Laibach in Munich
It has indeed been a banner year for me and Laibach shows. Last June, as you know, I saw Laibach's Bach interpretation show in Leipzig, and now, last Thursday, December 14th, I was able to get away to München for the Laibach Volk concert at Backstage, a concert venue in the Bavarian capital. And this time, instead of going solo, I invited my nephew, Jon, who works and lives with his family in München, to accompany me to the show. So after a nice supper together with the family at a Munich Brauhaus, Jon and I departed for the show at Backstage. Doors were to open at 20:00 hrs., with the show starting at 21:00 hrs.; I mentioned to Jon that I would like to be there early to get in the front row. Of the two previous Laibach concerts I have attended, that in Leipzig and the Cabaret Metro show in Chicago for the Kapital tour in 1992, I was right up front and center next to the stage, and the experience there is one that can almost be described as bordering on religious experience, at least for me. You can keep your Jewish savior and your cabal of gay men handing out wafers...give me a Laibach show anyday! It is my communion in a post-industrial, post-postmodern world.
Jon and I had done a map reconnaissance of our destination that afternoon, and had decided upon traveling via the Munich underground to Rotkreuzplatz, which looked to be near Backstage. Wrong! We ended up asking first a couple of old ladies, who gave us the wrong directions. Just to be sure, I asked a couple of younger ones, who got us going in the right direction: translation - take the bus! After looking at the plan at the Rotkreuzplatz bus stop, we saw that it was only 3 stops away or 4 minutes by bus. Little did we know that four minutes by bus turned into almost a half-hour of walking. But the weather was cooperative, not too cold (unlike after the show!), and we made our way to Backstage.
We finally reached our destination, which looked to be a re-use of what once was some kind of industrial complex, right by the main railline heading toward the Hauptbahnhof. After a quick check to make sure we were in the right place, I asked if there was any place to get a beer before the show, as we were over an hour early. This was my first experience in Germany of not being at least 100m within range of a beer, I think. Jon and I checked at the neighboring stage, also part of the Backstage complex; the bar was set-up, but the bartender said he couldn't sell us a beer since he did not have his register up and running yet. No luck! So we went to stand in line outside for the Laibach show.
We stood alone in line for the longest time, as plenty of young men and women (and even some mothers, perhaps chaperones?) showed up for the neighboring Emergenza show, whatever that was. They had a 19:30 entry time, and we noticed that there were quite a few cute girls heading for the show. Finally, a gent perhaps a couple of years older than me showed up for Laibach. His name was Brian, and he was a graphic designer from the U.K. in town for the weekend. I had mentioned that I had seen Laibach last summer, upon which Brian asked Jon if he had seen Laibach before. Jon replied, "I'm a Laibach virgin!"
Finally, around 19:45, other people started showing up for the Laibach show. Laibach brings out a wide-variety in terms of concert dress. I had dressed in gray and black, silver Thorshammer around my neck. Jon wore a black pullover based on my recommendation. Of course, there were numerous fascistis that showed up complete with leather trenchcoats, camouflage military pants and paratrooper boots. There were some more traditional Laibachers with Austrian Lederhosen and jackboots as well. At 20:00 the doors opened, and despite a couple of typical Germans pushing ahead of us in line, I reserved us a place slightly right of center on the stage, allowing us to place our beer bottles on it, amidst a chaos of sound cables. I noted to Jon that my beer was being electromagnetically charged due to the swirl of cables surrounding it.
Unlike the Leipzig concert last summer, Laibach merchandise was on sale, but the two items in which I was interested, Laibach pins and armbands, were unfortunately sold out, this being one of the last shows on this leg of the tour. I did pick up a couple of Laibach NSK passport applications. Since Laibach declared themselves to be an independent state of Neue Slowenische Kunst in the 1990's, you can become an NSK citizen by sending 24 euros and two passport photos to Ljubljana, Slovenia. I wonder if anyone has ever had the balls to try to travel with the thing. I can imagine they would raise a few eyebrows in the EU and buy you a ticket to Guantanamo in the USA. You can apply for yours here.
