MeetFactory, Prague (Czech Republic) – 05.11.2011

“Cause the drums have been the rumble of thunder and every time Chris’ and Albertos drum sticks clashed against each other the lightnings flushed up the room. This night we first recognized truly the genius of that song. ”

Still tired after the last night in Dresden we had to get up very very early cause our plan was it to get us ready for the night already before we arrive in Prague.
Getting us ready meant missing our breakfast instead but it was worth it. We had a new idea which grew in our heads since the concert in Essen in October.
It should have been something very special. On one hand Prague this year would be our last concert in 2011 and on the other Prague is the place where it all began with us three girls.
What was special now with our make-up? This time we would turn everything in negative colours. Instead of black our make-up was white. All white.
With Heidi at our side we left Dresden by train through the grey but still beautiful landscape of Saxon Switzerland.
Outside the hills, trees and little villages rolled along while we feverishly looked forward to THAT night.
Arriving in Prague we somehow felt home. Felt like we know every little corner of this golden town. Somehow everyone of us left a piece of us here one year before. And you return and feel getting a warm welcome back.
This time we thought this will be a special night and we decided to choose a special hotel too. We´ve chosen a so called botel. A hotel on a ship swimming on the Moldau.

And well Heidi was with us there too. She was our guardian angel caring about us all the time. After we checked in we inspected our cabin. Which was big enough for 4 people. 2 big king size beds and sooo many mirrors. Perfect to prepare us for the night. With a peculiar calmness we went out to walk to the MeetFactory. On our way we took some refreshment by eating and drinking something. We decided to walk the rest to the MeetFactory and catch the spirit of Prague.
Only some meters left we thought and saw the location to our right hand located on a high ground. We saw hustle and bustle up that hill and recognized a waving hand. It was Caroline seeing us walking by welcoming us warmly with that nice gesture. Reaching the location a sense of dejà-vu catched me but we were calm and relaxed. It was strange. Usually at this point our excitement reached the first time a very high level but this time…. nothing.
The anteroom generally is used as a bar and café and this time also was a cosy place to wait till the doors to the night would open.
This time we were not the first ones there but we did not care. It was like joining our family. And we decided to take a seat and drink some coffee.
IAMX-Tour-Corner coffee morning.

While time passed by we watched the people passing by coming in and leaving again. Later we changed from coffee to beer. As we sat there a white dog joined us girls. His patterned fur was a copy of our outfit. Cause the make-up wasn´t the only thing we´ve changed from black. We wore white clothes with black colour spots all over.
Following the video of Volatile Times we met in Cologne some days before this show. We went down to the Rhine river and took our clothes and colour with us. Splashing each other with this black colour.
Ok back to the MeetFactory.
This night in Prague we called ourselves the white army. And as Caroline stopped by to have a short talk with us surprised she recognized our outfit change as well. As well she told us about their nightmare the´ve been going through the night after Dresden.
The band was on their way to Prague by car as they had a breakdown with their tour bus. Nothing could help but Reza came to pick up everyone except Caroline and Alberto (no more space in his car) who had to wait till they had a new car which they´ve rented somewhere at the Czech border. No one of the members had lots of sleep that night which you may not have noticed during the whole night. This is professional!

After a while more and more people came to wait and it became louder and busier in that room all the more as James Cook came out to caress our ears with his acoustic performance to his new album “Arts & Siences”.
Noblesse Oblige joined him supporting him acoustically. Successfully he got us in the right mood for the following crazy night. Now it was time for a serious part of that night. I knew already about the problem we had last year before they´ve let the people in but this time it was one million time harder.
The security pushed all people outside. I mean you all can imagine that this might cause trouble and they did not learn ot of their mistakes in 2010. It was pure chaos and a catastrophe.
The meanwhile now very big fan crowd shoved and pushed. They all wanted to go back inside. But no chance and with big worries I´ve looked to my left side and saw Triangle Girl gasping for air. It was so hard to breathe already for Cross Girl and me and we´re way bigger than Triangle Girl was.
After a felt eternity and a hard torture we went through, when the security provoked the waiting crowd and made them angry, it was finally time to open the doors. Which caused much more panic and the crowd pushed forward as if someone pursues them.
I was panic when my thoughts swapped over to my experiences in 2010.
Cross Girl and Triangle Girlr so far never believed how hard it was the first time in Prague but now they do.
And this time it was much harder – so much harder. I watched Triangle Girl trying to get out of this crowd of hands, arms and pushing bodies as she got stuck with her neck onto an arm of a security guy. I again saw her gasping for air and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her disappearing in the MeetFactory. Now it was my time of horror. I needed to go the same way as Triangle Girl. Me too I got stuck on this security arm. Panic grew in my body and as I was half way out my right arm was stuck in the mass. I still had my camera in that hand while I was pushed to the door frame. My left arm was free and my right one with my camera was still in the crowd. As I felt a hand grabbing my left one pulling me. This hand was Cross Girls hand coming back to help me coming out of that nightmare. I screamed in pain and panic as I finally came free and I breathed like I came up to the surface close to suffocating.

