Despite living in Germany my whole life pretty much, I don’t get the chance to photograph German bands that often which is actually a bit sad. Personally, I get the feeling that we don’t have that many bands here that write their own music, especially younger musicians compared to for example Australia (or maybe I am just super ignorant who knows). This only means I am a lot more grateful I had the opportunity to come across Pale Heart and was able to experience one of their concerts first hand. Spoiler alert: it was really really really good.
Before we dive into my experience here I will honestly admit that I at first was a bit sceptical if I should even message this band. Simply because my last concert has been DeWolff, one band they list as their inspiration. I was afraid they might be too similar but turns out I just was a biased piece of crap. As I always do, I listened to one song (it was “Soul Suicide” I think?) to get a general feeling for what I might be getting at a gig and my first reaction was “Fuck yes”. There was just something about the general energy, the vibes I was getting I suppose. My whole decision process is very weird and strange indeed. I don’t really understand it either to be completely honest. I think when talking about DeWolff I called it my “I don’t know this band but their music sounds pretty cool. Let’s do this” – rule which is very well put. I might be writing about it one day. So yeah, I messaged these lovely guys from Stuttgart and the rest you can probably guess.
Alrighty, let’s talk about the concert. You can always kinda tell by how much I write about a band how much I got out of a concert and this might become a long post. It made me quite emotional not gonna lie but this happens pretty often so yeah (Delta Moon flashbacks). Where was I? The concert.
It was really nice to come back to the Museumskeller once again after a couple of months. I am sort of a regular there now and the owner already knows me and this time he didn’t even check if I was on the guest list or not or maybe he remembered my name I don’t know. On top of that some of the patrons there I met before and we all talked. It really reminded me of the TECnet, the live music venue I volunteer at whenever I am visiting my homeland Frankonia. It is becoming quite personal, intimate, very warm and full of appreciation but more about that last part later actually. I always get carried away way too much. I am so sorry. Let’s talk about the music guys, let’s not forget about the MUSIC.
Okay, let’s try to put into words how I felt about Pale Heart’s music. I honestly hate comparing but I kinda wanna say they are a groovier, more lighthearted DeWolff but that really doesn’t do this band justice. One can really tell what they get inspired by but they still do their own thing which is extremely important in my eyes and makes the overall experience a lot more pleasant. I can’t stand it when a band tries to copy another one and that happens quite often. It just makes it all look and feel so incomplete but Pale Heart was the opposite of that. It truley felt like a whole thing. It didn’t get boring at all because every song had its own vibe and energy going but despite that variety, it had a Pale Heart feel to it. I really hope I am making sense here. I feel a bit like a crazy person every time I try to explain how I feel about a band.
One thing they had in common with DeWolff for me personally was the vocals. Please don’t get this wrong, please don’t punch me for saying this but for both bands, I needed to listen to a couple of songs to get used to it. This isn’t meant in a bad way ok. I like voices I can recognize as soon as I hear them and it really suits the style of music too. It overall was a very well executed concert and I was so happy I could be a part of it. It was a lot of fun. It was lighthearted. The crowd was amazing. Everyone was just enjoying themselves a lot and that what it is all about.
A few last words so to say to wrap things up. I am overall very happy I decided to attend this gig, originally I planned on going to a gig the week earlier but decided against it which turned out to be the best choice I could’ve made really. Pale Heart has become just like pretty much every band I ever photographed a part of my daily life so to say (they are in my main playlist now that I pretty much have on 24/7). Hopefully, more people will start to discover them, these guys deserve it in my opinion. Just honest homemade music that is fun and rich in variety. I should probably stop talking but do me the favour and check them out, ok?
Lost In The Sounds 