Approximately fifteen minutes before the show was to start, the loudspeakers began blaring communist style march music; I'm not sure if it was Slovenian or Russian, but it was definitely Slavic, and it seemed to be in the heroic style. Then, after a pause and a drumroll, the real German national anthem, without words.
After the Deutsche Nationalhymne wound down, the band appeared through the artificial haze of a fog machine. They were all young and unrecognizable, except of course, for the lead singer, Milan Fras, who has been with the project from the beginning in 1980. Fras was wearing his standard dark blue headdress, this time decked out with a V symbol for Volk, the title of the new album. I saw him on the Kapital tour in Chicago, and it looked like at that time he was wearing some kind of thermometer symbol on the forehead of this headdress. Fras wore a gray suit with a dark blue sash belt, and his suspenders were hanging down in back. He wore jackboots. Stage right was a young woman singer wearing a turban-style black headdress, also with the Volk-symbol, and a somewhat Victorian, high-collared dress with long, beaded necklaces, complete with jackboots as well. The other band members-- a shorn-headed drummer and two keyboardists, were pretty non-descript in their dress. Obviously missing were Ivan Novak and Dejan Knez, both of whom were at the Leipzig show last summer, and according to the posters, are still with the band.
This Laibach show was divided into two sets of very different material. The first set was essentially the new album, Volk, which is Laibach’s interpretations of the national anthems of various nations. Most songs featured the ethereal, beautiful alto voice of the female singer, and were usually contrasted with the spoken texts in Fras’ typical low growl. Two projectors flashed videos on two screens behind the band. The first song, Germania, a take on the Deutschlandhymne of Haydn, featured familial scenes of Germany’s economic miracle of the 1950’s. The next song, America, was more a critique of current US foreign policy, with oil wells superimposed on a US flag with V-Volk symbols instead of stars. Also of note during this set was a rocking version of Türkiye, complete with Atatürk text flashing with the moon and crescent, as well as Yisrael, featuring not only the Israeli flag, but a Palestinian one as well. The visuals then featured a figurine with two rotating cherubs holding hands, one side in light, the other in negative light. The political implications were a little too obvious. Nippon, the song for Japan, as well as Italia, were primarily soft songs featuring the lovely female vocals. The set ended with the NSK anthem for the State of Neue Slowenische Kunst, a version of a song first heard as The Great Seal on the Opus Dei album of the 1980’s. Instead of Fras’ vocals, a computerized, synthesized voice, reminiscent of my old Atari 800 software speech synthesizer, SAM, paraphrased the famous speech from Churchill, “We shall defend our state. We shall never surrender.”
After a quick pause, the second set was a rocker. There were no soft songs in the whole set--it was hard-core Laibach. The lovely soloist was replaced by two smokin' chicks in pigtails and short black, feathered dresses, each on a snare drum flanking the lead singer. (When did Laibach decide to go with hot, young girls? Not a bad decision, I might add.) They drummed in what can best be described as Hitler Jugend fashion, and provided background vocals as well. Laibach has always fascinated me with their attention to detail. At my first show in 1992, I noticed that they even offered a Laibach tea service complete with the standard black Greek cross. This time in the accoutrement's department, it was the jackboots worn by these Mädels. They had straps on the side of the boots, each holding a replacement drumstick, just in case one should break in their synchronistic fury. Fras started out the set with Tanz Mit Laibach from the WAT (We Are Time) album. “Eins, zwei, drei, vier, bitte schön, komm tanz mit mir!“ is the catchy refrain, but the other lyrics are a scathing criticism of our soulless information age. He followed with one of my all-time favorite Laibach songs, Alle Gegen Alle (Everyone against Everyone), which really brought down the house. It was, in my opinion, the second best song of the night. Next came three more songs from the WAT album: Du Bist Unser (You are Ours), Hell:Symmetry, and Achtung! Laibach saved the best song for last with a killer rendition of Das Spiel Ist Aus (The Game is Over), after which the only encore was a kind of Laibach medley, starting with a live version of Life is Life, after which the band came forward for a bow, as the electronic medley went into God is God and other standards. As credits for the show rolled on the two screens in back, Fras kissed the soloist on the cheeks, and when I smiled in appreciation of the awesome show, a grin also came across his face, and Fras slapped my outstretched hand.