Now the only thought I had. I need to go in. And in the black mass I saw one white spot glooming in the dark. So Triangle Girl and me we stood there as Cross Girl joined us when she got her wrist band later then me cause of her heroic deed for me.
I thought could that be true? Is it real? Did we really have the luck to come to the front row again? This is crazy, really. After this nightmare we went through none of us girls did believe that we could ever do it.
AWESOME!
After we calmed down from this experience this strange inexplicable calmness filled our bodies again. No tingly feeling, no shaking hands NOTHING only quiet. But a strange nostalgic and sad feeling catched us – knowing that THIS night will be the last time in 2011 and perhaps for a couple of months or a year. Who knows.
We didn´t think about anything anymore as Valerie and Sebastian from Noblesse Oblige entered the stage to perform their set and heat up the audience. Which they really do in an excellent way. And what you could have seen in their eyes was wistfulness, melancholy, sadness and happiness about knowing what they´ve experienced as the support act of IAMX. Lots of new listeners joined their fan base as well as they came in touch with so many people from those various countries and it was nice to know that they felt the same like we did.
And this feeling in their bones made them perform even more enthusiastic and powerful. They´ve played out every little tiny spark of energy out of their souls.
Their electronic voodoo art filled the whole room with magic and you could feel how every little fan got beguiled by their spirit bit by bit till they´ve reached everyone in there. Pure magic. I really get goose pimples now even when only writing about this and it´s nothing to compare about how I´ve felt that one night in Prague.

And again waiting for IAMX. Gosh how often did we do that this tour? If I´m right it was now the 19th time (including Prague 2010 when they´ve played first sketches of “Volatile Times”).
Which leads me to the first surprise of that night. Slowly and devious the “Bernadette (Headfuck Collage Remix)” crawled into our ears widening our pupils and made us aware of what may come only seconds to follow. Accompanied by shrill sqeauling IAMX entered the stage and they instantly started with “Into Asylum”.
And what we already knew from the entry now started again. The grabbing hands transformed into a pushing crowd like a wave starting from the back of the room getting more and more energy till this wave brakes like the sea on a shore. And this crowd had lots of energy which automatically made us move more and more.

I realized that there´ve have been huge screens on every side of the stage. Which optically made the stage bigger as it was anyhow.
Blue light flashed through the air as the stomping beats washed us through “Music People”. And there was nothing left to do. The only thing you could do was – MOVE. Jump, dance, bang your heads or what ever. Just move.
No time to breathe cause the red lights of “Nightlife” already made Albertos whitewashed torso and Chris red stripe, which covered his eyes, glew.
I´ve often described what I feel through “Ghosts of Utopia” and I still can´t find the right words for it. It´s like a hymn and I scream my voice and soul out during the refrain. It just takes me with it. “My Secret Friend” was a welcome time to rest before the whole room catched fire for “Fire and Whispers”. And if I say the room catched fire, it nearly needs to be taken literally. Every screen and wall was filled with fire. The projections made the whole room burn. This is something which stayed in my mind from that concert. It engraved itself in my memory. From flames to flashes
I needed something to cool down and still having the flames in my eyes  on Albertos chest flashed lighting flashes and rain ran over his body. Immediately the room was filled with a big storm as the drumming sounds of “Tear Garden” started. During this song I often heard the girls marvelling at this scenery and well I stood there with my mouth open as well.  Cause the drums have been the rumble of thunder and every time Chris’ and Albertos drum sticks clashed against each other the lightnings flushed up the room. This night we first recognized truely the genius of that song. How the band tried to bring a thunder storm into a musical interface. The best “Tear Garden” performance we girls have seen so far.
Still fascinated by this a very nostalgic moment reached us when “Oh Beautiful Town” took turn with the flashes. It reminded us girls of this one special night which made us to that what we are now. This one night in Prague made us to IAMX-Tour-Corner and I saw the shiny eyes of Cross Girl and Triangle Girl glowing in the light. Telling… ‘Do you remember? One year ago….’.
I was paralized by this moment and I wished my eyes could have taken a picture of this.
“Volatile Times” threw us out of this look back at our beginning and brought us all close to madness. I saw Janine in front of us jumping around as she got down on her knees reaching us dried up girls a bottle of water. I´ve opened it and all I felt was wet hot, really hot but wet water. Didn´t care about that fact and was happy to wet my throat a little. Thank you Janine. Chris left the stage for a second and came back with his face covered with white colour below this red stripe.

