The Notwist and The Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra – Union Chapel, London 12/12/09

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Words probably don’t do justice to The Notwist and the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra, but I certainly owe it to them for one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen to at least try.

The evening began sedately enough with The Sleeping Years, an Irish/London trio (ordinarily a quartet) who seemed dwarfed amongst the sheer amount of vacant kit surrounding them. Before they even took to the stage the excitement and sense of occasion was palpable due mostly to the beautiful and grand setting of The Union Chapel.

The Sleeping Years did their best to calm everyone down; the combination of Dale Grundle’s seriously dulcet tones, Alex Beamont’s’s cello and Dan Wood’s keyboards was actually soporific. Despite their lush melodies and for all their subtleties, each individual song was lacking in distinction; the set blending into one long, down-tempo, softly crooned ballad that was constantly in danger of becoming more mood music than a warm up.

Thankfully The Notwist and the Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra were soon on hand to shake everyone down from their semi-somnolence and shake up their expectations.

The opening to their set was a meticulously slow-burning, brooding build up of ambience so atmospheric as to actually sound like a storm. The AMEO began in 21st century classical style, making dissonant, percussive, bizarre uses of their strings and woodwinds. A medley of squawks finally gave way to a more recognisable segment of The Notwist’s songs, brilliantly re-arranged to incorporate the swell of the orchestra. It became very quickly apparent that this was to be no ordinary collaboration.

Approximately a third of the way through the set, The Notwist exited the stage to let AMEO demonstrate how engrossing they are as a group in their own right. Composer Daniel Glatzel’s mastery of dynamics and unusual harmony was engrossing, and although at times the avante-garde compositions bordered dangerously on unlistenable-to white noise, there was always a major lift or a melodic switch to alleviate the tension. Of special note was the ever-present Notwist drummer, whose prodigal stamina kept matters relentlessly propulsive.

Such was the consummate control the combined groups’ exerted over their music It felt at times like an exploration. Traditional cadences and harmonies were rarely heard; instead the audience was subject to a fluid, intricate stream of sound that in one breath would jump from cacophonous dissonance to a thrilling, melodic crescendo, peppered all the while by electronic percussion patterns and ambient effects. Indeed, a defining factor was the fusion of the organic sounds of AMEO’s classical instruments with the technology of The Notwist. This was none more evident than in Martin ‘console’ Gretschmann’s controlling a modified kaos pad with Wii Remotes whilst backed by harps and a bank of violins; extraordinary.

Such a well judged collaboration worked wonders for The Notwist’s sound especially. Even Markus Acher’s fragile vocal delivery seemed shored up; a perfect example of a joining of forces that propels both far beyond their individual capabilities, the two acts were not only on stunning form, their sonic revelry was actually awe inspiring.

Whereas ordinarily The Notwist might be described as a talented German experimental soft-rock band, this night they (and AMEO) were beyond classification, transcending genre so utterly as to actually sound, and this meant as the highest possible praise, new. The evening was a triumph of conception and performance, and one I can only hope as many music lovers as possible will bear witness to; if nothing else so I don’t have the frankly unenviable task of describing it to them.

All photography by Rosie Reed Gold