Motorama live at Bad Bonn, Dudingen
Motorama. Five-piece indie-rock band out of Russia. Get with it. Straight off the bat I would describe their sound as the lovechild of The Drums and Joy Division, with Editors as that quirky uncle that occasionally pops by.
It says a lot about a band when punters walk through blizzarding snow and piercing winds across what appears to be, well… nothing but empty, lightless streets and fields, to get amongst their graces.
The venue in question is Bad Bonn in Dudingen, Switzerland. Super cozy with feelgood vibes and ‘Where the hell is Bad Bonn?’ paraphernalia floating around the walls. Even they are aware of their location amongst nothingness and the vast fields surrounding the premises.
Back to the band. Well to put in easy terms, the small personal gig was totally worth the disabling flu I acquired from the trek back to civilization. The first thing I noticed about the band was their bitchin’ dance moves. For real, they could jig. The melodic guitarist had the whole forward-back 2 step down pact, the bassist (and solo female in the group) had this super cute K-Pop head swing, the drummer was doing swell with what he was given, bopping around on the stool, and the keyboardist absolutely stole the show with his erratic mesmerizing shoe shuffle. Phenomenal. The singer was holding his guitar like a boss on occasion, similar to Johnny Cash, so I instantly liked him. It also helped that he had a voice that was so smooth and deep, dripping in regal swagger (think Editors).
The set began off with a smoother post-punk sound with soothing melodic guitar accompanying the aforementioned swagger voice. Throughout, the songs picked up more beat and the tempo fastened. Good move because the crowd was licking it up, arms flailing and encouragements boomed. Besides the audience actually seeming quite tame that evening I have it on good authority that Motorama spectators can get wild and into the music. And why the hell not? With no idle chitchat between, the whole set fused together into a lovely post-punk melodic jam session that left me eager to get back to civilization and browsing the iTunes store.
Besides their music, which is enough to get me excited to encourage your own Google search, there were a few other tidbits that won me over. The previously mentioned killer dance moves, the sparkly kitten sticker that donned the guitar (see picture) of swaggerman singer and the rad childlike drawing left on the band shirt a friend of mine asked them to sign.
One more time: Motorama.
Words and pictures by Kaya Strehler.