No time to rest cause “Think of England” thrilled us followed by a hand walk of Alberto above the heads, wearing a ‘Noblesse Oblige’ shirt performing his solo part. A mix of “VIOLENTA”-times and an artefact of their performance as the IAMX Noise Cabinet. I mean most of you know now what happens?
Yes our personal concert ‘black out’. “Nature of Inviting” followed by “Cold Red Light”. I mean what else than dance yourself away can you do? Right, nothing else. And the audience did. It was a crazy mad head-fuck situation especially when Brett came on stage for “Cold Red Light” to give his best on his guitar. Too crazy, too wild – just madness.
And well “Kiss and Swallow” was pushing us to go on and on and on. But first we need to hold our breath for a short break before the band came back on stage to perform “The Alternative”. But not alone. They were followed by Noblesse Oblige and James Cook, who wore a asian like dressing gown. Fabulous.
It was a visiual overkill. I didn´t know where I have to look at first. First at Janine playing with Noblesse Oblige or at James Cook grabbing Chris` megaphone to scream? I didn´t know.

I was just smashing my head from the left to the right and back to understand what happens on stage and to not miss a single moment. And as it was over the special stage guests wanted to leave but Chris begged them to stay for another song to perform “Bring Me Back A Dog” all together.
This was too much. I saw only hair and white flashes banging around from my ladies right to me and me I did the same.
And again a bottle reached over to us by Janine helped us to survive this head trip. Now it was time again for the most loathed moment in a concert. The last song – “Spit It Out”. Not because we don´t like it – no its vice versa. But it´s the last song of a concert. Indifferent by this fact we gave all again and got a kiss on the hand by Janine which we gave one back in return.
I tell you this concert was hardcore, no…. no that´s not true. It was HEARTCORE!
A unique and unforgettable night and this time “Spit It Out” wasn´t the last song. It only marked the end of the first part of the ‘show’.
And as I told you we dance a lot we´ve sweat like hell during the concert. We urgently needed to drink something cause the room was really hot and we were sweat out as we met our German friends Ida, Meike and Heidi joining us for a drink or two.

All you could have seen were happy smiling faces and exhausted bodies after this hot show and this unbelievable year we´ve all been through.
Heidi told us that already when Nobless Oblige played she were outside waiting to get inside. There was no organisation for the entry. It was a mess. Hope in the future they really learn out of it and change things to do it better the next time.
We brought our clothes to the wardrobe and being well prepared we rebuilt our make-up like there wasn´t anything.
Freshly styled we went back to the Party where already Wolfgang Flür (a former member of the German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk) obliging his dj set with us. Later he take turns with Terence Fixmer (a french electronic dj and club act). For this the security reduced the dancefloor into a smaller room. Separating the stage from the party people. It felt more intimate so that Terence Fixmer could spoil our ears and bodies a better way with his amazing dj set filled with IAMX remixes and other great electronic and independent music.
As we walked around we astonishingly saw that lots of people already left the location although IAMX announced their appearance at the aftershow party.

We´ve crossed the merchandise sector as well as a little room where people could have left their creativity by painting, writing or doing something for the band. So that there´ve been already lot´s of things in this room but there still was a little space for us too. We took paper and felt-tips to leave a little salute to the band.
We left this room the same way we came and met Caroline and Nobless Oblige and we used the chance to take a picture together for our memorie box at home.
Back on the main dancefloor again we met Caroline and Valerie dancing with us, celebarting and drinking with us to this incredible year.
As we´ve been already drinking a lot nature was calling so Cross Girl went out to the toilet as she came back excited and stammering something.
Cross Girl took Triangle Girl and me with her saying something with ‘the crown’, ‘the girl’,'the girl with the crown’, ‘toilet’ and much more things we couldn´t really understand.

