09-03-2013 Nachtmahr

Supports: In Strict Confidence, Lights of Euphoria; Venue: P60, Amstelveen (Netherlands)
By: Sabine van Gameren

An industrial evening in p60, Amstelveen (Netherlands) was scheduled and with Nachtmahr headlining it presented a nice bill.

Opening this evening was the German duo Lights of Euphoria. They have over 20 years on the counter with their sound, which mainly drives on minimalistic sounds. A beat, lyrics that repeat a lot and not often bring a heavy weight with them and furthermore not too much additions to their sound. What brings this band to the stage to show the audience is mainly the catchiness and combined with some video art there is the package they deliver. The audience seem to observe it quietly but they got people to move along as they please which indicates the band is appreciated here as an opener.

In Strict Confidence is giving the audience a bit more show. The band has been founded in 1991 and last year they released their latest album called “Utopia”. The performance started with a song that has vocals by Dennis only, but soon after that femme Nina de Lianin joined the band onstage to add her voice to the music. A great match, the two of them surely compliment each other. Yet, the rest of the band has a good addition to it as well while here and there you might have expected them to come with a bit more vehemence. The set is varied which keeps it quite exiting throughout and when they bring some more show into it all it shows that this band deserves that applause very well.

Nachtmahr is headlining and while some of the audience dresses up fully in merch/uniform it becomes clear what kind of fan base this project has. Behind this all is the Austrian Thomas Rainer and you’ll be warned on forehand: ‘You’re either with him or against him’.
The performance is wild and chaotic. Not that you would notice that while observing the two servants on the sides of the stage but Thomas does not hold back on exploring the stage. The Industrial Techno he makes gets the audience dancing. Songs like “Mädchen in Uniform”, “Boom Boom Boom” and “Can You Feel The Beat” are the sensation makers of the evening, but war gets declared the visual part of the show takes over. At the end, Thomas lets the audience know he is not about the theatre of bullshit to let the audience shout for the encore and just plays the last two tracks which seems to be working quite well. A great way to end the evening in style with Nachtmahr!