mind.in.a.box show-review:

mind.in.a.box - show-review for magazine 'Reflections of Darkness',
by:'Sebastian Huhn'
 
Link: Reflections of Darkness
 
The Austrian electronic duo MIND.IN.A.BOX created their own niche inside the electronic music scene. Their unique blend of different styles has conquered the hearts and minds of fans and press all over the world in a storm and is meanwhile known as techno pop. The name MIND.IN.A.BOX is a metaphor “for everything that prevents our Minds from truly being free”. The duo was signed to Dependent in 2004 and released their first Album ‘Lost alone’ in June of the same year, followed by its successor ‘Dreamweb’ in May 2005. Over 2 years after the release of ‘Dreamweb’ their new Album ‘Crossroads’ as the third part of the so called ‘Black trilogy’ hit the streets in August 2007. In 2010, MIND.IN.A.BOX have put out an homage to one of the most popular home computers back in the days; the Commodore 64 with the album ‘R.E.T.R.O’. MIND.IN.A.BOX live is Stefan Poiss (vocals, synths), Roman Stift (bass), Gerhard Höffler (drums) und Adam Wehsely-Swiczinsky (guitar).

Music & Performance
Being a fan of the Austrian project for years I had high expectations towards their upcoming performance, especially since a friend told me they blew him away when he attended their show at the Arvika festival in Sweden last year. We headed towards the smaller club stage early enough to get a good spot in the front rows. On stage everything seemed to be almost ready and after the little a cappella delivery with some lines of ‘Dead End’, it was just a few minutes before the lights went dark and the band appeared. The opening, down-tempo ‘Remember’ was a new song and here already you could hear the difference between a studio and a live version of MIAB. Greatly orchestrated with powerful drums and guitars to the synths, Stefan gave a goose-bump foretaste of what people could expect vocally, and that was a lot. Next one was ‘Amnesia’, rather a danceable song with the heavily processed vocals; Stefan kept performing completely relaxed from behind the synths he was handling. The live instruments revealed a whole new face of the song, just a little more movement on Stefan’s side would’ve been great. Apart from that it was flawless. Immediately afterwards, the ‘Stalkers’ invaded the room and while taking a look around, I recognized a lot of people danced happily to the song.

If there was one song I didn’t have on the radar for a live performance it was ‘Fear’, a song I loved from the very first listen and the live version was like an organic counterpart, I mean even the break beats were properly reproduced by the drummer and the chorus was as spine-tingling as can be. ‘Certainty’ blasted through next and segued fluently into ‘Light & Dark’, the actual opener of the debut album. Another track of that album followed with ‘Questions’ which in parts was bearing resemblances to a jam session. That spectacle even drew Eskil from COVENANT to the little club stage, visibly enjoying what was presented. ‘Whatever Mattered’ closed the last album ‘R.E.T.R.O’ but not this set and was a real highlight that proved the capabilities of Stefan as vocalist which I was already amazed by when listening to that track on CD - and it was just as touching. Another new song ‘Second Reality’ marked the end. If that’s a taste of a possible new album than we can expect something great to come! A technically perfect showcase came to its end, accompanied by a cheering audience. Everyone knew exactly what they were doing up there. Just a little more movement next time ok?

Rating
Music: 10
Performance: 8
Sound: 9
Light: 7
Total: 8.8 / 10