I will be there anyway, 2nd home kinda thing, so it will be fun to meet up again! See you there.

Once again this will be something of a "special" night. As half of the staff will be half-way up a mountain half cut, official name Team-days, there will be a reduced menu... actually there will still be one meat dish and one veggie dish, so it won't be too bad, some of you may not even notice the diference! Btw, I hope you like potatoes!

Is there a car park near Rote Fabrik ? Id rather not park at the brothel.

thx
dave

Are you banned from the premises?

Here's a map link. I don't think there's anywhere for 4x4 drivers near the Rote Fabrik. Try the station or up the hill. Or outside Petit Fleur - a very safe carpark, by all accounts

Park a Disco at Rote Fabrik? I'd take the badges off first

For those wondering what the hell Black Mountain is, look here for a fairly accurate description. Sabbath, Zeppelin and a female singer adds a Royal Trux feel.
http://www.last.fm/music/Black+Mountain

Sold.

dave

So are we eating first, despite the reduced menu and skeleton crew? I think Konijn should be taking care of us. Table reservation anyone?

A crisp-sharp white or some bio beer should do the trick, as I have abandoned the idea of driving....oh, and potatoes will be fine. UM do wanna reserve something then ?

dave

Well, a table for six Pax has been reserved for 19.15.

If you arrive, tell 'em you're looking for Uncle Max's table. Ain't that a grand thing?

See you down there

Six Pax ? You have been reading to many editions of "Mens Health".

dave

At last night's curry dinner, a few mentioned they'd be interested in going to more concerts etc. so this 'Bump' - it's just for you

Sorry guys I'm going to have to bail on this tonight. Not feeling too special, and would rather try to head off this bug and be good for tomorrow's adventures. A shame - I listened to Black Mountain on last.fm and thought they sounded ace....

Quite a night at Rote Fabrik. Two bands; a restaurant with cleared tables, food from a short menu; a healthy list of value wines and bio beers; A wicked loud PA with a huge Midas or Soundcraft mixing desk. Loads of guy with beards. Some attractive ladies with tattoos; beer, wine, chocolate, garlic bread. What more could someone want ?

Well the answer was delivered in the form of two great bands:

The first of the bands "Future of The Left" started by observing how quiet it was; how (the singer) he has heard more life in his bedroom; and the bassist pointed out that he has had more people in his bed than were attending the gig. They were convincing until this point, but as anyone that has been there knows, guys from Cardiff find it difficult enough to pull one girl, let alone a whole menagerie.

Anyway they proceeded to deliver a cool set of what can only be described as electro metal. The bass sounded to be triggering a modulating synth and serious overdrive through Marshall stacks, Hiwatt amps. The distorted guitar, manic drums and wailing, psychotic vocals added to the mix. The overall effect swelled as the band tightened into their set. A great band , whom Uncle Max eloquently pointed out should be booked for the Christmas party. (As a footnote he did ask them, and they refused when the turned down his free-beer fee).

The band stayed on for an hour and did a couple of encores following persistent banging of the tables by the punters, and left us with a good impression of an original sounds of distorted elements : like Crouchie throwing shapes after 6 pints of Stella.

A few slugs of wine later, the main act emerged. A five-piece with an enthusiastic drummer, small but competent female vocalist, manic guitarist , stereotypical boring bassist, and a keyboard player with a selection of retro synths.

"The Black Mountain", (or "Black Mountain" for tree-huggers who know what they are talking about) presented themselves a competent heavy rock five-piece. It was a bit of a concern that one of our crew was convinced that at least two band members were missing. We sent him in search of the errant musicians. And the band played on.

An excellent blend of styles, with recognisable riffs from Black Sabbath, Rush , ACDC, even Pink Floyd and Clannad. This is not intended to convey cliche, more an indication of their mastery of the genre. The material was well presented and the room rocked with riff-heavy-bass-kickin slam, and with more experimental moods: ethereal vocals over slow repeating arpeggios.

After the final encore one fan approached the band in an effort to congratulate them on a job well-done. Apparently this was reported by an innocent bystander as "your vocals were buried in the mix and there was some nasal colouration in the upper treble registers. You should sort that out cos we couldn't hear a thing". Groupies ain't what they used to be.

An excellent gig, and thanks to konjin for organising and sneezing, Uncle Max for the photos (none of the food unfortunately), Yokine & partner, and andrear and everyone else for making it a fun night.

signing off,

dave

Thanks for describing the evening, much appreciated by members like myself who couldn't make it.

Anybody who wants another dose of FOTL should come to Basel Friday evening as they are playing at Hirscheneck.

That's gotta be one of the more interesting gig reviews I've read in a while. Should be more of it. I never did track down those imaginary band members. I thought the bass player was one of the more animated and vocal members. God it was loud, I cant believe that I can hear today

FOTL - " stand up, it looks like we are playing a coffee shop!"

Nice job, Dave, can't wait to read your review of Thursday's The National concert (note: it is indeed THE National, as any tree hugger would know).

I'll start working on my chat up lines for Thursday, I hope the The National singer is a little cuter and a little less stoned, then maybe I can actually come up with a compliment or the like. I doubt he will be charmed by my sneezing and coughing, though.

enjoyed the evening a lot! Indeed there is a certain decadence to sipping a dry white wine, eating a few lindt balls, while sitting on a chair, listening to somebody screaming his lungs out over a wall of feedback.

cheers!

Good bands! It was great eating, drinking, having loads of space and fine coffee, chocolate, and a view while sitting in a comfortable corner. Nothing to do with getting old, nothing I tells ya!

Have no idea why the attached photo shows it to be so smokey...

I'm a bit useless and lazy today, anybody care to provide me with a URL to the pictures?