Support: MELOI
Location: headCRASH, Hamburg
Hamburg metalheads were in for a fantastic night at the headCRASH venue in the heart of Hamburg. The reason for this special night was the album release show of Belgian alternative rock band BLACK MIRRORS. The band released “Tomorrow Will Be Without Us” one day after this gig and so the fans had the perfect chance to get a glimpse into the songs.
The night started with the German hard rock/AOR act MELOI. Formed by the Philip Meloi in the beginning of this year, who is also known from the psychrock act Okta Logue, the band released their debut album “Future Raiders” a few months ago. Even though the band’s music is not my cup of tea, I could see the crowd cheering and headbanging to their music. I could feel the “youth” of the band a bit as there was a bit of nervousness here and there but overall, they did a great job! In particular, the bassist Lana Fischer’s overall energy and attitude was quite the eyecatcher for us!
When it was time for BLACK MIRRORS, the venue got more packed and the anticipation rose. All in all, this wasn’t any type of normal concert but the band’s album release show! Their previous release was “Look Into The Black Mirror” released in 2018 so fans had been waiting for this month since four years…
Right from the start, Black Mirrors brought that fire and managed to get the audience moving! Marcella’s mesmerizing and strong vocals mixed with energetic drums and riffs fascinated the audience. Some were headbanging (shout-out to the first row!) whereas others were taken aback by the show. You could tell that the band also did not expect such a reaction! Overall, the atmosphere was great even though the venue was not packed.
The setlist consisted of mostly the new songs but the band also played some classics such as “Funky Queen” and “Moonstone”. The mix of the old and new songs showed how the band evolved with this latest album while keeping their essence intact. The style is still the same and yet the new songs definitely bring a fresh air into the sound!
When it came to the new album, Black Mirrors put out a fantastic performance and the new songs were very-well received. It was especially magical to see Marcella dancing and losing herself on stage at times, which made the whole performance quite spiritual. This also reminded us of acid/psych rock vocalists back in the 60s. Overall, the performance was fast-paced and definitely rock’n’roll but there were some slow moments with songs like “Ode To My Unborn Child” and “Moonstone”.
There were some highlights such as “Through The Eyes of a Giant” and “Lost in Desert”. However, one big highlight that stood out was one of the few ballads “Ode To My Unborn Child”. Experiencing this song live was quite emotional considering that it is about consciously deciding not to bring a child into this world. We are not sure if the crowd really got the true meaning of the song but this definitely stayed as one of the highlights for us.
Black Mirrors exceeded our expectations with this exclusive album release show. The album fascinated me but the live show was truly another experience with twists and surprises here and there! At the end of the night, everybody left with smiles on their faces and that energy and fire the band brought on stage. Until next time!
Text: Başak Günel
Photos: Heavy Harlequin
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