MARTIAL POSTFOLK EVENING
Rome / Spiritual Front
The 13th of December 2008, Brasov, Reduta Cultural Centre

Nothing is more contagious than... MUSIC!

A half full hall, an apathetic audience, shy, ‘hidden’, confused, not so knowledgeable but open to see something different within a local scene that is full of events but lacking substance… Two bands that have only one thing in common, the record label Trisol, one playing a Martial Industrial that reminds of DEATH IN JUNE, the most difficult to play 100% live due to the samples present on the background of the sound, and the other one more Pop, superficially catalogued as NeoFolk, a band that can put up quite a show… especially if it has an audience to match… An elegant venue, intimate, comfortable, with chairs that seem to induce the desire to sleep, more than the want to see/live with maximum intensity, lights less than hospitable, a frozen blue alternating with a strong red, a setting that mixed scattered newspapers, hats, bags and collages that were trying to construct something feminine… with or without soul…

Nevertheless, one could somewhat feel a warm atmosphere floating around the room, an overall friendly attitude, of unconditioned relaxation, one could even say… a familial feel…

Around three hours spent in Reduta, alongside at least 200 people, some coming from quite a distance (Portugal, Serbia, Greece or Hungary), others from all over the country, together with some local audience… this is pretty much the Martial Post Folk Evening of the 13th of December, Brasov. With all the hopes the organizers had of starting at least the fifth Special Evening at the scheduled time, ROME went on stage more than half an hour late.

At least there were enough musical accessories to be found on the hallways of the theatre, perhaps just enough to help save the unwanted state of irritation… It is also to be mentioned that the organizers wanted to salute and thank everyone through a few minutes long film that was presented at the very beginning of the Evening, nothing more than a summary of all the past Special Evenings… Jerome and the two Patrick’s tried to introduce their music to the ones present in the room, a somewhat difficult to digest music, based on light percussion, samples and a lot of guitar, all lead by an imposing, low masculine voice.

There were approximately 75 minutes, pleasant for some, boring for others wanting more rhythm, with unusual projections showing on the background, a bit of socializing with a few words said in Romanian, all in an effort to link with the audience… but in the end, without success. In spite of this cold and colourless discourse, when it all ended, the audience got up on their feet as a sign of respect and deservedly acclaimed ROME!!! For a band formed some 4 years ago, one that played for the first time in Romania, it could be said that this gig brought to the band the appreciation of the people present at Reduta…

After a half an hour break, on an audio background that played ONANI (ORDO ROSARIUS EQUILIBRIO), the four Italians went on stage, dressed in black suits and with white ties. Simone tried to be as communicative as possible with the audience, to joke, to relate… but he got hit by a cold, glacial wall, figures frozen in their chairs, waiting to see who these guys that call themselves SPIRITUAL FRONT, are…

And the band did its thing, played songs from the older albums, but as well as that, from the new one that will be released in April 2009, one song was actually played for the first time ever in front of a live audience, dedicated to the guys from ROME… Overall, they had an inspired choice of songs, but a list that lacked “Autopsy Of A Love”, “Cruisin” and “No Kisses On The Mouth”… Full of desire to talk, sing and have fun, Simone showed us that together with an indisputable charisma, he can sing too, improvising and transforming every song into a novelty, possibly confusing the ear of the listener of the studio version SPIRITUAL FRONT… ‘The Song Of The Old Man’ was the most altered track, different, where, towards the end, for a good few long seconds he went into trance… The actual concert ended approximately after an hour, but a come-back followed, Simone trying once again to do what he already did in Spain, Lithuania or Germany, to get fans on stage and have them sing ‘Slave’ with him…

After some pressing and insisting, he managed to get some people up there, majority of them fans that came from overseas, some organizers and... ROME… yes, Simone, in his spontaneous style, invited the three musicians up on stage as well, showing us all that a Special Evening can only be done with friends, for friends… especially as he found a Romanian flag somewhere backstage and made sure to take it with him and hang it on the microphone support… a gesture practiced by many… in a calculated manner… here… it just happened…

As many had no idea what SPIRITUAL FRONT and ROME were all about... the idea is that the two bands made many new friends that night, individuals that most likely did not regret those three hours of isolation from the day-to-day. It was beautiful, it was friendly, it was special, and it was real… A Story, A Real Story… Thank you to all those who have managed to transform 2008 into a dream year: ARCANA, ICE AGES, ATARAXIA, ORDO ROSARIUS EQUILIBRIO, CASCADEUR, IN SLAUGHTER NATIVES, ROME, SPIRITUAL FRONT, spectators, friends and collaborators! A friendly salute... and, who knows...

December, 2008.