She introduced Edina from Budapest to us as the scales fell from my eyes. I saw it was the girl we´ve met on Facebook a while before. Edina made us aware about the incident in Olomouc where Chris´s lost his crown. Till that moment we only know that someone took it. Chris had lost his crown in at the edge of the stage and the crown fell down into the photographers ditch. One of the photographers found the crown and gave it to one girl in the crowd who asked him for the crown. Well…. the girl disappeared and with her the crown. And you now may think how did Cross Girl and Edina met without haveing a fixed date and why do they think about how the crown gets lost? First: Cross Girl wanted to step in one of those toilet cabins as she realized that there was already someone in who forgot to close the door properly. As Cross Girl excused herself and wanted to go Edina hold her back and saw that it was Cross Girl. Well this is how its one thing after another.
Second: We couldn´t believe that someone actually took the crown away. How could someone do this? We don´t know.

But we are amazed and honoured how far this crown has travelled. It´s a pleasure to see that it became a part of the show for a while. Well back to Edina. Thank you Edina for asking the girl to give it back to the band and for giving us this unique moment which we keep in our hearts as one of the highlights from 2011. After we´ve talked for a while Edina left the location and we didn´t ever want to turn the lights on.

Vivacious and in high spirits we danced all our energy out. Accidently I witnessed a shadowy figure passing by behind the curtain and I realized it was Chris. And from this second I knew he will not show his face that night again. We danced and celebrated our time together.
When a bulk of people gathered into a mob around a staircase leading up from the roof of the room down to the dancefloor. And only moments later the door opened and a gloomy ray filled the dark air with white light. A shadow appeared in the door and you could see Janine coming down the stairs really daring to show her face knowing that there will be hundrets of arms grabbing for her. We decided to watch this spectacle from a distance and wait for what else might happen that night. As the turmoil was over Janine was gone and the crowd who was in a lather turned back into a dancing one. As we recognized Alberto who flitted through the crowd having a short talk here and there as he disappeared too. Later again Caroline and Valerie came back to dance one more time with the crowd before they disappeared in the night which tended to its end.

Meanwhile it was already 3:30 a.m. when the lights actually turned on and the music faded away.
No this couldn´t have been. Really! We asked for one more song. One last one to let this night end properly and Terence Fixmer granted to our request by playing this breathtaking and really astonishing outstanding remix of “Ghosts of Utopia”. We felt like free birds. The beats filled our bodies and we three girls felt like being the only ones there.
This time it wasn´t “Spit it Out” marking the end of something. It was “Ghosts of Utopia” marking the end of this night and the end of 2011.
The end of this unimaginable year for us.
What has a beginning has an end. Yes pretty wise.
That´s why we left the MeetFactory in an excellent mood to have a little talk outside with the last survivors of this party before we walked back to our hotel. Which we now saw was a long long way. About 30 minutes by feet we needed to walk back but we didn´t care and were accompanied by our guardian angel Heidi.
The night was short but after 3 hours of sleep we went up as Heidi reminded us of our breakfast. And we felt like being at captains dinner in this wonderful ambience of this boat. The room was filled with golden sunlight reflected by the river flowing along. Strengthened by the breakfast we left the golden city of Prague to get our plane back to Cologne. Where our ways were separated – for the moment.
But we will be there together again. It goes on with IAMX and definitely with us girls too…!

Keep your eyes open!
The madness continues….

LOVE
XX
ITC

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SETLIST:

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PICTURES by Racoon Girl

   

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VIDEOS by Cross Girl

Beatpol, Dresden (Germany) – 04.11.2011

“Chris leant himself over us right into our faces that you nearly could feel his lashes grazing our faces for a volatile second.”

Once bitten, twice shy we would say after the airport disaster we had in London and we learned out of it by checking in online. Not again we would miss a flight! We swear! Triangle Girl and me we were already waiting at the airport as  we were bit paniced by waiting for Cross Girl who had our boarding passes and she was late or as she said right in time.

At the gate we breathed with a sigh of relief as we saw the boarding didn´t start without us and we sat down as we heard a voice saying that our flight will be delayed. The reason was a delayed flight from Munich and we waited there if I remember right about an hour later we took our seats in our plane.

We believed again that someone or somewhat didn´t want us to miss this plane the night before the show of IAMX in Dresden.
Concered about the loud noises in the plane we landed happy in Dresden. While we walked towards the exit of the airport we talked about our possibilities how to reach our hostel the best way. As a man about 35-37 years asked us whether he can help us and could take us to our hostel.

