YOUNG GODS & A HUMAN (ACOUSTIC SHOW)
LONDON BORDERLINE 10/06/08
I was given a ticket by friends (thank you very much) for this at the last second and thought it would be a tad rude not to review, besides I never know what to do with my hands if not writing (ooh err) at shows. I got the impression from people arriving that not everyone realised that the Swiss industrialists were doing an acoustic set but nobody seemed too disappointed about things. Keeping in with the theme, 1st band A Human were also playing unplugged and just as well as their guitarist had a broken collarbone after being run over. Apparently this lot are an electronic band but they suited the style really well and were a nice contrast to all the heat, stress and damn hay-fever of the seething city outside the venue doors. Male and female vocals complemented each other nicely and at 1st I was reminded of REM and Talking Heads (yeah this isn’t really Metal Team territory). One cover I recognised was by America and it is still going around in my head. The hippy folk hit ‘A Horse With No Name’ was handled perfectly and was a real blast from the past taking us back to the summer of love. Croons later reminded of Marc Almond and a sassy version of ‘When Doves Cry’ complete with xylophone also kept the crowd happy.
The Young Gods may not be so young anymore and indeed it was ages ago when I last caught them (in fact it would seem that it was 
as far back as 1992 on the TV Sky tour). It’s kind of difficult reviewing an acoustic show, I can’t talk about the band throwing themselves off their stools into the audience or huge mosh pits but I can really tell you about the excellent songs and the fact they played to a full crowd who were transfixed by both the band and the pink stage lighting. It looks like the set was the same as the new acoustic album ‘Knock On Wood’ which I didn’t even know about but shall no doubt be picking up. It took a few seconds to get used to ‘Our House’ but then again it was virtually acoustic in the first place and indeed it moved “just like the ocean”. Franz Treichler, Al Comet and Bernard Trontin all seemed completely at ease and really into what they were doing and even humbled by the huge roars of applause after each and every number.
Just because things are acoustic does not mean that they cannot rock as ‘Gasoline Man’ proved. It hit the redneck blues and you could almost smell petrol from a greasy trucker’s party, the harmonica came out too for some extra rhythm. Classic covers such as Kurt Weil ‘Speak Low’ had us swaying but it was Suicide number ‘Ghost Riders In The Sky’ which really had the audience in a trance as it psychedelically evolved us into shamanic state. The Gallic caress of ‘Charlotte’ and 
‘Lounge Route’ either side of the number made this a perfect spaced out section. The only complaint was that they didn’t play ‘Kissing The Sun’ and indeed I asked for it as they came back for the encore, Franz politely told us that this one was impossible to replicate in these settings. Fair enough and ‘Skinflowers’ kept us more than happy and rounded off a truly memorable night.
Review by Pete Woods
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