9pm, a summer evening in Vienna, it was time again for a cozy event with many interesting music acts. The Signal Zirkus crew had invited to the Season Closing and presented four exciting acts. For all who don’t know. Signal Zirkus is an event series in the heart of Vienna where musicians can perform their music live in front of an audience. Above all, it’s about getting to know new talents and convincing musicians to play their first live set in front of the audience. To be able to participate, you need at least one electronic instrument. Everyone can register on a Facebook list and perform at one of the next events.
The founders of this series of events describe the Signal Zirkus as “a platform for musicians using at least one electronic musical instrument as main sound source on stage. Goal is to get people out of their natural habitats and – obviously – their comfort zone. So they start to perform their music live. In front of an audience.”
Interesting is that the Signal Zirkus event series doesn’t only show one music style from the electronic world but tries to open doors to new sounds. It’s s the perfect platform for any direction. From Ambient, Acid, Drone, to Techno, the guests get an excellent insight into every style. Each event is unique because on every you can experience other artists with different musical backgrounds and discover so new kinds of music.
Since music is still a matter of taste, it can happen that you don’t like an artist performance not so much. The nice thing is, you have discovered for yourself on this event what you like or not. Since the Signal Zirkus series is always a nice gathering of the Viennese electronics scene, one can directly exchange about the heard or his own experiences.
For the season closing, the organizers had thought of something special and invited four very interesting artists with very different styles.
Mario Schönhofer
The evening started with Mario Schönhofer from Munich or better known as a member of the modular Synthesizer band Ströme. His live rig consisted of a huge Eurorack case, various other analog Synthesizers and a drum machine. His live set consisted of mainly well danceable electronic melodies and astonished many spectators. Always a pleasure to watch him live and how well he manage his huge modular case.
So that the people during the rebuilding phases get an exciting program offered, the organizers of the Signal Zirkus have come up with something very cool. During each break, Erwin from the Raw Voltage Modular Store Vienna opens his small portable modular box and introduces visitors to the world of Eurorack Synthesizers. In order to make it exciting every time, the spectators get a new theme at every event. During the closing event, Erwin talked about random activities (building random CV’s, random melodies..) in the Eurorack world.
JAX n TATE
Next, JAX n TATE, a band from Vienna played the small stage and sounded the room with the finest viennese techno. They produce good-sounding techno with excellent female vocals. The live rig consisted mainly of an Ableton Live set, with a Moog Synthesizer, a small Eurorack system, a Roland TR-707 and some other more special sound devices. The result was a very danceable techno-live set with good vocals and with some experimental touch.
After the next transformation phase and Erwin made the people once again smarter about Eurorack Synthesizers, the 80s and 90s began in the Signal Zirkus
Powernerd
Powernerd, a electronic music band from Vienna entered the stage as the third act and turned the location into an 80s / 90s disco. Powernerd can be described simply as the Synthwave gods of Viennese. With the slightly conspicuous costumes and 80s/90s inspired sounds, they transform each location very quick in a dancing shed.
For organizational reasons, the band played this evening only in a two man formation. Normally there is next to the Synth player and the guitarist also an excellent E-Drum player. This was replaced by the vintage KORG DDD-1 drum machine. Nonetheless, the two band members played a nice concert and showed the audience why they are the Synthwave heroes of Vienna.
After the Powernerds left the stage, the evening was nearly over again. Erwin from the Raw Voltage Modular Store show some more interesting tips and tricks with his Eurorack case and the last artist prepared his set.
Xambuca
As the last, Xambuca mounted the stage of the June Signal Zirkus edition. Equipped with a Elektron Analog Four keyboard, an Eventide Blackhole and OTO effect unit, Xambuca was the representative of the atmospheric and drones sounds on this evening. He is a US-based artist and played a very experimental electronic noisy setup. Compared with the other three acts, Xambucha offered a completely different musical direction to the viewer and showed nicely the big variety of electronic music on the Signal Zirkus event.
So all the acts had played on that evening and another Signal Zirkus issue ended. It was once again a very successful evening with many interesting guests. Thanks to the founders for the organization and I’m looking forward to another issue after the summer holidays.
More informations here: Signal Zirkus
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