Goethes Erben is rare, especially outside Germany. Appearances by Oswald Henke’s band in France are even more of a rarity, and this is unlikely to change, as their gig at the Black Lab on the outskirts of Lille, was billed as their final concert in our country. For the very last time, Goethes Erben are performing outside their home land... Admittedly, they pulled the same stunt with a long hiatus some twenty years ago, but time passes, we’re not getting any younger, and this time, we’re willing to believe them (reluctantly). There’s no question of missing the chance to say goodbye to them and enjoy this exceptional, dark and baroque show. The tour features Unfarben and The Arch as openers, artists with whom Goethes Erben have previously collaborated.
It certainly felt like an evening among friends, a feeling reinforced by the sparse (but loud and happy) crowd: on a Sunday evening, these darkwave legends don’t draw as many people as they deserve... Perhaps because of their rich, vibrant and fascinating world that’s a tad impenetrable for newcomers, between the lengthy lyrics recited in German and a discography in which it’s easy to get lost, with alternative versions and tracks that can’t be found on any album or online. Never mind. Those present knew why they were there, and we’ll cherish the precious memory of this unique performance!
UNFARBEN
But to really focus on the baroque ceremony to come, we first need to shake off our urge to dance and party. That’s what Unfarben are here for. On stage, Berlin-based Victor Hildebrand is accompanied by bassist Ben Hayn. The two of them might not even be as old as the other musicians on tonight’s line-up! The screen lights up and we’re off for a half-hour of colourful synthpop.
Listening to the studio versions of the songs might be a bit too tame for fans of darker sounds and more aggressive machinery. On stage however, you’re immediately won over by the charm of the two musicians, smiling and determined to give the audience a good time. Victor engages with the crowd, Victor smiles, and the audience responds enthusiastically. In this warm atmosphere, a few more melancholic notes add a bittersweet touch, for example during Schwerer Regen or the cover of The Cure’s Let’s Go to Bed.
The highlight of the show comes as early as the third track, when Oswald Henke joins Unfarben on stage to perform their song together, Zusammen Allein, released just a month earlier... so the audience gets a first glimpse of the singer’s intense and expressive performance! At the end of this short set, to warm applause, Victor Hildebrand says he hopes to have the chance to play for us again soon. “The pleasure’s all ours, lad,” we thought to ourselves, without realising just how quickly that wish would come true...
THE ARCH
The atmosphere changes with The Arch, a band formed in 1986, a time when the youngsters of Unfarben weren’t even a glimmer of a dream. Over the decades, their new wave has drawn on EBM as well as gothic rock. The guitars screech and that devil Gerd Van Geel steals the show on vocals, making the most of the platform at the back of the stage to work his theatrical magic. His sensitive and expressive vocals are at times reminiscent of David Bowie, at others of Peter Murphy, but his silhouette lurking in the shadows recalls that of Count Orlock from Nosferatu, with the added glamour provided by the feathers!
The hypnotic electronic sound is complemented by an added raw edge in their live performances, a more biting energy. The Arch have always kept their music fresh, always evolved. Yet, from their latest album, Sanctuary Rat, only 9.81 is played tonight. Tracks from over thirty years ago sit alongside relatively recent ones: we move from the melancholic musings of Joan’s in Prison to the furious slogans of Babsi Ist Tot, passing through the hypnotic Eyes Wide Open and its Skinny Puppy-like shadows creeping beneath its pop hooks.
Playfully, Van Geel disappears from the stage only to reappear at the venue’s bar, taking a stroll through the audience and singing to a crowd both amused (or paralysed by their shyness!) by this sudden intimacy. A sense of camaraderie, tracks spanning over thirty years of history, a quirky elegance… The Arch are cool, with a refined coolness that only veteran goth bands can pull off, a subtle blend of tongue-in-cheek humour and absolute authenticity. Here too, we hope to see them again soon... little knowing that our wish is about to come almost true!
GOETHES ERBEN
The evening seems to have been building us up, bit by bit, to the main event. Ever since we walked through the doors of the Black Lab, the music has grown in intensity and theatricality; Henke even came out to greet us early on during Unfarben... The excitement is palpable. We’re well aware of Goethes Erben’s reputation on stage; their concerts, much like their music, are veritable theatrical performances. Fortunately for the most impatient among us, the concert begins a few minutes early, putting an end to the wait. Oswald Henke, crouching at the back of the stage, accompanied only by a masked cameraman, begins to recite his lyrics. His face is projected live onto the screen behind him, magnifying his size tenfold. He seems to be staring at us; his gaze is dark; he addresses us directly. We are immediately drawn in, captivated by his words.
The rest of the band joins him on stage. The sinister, haunting melody of Die Form or Iphigenie, the oppressive electronics of Lazarus and its contained menace, and then suddenly the heavy riffs of Nichts Bleibt Wie es War, the incantations of Himmelgrau, the heart-rending screams of Die Letzte Nacht, the relentless heaviness of that pinnacle of martial and anxiety-inducing darkness that is Xenomelie, Nick Cave’s The Mercy Seat in German as Sitz der Gnade, or the epic and apocalyptic frenzy of Das Ende ist Da... Goethes Erben vary their numbers and influences. Neoclassical, gothic rock, cabaret, folk, darkwave, haunting spoken word, industrial metal... all this is blended into a subtle and refined performance at the centre of which Oswald Henke thrashes about like a man possessed. He roars and leaps upon his audience before prostrating himself at the back of the stage. This singer-songwriter-actor is simultaneously the voice, the face and the pen of Goethes Erben. Even if we don’t understand everything he’s saying, we let ourselves be carried away by the sound of the language; he rolls his Rs just as he rolls his eyes, embodying every emotion with infectious intensity.
The stage design reinforces this sense of baroque theatre. There is, of course, the screen the band interacts with – whether it’s when Henke positions himself between two angel’s wings, or when the musicians’ faces are captured live by the masked cameraman and then transformed before our eyes, blended with that of Elon Musk – but there are also props: a cape, a doll, pages torn out and devoured, metal structures struck with chains during the impressive Mit dem Wissem... Goethes Erben blend the spectacle with its message, the grandiloquent with inner turmoil. It is intimidating, captivating and always sublime. The message sometimes takes on a social and political tone, as images of Trump, Putin or nuclear explosions are projected, making the grimaces suddenly far more frightening. The group shifts from the dreamlike to the real with poetry and subtlety, the dark and tortured aesthetic reflecting reality. Heirs to Goethe, perhaps, but also to Brecht’s epic theatre or the expressionist nightmares of Lang, Murnau and Wiene!
A leading act in what is known as the Neue Deutsche Todeskunst (the New German Art of Death), alongside bands such as Das Ich (whose early work shares a certain sense of macabre theatre found here), Geothes Erben have certainly lived up to their reputation. It was terrifying, sublime, grotesque, introspective, devastating, oozing with despair and madness but also with gentler reveries. Oh, and Victor Hildebrand from Unfarben returned to the stage to add some percussion here and there, as well as Gerd Van Geel, who came to sing Glasgarten... we told you we’d seen them again sooner than we’d imagined!
With tracks not found on any album and albums not available online, combined with the live performance and the raw power of the emotions conveyed, Goethes Erben’s music is more alive than ever – a work that can only be fully appreciated at events as rare as they are precious. We’ll never see Goethes Erben in France again; it wasn’t a full house, but the enthusiasm of those present was palpable, as they realised they were witnessing a unique moment of exceptional ambition, inventiveness and poetry. You weren’t there – too bad for you. We’ll take this memory—one we shared with so few—to our graves. And you won’t be invited, no! That moment belongs to us; we’re keeping it to ourselves!
