09-06-2009 KMFDM

Supports: Nude; Venue: Rind, Rüsselsheim (Germany)
By: Nina Mende

KMFDM is a German industrial rock band led by founding member Sascha Konietzko. They have sold over 2 million records worldwide. KMFDM was founded in Paris, France on February 29, 1984 as a joint effort between Konietzko and German painter/multi-media performer Udo Sturm to perform for the opening of an exhibition of young European artists at the Grand Palais. Sturm had no lasting musical aspirations, and Konietzko was more interested in studio recordings than the occasional art performance, so he began collaborating with then-Hamburg-based studio owner Raymond Watts and drummer Klaus Schandelmaier, who adopted the stage name En Esch. After working the Hamburg underground music scene and releasing three albums on European labels, the band began its long-standing relationship with Wax Trax! Records when their 1988 album Don’t Blow Your Top was licensed to the label for US distribution. After touring with Ministry in 1989–1990, they signed directly to Wax Trax! and quickly became a part of the industrial music scene in Chicago that included Ministry, Front 242 and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult. Konietzko then moved to Chicago in early 1991, and Esch followed a year later… The band has existed for quite many years already therefore the biography is very long. If you want to know more, please check their page but this are the basics to give you an impression of KMFDM.

So here we were, a week after WGT, in Rüsselsheim with KMFDM. I had expected the little venue to be a little more crowded, but weekday shows are rarely totally crowded. But at least almost everybody was wearing a KMFDM shirt, I got mine later on so I couldn’t wear during the show, but I might next time. So it wasn’t very crowded and the openingact called Nude was running late. Their music was a mix of different styles, from techno to dance/trance and others. They had a female co-vocalist who seemed very stiff on stage and didn’t really move freely nor sang like that. But the other vocalist, a guy jumping around a lot, made up for that. The drummer had a mixed drum set, meaning e-drums and real ones but he mainly used the e-drums. The keyboarder jumped around like on a techno or raver party and so did two or three guys in the audience. The rest was not going along too much but still seemed to have enjoyed it. The guys and girl performed for about half an hour before it was time for the main act.

It was a little more crowded as KMFDM entered the stage. There were also a few Americans in the audience who ended up wasted in the front row trying to grab the guys on stage… KMFDM’s stage appearance was accompanied by a lot of cheering and applauding. The audience sang, jumped and moshed along to the music. Sascha, the singer, talked a lot to the audience this time, especially as the bass drum broke and the silence had to be filled – but Lucia helped him out here. Sascha talked to the audience in German and English and he always got a reply from somebody in the audience. The good thing about the venue being not that crowded was the familiar atmosphere we had now. Everybody on stage was giving everything. Lucia was dancing around on stage, playing with the audience and got everybody going along. KMFDM played for more than an hour and came back twice for encore. Of course new songs like “Davai”, “Potz Blitz” and “Bait And Switch” got played but also older ones like “WWIII”, “Hau Ruck” and others. Everybody had a blast, including the band. They spread the energy and passed it on to their audience so they could go just as crazy, and the people did. KMFDM is an amazing live band you should check out at least once.