ArchiveConcertsLive

Serenity / Beyond The Bridge / Midriff

16 April 2014, FZW Dortmund, Germany (Photos by Stefanie Oepen on Flickr)

In front of a relatively small audience, but with lots of energy and fun, Serenity rocked the FZW in Dortmund. They were supported by Beyond the Bridge and Midriff who gave all they had as well. The fans thanked them enthusiastically.

Rockers Midriff were the first band to play that night. The trio consisting of guitar, bass and vocals/drums played with dedication and quickly drew the small audience to the stage. I only knew a few mostly softer songs of the band, so I was a little surprised how much rougher and louder they sounded live. Most of all they sounded like something I wanted to hear more of. The music went straight into my blood and moved people to clap along. The band was in a good mood, nicely in tune with each other and they rocked. When their set ended, the cheers were well deserved and more than just a reaction to the small bottles herbal liquor from their sponsor they gave out.

Proggers Beyond the Bridge took the stage next. They were unfazed by the half empty hall in front of them and showed us what they could do. Their complex songs demanded attention and people had to listen closely to take in all the details of the music. Still, they managed to keep up the good atmosphere and did not lose the audience’s attention. Up until that point this had been an average concert for me. Not bad, but nothing that blew me off my feet.

This impression changes as soon as Serenity hit the stage. From the first moment they captivated the audience. This was partly due to the music and its catchy melodies, but much more due to a constant dialogue between the band and their fans. They shook hands, reacted to comments from the audience and communicated with many of them one way or the other. Two fans, who were seeing their 30th concert that night, were even mentioned by name. All this created a good atmosphere – the band was celebrated. The good selection of songs as well as the fact they obviously enjoyed playing put icing on the cake.

The band played as if they had hundreds of listeners. For one song they invited Mirdriff’s guitar player to join them on stage and received much applause for it. All in all hands were in the air most of the time in front of the stage and it was hard to tell if the band or the fans were having more fun. Fact is that the audience could not get enough and when the show ended they did not only call for more herbal liquor, but for another encore as well. Both requests were answered and the concert ended on a high note with “Forever”. I wish every band was as professional and enthusiastic as this one. Thank you for that!

Autor: Stefanie Oepen

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