Photo by Patricio Colombo
Last week American band COCOROSIE gave their only show in the German capitol to promote their newest album Heartache City. NBHAP was there in the middle of the newly redecorated concert venue to watch the girls turning up the heat.
With an album called Heartache City and a sound which can be described as silent noise, minimalistic pop mixed with the two totally diverse singing techniques of the Casady sisters, visions of a live performance are quite dark and misty. Imagination showed Sierra and Bianca on the stage, turning it into a desperate kingdom of broken hope and forgotten emotions. Yeah, by now you could might get the idea that this was the first time for us to see them in person.
After some acoustic moments Danish singer/songwriter ASBJØRN left the stage to let the girls enter. It started out with Bianca on the piano, revealing her opera-voice, as the other half took the mic and brought the keyboarder with her and a beatboxer. Later we found out his stage name was TEZ. As he gave an honour and blasted up with heavy beats, quickly it became clear that this show is not about tears and fears, but cheers. Both dressed in comfortable pyjama-onesies, capes and sneakers, their style of performance could not be more different: Bianca danced and jumped around, confronted and talked with the audience, while Sierra kept it cool for the whole show, giving the ghetto-diva.
And speaking about the ghetto: The duo really turned Heartache City into an edgy-sounding hip-hop/R’n’B spectacle, without pushing the limit to far. Since each member of the quartet played his or her musical role, luckily there was no overload of sounds, which can be really annoying sometimes. The keyboarder added some trumpet now and then, TEZ represented the main beat-machine and rhythm leader, the girls were doing their thing.
After a solo part of the beatboxer the whole squad returned on stage to perform a mixture of dark not not knowing what to feel in the moment of happening. Both strange and interesting at the same time.
All in all, COCOROSIE’s Heartache City is not only worth a listen, but also worth watching. Compared to the live set, the album edition is more down to earth. Well, at least in a dark, black-grey space with some dimmed candle light in a corner. Possibly that is why we were prepared for some quiet gig (including those candle lights in a corner). Was it a disappointment? Not at all, rather a blessing! On a rainy day in the big city there is no more place for melancholia and bad mood. We should dance as much as we can to keep ourselves up, especially when the weekend is that far away. The Casady siblings‘ show was the right place that night. More please!
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