Venue: Posthof / Linz / Austria
Concert date: March 18, 2009
Attendance: 50
When you get the chance to catch a show like Univers Zero, you have to go, if you’re a fan, even if that means heading to a town like Linz. Linz isn’t exactly the far end of the earth, but if the weather isn’t on your side, even that turns into a pretty serious test of your driving skills, especially if you’re the kind of driver who’s scared of every cat that’s more than a hundred yards from the road. So obviously, a snowstorm is not the ideal setting for a person like that. Picture someone “racing” down an Austrian highway at twenty-five miles an hour, face glued to the windshield because otherwise they wouldn’t see a thing.
Still, the weather alone was the perfect send-off for a gig by a band like this. It was schizophrenic. One minute it was nice, the next it felt like all of God’s wrath (if God even exists) was coming down on me. It felt like I was driving through the eras of Univers Zero’s music: the dark clouds and snow stood in nicely for the band’s first period (up to Heatwave), which is steeped in gloom and mysticism, while the blue skies over Linz stood for the newer period, which is quite a bit more optimistic but no less interesting. Despite all my driving incompetence and fears, I managed to reach the venue early.
Even before the show I had a really nice chat with Daniel Denis, a legend of the Rock in Opposition movement, who turned out to be a great person to talk to, even if he occasionally got tangled up in his English. He’s also humble and generous for such an experienced musician, and he didn’t mind one bit chatting with fans of their music.
Half an hour before showtime it was already clear the hall wasn’t going to be exactly packed. Well, actually, I’m understating it. The turnout was catastrophic. Okay, nobody expected a band of Univers Zero’s caliber to draw a huge crowd, but I figured there’d be at least a hundred people. By my estimate, somewhere between twenty and thirty tickets were sold, and everyone else was connected to the event in some way. Even if Austria isn’t exactly a mecca for experimental music, a show like this definitely deserved a more respectable crowd. I think the numbers would’ve been higher even in Slovenia.
The show opened with one of the newer classics, Xenantaya (The Hard Quest), which, with its prominent bass line, is one of their funkiest, most danceable creations. Next came Civic Circus (also from The Hard Quest), a shorter but really well-crafted piece. Denis clearly has a soft spot for The Hard Quest, because they went on with Kermesse Atomique, another highlight from that album. Then came a new track, Soubresants, which suggests the new album is going to be excellent. After that, half of the lineup left the stage, and the violinist, clarinetist and bassoonist played another new composition, Three Days. The rest of the band then came back on, and Denis quickly launched into a drum solo that was easily the most interesting one I’ve ever seen. The mix of melody, classical, jazz, speed and feel was unbelievable, and the drum solo didn’t feel like a waste of time at all, which is what happens with so many of these things. Then we heard two more new pieces, Opus Rictus and Saison 2 en 7, which again spoke volumes about the high quality of the new material. Before the show I’d maybe foolishly hoped they’d play some of my favorites like Heatwave, The Funeral Plain and Combat, but without Andy Kirk in the lineup that was hardly to be expected (maybe at the Rock In Opposition festival!!!). Still, they didn’t leave us hanging when it came to classics and fan favorites. They saved three of my favorite compositions for the end of the show (all written by Daniel Denis): Presage, Dense, and, as an encore, Toujours plus a l’est. Presage is of course one of Denis’s most intricate compositions, from the album UZED (1984), full of constant shifts in rhythm, time signature and atmosphere. During the performance there was a slight technical problem: a cable on the piano overheated, and they had to take a short break so it wouldn’t fry. After ten minutes the guys simply picked up where they’d left off and carried Presage to the end. Another Denis masterpiece followed, Dense, which starts out ferocious, eases off in the middle and lets you sink into the atmospheric, gloomy passages that only Univers Zero are capable of. Then, at the end, another assault on all the senses and a sudden finish. Once again played perfectly, without a single slip. For the encore we got one more gem from their collection, a “rare” composition that you used to be able to get only in Japan, but which Cuneiform Records released a few years back, so now we can all marvel at its beauty. That’s Toujours plus a l’est, where Denis shows off his love of Eastern European music. It’s full of dynamic motifs and tricky time signatures, and of course Univers Zero wouldn’t be Univers Zero if they hadn’t slipped in a few of their trademark twists (shifts in atmosphere, slowdowns, and so on).
