After days of snow and near-zero temperatures it’s always a minor marvel to get people to come to a gig, especially in Berlin where there’s so much so uninterruptedly on offer that a lot of people are like whatever, or the German equivalent which I guess is Mir Doch Egal.
So, minor miracle achieved in getting the Privatclub at decently full for the Von Eden gig last night. Support was Lukas Droese, a man with beard and acoustic guitar and who made mercifully minimal use of his loop pedal. Hey, I love them too, but it’s getting a bit much don’t you think? Anyway. He was good, good voice, good vibe etc and got the crowd to sing along on one song, always a doubly impressive feat for a support band, never mind a solo support act on a cold and wintry night.
Enter Von Eden.
chilled out, sharing jokes, swapping banter, all that sort of craic
So what did I think? Yeah. I was impressed. One thing I liked straight off was that the singer, Christoph Letkowski, who in case you didn’t know starred in the film Feuchtgebiete (on the soundtrack of which the band had its first single) as well as a long-running teenie TV series – didn’t have any of that I’m-a-star arrogance, but instead came across a hundred percent as one of the boys, and you got a feeling that Von Eden is a pretty thoroughly democratic band effort. Then I also liked the fact that they obviously felt so comfortable on stage – chilled out, sharing jokes, swapping banter, all that sort of craic.
they got the crowd dancing on a number of the songs
Of course they sing in German, so this review I suppose makes more sense for the bilingual among us, but what I could follow of the text sounded intelligent and lyrical. Which is what you hope of lyrics generally.
Good gig, good songs…the band is going to go far
The musicianship was spot on and they got the crowd dancing on a number of the songs…the lead guitarist is a new addition and was competent and versatile – playing a bit of bazuki too – if a little unexciting.
Drummer Nicolai Ziel, long-term face on the Berlin music scene, having played with a whole range of bands including Axel Prahl, Kleingeldprinzessin and Maximillian Hecker, raises the professionality of the band. Good gig, good songs, and I’m sure that with all that plus a well-known face at the front the band is going to go far.
Article by Noel Maurice /photos: Mia Morris
