I wasn’t really planning to review these shows. I’m a little out of the game and was just planning to have a bit of fun, but after being completely blown away in Frankfurt, I was massively compelled to write about what I witnessed.
Day 01: Batschkapp, Frankfurt 20/10/22
The first of the three shows brought me to Batschkapp, a venue I was already familiar with due to seeing Turmion Kätilöt there in 2019. Although the venue was outside Frankfurt itself, it was fairly accessible with public transport and I arrived just after doors opening to a long queue snaking around the venue. Still, it moved fairly quickly and it wasn’t long before I made it inside.
Nachtblut took to the stage just after 8pm and having intentionally not spoiled myself with what to expect from their set list, it felt exciting to hear the songs in real time without knowing what was coming next – and what a setlist it was! Nachtblut have a very strong catalogue of songs anyway, but the songs they decided to include in the order they chose was simply magnificent.
Opening with Multikulturell, it got the set off to a powerful start and the way the band moved as a unit was incredible to see. Another early highlight was the mighty Scheinfromm – I seriously love the electronic vibe to it and it was even better in a live environment. Meanwhile older track Ich Trinke Blut is always a treat to see and it juxtaposed nicely against more melodic number Nur In Der Nacht.
Nachtblut closed their set with a song I was unfamiliar with, but it was clearly a cover as I was surrounded by various members of the audience bellowing the chorus back at them. Homework for Leipzig? Familiarise myself with said song.
There wasn’t a massive gap between Nachtblut and Lord Of The Lost – only fifteen minutes or so – and whilst usually this is something I’d be pleased about, I was honestly on such a comedown from the mighty set from Nachtblut that I needed more time to process it! It had been four years since my last show of theirs, after all, and I just had to take a few moments to process how incredible it has been.
Subsequently this meant I didn’t actually properly take in the first half of so of LOTL’s set, which was a shame because although I made this trip for Nachtblut, I am also a fan of LOTL and had been looking forward to them as well!
The latter half of the set, at least, was enjoyable and I got to enjoy several of my favourite songs of theirs, such as Blood For Blood, Drag Me To Hell and Credo – and since I’ll be going to two more shows, I’m fairly confident I’ll be able to enjoy a set properly before I go home!
Now…onwards to Leipzig (on a very delayed train)!
Day 02: Tāubchenthal, Leipzig 21/10/22
Dreadful train journeys and issues with my accomodation aside, day two brought me to a venue called Täubchenthal in Leipzig.
Although the previous night was just a two-band lineup due to Scarlet Dorn being unable to play, tonight featured an opening set from Empire Of Giants. Whilst they weren’t my thing, I did enjoy the stage presence and vocal performance from the male vocalist – his energy was fantastic!
When the lights went down and the introduction to Multikulturell hit again, I already knew I was in for a treat. Whilst the setlist was still the same as the one in Frankfurt, that didn’t matter because like I mentioned earlier – it was jam packed with some seriously hard hitters.
One of the highlights this time around was Frauenausbeiner – the chorus is massive in a live environment and there was something very endearing about seeing Askeroth boop Greif on the nose at the end of his guitar solo before the pair jumped off one of the raised platforms together. Additionally the band just seemed to be having so much fun onstage and it really transferred well to the crowd – it felt to be that they got a stronger reception in Leipzig than the previous night.
Setlist.fm informed me that the final song of Nachtblut’s set was a cover of a song called Alles Nur Geklaut by an artist called Die Prinzen and nope, still entirely clueless! Although I did listen to the song on the train and felt it was a very fun rendition of the original!
Up next was Lord Of The Lost. It’s difficult seeing a band you like follow a favourite band because it means the set doesn’t hit as hard – I have no doubt that if I was seeing them separately to Nachtblut then I would enjoy them a lot more, which makes me feel slightly guilty. The set has a decent percentage of songs I like by them, and LOTL always put on a show rather than just stand there and perform the songs – and of course there is no way you can’t have a good time when you’re surrounded by LOTL fans jumping and dancing!
Up next is Hannover, which is the final show of the three. Already counting down the hours!
Day 03: Pavillon, Hannover 22/10/22
The final show of the three brought me back to Hannover (this was the airport I had to fly to in order to attend these shows – don’t ask) and out of the three shows, this one was my favourite so it was nice to end on a high. I had actually seen Nachtblut here several years earlier in 2018 at a venue called Lux on their Apostasie tour so it was good to come full circle.
Nachtblut is a band that knows how to work a crowd and once again there was a fantastic vibe in the whole room as they powered through another mighty performance. I listen to the band’s albums on heavy rotation but their music is taken to a whole new level live. Take the aforementioned Frauenausbeiner – great song but not one of my “favourites” from Apostasie, but the live rendition elevates it to a whole new level. Nur In Der Nacht was a particular highlight of this performance (love those cheesy 80s-style synths) and as the set rounded up with that cover song that I still don’t know the significance of, I found it bittersweet because the last three days had been amazing but I was sad it was all over. Still, I’m sure it won’t be the last time.
For this LOTL set, I was determined to try and focus a little harder to fully appreciate the performance – which was perhaps a little easier since I knew I wouldn’t be seeing any more sets from my preferred band for a while! LOTL were great as always, with highlights being Your Stars Led You Astray and Drag Me To Hell this time around. In particular, Drag Me To Hell has a great kick to it in a live environment and the chorus is absolutely massive. It was just great to see the band having so much fun together onstage and it translated really well into the performance. Next year, I’ll be seeing them support Turmion Kätilöt so hopefully I’ll be able to engage a lot more with their set due to them playing before my favourites, rather than after (sorry)!
All in all, three great nights! My only complaint was that Nachtblut should have played Schmerz & Leid, as it would have made sense to have Chris from LOTL join them onstage for it…but if that’s the only negative, then that can surely only be a positive.
Nachtblut will be touring next year and although I don’t have any holidays left to attend that tour, I highly recommend going to see this incredible band if you are able to.