A bit worried – I mean you read and hear a lot of strange and evil things in modern times – we thankfully took his offer and he actually brought us to our hostel and didn´t want anything from us. The only thing he said that it was a pleasure for him and he only wanted to do a good deed – nothing more.

Happy about our luck we arrived in our room and thought that this was one of our luckiest days we had so far. As I once told you we´re not that spiritual but we thought there might be something special our lucky number “3″.
We are 3 girls, the room number was 3 and the time we arrived in our room was 21:33. Some might say come on – but 2011 teached us about spiritual belief.

Soon this year and this tour would be over. Only tomorrow and the night after tomorrow and it would be done – unfortunately. With this in our heads and all these memories of 2011 in our hearts we decided to drink to that and have a little walk. And as we walked and talked we crossed one corner and immediately were in front of the ‘Beatpol’ which would be the home for IAMX the following night.

Happy we saw there would be possibilities to drink and eat something as well as being protected in the case of rain. Satisfied we went back to our hostel and stepped in our beds with a hell of excitement burning in our bodies.

The next morning while Cross Girl and Triangle Girl took their shower I really got it and brought our so far last report about the show in Mons, Belgium in October online. Happy about that and excited we left our hostel to take the tram into the city of Dresden to do a little bit of sightseeing for our cultural heart in us. And what we can say is that Dresden is awesome. Hisotrical, modern and reminded us of Prague. Sure we did our sightseeing by only walking by and not really making a hold and find something out about the monument we see but it was the excitement sparkling in our bodies which led us back to our hostel. And it wasn`t only the concert of that night it also was the idea of our make-up for this show which let millions of butterflies fly around in our guts.
We thought this might be the before last show in 2011 and we wanted to do something special. So we decided to use the gestures we used in our last video.

You all know the 3 chinese apes closing their eys, ears and mouths with their hands? This is what we used in our video and wanted to use for our make-up in Dresden.
So Triangle Girl ‘didn´t hear’ anything, Cross Girl ‘didn’t see something’ and me I ‘couldn’t say’ anything. Covering our ears, eyes and mouth with black painted hands coverd with glitter.

I couldn´t say why but I was more excited than I ever was before one show. With fast big steps we reached the ‘Beatpol’ in about 10-15minutes by feet and before we passed the last corner Cross Girl asked me to have the first look around the corner.
It´s always a curious moment before we reach the doors of a location. I took a look around and relieved I saw only 2 girls standing there talking and watching the posters covering the walls of the club.
Very fast we came into contact with them and talked and talked as I realiezed that something was different than all the other shows before as I recognized what was different. It hit my head like a crash. I´ve forgotten my camera in the hostel. Me – I – DID FORGOT MY CAMERA. You may think this was a joke but it wasn´t so I ran back to the hotel to get my camera and laugh about me forgetting this in my excitement.

All was so relaxed. We had “drinky – the off-licence” providing us with drinks. You do laugh – but “drinky” was its name and we knew this will somehow become a running gag between us 3 girls.
Later as we waited there we met lots of known faces again as well 2 girls from Poland which we remember their faces from Prague in October 2010 as well as from Berlin this April.
Slowly the entrance was filled with fans waiting and with the raising of level of alcohol  in our blood we started to sing IAMX songs to banish the cold out of our bodies which tried to conquer our arms and legs starting from our toes.
As it became colder we decided to step in and continue waiting in the stairwell. I´ve to say that the concert room was in the first floor of the building.

Step by step we imperceptible climbed up the stairs as we nearly reached the doors of the concert hall.
Finally it was time to enter the venue and be sure that once more we had the luck to enter the room and being in the front row. Happy I saw the two polish girls on my right side knowing that they havn´t been in the front row yet and I saw the happiness in their faces glittering in their eyes.
It felt so private again. Our heads layed down on the boxes and the stage was as tiny as my living room is. It felt like a house party or something.

Not waiting too long our wonderful ‘Noblesse Oblige’ entered the stage.
They were so brilliant again and the only thing you could do is sing along, shake your heads and scream and dance. Stomping beats filled the room and made our hearts flutter. They played their common setlist but also made something special for the fans and played a song they havn´t played during this tour so far. It blew away my mind. It immediately touched me. Valeries special voice gave this french song a soft touch cuddling our ears – caressing us.
As I told you the stage was tiny they really didn’t have any space to move up there on stage. So Valerie decided for ‘May they come with spears and knives’ to leave the stage and perform her voodoo dance in the audience. It reminded me of an african tribe surrounding the dancer clapping their hands and sing and yell. As well as the soft light increased this impression. This really was an experience. The audience loved it! So did we!

