Shearwater with Nils Frahm live in Berlin

The Comet Club in Berlin-Kreuzberg is not the place people would expect a young man playing classical piano pieces. Located in the middle of numerous clubs, pubs, Turkish doner-kebap shops and internet start-ups it is this kind of place where the usual indie kids come to see aspiring and well established acts. Dropped into this environment was a young man most people in the audience did not expect. Similar to Greg Haines’ support for Balmorhea I attended in Hannover a couple of months ago (Nils did all other German shows on that tour) people still wonder how an Alt Folk/Rock act like Shearwater could be accompanied by a classical piano player who does not even sing.

But to many of the 200+ visitors Nils Frahm was an interesting and pleasant surprise. At the merchandising stand after the show most people asked the artist to recommend which CDs or vinyl they should buy. The frequent question of ‘which releases had been played on the evening’ gave Nils the opportunity pointing with both index fingers to Wintermusik and The Bells with hard-to-get Anne-Müller-collaboration 7fingers sitting pretty in the middle. Nils is not a record dealer but his discription of The Bells as a record you have to listen to ‘in-depth’ and Wintermusik as a record you can also work to or have a nice dinner to is like a nice self-categorization. Those new fans will be able to see him again and again as Nils Frahm – based in Berlin – is a frequent traveller in Germany’s musical landscape. Make sure to check out his forthcoming European dates especially with Rachel Grimes in September.

Main act of the evening was Shearwater via Austin, Texas. The indie rock/new folk representatives have firm progressive/70th rock roots. They brought along with them their sixth studio album “The Golden Archipelago”. The songs were carried by former Okkervil River’s Jonathan Meiburg voluminous but light-weight voice (e.g. “Castaways”) and all members straight-forward multi-instrument playing. Like with most bands live they appear much more “rock” than on their records. But they allowed for quieter moments (e.g. “Hidden Lakes”) with more experimental instruments including xylophone and clarinets.

These guys are flexible. Before almost any song they changed places. They changed instruments. And they didn’t even have a set-list as the sound engineer told me. The only stable position holds bass player Kimberly Burke, who also plays xylophone. In black top, black shorts and dangerously looking high-heels she presented the visual antipode to bare-breasted drummer and vibraphonist Thor Harris (what a perfect name his parents chose for him!). He could join any Monsters-of-rock-stage (okay, tattoos missing) without being kicked out.

These guys are also very well structured. Entering the stage at 10:01 they played an up-tempo 13-song gig. This took them, well, exactly 60 minutes. Of course, this was not the end, so another three pieces followed as encore. This whole show consisted mainly of their latest album. Shearwater are a regular guest in Berlin with concerts every half a year or so.

On top of the musical skills, Shaerwater are really nice people. Nowadays, it seems like a standard to let the audiences clap for the sound engineers. But I truly never heard a more heartfully technician-praise in my life. Remember, they are the ones who get into bed the latest!

So, this evening ended with new musical insights for a lot of people and hopefully a growing interest for experimental music, folk music and vice-versa.

- Review by Torsten Herrmann for Fluid Radio

www.shearwatermusic.com
www.myspace.com/nilsfrahm