Aesthetic Perfection Headlining The Lounge: Part 1 of the Epic London Weekend Adventure
The performance at the Lounge was a small, intimate show for about 250-300 people. A small venue like this is perfect for these types of bands – the sweaty intimacy of a small, messy music venue is what makes live music. The sound on the night was great, and the crowd were ripping to go as the stage was set for these three bands.
Watch the Aesthetic Perfection video interview here.
Simona Martini, our hero in this epic three-day rock adventure, bombed several shows over one weekend. Scoring impossible-to-get tickets for both The Lounge and The Forum sold-out gigs, Simona had a blast seeing amazing bands perform as well as sliding in behind-the-scenes to interview them. Be sure to watch the 2 videos of Simona’s interviews with Aesthetic Perfection and Biomechanimal.
Biomechanimal’s Keith Kamholz plays his fierce tricked-out synth bass with glow lights. Photo Kriz-P
Starting the night off right was hard-rocking local band Biomechanimal. This London-based industrial band had a great energy and amazing stage presence, rocking out with their particular brand: catchy electronic dance beats blended with harsh vocals.
Biomechanimal are true upstarts of the London underground alternative scene. This high energy, in-your-face band mixes strong bass lines and electro dance hooks with unique vocal work, and they’re a staple of the dark electronic scene in the UK. The band have a strong local following, and they’ve got their stage presence down partly because of their extensive experience with the gig circuit in London. The bass player stood out in particular – with his electronic light up bass. When he played it felt like a new age spaceship coming to life on stage. The band had a really good vibe playing live, and the crowd was loving it. As many London industrial bands do, Biomechanimal love to play at Electroworks as well.
Matt Simpson of Biomechanimal Photo by KrizPhoto
Biomechanimal lead signer Matt Simpson reaches out into the fans at the Lounge 66 6 gig in Camden. Photo: KrizPhoto
Jadu was up next. Most people had not seen the Berlin-based performer before and her show hit like a stun-grenade. Jadu is a petite woman who sings only in German, and who has basically created her own fashion-fascist genre of “military dream pop”. Her work features plenty of military-style metaphors and soundscapes, and her live performance brought aesthetics that hammered this notion home. It was striking to see this singer own the stage the way she did – despite her small stature, she looks tall and powerful. As a stage performer, she’s certainly less physical than Biomechanimal who are known for their high energy antics, but Jadu has a strong command of the audience. The band’s look is striking, with military-themed uniforms and props such as uniform-clad mannequins and rifles attached to the mic stands – and as Jadu walked out clad in a leather boiler-suit, the crowd were a bit confused and titillated.
Jadu launches an assault at the Lounge in Camden. Photo: KrizPhoto.
Jadu. Photo: KrizPhoto.
As for the music, Jadu has a distinctly original approach to dark-electro music. Blending sounds, themes and imagery from World War II with modern electronic vibes combined for an atmospheric, dreamy set, the band are truly original/disturbing. It’s like Cabaret meets Nine Inch Nails. Jadu’s songs were slower and more chilled than the other performers on the night, but they fitted in well with the dark electronic sound of the evening. Jadu will be back to London later this year, performing at Underworld on 11th of September.
Aesthetic Perfection were about to take to the stage, and the room was buzzing with anticipation. Since the gig was at an unusually small venue for this big player on the industrial scene, there were only 300 tickets available, and these sold out fast. For those lucky enough to snag a ticket, this gig was one to remember. The fact that the venue was so small and intimate, and the bands so close to the crowd made the performance on the night that much more special.
Daniel Graves frontman for Aesthetic Perfection. Photo: KrizPhoto
Elliott Berlin on guitar for Aesthetic Perfection. Photo KrizPhoto
Aesthetic Perfection came on the stage with a bang, with the high energy raucous vibe the band are known for. This international band are huge in the field of dark electronic, combining inspirations from industrial music, goth, pop, rock and much more to create their own style of music. These guys are old hands at performing live and have a great stage presence. Aesthetic Perfection are like hard-rocking hyperactive kids, spending as much time down in the crowd as they do on stage. These guys are incredibly talented musically within the industrial world, with unique vocals and incredible drum solos. No one walked out of this gig without having their mind blown.
photo: KrizPhoto
Photo: KrizPhoto
photo: KrizPhoto