Only 30 minutes left till the show would start and we were so excited which we never have been. It felt like a tornado is rushing in our bodies.
As the silhouettes of the band appeared on stage the room was filled with screaming people knowing that now it´s going to be mad and crazy.

The first stomping beats of “Into Asylum” cutting the voices into pieces pushing the people to jump and scream “Walk into asylum….” synchronous like a choir. It felt like being an unit together with the band, the song and the beats. It felt like the whole room including the stage jumped to the chorus.

To “Nightlife” for the first time I recognized what Chris was wearing round his head. First I thought it was a sleeping mask or something but then I saw in the red lights that it was a mud green tie round his head. Covering his right eye. And then I realised why he wore it. On a show before Dresden in Olomouc (CZ) our hobo feather crown we gave him in Berlin sadly disappeared and never was seen again so he perhaps thought to wear something different again.

Now he wears a moss green tie. And while I realised that I saw Chris leaning himself several times over our heads. This was surreal and somehow I watched it like seeing but not understanding it. And as I was over that Janine came over leaning herself down to us so close and near that you could have felt her body heat. She danced to the beat over our heads with her face down right next to ours. Electrifying.

The audience screamed their souls out when Chris came close to the edge of the stage holding his microphone into the audience as someone behind us grabbed it and threw it back. Chris had trouble getting it back as more and more hands grabbed after it. Me I thought no way and I grabbed the cable trying to help him getting his ‘voice’ back to start over with “Ghosts of Utopia”.
During this song there`s been a moment which took our breath away. Close to the end of “Ghosts of Utopia” Chris leant himself over us right into our faces that you nearly could feel his lashes grazing our faces for a volatile second. Going down in front of us like singing right into our faces. This was surreal.

When the first sounds of “My Secret Friend” reached my ear I was reliefed to have a second to breathe and come down.
I really didn´t get much from “My Secret Friend” by still feeling like being in a nother world when I´ve really smelled the cracking sparks of “Fire and Whispers”. Instantly the room was nearly silent absolutely devout. A moment of red magic feeling the audience listeing carefully closing their eyes imagening to sit close to a warming open fire.

As you all know fire needs rain to die and so the last tunes of “Fire and Whispers” died in the rising sounds of “Tear Garden” which blow the fire away and made the rain coming. Rushing down the walls behind the stage cooling down our minds and making us ready for “Oh Beautiful Town”. Which was dedicated , as Chris said, to Carolines blood line. As Caroline originally comes from Dresden it really touched me and made me happy to witness this moment together with her in her home town.  Well and what can I still say to that song? It always makes me melancholic and speechless. Brings me close to tears and flashes me out of it when Alberto starts his guitar solo at the end of this beautiful piece of music.

“Think of England” brought the audience back to their energy which was necessary for this neck and voice killing song duo “Nature of Inviting” and “Cold Red Light”.

‘I love you, I hate you’  groaned in the speakers when Chris sang no screamed it into his feather decorated now pink megaphone and the audience tried to counter.
Beauties do I still need to tell you what happens with us during “Cold Red Light”? I guess no but just let me say some words to it.

I mean the only thing I do remember of that song is my burning aching neck and some  shadowy misty scenes I do have in my mind. Like flashing lights, fast moving  instruments rushing by when I opend my eyes for a little moment and Chris being sometimes closer than I imagined him to be. “Cold Red Light” is always only a misty moment. Often we do not really see or get much of it. We only move our bodies, shake and bang our heads and wake up out of our psychotic rush when the last beats of it die away.

After a very short break IAMX came back on stage to play 3 more songs.
Chris stepped closer to the audience to dry himself, his chest, arm pits and his crotch with a white towel to throw this sweaty one into the audience.

With “The Alternative” they´ve played an all time classic song and then led over to a song which I thought it would not be played that night. Cause I was already disappointed when I saw the setlist on stage seeing that they´ve cut out “Bring Me Back A Dog”. The more I was in rage and ecstasy when they in deed played it. I couldn´t believe my eyes and ears. This is mad wild head kill. My god how I love that song and how this rapes my mind so hard.

