As part of the 18th edition of the BAREZZI Festival which promotes contemporary music in some of the most wonderful theatres to be found in and around the province of Parma, dEUS, the Belgian indie rock band based in Antwerp are playing the very majestic Teatro Municipale of Piacenza.
The theatre dates from 1804 and has over a thousand seats, many of which have the proverbial bum sat on it, to check out this rather unique group. Of the original members, Tom Barman( vocals, guitar) and Klass Janzoons(keyboards, violin) are still on board the dEUS train which has been on the rails for over 30 years now. The 1994 debut album “Worst Case Scenario” was released on Island Records; indeed they were the first Belgian indie band to get a record deal with a major label! It’s an eclectic album for sure, getting good reviews in Britain too. A lot of pseudo journo labels have been stitched on this band as they are rather hard to define. To my ears there is a lot of Krautrock,a Talking Heads vibe, the immediacy and feel of indie American bands like Eels and Wilco are in the mix as well as a cool euro sense of groove that French bands like Phoenix and Air manage to muster. Some great songs along the way make tonight a really interesting event to attend and hopefully enjoy.
The band tonight along with Tom and Klaas is made up of Stéphane Misseghers ( drums), Alan Gevaert ( bass), and Mauro Pawlowski( guitar/backing vox), the line up that recorded the last album of their catalogue , 2023’s “How To Replace It”, which was generally well received.
The tribal rhythm of the title track from the aforementioned album has the effect of getting quite a few punters standing up and immediately any doubt that some dancing and swaying would not be involved are dispelled.
The band , no strangers to Italy, immediately get to grips with the theatre and revel in this fandom atmosphere. Clearly a band where the whole is much more than a sum of the parts; arrangements and dynamics are part and parcel of their songs where tight interplay and even underplaying instruments creates their vibe and so a distinctive atmosphere and energy. Tom Barman is the natural leader of the band with his assured physical presence and charismatic singing voice sometimes spoken, sometimes played through a vocoder adding that “Je ne sai quoi“ to the songs. Mauro Pawloski is magnificent with his angular, deft melodic licks and rosewood telecaster guitar screams.
Klass’s electric violin is what probably makes the band unique as it howls and soars in the mix as well as adding flourishing touches when plucked.
Tom said this was to be the last show of the year as a new album is being recorded. No new songs then but many good songs are played from their back catalogue. ‘Quatre Mains’, ‘W.C.S ( first draft)’,Instant Street’, ‘Fell Off The Floor Man’, ‘Sun Ra’ and the stoically rhythmically obsessive ‘Bad Timing’ are all groove led songs that want to make you dance even more than sing. The gentle ‘Serpentine’ found on the film “L’Ultimo Bacio’s” soundtrack is a welcome surprise and the haunting “Nothing Really Ends” with the perfect opening line “A plan, it wasn’t much of a plan, I just started walking” is simply glorious.
Truly a band, born in Belgium but with a much much bigger life span. Go check out their past albums , as I indeed did knowing very little about them, and be simply enchanted. Magnificent on record as they are live, dEUS maybe just what’s missing from your day and at last, at least in my case, a God I can finally believe in.
I’ve been wanting to see H.E.A.T. for ages, and catching up with them in Islington has definitely kicked the gig year off on a high.
On record I have always thought that there was too much cheesy synth in the back of their sound and rather softening it, but live they are a different beast - the synth was subdued, and the band came out of the blocks like a ferocious beast.
Current lineup is: Kenny Leckremo on vocals, Don Crash on drums, Jona Tee on keyboards, Dave Dalone on guitar and Jimmy Jay on bass.
Leckremo is the archetypal metal vocalist. Hair splaying out behind him as he hits notes that no human being should even attempt, holding the attention on stage and giving space to his bandmates to show their stuff too.
The set was explosive. They were on fire from the opening notes of ‘Disaster’, with Dave Dalone shooting out the riffs. Dan Crash and Jimmy Jay holding down the rhythm and melody and Kenny Leckremo an absolute force.
The set was almost all the classic H.E.A.T. numbers and the crowd – pretty well a sell-out – responded, singing along with Lockremo. The pressure hardly let up for the full set and at the end the audience left satisfied by a stunning show.
Earlier, we had sets from Art Nation and the welcome return of Chez Kane. Kane opened the evening with an excellent and well received set, her vocals as strong as ever. Very much a classic rock vocalist, she still has a great stage presence.
Art Nation had a truncated set but managed to show some real power and remarkable fluidity in their material.
H.E.A.T – Set List
1. Disaster
2. Emergency
3. Dangerous Grounds
4. We Rise
5. Hollywood
6. Harder To Breathe
7. In And Out Of Trouble
8. Beg For Your Love
9. Drum solo (including Queen's Slash cover)
10. Back To The Rhythm
11. Living On The Run
12. Straight To Your Heart
13. Bad Time For Love
14. One By One
15. 1000 Miles
16.Nationwide
17. Tearing Down The Walls
Pic copyright Digital Island