Late Night Venture and Utopium at d:qliq in Luxembourg (4th June 2008) [05 Jun 2008|01:35pm] [ mood | tired ] Maybe the competition was a bit tough that night, with the Canadian hardcore punks Cancer Bats playing a free show with Mutiny On The Bounty in Dudelange, but that alone doesn’t explain why only so few – certainly no more than twenty – people showed up at the d:qliq this evening. When I arrived shortly after 9pm, the club was all but empty, and things didn’t improve at half past when French post rockers Utopium entered the stage. Strongly inspired by the distorted guitar walls of Scottish pioneers Mogwai, the band played a driving bland of post rock that took advantage of the vocals which could have been more transparent in the mix but still made this more interesting than your typical instrumental genre band. The rhythm section lay down a forward going beat to which the two guitarists freaked out on their instruments. All in all this was a very good performance, even though fifty minutes was a bit more than we are normally used to during week shows. Late Night Venture from Denmark have been busily releasing music in the last five years – although in the beginning the band was still called Flying Virgins – and their experience showed tonight. The five-piece consists of two guitars, bass, drums and strange keyboards, whereas the vocals were shared between band members. Their recipe is quite simple, and that it works so perfectly is testimony to the band’s genius. Sounding like Sigur Ros with balls, the Danes put much more emphasis on noisily distorted guitars, with the synthesizers adding dramatic momentum, while the vocals were at times bitter sweet. Advanced songwriting skills made it therefore a shame that so few people were there to witness this astonishing show. The sound tonight was quite excellent, if maybe a little too loud, but with such powerful drummers, the other instruments need to crank it up to be heard. It would have been nice if more people had been there, but those who were seemed to enjoy every minute of the evening. post comment

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