Yes I´m going crazy for that song.
And now “Spit It Out” had again the sad quality to mark a concerts end.
I´ve witnessed Alberto covering his mouth with red gaffer tape looking over to Chris. Who couldn´t believe his eyes as he lifted up his tie to tear it off his mouth.  Alberto was spitting it away litterally spitting it out.
Well, it broke me into pieces by knowing together with the next night it will be the last time listinening to it live for a longer time. It made me melancholic but this night it felt like it was the last one.

The show, the atmosphere was unique. You felt the band was in an excellent mood having so much fun on stage and transporting it to the audience. Just MAGIC!
This mood brought us home back into our beds like giving us wings. I felt vivacious and together with our friend Heidi, who was in the same hotel like we were, we walked back in the cold dark misty night to rapidly find into sleep for our IAMX-Tour-Corner final in the golden city of Prague.

LOVE

XX

ITC

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SETLIST:

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PICTURES by Racoon Girl

   

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VIDEO by Cross Girl

Hey beauties,

IAMX need your support and you can do it the easy way! – HERE –>

German radio station Star FM
The song Volatile Times is nominated for their Top 30.

 

• Put in your first name (Vorname), last name (Nachname) and email address.
• In the field ‘Meine Top 3′ write IAMX - Volatile Times
• Click ‘Absenden’ on the bottom.

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Online magazine side-line

Scroll down and fill out the fields on the left. You don’t have to fill them all.

• Best band: IAMX
• Best album: IAMX – Volatile Times
• Best single: IAMX – Volatile Times
• Best e-shop: www.boutiqueiamx.eu

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Vote for IAMX’s manager Reza. Click here!
You don’t have to write in all categories, just the Artist Manager section will be fine.
Write down ‘Reza Davoudi, nineteen95 artist management’.

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And, last but not least, you can find many new products at Boutique IAMX. Our wonderful Boutique Fairy Céline sends your order to any country in the world. Contact her for any information you desire about Boutique IAMX: boutique [AT] iamx.eu

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GO AND SUPPORT!

LOVE

XX

ITC

On Air Studio, Mons (Belgium) – 15.10.2011

„ I turned left and saw the same surprised faces of Triangle Girl and Cross Girl. They both felt the same like me as I recognized in their faces.“

After nearly 9 hours of sleep., which by the way never was that long as we have been on tour through all the year, I´ve felt like reborn.

Felt like someone new.

And well I knew we would only take 30 minutes by car to the next city for our last concert at that weekend. Such a great feeling.

Completely ready for the show we´ve left Charleroi et voilá – bienvenue à Mons.

After we´ve found a parking place we took a little walk and ate something after about 24h without food.

Invigorated we searched for the location and discoverd it in a little by-road at the main square of that little belgian town in the shadows of the other little brick houses.

The time passed by fast again that time. Perhaps we´re already used to wait or it was because for about one hour we could see how they´ve brought all the euqipment inside.

Shortly before they usually should have opened the doors, they did but keeping us back as IAMX and Noblesse Oblige have been delayed with their soundcheck. So we waited in the front doors but not going in already.

The security staff was very kind and started to talk to us. So I asked one of them for the size of the venue as one guy asked me whether I want to see it.

So I went inside with him, having a short view on the stage and then going back to the entrance waiting there for the official admittance.

But then I was the first one to enter and as I walked in I saw Noblesse Oblige still doing their soundcheck. I was way confused so was Sebastian as I saw his facial expression when he saw me walking in.

As the venue filled up with people the same way my excitement grew.

Waiting for the support act often is like come on time please pass by and please let the support act pass by as fast as it could, but not for Noblesse Oblige.

We´re always waiting impatiently for them as well and when they enter the stage my heart does start to beat faster as these first electronic voodoo sounds raise from the speakers.

Valerie and Sebastian are such sympathic personality, inspiring and wild. Sebastian in his (I know I´ve wrote that already but it is like it is) James Dean like outfit and Valerie in her fanciful wild outfit with african spirit.

This already promises something special – as they are.

The mixture of these electronic melodies combined with voodoo spells, guitars and drums tempts you to dance and sing along.

They just send out this positive mood with pleasure in their eyes. And what I admire is their magical aura they dispense. I can´t take my eyes and ears of them. Your really once need to see them yourself. They are an event on stage.

Unfortunately they play only 30 minutes but if they once play their own set somewhere closer to Cologne I will go and see them aside to IAMX.