I had been touched by Laibach.
(Here is a link to a review of a show in Sweden, which provides some nice photos of the current Laibach Volk tour.)
Jon and I had done a map reconnaissance of our destination that afternoon, and had decided upon traveling via the Munich underground to Rotkreuzplatz, which looked to be near Backstage. Wrong! We ended up asking first a couple of old ladies, who gave us the wrong directions. Just to be sure, I asked a couple of younger ones, who got us going in the right direction: translation - take the bus! After looking at the plan at the Rotkreuzplatz bus stop, we saw that it was only 3 stops away or 4 minutes by bus. Little did we know that four minutes by bus turned into almost a half-hour of walking. But the weather was cooperative, not too cold (unlike after the show!), and we made our way to Backstage.
We finally reached our destination, which looked to be a re-use of what once was some kind of industrial complex, right by the main railline heading toward the Hauptbahnhof. After a quick check to make sure we were in the right place, I asked if there was any place to get a beer before the show, as we were over an hour early. This was my first experience in Germany of not being at least 100m within range of a beer, I think. Jon and I checked at the neighboring stage, also part of the Backstage complex; the bar was set-up, but the bartender said he couldn't sell us a beer since he did not have his register up and running yet. No luck! So we went to stand in line outside for the Laibach show.
We stood alone in line for the longest time, as plenty of young men and women (and even some mothers, perhaps chaperones?) showed up for the neighboring Emergenza show, whatever that was. They had a 19:30 entry time, and we noticed that there were quite a few cute girls heading for the show. Finally, a gent perhaps a couple of years older than me showed up for Laibach. His name was Brian, and he was a graphic designer from the U.K. in town for the weekend. I had mentioned that I had seen Laibach last summer, upon which Brian asked Jon if he had seen Laibach before. Jon replied, "I'm a Laibach virgin!"
Finally, around 19:45, other people started showing up for the Laibach show. Laibach brings out a wide-variety in terms of concert dress. I had dressed in gray and black, silver Thorshammer around my neck. Jon wore a black pullover based on my recommendation. Of course, there were numerous fascistis that showed up complete with leather trenchcoats, camouflage military pants and paratrooper boots. There were some more traditional Laibachers with Austrian Lederhosen and jackboots as well. At 20:00 the doors opened, and despite a couple of typical Germans pushing ahead of us in line, I reserved us a place slightly right of center on the stage, allowing us to place our beer bottles on it, amidst a chaos of sound cables. I noted to Jon that my beer was being electromagnetically charged due to the swirl of cables surrounding it.
Unlike the Leipzig concert last summer, Laibach merchandise was on sale, but the two items in which I was interested, Laibach pins and armbands, were unfortunately sold out, this being one of the last shows on this leg of the tour. I did pick up a couple of Laibach NSK passport applications. Since Laibach declared themselves to be an independent state of Neue Slowenische Kunst in the 1990's, you can become an NSK citizen by sending 24 euros and two passport photos to Ljubljana, Slovenia. I wonder if anyone has ever had the balls to try to travel with the thing. I can imagine they would raise a few eyebrows in the EU and buy you a ticket to Guantanamo in the USA. You can apply for yours here.
Approximately fifteen minutes before the show was to start, the loudspeakers began blaring communist style march music; I'm not sure if it was Slovenian or Russian, but it was definitely Slavic, and it seemed to be in the heroic style. Then, after a pause and a drumroll, the real German national anthem, without words.
