Venue: Bluesiana Rock Cafe / Velden Am Woerthersee / Austria
Concert date: 03.12.2011
Attendance: 20
Ticket price: 20 € (reserved) / 24 € (day of show)
A cloudy, slightly rainy Saturday – perfect weather for another evening trip to Austria, specifically to Velden and the famous Bluesiana, a club that Greg and I adopted as our own on our very first visit three years ago. This time we headed there to see and hear a band that’s maybe a little lesser known, but no less quality for it: Florian Hofer Band.
Florian Hofer Band is a young trio of musicians from three different countries. As is typical for most younger bands, the lineup keeps shifting, but the one constant is Florian Hofer, the singer and guitarist from Germany. Keeping him company on stage right now are Bernhard Wegner from Austria on bass and Atma Anur from San Francisco on drums, a guy with a rich musical history (he once worked with Richie Kotzen, too).
Florian Hofer comes from Frankfurt. His music draws mainly on Richie Kotzen and Philip Sayce. Florian Hofer Band’s debut is called Resolution and came out at the end of 2010. It’s a mix of a new blues-rock-funk-fusion sound, whose godfathers are none other than the aforementioned Kotzen and Sayce.
It had been barely 14 days since our last visit to Bluesiana (when we caught Eric Sardinas). The workers in the Karawanks tunnel still make sure you get a half-hour to reflect on your life and have your last intense phone calls before crossing the border. Arriving in Velden, you can already feel the festive December mood, with all the kitschy artificial Santas and snowmen. Lights are twinkling everywhere. The December spirit had settled over the streets too, since the Velden hotels were already full of tourists, and the streets packed with evening strollers gave us hope that Bluesiana would be decently filled with listeners tonight despite the lesser-known name on stage. But pulling up in front of the club killed those hopes. Four lonely cars in the parking lot didn’t exactly promise a crowd, but there were still almost 2 hours until the show, so we hoped things would pick up.
For all of Bluesiana’s ever-present coziness, it was hard to ignore its emptiness, something Greg and I aren’t used to – by the time the show started, there were 22 people in the club, staff included. The always-smiling face of the owner, Gudrun, couldn’t hide her disappointment at the sight of an almost empty club.
A few minutes after half past nine, Florian Hofer stepped on stage with his band. We were seeing the guy, who had turned 23 on the very day of the show, live for the first time. He opened with Can you feel me, his first song to get a video clip. Keeping the few of us company were 2 cameras filming everything happening on stage. At the end of the song Florian greeted the crowd and thanked everyone who had come from afar – he mentioned guests from Italy and Slovenia. They continued with Back in the day, one of the newer songs that will land on the next CD, which Florian promises to release sometime in 2012. Next came the livelier On my knees. Florian reminds you of Kotzen not just through his vocal tone and style of music, he’s also borrowed quite a bit of his stage moves, so apart from Florian’s light-colored hair, everything about him recalls his biggest role model. His confident guitar playing, full of intricate riffs, doesn’t surpass his idol’s, but it gets satisfyingly close. Atma Anur backed Florian’s singing the whole way with shouts in between, while bassist Wegner joined in on backing vocals. The trio clicked both vocally and instrumentally, and if Bluesiana had been even a little fuller, they’d have thrown a real party on stage. As it was, Florian took it a bit easier with longer solos from his nimbly practiced fingers – his well-worn black Fender Stratocaster is proof of plenty of practice, too. Florian wasn’t overly talkative during the show, so drummer Atma Anur used one of the breaks between songs to wish Florian a happy birthday. Florian didn’t show much enthusiasm about it, which I think was precisely because he too was hoping for a better turnout. Despite the disappointment, the show carried on confidently with songs from the debut and a few more new ones. Even though the crowd was small, it showed a lot of solidarity with the young musicians on stage, as we rewarded every song with really loud cheers and big applause. If the stage lighting in Bluesiana didn’t light up the whole club, it would have sounded like at least 5 times as many people were clapping as there actually were. And the guys fully deserved the applause, since the quality of the playing didn’t slip for a moment. Florian loosened up a bit during the show, took off his sheepskin jacket, swung his guitar around behind his head and showed us he can pull off that kind of playing too. To close the regular set they played their own neat take on Hendrix’s Foxy Lady, then said a quick goodbye and thanks. Loud chanting for an encore followed, Florian kept us waiting a few minutes, and then all three came back on stage. Florian thanked everyone who had come once more, dragged his Marshall speaker cab to the middle of the stage, sat down on it casually and played us Illusions, plus Bluesiana Blues, an improvised, jam-style number written especially for Bluesiana. Then came another farewell from the stage, and we few but thoroughly satisfied onlookers slowly made our way home.
Let’s be honest, it’s tough for any musician to play to such a small crowd and a practically empty club. Florian Hofer Band proved that you can stay professional and an extremely high-quality musician despite a big disappointment. Florian’s guitar skills will satisfy any listener, and his vocals sound velvety over lyrics that are maybe a touch melancholy. A musician who leaves his heart on the stage but never misses a single note. I can’t wait for their next show nearby. Highly recommended.
photos: Greg Žagar
Setlist
1. Can you feel me 2. Back in the day 3. On my knees 4. Blue Indian chief 5. Telling lies 6. Constant change 7. Reaching 8. Reigning me 9. Till pain is gone 10. Carrying 11. Foxy lady —encore— 12. Illusions 13. Blues
Photo gallery
