Nils Frahm at Liquidroom, May 23rd 2018

My favorite Roxy Music song is Remake/Remodel. In the last part of the song each member plays a two bar solo alternating after a two bars repetition of the main riff. The humorous approach of this section is unlike the relentless plodding of the rest of the song. The sax plays a simple line, the guitar plays what it sounds like an intro to a 50’s rock number, but the piano and the keyboards go to a different place. Eno’s modular synths embrace the technological and “futuristic” sound that you will normally associate with synthesizers of the knob-turning, patch-patching variety.

Technology is a key element in Nils Frahm’s performance. The first thing you notice when you walk into the venue is the massive amount of equipment displayed on stage. There are at least two pianos, a Fender Rhodes, analog synthesizers, digital synthesizers, a Mellotron (a Mellotron!!) and even a toy piano, among many others I couldn’t possibly identify. In the liner notes of his latest album All Melody, he describes how some of this instruments were modified and how some of the equipment was built and customized in his quest for the ultimate sound. 

During the show he warns the audience that the AC will be turned off for the most quiet passages and even though the heat was rough at times the trade-off was worth it. Some of the best moments of the show involved him playing the instruments on stage right. He reproduced and even enhanced the melancholic nature of songs like Ode and My Friend the Forest. Expanding silences and leaving notes hanging in the air, he achieved a rapport with the audience that was truly moving.

His music could be solemn at times but it’s never dark. There’s an air of optimism  that I find truly appealing. Take for instance the song Says, that closed the main part of the show before the encore. In a very funny self deprecating way, Frahm explained the dynamics of the song and wondered why people respond to it the way the do. I’d say that there are not many pieces of music as uplifting as those chord changes towards the end of the song, it was amazing to see it performed live.

Another sight to behold on stage was the physicality of the performance. Seeing Frahm going back and forth, from one instrument to another reproducing that complex sound live was something else. In the beginning I mentioned the role of technology in his music, but it’s the human aspect that gives it shape and provides the contrast that makes it so effective. The Berlin School inspired numbers with the cascading arpeggios coming from synthesizers and electronic drums are as funky and as full of musicality as they could be. 

I almost forgot to mention how much I loved to hear the chorus parts from the album performed on the Mellotron, it was awesome.

After two hours and ten minutes, the show made a full circle finishing with acoustic notes coming from the grand piano on stage left. From the minimal intro played on a toy piano that started the show to the energetic pounding of a normal scale one, Frahm offered a wide palette of sounds in a truly electrifying concert.

At the end of what it was, according to him, his biggest show in Japan yet, lots of people (including myself) rushed to the front of the stage to take pictures of all that equipment. There was a strict no-photography-allowed policy during the show, so his was the only chance to get a token of what went down. Below you can check a couple of examples.

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