After the Deutsche Nationalhymne wound down, the band appeared through the artificial haze of a fog machine. They were all young and unrecognizable, except of course, for the lead singer, Milan Fras, who has been with the project from the beginning in 1980. Fras was wearing his standard dark blue headdress, this time decked out with a V symbol for Volk, the title of the new album. I saw him on the Kapital tour in Chicago, and it looked like at that time he was wearing some kind of thermometer symbol on the forehead of this headdress. Fras wore a gray suit with a dark blue sash belt, and his suspenders were hanging down in back. He wore jackboots. Stage right was a young woman singer wearing a turban-style black headdress, also with the Volk-symbol, and a somewhat Victorian, high-collared dress with long, beaded necklaces, complete with jackboots as well. The other band members-- a shorn-headed drummer and two keyboardists, were pretty non-descript in their dress. Obviously missing were Ivan Novak and Dejan Knez, both of whom were at the Leipzig show last summer, and according to the posters, are still with the band.
This Laibach show was divided into two sets of very different material. The first set was essentially the new album, Volk, which is Laibach’s interpretations of the national anthems of various nations. Most songs featured the ethereal, beautiful alto voice of the female singer, and were usually contrasted with the spoken texts in Fras’ typical low growl. Two projectors flashed videos on two screens behind the band. The first song, Germania, a take on the Deutschlandhymne of Haydn, featured familial scenes of Germany’s economic miracle of the 1950’s. The next song, America, was more a critique of current US foreign policy, with oil wells superimposed on a US flag with V-Volk symbols instead of stars. Also of note during this set was a rocking version of Türkiye, complete with Atatürk text flashing with the moon and crescent, as well as Yisrael, featuring not only the Israeli flag, but a Palestinian one as well. The visuals then featured a figurine with two rotating cherubs holding hands, one side in light, the other in negative light. The political implications were a little too obvious. Nippon, the song for Japan, as well as Italia, were primarily soft songs featuring the lovely female vocals. The set ended with the NSK anthem for the State of Neue Slowenische Kunst, a version of a song first heard as The Great Seal on the Opus Dei album of the 1980’s. Instead of Fras’ vocals, a computerized, synthesized voice, reminiscent of my old Atari 800 software speech synthesizer, SAM, paraphrased the famous speech from Churchill, “We shall defend our state. We shall never surrender.”
After a quick pause, the second set was a rocker. There were no soft songs in the whole set--it was hard-core Laibach. The lovely soloist was replaced by two smokin' chicks in pigtails and short black, feathered dresses, each on a snare drum flanking the lead singer. (When did Laibach decide to go with hot, young girls? Not a bad decision, I might add.) They drummed in what can best be described as Hitler Jugend fashion, and provided background vocals as well. Laibach has always fascinated me with their attention to detail. At my first show in 1992, I noticed that they even offered a Laibach tea service complete with the standard black Greek cross. This time in the accoutrement's department, it was the jackboots worn by these Mädels. They had straps on the side of the boots, each holding a replacement drumstick, just in case one should break in their synchronistic fury. Fras started out the set with Tanz Mit Laibach from the WAT (We Are Time) album. “Eins, zwei, drei, vier, bitte schön, komm tanz mit mir!“ is the catchy refrain, but the other lyrics are a scathing criticism of our soulless information age. He followed with one of my all-time favorite Laibach songs, Alle Gegen Alle (Everyone against Everyone), which really brought down the house. It was, in my opinion, the second best song of the night. Next came three more songs from the WAT album: Du Bist Unser (You are Ours), Hell:Symmetry, and Achtung! Laibach saved the best song for last with a killer rendition of Das Spiel Ist Aus (The Game is Over), after which the only encore was a kind of Laibach medley, starting with a live version of Life is Life, after which the band came forward for a bow, as the electronic medley went into God is God and other standards. As credits for the show rolled on the two screens in back, Fras kissed the soloist on the cheeks, and when I smiled in appreciation of the awesome show, a grin also came across his face, and Fras slapped my outstretched hand.
I had been touched by Laibach.
(Here is a link to a review of a show in Sweden, which provides some nice photos of the current Laibach Volk tour.)
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