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music player

Wednesday 15 May 2013

dyxz.rndr - european tour 2013 - monolith worship

so, how it would appear that we are already in the very thick of the dyxz.rndr european tour, and how the back-dated field reports are piling-up thick and fast. so, as dyxz and i attend to chores back at the decorative stamp safehouse in the rhein-main during some off-days, might i take this moment to try to begin to detail some of the initial facts in the ongoing case. all is much of a blur already so how i already imagine that these reports will read a little muddied, a little blurred; but i will try to keep to a linear time-frame as much as possible that things don't become too complicated, too fast.

having deliberately found myself up in the ruhrpott for the 4th skribble birthday party the foundation was laid for what would become an ongoing exercise in tour-planning, rehearsing, song-writing, graphic design and video work amidst a thick earl grey haze as dyxz and i steadily counted the days until our first shows whilst taking in the myriad delights of the ruhrpott and getting to spend as much time as possible with the dearest skribble-family. but how the days did indeed race by and, before we knew it, the tour had begun and the first show was upon us.

april 25th, duisburg, de. our first show was scheduled with the almighty walter gross and the monolithic devilman at the near-legendary djäzz jazzkeller in duisburg. despite the ever-so-slow unfolding of the spring the day of the show afforded us all such balmy weather and how dyxz and i found ourselves in the city in good time to link with the very awesome christian, sebastian, jenny and sascha who effortless helped to arrange the proceedings for the evening before we made our steady way to the djäzz to begin sound-check preparations and wait for the arrival of the troops.


before long the devilman team and walter gross pulled up, fresh from their route out of berlin and how we gladly all immediately got on like a house on fire. how i can most-sincerely report that the devilman gentlemen are astonishingly wonderful chaps and how absolutely splendid it was to meet our bold captain walter in person after all these long years. we threw ourselves in to the sound-checking tasks with much gusto and managed to get everything sounding suitably epic in time for the arrival of the first dear guests.

dyxz and i were most modestly operating as 'local support' for the performance and thusly took to the stage promptly once enough folk had made their way through the door, and how i can gladly report that, despite some possibly glaring technical errors, our set was a real success and an absolute delight to perform. we kept it short and sweet, and utterly-dark; knowing that the sounds which would follow would only grind deeper into the sonic depths of terror. still, how the kind words which were offered to us once we had stepped off stage were the most-enjoyable part of all. a wonderful first official performance indeed.

but how the waves of terror only began to escalate at an unworkable pace as the mighty walter gross took to the stage with his twin-mpc set-up and how his set can only be described as utter devastation. within the first phases we had quickly left 'beat' territory and found ourselves sinking impossibly within layers and layers of ever-darkening drones, howls and moans and all the while a steady stream of vocals, chopped samples and unsettling ambience permeated the whole until the final terrorising climax. without a doubt a truly epic performance and one that can only have been permanently burned into the consciousness of all in attendance.


yet more horrors were still to unfold though as the phenomenal devilman began their set. how it is almost impossible to describe the effect their music has in a live context. again, we were soon outside of simple 'beat' territory and experiencing a vast, monolithic wall of bass frequencies only bolstered by such weighty beats and sinister melodic tones. how it was much akin to the awesome power that sunn o))) evoke, but within the more rigid and mechanical framework of 'beat' music. yet further, with the audience completely annihilated by their set, they invited walter and i back onstage to join them for what must have been a ten-minute noise-improv piece that must have been akin to standing at the foot of an erupting volcano; utterly-blackened-monolithic-low-end-darkness. forever.

still, how as they must, the show came to and end and farewell hugs began to circulate before we all made our weary way back to the mighty christian's apartment to spend the rest of the evening in a steadily blurring haze of conversation, nonsense, musical talk, tea and forward planning. we could all most-certainly agree that it had been a really awesome night indeed; a great show, so much fun and another collection of super-special memories to carry with us along the path. with the dawn steadily beckoning we all managed to find our way to our sleeping place for the night and drifted into the dreaming with walls of low-frequency-noise holding us close.

the morning came around so fast and how the marvelous jenny had safely procured two heartily-stuffed bags of brötchen from the bäckerei and how dyxz and i took our fill, along with tea on the balcony watching the trainlines under the overcast grey as walter and the devilman duo slept on a little longer. but after a few errands we were all soon assembled together, gathering our thoughts and thinking about the next steps of the adventure. the day was much cooler and how heavy rain began to fall as dyxz and i helped the troops load up into their car and bid them fond farewells as they made their way on to maastricht and we to our continued preparations for the rest of the tour.

...so, might we offer huge, huge thanks to everyone involved in the show, to the wonderful devilman and walter gross, and to all the marvelous souls, dear friends and loved-ones in attendance...

next field report - buried deep within the eternal drone

jamesreindeer,
mainz, deutschland
15th may 2013


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