[See image gallery at catchingmovement.de] This year’s highlight of the evening was a woman who should not be unknown to anyone who has heard a little bit about techno and especially the Love Parade. And it was none other than Germany’s Techno Queen, Marusha. At least most of them should have heard their biggest hit to date, Somewhere over the Rainbow. Unfortunately, I never made it to the Love Parade in Berlin myself, so I was all the happier that a piece of the same history will come to Pfungstadt, where I live, to DJ there. I also think that the visitor record is to be owed to her. You could also tell that she was having a lot of fun. She stayed true to vinyl and continues to DJ with it. She  had a bigger bag with her records on stage. When it got darker, not only did the lights from the stage and the otherwise very unusual and beautiful lighting from the grounds come better into view, but the two stilt walkers also came out very well, as they were illuminated with smaller LEDs and very artfully dressed. They went through the spectators and the dancing people, only to dance a bit in front of the stage themselves, as far as the stilts allowed. Where DJ Dag played for 90 minutes, Marusha was allowed to stand at the mixtables for two hours and chase her music through the speakers.

[See image gallery at catchingmovement.de] Tom Wax, another “local” DJ, was allowed to end the evening, as he was born very close to Pfungstadt and, like DJ Dag, was resident DJ at the Dorian Gray, both at the same time. He also DJed at the Love Parade, the Mayday and other big well-known techno festivals, but that didn’t stop him from going back to his roots and honoring the Phungo Festival. While he was DJing, Marusha stayed a bit in the background of the stage and danced to his music. He was then allowed to make people dance until 11 p.m., whether in front of the stage or in the queues in front of the drinks stands. That way did end an all-round successful day for the Phungo Festival, which will be difficult to top next year, but hopefully will come close.

The post Hier kommt der Bass – 20.8.2022 – Phungo Festival appeared first on Catching Movement.

Setlist:

1. Still Cold and Lost
2. Age of Paranoia
3. Beyond the Fears
4. Deeper into Time
5. Behind Your Mask
6. The Weakest Spot

[See image gallery at catchingmovement.de] Then Postmodern Fantasy came on stage with their symphonic pop metal. I myself discovered them by accident not too long ago and was really looking forward to see them perform. In line with the latest video, everyone except singer Franzi came on stage with their rabbit masks to play the said song. Immediately after the song they were put aside so that they could finally see something, since the view under the mask was very limited. What followed was a cool show with lots of interaction between the musicians and between the musicians and the audience. A performance which, musically and in terms of the degree of heaviness, was a very nice transition to the next band and makes you want to go to a Postmodern Fantasy concert again. Which, due to the region of origin in the Rhine-Main area, will definitely be within the realms of my possibility.

[See image gallery at catchingmovement.de] Next up was Groove Metal from Frankfurt, with Mein Kopf ist ein Bruter Ort. Brutal music, yes, but very nice musicians on stage, unfortunately with one of the last performances by shouter Patrick Schuch. I was allowed to see them in 2018, back then at the Steinbruch Theater, and remembered them very positively. I wasn’t disappointed this time either, great show, always very well-timed shouter changes and sweeping guitars with the necessary heaviness and the right groove to rock and bang along. There was even a guest appearance by Christian Schmidt‘s brother, a rapper, who did a cool song with the band. It will be interesting to see what Patrick‘s successor will be like, but also here a band that makes you want more and is underestimated in my opinion.

[See image gallery at catchingmovement.de] Then it kind of went back to the beginning, now that it was ALL WILL KNOW‘s turn – with their normal set. As usual solid, humorous, full of energy and exciting. In addition, surprising for the band, there was a parallel performance by two fire artists, which gave the whole thing an extra kick. They can do that more often. As always, it was great fun. The performance also fitted perfectly into the increasing degree of heaviness that one was able to experience that evening, starting with their acoustic set.

[See image gallery at catchingmovement.de] Although the degree of heaviness of the music went down again, the cult status blew up with the appearance of the Godfather of German Metal, namely Rage. And what a show they put on… A lot of fun, joy, energy and Peter Wagner showed that he is far from finished with the subject of live shows, which will please everyone who can relate to Rage. Of course, the most well-known song in Germany could not be missing from the set list, Straight to Hell. It was received with appropriate enthusiasm. Of course, there were also the usual “Repeat after me” games with the audience, which all worked out wonderfully. After 75 minutes and an encore of two songs, the end of a great festival day was unfortunately already reached at quarter past 11. After that you could have a chat with the musicians which did put away their stuff, which showed that despite the level of popularity, there is no distance to the fans.

