The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble – Bush Hall, London 04/05/11

The soundman nearly destroyed this gig. Two tracks in, and I was this close to walking out. It sounded like someone had just forgotten to turn the PA on. I could hear people swallowing their beers around me, it was that quiet.

I’m glad, however, that I stuck around. Because truly, the Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble are exciting enough to make up for even the shoddiest of engineering.

Brandt Brauer Frick are often described as an ‘acoustic techno’ outfit, or as making electronic music with acoustic instruments. The Ensemble would appear to be the complete fulfilment of this; a group of classical musicians playing music that, with a bit more bass, wouldn’t be out of place in Berghain – where, incidentally, the ensemble were appearing the following day.

In reality, though, the Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble is far less gimmicky than that. They are, instead, more about content than about form; more about sound than about instrumentation.

Tracks from the trio’s debut album, You Make Me Real, were rendered beautifully, with the instruments more defined, more recognisable than on record. A small string and brass section sat at the front of the crowd, often providing the rhythmic stabs that make the pieces so danceable, while the Moog was the analogue (always analogue) framework on which the whole construction was built.

But really, as much as reviewers seem to use Theo Parrish as the touchstone reference for BBF, the Ensemble shows are not techno. They are closer, perhaps, to modern classical performances; intricate and perfectly rehearsed, with the sheet music remaining firmly fixed to the music stands.

Indeed, the Ensemble is a remarkably good encapsulation of what modernity means today. It is modern not because it is caught up in the promise of new technology, but because it is aware of its roots and willing to embrace its heritage. Ten German musicians in an ornate London venue playing music that sounds like the culmination of 60 years of Western composition, with instruments that were almost all invented more than two centuries ago, is more than a gig, and it is more than a performance. Instead, it is a cultural event, a ‘happening’ of the sort that is all too rare in contemporary music. For that reason, the Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble is a group to be treasured – as long as they cut their engineer loose.