It was an evening that would, kinda inevitably, end with two stony-faced men dressed in black – one smoking – playing cold, minimalist electronic pomp. This was, after all, Berlin. Before stereotypes took hold though, two foreign acts would play sets that made the smallish crowd dance their little German socks off.

Boasting a keyboard/synth/laptop/sampler/nondescript-mad-electro-invention set-up that engulfed half the stage, The Bianca Story (above) vomited forth whopping great big choruses. These five weirdos from Switzerland were led by the twin vocals of a super enthusiastic, tall beardy man with a voice like The Divine Comedy‘s Neil Hannon and a girl dressed like an 80s prom queen and wielding a keytar. And if that isn’t a recipe for awesomeness, then I don’t know what is.

I’ve written enough gushing words about Temper Trap‘s (above and top) live shows on these pages recently, but suffice to say this was another winning set. Their sound seems to get more and more imposing every time I see them. The four-way vocal barrage of Down River was a perfect example of this. After a familiar set-list and a typically tighter-than-a-duck’s-bumhole performance, the quintet packed up and headed to the Amsterdam to continue promoting the upcoming release of their debut record. Expect a review of it here soon.

Review by Bobby Townsend

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