Couchgrass CD-release party
with 6volt9, Holy National Victims, Inborn & John McAsskill
at Sang & Klang (Pfaffenthal) on March 20th 2004

It gets harder and harder these days for bands to find adequate locations to make concerts. The big ones are unpayable if you only expect between 100 and 200 people, most pubs are just too small or way off the regular roads. Couchgrass decided to release their first album Motel Love at the Sang & Klang in the Pfaffenthal, a place I had never been before. Located in a nice valley, right next to the Alzette, in a rather quiet neighbourhood, it was an ok place to be.

Lex and I decided to arrive shortly after 8pm (official start: 7pm), and we were proven right in our timing as it seemed that John McAsskill were just playing their first song. Unfortunately they still hadn't found a drummer, so that they were playing a more or less unplugged set tonight. The guitar player on the left side of the stage seemed a bit shy, the vocalist had some really good moments, especially when she singing softer stuff, while the guitar player on the right side of the stage did most of the actual playing. Somehow though, the sound was rather bad while they played, probably mostly because the Sang & Klang has no read sound absorbing walls. I always imagined otherwise though because it's such a regular venue for international blues bands. What else needs to be said: John McAsskill mostly sing in German (as their vocalist is of German background), covered a PJ Harvey song and I think this must also have been their first concert in front of a bigger audience. A promising start, although the lack of drums stripped the music of the power it could have had otherwise.

Then it was time for Inborn to make their comeback. Well, first of all they set up the stage which as a matter of fact lasted longer than their actual set. Winning Emergenza brought them quickly back to the world of reality once they saw that playing at the Taubertal meant playing a small stage only in front of friends and family. So welcome back, Inborn. The months of absence helped Inborn to improve their songwriting, it seems to me that they have become much harder. The slower parts didn't work well enough yet, but the guitar work showed a lot of promise, and the hard parts were played in a very confidential way, severing the ties with their more timid past. Cedric's vocals drowned in the wall of sound at times, but at a better venue, this probably could have prevented. The didgeridoo wasn't heard well either, and the two drum solos were absolutely not necessary, considering that they only played three songs.

With Holy National Victims, it was finally time for the first real set of the evening, with drums and lasting a longer time. Starting with a cover version of Couchgrass' Jesus Superchrist, they immediately proved that they had prepared their lesson for the night. I don't know how people took it, but in my opinion this was a really nice way to open their set tonight. I still think that HNV have a rather silly band name, but they still are my favourite local blues rock band. First of all they know how to write good emotional songs, second they may have the best solo guitarist you will find in this country. The vocalist is more screaming than singing most of the time, but I prefer that any day of the week to many wannabe vocalists who think they can sing but actually are just a plain pain in the ass. In some ways, they reminded me even of Living Colour, combining traditional hardrock with a Hendrix blues touch.

Couchgrass, the more or less headliner of the evening, and hey, it was their party, played most of the songs from their CD, plus a couple of cover versions. An ironic pseudo version of MC Hammer's Can't Touch This was rather funny, their take on the Pixies' Where Is My Mind was ok, but could have benefited from a second vocal but apart from that brought us back to the beginnings of cool college rock, and then we got another PJ Harvey cover version (Sheela-Na-Gig), done really superbly and showing that tonight they PJ lovers were out. Couchgrass also had reinforcement by their occasional violin and cello players, but the overall not so great sound drowned their softer instruments quite a bit. Apart from that, this may very well be the best Couchgrass concert I have ever seen. Although there were a few technical missteps, they showed a lot of confidence and minimised the breaks between songs to an absolute minimum. Amandine, although seemingly only half a portion, was jumping as if bitten by a rabid monkey, and was entertaining the audience magnificently. The rest of the band was acting more soberly, although Claire once wore Patrick Toxkapp's legendary helmet, while Shakin' was wondering if Amandine was also wearing Patrick's t-shirt, labelled "Vespa".

To end the evening, 6volt9 played an acoustic guitar gig. Ex-Drive Until He Sleeps Eva on guitars and vocals, supported by Orange Squad's Claude on acoustic guitar, proved to be a taste I haven't acquired yet. Too mellow in scope, too high pitched the vocals, I decided that it was getting late and I better drive home.

The people who were there tonight can claim to have seen an eclectic evening of all kinds of local bands, and many people agreed that lately there are so many bands around that when you go to a show, you don't see necessarily the same bands all over again. Let's hope that the thing worked out financially alright for Couchgrass also, and wish them the best of luck with their CD.