Daniel Denis once again has a great crew around him. From the old guard, only Michel Berckmans is there alongside him (Andy Kirk wasn’t available yet). On keyboards is the ever-excellent and charismatic Pierre Chevalier (Present), who was clowning around the whole time even though he was sitting behind a piano. He even played an “unannounced” keyboard solo, and the other members just smiled. That says a lot about the good vibe inside the band. Even though it’s clear Denis is the boss, he obviously doesn’t mind at all if someone wanders off into a solo unexpectedly. He just takes it all as part of the show and part of the fun. On violin is the confident Martin Lauwers, who put his violin through the wringer during the show (at one point he even had to rest, because the violin was almost literally “smoking”). Kurt Bude on clarinets and saxophones is something of a frontman, handling the talking to the audience and delivering some great moments on his instruments. Keeping him company on the woodwinds was the eternally young (despite the white-gray hair) Michel Berckmans, who, especially with his bassoon, still knows how to conjure that true Univers Zero atmosphere. He also gave the oboe a solid blow a few times. Then there’s Dimitri Rupel (that guy really is everywhere), sorry, Evers, on bass, who took over the reins nicely from the previous bassist and had a solo spot of his own. His bass is powerful and booming, and at times it even sounded like a guitar (with effects). And finally there’s none other than one of the greatest drummer-composers in the world of music (at least as far as I’m concerned). Besides having the honor of meeting him and exchanging a few words, I also got to enjoy his razor-precise drumming, which hasn’t lost any of its magic. Denis is still as interesting as he was in the seventies and eighties, and his pieces are played superbly. I’m not a fan of drum solos in general, but his blew me away, because the man has so much classical and jazz know-how that he can do practically whatever he wants. Even so, he pleasantly surprised me with a really melodic and varied solo. Hats off!
Technical hiccups aside, Univers Zero were excellent. The Austrians’ organization was great too. It’s not their fault there weren’t more people at the show. I don’t know what the promotion for the event looked like, but anyone interested in this kind of music could have found their way there. Personally, I wouldn’t have minded being the only person in the room, but it definitely matters to the band to see the venue isn’t empty, because that fills them with even more energy. The crowd that was there was pretty knowledgeable, but I’m sure there are more people in Austria who love this band. If Thierry Zaboitzeff (ex Art Zoyd) could make it to the show from Strasbourg, then surely a local or two could have turned up as well.
In short, seeing Univers Zero live was one of the highlights of my concert-going across Europe. Despite the tiny audience, the guys gave it everything and proved that Univers Zero still have plenty to offer. Daniel Denis is a brilliant leader. What stands out most is his humility offstage and his exuberance onstage. The new pieces sound great live, so the future of Univers Zero looks promising. They’d probably say themselves that this wasn’t one of their best shows (given the size of the crowd alone, plus the minor technical problem), but it’ll always have a place in my heart, because this is one of my favorite bands. I hope they’ll be even better at the Rock in Opposition festival and that they’ll mix up the repertoire a bit. One last thing: huge respect to the Austrian organizers for daring to bring in a band like Univers Zero, when it was clear they wouldn’t draw a big crowd. Sure, there were few of us, but those who were there enjoyed it all the more, myself included.
Photos: Rok Podgrajšek
Setlist
1. Intro 2. Xenantaya 3. Civic Circus 4. Kermesse Atomique 5. Soubresants 6. Three Days 7. Opus Rictus 8. Saison 2 en 7 9. Presage 10. Dense 11. Toujours plus a l’est
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