04-02-2010 Bigelf

Supports: Priestess; Venue: Luxor, Cologne (Germany)
By: Nina Mende

Another evening in Cologne. Tonight we were at Luxor seeing Priestess and Bigelf perform.

Luxor is a small club in the center of Cologne, the stage is low and small. It was very crowded for a Thursday night, an interesting mix of people filled the dance floor. The opening act was Priestess. They came on stage shortly past 9 p.m. Priestess is a Canadian hard rock band formed, in Montreal, Quebec in 2003 by Mikey Heppner (vocals/guitar), Mike Dyball (bass), Vince Nudo (vocals/drums), and Dan Watchorn (vocals/guitar). They played for about 30 minutes plus one song encore because the audience loved them. Cheering and singing along the audience went wild. The band mentioned that their new album was released two days ago but many of the people in the front row could sing along already. The light was dark but the mood was good. The music was very melodic mixed with metal.

Up next was Bigelf. Bigelf is a progressive rock/progressive metal band formed in Los Angeles, CA in 1991. They have since released four studio albums. Now even more people tried to get to the front to see Bigelf play. The band’s music and performance reminded of Tim Burton. To be precise: it reminded me of three specific movies of Tim Burton: Take Alice in Wonderland, Sleepy Hollow and Nightmare Before Christmas, mix them well and close your eyes. Bigelf is what you would hear but still have the pictures in front of your inner eye. Bigelf played old and new songs, the audience loved them all. The singer talked in between the songs, telling stories or asking the fans something. Not always did he get a reply. Even though it was a small club, Bigelf was still overwhelmed by the audience and especially the feedback they received. Seeing Bigelf live is pulling you away from reality. You felt out of time and space watching them. It was amazing. The voice, the sound, the music and atmosphere in general. Bigelf played for about an hour plus encore. You should definitely check them out live if you have the chance!