And again this killing break comes up after the support act and you wait their with your heart beating like it would explode every second.

1 minute seems to become 1 hour. A nightmare you hate and you love to go through in the same time. Somehow we need that thrill.

In the second when the lights turn out and the speakers start to send out the first beats my body starts to move automatically.

And a mysterious “walk walk” flies through the air brings the people to scream and jump and you know now – now the IAMX theatre opens their curtains and the first act starts.

With yellow twitching lights ‘Music People’ begins and you see the whole band moving to the beats and unison with the movement to the arms of the audience. And to push that you see Chris making a step closer to the edge of the stage leaning himself forward to the audience like saying ‘come on I want more…. move! move! move’ and the audience obeys.

And power is what you need when ‘Ghosts of Utopia’ rushes out of the speakers. I don´t know how other people experience this song but for me when the refrain starts it feels like taking a long and deep breath after breaking the surface of the water.

‘ahaaaa aaaah ohooooohoooo’ and ‘My Secret Friend’ starts. With that song you once more recognized that the audience was very into that concert. Hearing them all clapping their hands to the beat. This song somehow sends out some magic on me and I remember one situation when Chris and Alberto both came very close together with their heads like telling a little secret to each other. A short and intimate moment – quick as a flash.

Cause of being so close to the stage ‘Fire and Whispers’ this time seemed like you sit in front of an open fire  with a glass of red wine in your hands staring into the cracking flames. In this song you realized the whole stage in a different way. It seemed you´re on a concert but being in a cinema in the same time with this big screen in the back projecting the flames all over.

What could fit better than ‘Tear Garden’ and ‘Oh Beautiful Town’ following? Nothing. It´s a perfect combination of three wonderful songs.

And while the wheedling tones floated through the air I observed Caroline playing the big drums aside from her drum kit in front of Chris sitting in the back. As if spellbound I watched her how she played the drums with that passion she had. Watched how her doll like face flashed up in the lights. I was fascinated. Torn out of my fascination by Albertos guitar solo I turned around to him seeking this moment. Watching him now I once more recognized his beard once more which already surprised me in Essen. It changed his face but still looking so great with it.

It was time for something fast again so we turned the lights on and ‘Volatile Times’ started to send out its beats into our bodies pushing us through ‘Think of England’ and ‘Nature of Inviting’.

‘Cold Red Light’ well….. Now something comes which I really can´t describe. No which WE really can´t descirbe. We really try hard but well… Ok lets try…

You all know that we are crazy for that song and as we banged our heads like wild animals wanting to break out something happend which surprised us three girls equally. In one moment I had my head down as I heard a bang and a black leather boot was left beside me. I looked up and saw Chris making a step from the stage up to us on the fencing-off. I was that surprised that  I did not know first what to do. I saw his hands reaching for us. So I took one and with my other hand his leg. I turned left and saw the same surprised faces of Triangle Girl and Cross Girl. They both felt the same like me as I recognized in their faces. I saw Triangle Girl catching Chris’ other leg and in this moment Chris turned round to Cross Girl who now carried him on his shoulders. And I will never forget her face as she turned around to me carrying him on her shoulders and as fast as this situation came it was over again. Surreal!

Flashed by that moment I did not really get a lot of ‘Kiss and Swallow’.

Good that there was a short break to sort our thoughts but no time to breathe cause they entered the stage again as Alberto also stepped on the fencing-off but did not try to do a hand-walk. He stepped back to the stage and ‘Bernadette’ began.

Followed by ‘The Alternative’ which started with the special performance by Alberto of his ‘VIOLENTA’ project, as we assume. For that Alberto stepped down the stage and held his microphone into the front row and the audience screamed into it. As well did Cross Girl as Alberto stepped close to her holding the microphone as close as he could to her mouth and both screamed – screamed at each other only separated by the silver sparkling metal in Albertos hands.

So we really needed ‘Bring Me Back A Dog’ to dance all these moments out. The power we had in our bodies wanted to break out and we jumped and danced it away till the last beats of ‘Spit it Out’.

Flashed and paralized by that show we´ve left the venue and went back to our car. Still not believing what we´ve went through that night. What we´ve experienced.

With all these memories in our heads we drove through the night sliding away in the darkness back home.

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SETLIST:

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PHOTOS by Racoon Girl

find them all @ FLICKR

   

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VIDEOS by Cross Girl

‘Fire and Whispers’