Do you happen to have a band you don’t listen to very actively, but as soon as you have the chance to see them live you take the chance with great pleasure? For me, one such band is Erdling. I’ve seen them live for the first time at a small medieval festival in Merseburg and their stage energy blew me away. Yet, their music has never really made it into my playlists. I still went to see them at Summer Breeze this year and I did not hesitate to buy tickets for their anniversary tour. And I can tell you so much: It was worth it!
The venue
This was my first time at Kulturtempel in Oberhausen, which surprised me at first until I read their programme. Most of the acts that play there are usually more on the Gothic side of music, so not much I’m listening to regularly. It’s right next to Turbinenhalle, so the parking situation is quite similar (except that, if I remember correctly, there’s a free parking lot in front of the venue). It’s a smaller club with a capacity of about 700 people and, if I recall correctly, the show was close to sold out. It was definitely packed!
It’s a cozy club with a nice decoration (they stick to the temple topic with some of the art on their walls). There’s a balcony that was closed that night (as photographer, I had access to it, yay). The toilets are clean and nice, the only downside is that they’re right next to the smoking area, which is a little unpleasant as a non-smoker.
Drinks are affordable, they sell Fritz lemonades and cola, which is a big, big plus. At the entrance, you get a card on which they note down your drinks, so you pay when you leave (and there’s people collecting unused cards, so that if you didn’t drink anything you don’t have to queue endlessly, but can leave pretty quickly).
According to the internet, the entire club is accessible with a wheel chair, as everything is on ground level. There’s no podium for wheel chair users though. I remember seeing someone in a wheel chair in the middle of the crowd, so it seems like there’s no reserved area either.
The club passes the vibe check and I kinda wish I’d listen to more bands that play there đ
Hands of Juno
Support act that night were Hand of Juno, an Italian alternative metal band I’d never heard of before. Before they hit the stage, I was kinda low on energy after a stressful workday (and as it turned out later, I was suffering from a beginning cold, yay). So I was a little hesitant at first. I hadn’t checked them out before, I might only have googled them to find out a vague genre, so I didn’t really know what do expect.
When they entered the stage, my hesitance changed and I quickly vibed along. Their music didn’t strike super much with me, I guess it’s just not my genre, so there wasn’t really anything that got stuck in my brain. I remembered an overall sound, but no specific songs or just snippets. Generally, I liked their sound and I liked the vocals of the singer, but it wasn’t super outstanding for me personally.
But I liked their presence on stage and the overall performance. I’d say for me, their show was more visually pleasing (also because they had great stage lights) than in matters of sound. They weren’t bad and I wouldn’t mind seeing them again, but they couldn’t quite catch me as a new listener.
For the end of their set, Valy (aka Böse Fuchs) of Erdling joined them on stage for a vocal performance, which was really heartwarming to see in some sense because you had the impression that both artists got on well with each other. So that was a nice add-on.
All in all, I liked them. I might see them again (e.g. as support or at a festival), but I would probably not visit any of their shows very intentionally.
Erdling
Hawwww, Erdling. I’ve mentioned in the introduction that they’re not exactly a band I listen to very actively. After seeing them in Merseburg, I checked them out, but they didn’t really make it into my playlists and I can’t say why (after this show and while editing the photos I started listening to them a bit more though). Yet, they’re definitely one of my favourite live bands out of those I’ve seen since after the pandemic.
This show was part of their 10 year anniversary tour and I think it was the second or third show of the tour. Not sure if the venue was sold out, but it was packed and the overall mood in the audience was pretty good, so there was a flicker of excitement in the room before the band entered the stage and started their set with Blitz und Donner.
And they delivered.
The overall show was roughly about 1h45 long, I can’t give an exact duration because I stopped checking the watch at some point, but that’s roughly what I’ve read from the time stamps of my photos. And not a single minute was boring. It was the third time I’ve seen Erdling and each time they manage to catch the audience from the beginning. They simply now how to activate a crowd. Also, even if you’re not super familiar with their music, their songs have something that make it fairly easy to just dance along, to get the vibe from the very start and usually you can sing along quite quickly (which does not mean that their music is simple in a negative way. It’s just very easy to get the hang of it and enjoy it, which also means that their songs get stuck in your head quite easily). After these three shows, I could sing along confidently to the choruses of songs I hardly ever listen to at home.
The set was a good mix of more recent and older songs, including bangers like Bestia, GötterdÀmmerung, Helheim, Phoenix or Eis und Feuer. Almost halfway through the set, they included a drum solo and almost at the end of the show, they played an acoustic version of Firmament. The set finished with Erdling, which was yet another great sing-along song for which Rob and Max got into the audience and played surrounded by their fans (with a few hugs and interactions that showed that Erdling truly love and appreciate their fans).
Blitz und Donner – Absolutus Rex – Grendel – Bestia – GötterdĂ€mmerung – Leuchtfeuer – Und die Erde singt – Winterherz – Helheim – Dickicht – Nichts als Staub – Drum Solo – Wir sind Midgard – Supernova – Phoenix – Eis und Feuer – Tieftaucher – Mein Element – Miasma – Schattenland – Wölfe der Nacht – Firmament (Akustik) – Erdling
They also left the stage several times and, I think towards the second-to-last block of songs, they had someone of their tour crew (eternally sorry that I forgot his name đ he was introduced to us by Neill) get out on stage to make the crowd cheer for the band, which turned into a small comedic act.
The sound at the venue was also very good and I absolutely loved the stage lights, which created a really nice overall atmosphere. It was great fun to a) enjoy the show and b) to take photos. It was just an overall good mood in the air. I had the impression that the crowd was giving their everything, everybody seemed in good spirits, it was just … all in all an amazing experience.
Plus, Erdling have a great presence on stage. Their outfits and make-up definitely add to that, but they’re also just great entertainers. For me personally, one of my biggest pleasures was watching the more-or-less-newly wed Max and Valy interact with each other on stage đ Pure joy. It was also their last tour, as they decided to leave the band, so they got a little farewell-scene from the band (not as emotional though as at their show in Leipzig, where Max literally handed the guitar over to their new guitarist Ole).
I’m kinda sad to see Max and Valy part, but I’m also excited for what they’ll have in stock with Böse Fuchs, and I’m even more excited to see what Erdling have in stock for us. I honestly can’t wait to see them live again and if you ever have the chance and you’re into Dark Rock and Neue Deutsche HĂ€rte (like Lord of the Lost, Megaherz, Eisbrecher and the like), you should go see them, too.