KRAUTROCK MEETING

In the late Seventies my favorite record shop Moonlight Records in The Hague (the owner was drummer Bob De Jong from Dutch prog band Pythagoras) started to sell Krautrock/German progrock. I was mesmerized by line-ups that featured lots of Hammond organ work, a wide range of keyboards and varied instrumentation (flute, acoustic guitar, violin). After a first listening session I bought albums from Jane, Grobschnitt, Eloy and Novalis, I was so delighted about their music that within a few weeks I had almost bought the entire Krautrock/German progrock section, from the aforementioned bands to Ramses, Triumvirat, Birth Control and Hoelderlin. At about 25 years later I have bought my first DVD featuring Krautrock/German prog bands and I am very pleased with it.

The 2-DVD Krautrock Meeting contains a concert with 6 bands (each played at about 30 minutes), recorded late 2004 in Bonn, Germany. So don't expect footage from the Seventies or Eighties or all bands in the original line-up. On this 2-DVD you will witness Krautrock veterans with often rugged faces and grey or thin hair but how inspired and professional they played that evening, THUMBS UP!

DVD-1 starts with Epitaph, they play bluesrock with echoes from Cream, Eric Clapton and Wishbone Ash (duo guitarwork). Guitarplayer Heinz Glass does a good job on his silverplated Fender Telecaster.

Then legend Guru Guru, they offer varied songs: bluesy in Living In The Woods, swinging in Izmiz (with strange small blow instruments, sounds funny), sultry in Kleines Pyama (powerful saxophone play), heavy and bombastic in Moshi Moshi (heavy guitar riffs and fiery saxophone with hints from King Crimson) and hypnotizing in the final song Der Elektrolurch, the singer wears an exotic, very coloured mask and climbs and the back of the guitarplayer while he plays a solo, these guys had fun!

Next is Karthago, they play bluesrock that is loaded with the powerful sound of the Hammond organ. The band plays pleasant and dynamic, nothing special but very entertaining.

Finally Jane, my favorite band on this 2-DVD. The line-up features drummer/singer Peter Panka (he looks like Jack Bruce from Cream) and the early keyboard player Werner Nadolny (later replaced by Manfred Wieczorcke who came from Eloy). Jane turns out to be the absolute highlight on this 2-DVD, what a wonderful melodic sound, based upon compelling interplay by the keyboards (strings, organ, synthesizers and Mellotron samples) and guitar (powerful and sensitive), to me it sounds as 'symphonic bluesrock'. They play the songs Daytime, Windows/Spain Medley and Out In The Rain. For me this gig from Jane is almost worth buying this 2-DVD, especially the final track Out In The Rain delivering beautiful sampled choir-Mellotron, very moving guitarwork and great vocals, SPLENDID!

DVD-2 opens with another legend, Amon Duul II. I know this band from their 'free-form' psychedelic albums but during this gig the music is mainly rock- based (along the reggae song Speed Inside My Shoes) with good duo-guitarwork. The female singer Renate Knaup-Krötenschwanz has lost some power and often tended to sound unbalanced/out of tune although her presentation is very warm and enthousiastic.

Finally another personal highight: the known band Birth Control. They played three songs: Just Before The Sun Will Rise (dynamic progressive bluesrock featuring good soli and interplay by swirling organ and fiery electric guitar), Back From Hell (floods of organ, wah-wah drenched guitar and duo vocals, including special guest Peter Föller) and the epic 'crowd pleaser' Gamma Ray (on a propulsive rhythm it is 'solo time' with a percussive break, a bass solo accompanied by distorted clavinet, a spendid build-up guitar solo and a duel between the singer and the guitar, evoking Gillan/Blackmore and Page/Plant). To me Birth Control sounds as a great end of an impressive Krautrock Meeting, not really progressive in the vein of ELP, Yes or Genesis but as Krautrock sounds, unique!

