So, I went to the Funker Vogt show at Club New York last night. And, this
is what I have to say.
My friend and I arrived at the club at 5:30PM. The doors dont open up
until 7:00PM, but we didnt mind waiting and we were the first two people
on line (w00t!). While waiting online, I talked to some of the people there
and I met someone I know. I also talked to Kai when I saw him walk outside. He
told me that I probably won't be able to interview the band because there was problems
with the sound and that it was still being fixed. He's a very nice man. While waiting, I
was able to hear the soundcheck going on, and it was quite cool hearing "Killing Fields"
being played =).
Door finally open at 7:00PM, and in we go!! Once I got in, I immediately
went to the merchandise booth and bought a mess load of stuff...luckily
I brought enough cash ;). After packing away my newly acquired Funker
gear, I started to dance a little. The DJ was good and spun some really
good tunes (heard Stromkern for the first time too).
Its almost 8:00PM, and I decided to use the bathroom (I know this part is
quite irrevelant, but Im going somewhere with this). I finish using
the bathroom and started to wash my hands. Lo and behold, the lead
singer from XPQ-21 shows up. I saw hello to him and have a small chit chat
with him. My impression of him: a really nice guy. It was funny too cuz
I asked him what time theyre going on, and he said 8:14PM. and asked me for
the time. I told him its 8:10PM, and he was surprised and said "thank you."
XPQ-21 comes on stage and they open up with "Dancing Queen" (one of my
personal favourites). The only people on stage are the lead singer and
a female keyboardist. She was handling the keys and keeping
an eye on a Macintosh laptop (I suppose the backing tracks were coming from
there, or they were using softsynths). It was a good set, energetic and got
the crowd started up. But, they were not into the band as much as Funker. Probably because
most people haven't heard of the band before. Back to the show, the lead singer had good
stage presence even though he was pretty over the top. The New York crowd got them to
do one encore (I think it was) and that was cool. A good opener and the live show made
me more of a fan of them.
After XPQ-21's set, the members of Funker Vogt started to set up. I got pictures with
Gerrit and Kai when they walked by during set up. Their set
started about 9:45PM. What opens up is a video projection of a first
person shooter (dont know which one) and the intro. That leads into the
band coming up on stage to start the set up with "A New Beginning." The
crowd go's absolutely wild. Whats funny is that there werent a lot of
people on the dance floor during XPQ-21, but once Funker came on, the floor
was packed. A pit in the middle of the dance floor formed and it was quite wild seeing the
people killing each other...haha. For the whole show, I was on the left side of the floor
right by the PA speakers. It was good place to stand too as I right by the entrance and
exit of the stage, and I had good view of the stage. What was also great was that on pretty much
every song, the crowd was singing along with the band...what fans. I too was also singing along.
Had sooo much fun.
Anywho, Funker Vogt performed a lot of the classic songs like Killing Fields, Take Care, Gunman
and Tragic Hero. The crowd also got them to perform two encore, Funker Vogt 2nd Unit
and Tragic Hero. Personally, I wanted to hear "Thanks for Nothing" live, but oh well...maybe
next time.
Funker Vogts live show is quite amazing. There is just so much energy in
it. The band also came out in new costumes. The keyboardists still wore the orange
jumpsuits, but also had on plastic body armour. Jens was wearing camo pants, a
red leather jacket and a Funker Vogt tanktop. And, the guitarist wore a white
tshirt that had the Funker Vogt black and orange hatch design and jeans.
The vocalist, Jens Kaestal was singing, getting the crowd into
the music and dancing around. It was funny that during "Words of Power, it looked
like he forgot the lyrics at some points during the chorus. But, that didnt really
mess up the show as the crowd sang it or the backing vocals of the rest of the band
covered it up. Also, during, I think it was Killing Fields, Jens tells Bjoern "this is
my song." I found that quite funny. The guitarist was also great...he also
riled up the crowd, took some food and even got off the stage and mingled with
the audience. Thats the sign of band putting on a good show...great
crowd interaction. The two keyboardist, Gerrit and Bjoern, played well, and
played live too. For some songs, Bjoern would put on a Roland Ax-1 (or could
be the Ax-7) which is a keyboard you strap on like a guitar and would peform
songs on that. And, between songs Gerrit would take pictures of the crowd...very
nice touch.
Again, the show was quite unbelievable...I walked away amazed. I took a lot
of pictures and hopefully would have them up in the next few weeks. I got pictures with
the lead singer and keyboardist of XPQ-21, and pictures with Jens, Gerrit and Kai.
If they come again next year, I will defintely go again to see my number 1 favourite
band perform.
This is the setlist of the show which lasted about 1 hour and 15 minutes or so.
1. A New Beginning
2. Funker Vogt
3. Black Hole
4. Take Care
5. Maschine Zeit
6. Killing Fields
7. Fortunes of War
8. Gunman
9. Cold War
10. Subspace
11. Under Deck
12. Word of Power
13. Funker Vogt 2nd Unit
14. Tragic Hero
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