Synth Is Not Dead

BodyFest in  Stockholm was sold out completely. In this picture we see Spark. Photo: NineIZ

BODYFEST Kills That Rumour
There seems to be a rumour among them entreprenours of synthmusic festivals. That synth is dead.The fact they stop arranging pure synth events speaks for this. My speculation is that they feel old and quit (Tinnitus) or they want to mix in other genres of music (Arvika) since they dont realize how big this is.
Only WGT in Leipzig is still going strong.

Big audience at Bodyfest. Here watching and listening Pouppée Fabrikk. Photo: NineIZ

In Sweden the new phenomena Bodyfest is taking it from there. And they are smart enough to mix in different styles within the genre itself. The EBM and Body genre was celebrating in Stockholm this weekend at the very First BodyFest event! And it was of great success. All tickets got sold out and the crowd was very pleased all through. Even if bit tired maybe in the end. Eight hours of music on a road is a bit exhausting.

Jean-Luc de Meyer in Front 242 beholds the audience with energetic fire at BodyFest. Photo: NineIZ

Front 242 was there! As the main attraction.The band that started it all. The fathers of the genre EBM. They made a great concert and were so energetic on  stage that Jean-Luc de Meyer didn't even come out for the extra number the audience screamed forward. And I totally understands him. And so did all mine musician friends also. Wow. He really gave all at stage for us during the set. We got extras of course. They are two singers in the band, remember?

Patrick Codenys in Front 242 was the one to be interviewed this evening. Photo: NineIZ

Right before the Front 242 gig I met with Patrick Codenys and he told me I was to expect some return to the old sound of the band. And they sure gave us a cool mix, slightly and gentle updated with new samplings.

Patrick Codenys NEWS

Patrick Codenys also told me about his new side project. He is learning a new language, Dance. Yes, it is his words. Patrick Codenys is working with a Dance Company called La Zampa and make music for them. They had a very nice and spectacular gig in Toulouse this spring that got lots of attention, "Daisy Cutter". He seems very thrilled and excited about this new area. We already know he is the most innovative in the band. He is a biotechnic humanoid all through. I didn't know though that he doesn't even consider himself to be a musician, but he tells me this at our meeting backstage. He is living the technique as an artist, I  believe. His other side project Red Sniper is still going strong too, wherein he expresses through film also, among others art expressions.

Front 242 NEWS

Patrick Codenys tells me that Front 242 is soon to be extending their live shows into surround sound and more multimedia experience. As this has become his new passion. He is learning this right now and the Front 242 has a project group working on this. The Front 242 were supposed to show this last spring but it got postponed. In December this year at a gig in Belgium, in Brussels, we will get a room specially for this to walk through and experience the new phenomena of the band before we get to the concert hall. And then we get the chance to see it once again at Leipzig at the Wave Gotik Treffen in  May 2011. 

Am looking forward to this.

Them other bands at this festival

The BodyFest contained also of gigs from No Sleep by the Machine and Stockholm Wrecking Crew, Spark, Autodafeh, Tyske Ludder and Pouppée Fabrikk. In the foaje we got DJ Insomnia (André Kiers) and in the concert hall Anders Karlsson från The Pain Machinery to keep us up with the beat in them pauses between the bands and them we choose to take for a break.

FOAJE, some more band pictures and something else

Moulin Noir; Anders Wikholm in the foaje
Photo: NineIZ

A whole buss loaded with Germans came only for them. Pouppée Fabrikk. Photo: NineIZ

Audience Photo: NineIZ

The drummer of SPARK was cute in his kilt. And so energetic. Their songs surprised me a bit. Sounded like pop with EBM rythms to me. The shaped the BODY scene, I have been told by the Bodyfest festival general himself. Photo: NineIZ

Tyske Ludder did a great show. They made me feel like back in the 90's gothic synthtechnomusic parties again and missing my long black leather coat a lots, but they looked a bit like GI Joe and Rambo. Maybe that was the intention since they surely made deal with the german bad concious about second world war by showing the terror USA and other countries practice of today to others in the world in  filmstrips, photos and songs. It was a cruel show. It sureley rocked. Photo: NineIZ

Autodafeh experimented a bit in the middle with Goth but returned to  their roots in the end. Photo: NineIZ

Curiosity: The Testikelbrand himself (No Sleep by the Machine) was organizing Bodyfest with his friends. He was in orange. Testikelbrand is swedish for Burning Fire in them testicles.

Testikelbrand Photo: NineIZ

He writes wonderful lyrics btw. Check out his websites. He told me the new song Yellow Mica and the old song Old Track was the ones the audience really loved in  their set.

He got a normal name too: Jens Plesner but writes under his name Testikelbrand.

Some soundclips from YouTube with the courtesy of the film maker and the bands;

If you  look in the YouTube for a video called Bodyruset you will see Stockholm Body Audience warm up a few weeks before Bodyfest with a little run in the park to them tunes of EBM.

Clip from "Daisy Cutter" - a taste of Patrick Codenys La Zampa music