Well, this DVD is one hell of a pleasant surprise, even if it uses the terms Krautrock in a wider and more liberal sense of the word than our beloved site does. Of the six groups on this DVD, only two (Guru and Duul) fits in our description of Krautrock, while two more (Birth and Jane) are placed in the Art Rock/ Heavy Prog realm, while Epitaph's early album could easily match those last two groups. This double disc was recorded in the closing days of 04 at the famous Rockpalast in two days.

I will do a quick rundown of the groups as they appear on the two discs.

Epitaph developed a heavy prog rock (I'm only familiar with their first two albums), but some 30 years later, they sound like a fairly average guitar dominated riffy hard rock, much like what Wishbone Ash has developed since the mid-70's. Nothing groundbreaking or earth-shattering, not worth writing home about, it was pleasant to see them play with two original members in this reunion line-up.

Guru Guru was easily this double set's best moment as clearly these veterans have kept an incredible enthusiasm and delivered us an incredibly fresh set, where nostalgia had no place. With only drummer Neumeier left from their original line-up, obviously their music is quite different than on those groundbreaking and experimental early Guru vinyls, but it is no-less worthy then their glory days. The line-up has been together for ten years and the musicians develop a very entertaining funky-ethnic-psych-jazz rock, communicating us their certain joie de vivre and a fairly visual show. Neumeier holds the great shape and plays drums, sings and adds crazy wind instrument, while Schaeffer also blows some mean winds and wails and the bassist and guitarists remain largely rhythmic. One of the jewels in this crown.

Not an easy task to follow-up this combo, unless doing something completely different and this is exactly why Karthago was welcome. They play a very credible (and creditable ;-) blues rock with prog overtones and the quintet gets extra points for boasting an excellent Hammond player as well as good percussionist (congas mostly). While I may not familiar at all with this group's discography, I believe only the guitarist/singer is the only one remaining from their early days, but the KBman Ingo Bischof is a long-time veteran. Not really prog, but they could one day see their inclusion in prog-related.

Closing off the first disc is Jane, one of those group that have simply never stopped playing, recording and touring. And by the sound of it, this has kept their enthusiasm on a very high level and their Hammond-driven heavy prog still sounding fresh. And the amazing thing is that most of the line-up are historic members from their early albums (Panka is still singing and drumming up a storm), while their guitarist is from another band's (present on this DVD) glory days. They only play three tracks, but are they really hot, extended, very well played and downright exciting. The group still knows how to pull shivers from their audiences with their dramatic ambiances and instrumental heroics. Truly a surprise, as I was not really expecting that much from this group.

The second disc holds just as many superb moments, but in a more surprising mode. ADII was always a very loose and chaotic-sounding group on stage, and not that much has changed some 35 years later. This line-up is also loaded with the historic members from their early (and best) era. Not holding the same kind of shape and enthusiasm as their peers from Guru, they nevertheless play a credible set that reflects quite well their typical selves. Never a fan of Knaup's voice, they play two tracks from their Yeti album, but clearly once they go instrumental (the last and extended Kanaan track), ADII does show the sporadic brilliance that all Duulers wished them to consistent. Having seen them twice in the last decade, I knew what to expect, and I was not let down.

Last (but not least) is another long-time survivor that has apparently never stopped either (to my best of knowledge anyway), and like Jane, Birth Control is a superb Hammond-driven heavy prog that puts the emphasis on then instruments rather than the vocals. And like Jane, they are headed by a singing drummer (Noske), but unlike their rivals, BC is a bit short on historic members. Most of the group is newer members (with Foller coming in to sing on one track as a guest), but the superb BC spirit is kept as their three extended tracks are sizzling and frying your brains, much like Jane did on the other disc. And like Jane, they rely on instrumental heroics, but never splurge in the dramatics the same way their competition does. But nevertheless (and despite my original - and unfounded - fears that BC was only the shadow of their former selves), BC draws this double-disc affair to an exciting close.

So far, this is only the first release of this sort (that I am aware of), but hopefully not the last, because I know there are many classic 70's band still around waiting to get a chance for exposure. A real must even if two of the six-bands are not related to prog, the other four are simply outstanding.