Through the P-Magazin, a local events guide for Darmstadt, I discovered a new concert venue. The Hoff-Art Theater is well hidden in a former car garage in a backyard centrally located in Martinsviertel. They managed to squeeze a bar into the tiny entry room, from there you enter a cosy little amphi theatre with a red velvet curtain (hence the event name). The space in front of the curtain was just enough to fit all four members of the two bands, “Spring Breakup” from Yukon/Newfoundland, Canada and “Susie Asado” from Berlin, Germany.
Being in such a tiny and personal venue led to a very jam session like atmosphere, with a lot of communication between the bands and the audience. I especially loved “Spring Breakup” for their twisted humour (most lyrics about breakups and others unusual aspects of relationships) and their rough folky sound; banjo and ukulele work together very well. Also the instruments of “Susie Asado”, ukulele/guitar and violin, fit nicely and their experimental style of using the instruments created amazing results. The sometimes slightly bizarre and surrealistic lyrics of “Susie Asado” created an intriguing atmosphere. It was interesting to see, how she was using lyrics almost like an instrument (Tintenlumpenhand) switching languages mid sentence.
All-through the evening I enjoyed the lack of any percussion instruments (the knocking on a ukulele or violin aside), as these are usually over emphasized for my taste. A lot of music would sound better without a drum set, sorry. Also the relatively short set per band were nice. More bands with shorter sets offer more diversity for me.
[flv width=”600″ height=”370″]http://tim.jagenberg.info/files/2011/12/PTIM8597.mp4[/flv]
It was really great concert evening and I will definitely visit that venue again!