Setlist:

1. Resurrection day (+Intro)
2. Let them rest in peace
3. Shadow out of time
4. End of all days
5. My way
6. Back in time
7. Black in mind
8. Virginity
9. Straight to hell
10. From the cradle to the grave
11. A new land
12. Don’t fear the winter
13. Higher than the sky

The post Phungo meets Metal up your Life 2022 – 12.08.2022 appeared first on Catching Movement.

[See image gallery at catchingmovement.de] After a band dropped out before, Stoppok started 20 minutes earlier than planned. But first, who is Stoppok anyway? I’ll just quote the Phungo program here, because it actually provides the perfect description: “He’s a singer, musician – German-speaking singer/songwriter and great guitarist. His music is an independent mixture of folk, rock, rhythm’n’blues and Country. He sings about the adversities of everyday life with a fine sense of humor and constantly re-distinguishes himself as a critical observer of his environment.”

But now to the real thing. When Stoppok entered the stage, he was greeted with loud cheers and clapping, which made him visibly happy. With a “You’re so far away” he also prompted everyone to take their deck chairs and move ten meters forward to be closer to the stage. What follows is an evening of really good acoustic music and gags between or during the songs. For the latter he interrupts them, only to partially forget where he actually was. Or even to brazenly call out and criticize a viewer who stands right in front of him to film him on Learning by Burning with his cellphone, even though he said before that he’ll definitely “fuck it up” because the song is so fast-paced and his fingers were already hurting. This was also the conclusion after an ingenious performance lasting three quarters of an hour, including two encores.

The post Stoppok – 15.08.2022 – Phungo Festival appeared first on Catching Movement.

[See image gallery at catchingmovement.de] Second band of the evening was Parallel, formed by two musicians from Stuttgart. The special thing with Parallel is, that on one hand Francescos Carusos performs magic with his voice, while on the other hand Koray Cinar makes the rest, with the help of his Looper. A brilliant combination, which makes a lot of fun to hear and watch. Add a lot of humour to that and you get a perfect evening.

[See image gallery at catchingmovement.de] The cover band Sam’s Living Room finished the night. They are from Bensheim, a city close by. They present you with different hits from well known artists, but always interpreted in an own way. Even going so far, that you almost do not recognize the song itself. A very entertaining end of the evening.

The post Romie, Parallel, Sam’s Living Room – Phungo 2021 – 14.08.2021 appeared first on Catching Movement.

[See image gallery at catchingmovement.de] After a short intermission Oversense entered the stage. I did not yet hear a single song nor saw them live, until now. I only knew them from the collaboration between their singer Danny with the band Snow White Blood on their album Hope Springs Eternal. But during the concert I realized, that this was an error. Great band with a great show. For them it also was the first concert since the start of the pandemic and they had a lot of fun. All the energy which was held back during that time was released this evening and that transfered to the audience. Very cool show.

[See image gallery at catchingmovement.de] Third band of the evening was the local band ALL WILL KNOW, which is also the band of the organizer of the evening, Jan Jansohn. I made an interview with them some days before the concert, so I was really looking forward to be able see them again performing on stage. The expectations where fulfilled. Lots of energie, fun to play and intoxicating music was played. Of course they played an encore of some songs. It was clear, that the audience missed real good live performances and was famished for it. All three bands till this point passionately gave them what they wanted and needed. 

[See image gallery at catchingmovement.de] Last but not least was The Tex Avery Syndrome playing their set. They are a Modern Metal Band from Frankfurt, with core influences. The band presented a very impressive light show, which was really cool from the perspective of a concertgoer, but not so good from the perspective of a photographer. Combined with that was very heavy music which induced to dance.  Even tho the fans where not allowed to do this before the stage, due to anti-corona measures, but only before their deck chair. But they had a lot of fun doing so and the correct vibe did arise. As the band had to stop playing at 23:30 and not a minute later due to restrictions by the city, they did not play the normal “We go off the stage, wait for the audience to shout encore, come back and play” game, but simply stayed on stage and directly played the encore. That way they kept to the end time.

[See image gallery at catchingmovement.de] In summary it simply was a fantastic evening, which made a lot of fun and showed that a good metal concert can be made, even if anti-corona measures. Also the combination of the different bands was very good, with a good mixture of different metal styles.

The post Phungo meets Metal up your Life 2021 – 13.08.2021 appeared first on Catching Movement.