songs, a glimpse of a grim mood following the tunes. I can't quite recall the songs played, but I presume they played the entire "Ausserwelt". Thinking about it now, I presume it is safe to say that "Year Of No Light" definitely snatches away the title of the best performer on this festival, simply because they surprised me on every possible level. Simply beyond amazing.
Taking a few moments to brace myself after their show ended, I realized I have to hurry up and catch "Reka", since their show already started in the tent. Sadly I managed to catch only a glimpse of their gig, maybe one and a half song or something like that, since "Year Of No Light" played a bit longer than expected. I don't even know which songs I heard, most probably from their latest release "III", but I can tell you that they were excellent. I never listened to them a lot at home and have only a vague notion of how they actually sound like, but they really managed to punch me in the face to pay more attention in the future. They had a powerful and overtly chaotic sound, quite different from what I thought I would witness. There were a few lineup changes as far as I hear, actually important ones since they have a new singer now, so the sound mutation was to be expected I guess. Those brief moments created by the Russians were very interesting and I feel really sorry for not catching their entire set.
After their show, I passed over to hear "Punch" on the main stage, but didn't quite feel impressed enough to stay long, which was actually rather disappointing. I love their recordings and enjoy listening to them, but live they were not really to my liking. The vocal somehow sounded way above the rest of the instruments, at least from the point where I was standing, and I really didn't have enough strength to listen to them a lot.
A long break ensued later, since there was nothing interesting going on for me. Even ended up completely alone without my friends at one point, so I randomly strolled through the festival space. Finally I moved to the tent stage, since I thought that "Beyond Pink" were next, but I was wrong. This was probably the best mistake turned golden situation, since instead I saw "Glasses" play. Prior to the fest I didn't listen to their tunes, so when they got up stage I decided to stick around, especially since I was still alone at this point. Oh shit, this was so good! With the first sound rolling over the tent from the stage, the crowd just exploded and didn't cease in activity until the very end. "Glasses" simply provided a nonstop audio beating and they had no intention to stop for a single second. Even the band mimicked the audience with constant stage movement, waving their instruments and jumping around. There is something in their tunes just driving you to go completely nuts and smash something. I feel sorry for not being able to provide the songs they played in this review since I didn't know the titles back then, but trust me when I say it is extremely unimportant. No matter the song selection, the band just ripped and provided one of the most intense shows I have seen thus far.
Some chilling out afterwards and being reunited with one dear companion of mine and later the rest of them, it was finally time for the last of the great three bands of the day on the main stage, "Blue Note" or better known under their original name "Swing Kids". Before their performance I talked to a lot of my friends and everyone had extremely high expectations for them. And yes, the band came up and kept sweeping everyone from their feet throughout the entire set. The screamo legends from San Diego made the whole stage just radiate with their spasm-like riffs and chaotic melodies, while staying cold and somewhat "professional" themselves. A lot of people criticized the behavior of the band during their performance, especially that of the singer who was exceptionally distant from the audience and appearing somewhat egocentric. In my head it was not really a flaw, since that provocative stance and glow of "we are a cult band" really added a certain flavor to the entire show which you don't get to see often. It was somehow special in a weird sort of way and I have to say that I enjoyed that visual part of their performance as well. As for the songs, all of their well known songs were played, like "El Camino Car Crash", "Blue Note", "Warsaw", "43 seconds", which had an unbelievably euphoric ending, and of course "Intro To Photography". Every track sounded perfect and all those choking tones were increased a tenfold during their act, managing to go along with all my expectations and even going above them. A perfect ending to a day packed with superb bands, this was tense.

1 comment: