Heavy riffing, anthemic melodies: Farmer Boys took the stage at Kulturladen Konstanz on Saturday to celebrate their triumphant return. It was fantastic to see the new songs of their 2018 comeback record "Born again" (one of my op ten records last year) mingle with older songs from their musical feats of the late nineties and early 2000s. Several hundred fans witnessed an energetic and emotional show.
The core of the songs are the aggressive downtuned guitar riffs of Alex Scholpp and the emotional vocals of Matthias Sayer. But in this band, everyone brings something to the table: Ralf Botzenhart (the third founding member alongside Scholpp and Sayer) is a real bass giant and adds punch to the sound as well as Timm Schreiner who is responsible for the powerful drumming. Richard Duee adds the new wave touch and orchestral grandezza with his keys, for example in "Stay Like This Forever" or my personal favorite "End Of All Days". You can really tell that the band is up there because they are all having a great time and they are proud of their musical oeuvre. Rightfully so: They take it slow with the beautifully haunting "Isle Of The Dead" just to present some older gems like "When Pigs Fly", "Farm Sweet Farm" and "Prized". And when Alex Scholpp steps into the spotlight for a guitar solo, it's just all wow and no boredom. What makes the band very sympathetic is to see how grateful and humble they seem to be; very down to earth, no rockstar airs and graces, just pure and simple joy in playing and rocking out.
Now if you want do a little background reading on the band, you can check out my review of "Born Again". I'll not go into the details of their history, the hiatus and their comeback here - but rather focus on their fantastic show.
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| Alex Scholpp (guitar) and Matthias Sayer (vocals) during the concert in Konstanz. |
When the lights were dimmed and the intro "Cosmos" began, it really gave me goosebumps and I'm sure I wasn't alone with that. The band then started their set with "Faint Lines", "Fiery Skies" and "You And Me" - just as the current album does. "Faint Lines" is a good example for how the sound of the five musicians works. Ten ton riffs hit you, then the sinister verse creeps up on you and in the chorus the songs bursts into solemn melodies. "You And Me" announced the return of the band in 2017 and holds a special place in the hearts of many fans - as you could also see in Konstanz.
The core of the songs are the aggressive downtuned guitar riffs of Alex Scholpp and the emotional vocals of Matthias Sayer. But in this band, everyone brings something to the table: Ralf Botzenhart (the third founding member alongside Scholpp and Sayer) is a real bass giant and adds punch to the sound as well as Timm Schreiner who is responsible for the powerful drumming. Richard Duee adds the new wave touch and orchestral grandezza with his keys, for example in "Stay Like This Forever" or my personal favorite "End Of All Days". You can really tell that the band is up there because they are all having a great time and they are proud of their musical oeuvre. Rightfully so: They take it slow with the beautifully haunting "Isle Of The Dead" just to present some older gems like "When Pigs Fly", "Farm Sweet Farm" and "Prized". And when Alex Scholpp steps into the spotlight for a guitar solo, it's just all wow and no boredom. What makes the band very sympathetic is to see how grateful and humble they seem to be; very down to earth, no rockstar airs and graces, just pure and simple joy in playing and rocking out.
At the end of the show, "Revolt" cranks up the speed and proves to be a real highlight - judging by the euphoria in the audience. Of course there's an encore: The obligatory "Here Comes The Pain" - maybe the biggest commercial success the band has had - never leaves anyone disappointed. The title track of the current album then is the perfect conclusion, a slow burn anthem that ends with score-like vibes and calms you down after being fired up for the heavy and more up-tempo songs.
Stepping out into the night, you feel like this was a night to remember. And hopefully there will be lots more of them!
You can see more photos of the show on my webpage danieldrescherphotography.squarespace.com.