And One

   I had originally intended to see Covenant with And One in Orlando. However, when I was informed that Icon Of Coil and Cut Rate Box would be doing a show the same night in Atlanta, and Covenant would be in Atlanta the very next night, my plans abruptly changed. Even though the drive was longer, it was not half as boring (Georgia isn't flat) plus, my buddy Alex kept all of us amused with his impressions of just about every "South Park" character on the show. Well, after an uneventful six hours in the car, we finally made it to Atlanta. After getting slightly lost because our internet directions did not make sense, (thanks Yahoo maps) we finally made it our hotel. Our other friends arrived behind us about fifteen minutes later. After hurriedly getting ready, we set out for the Chamber. 


  Cut Rate Box
   For those of you who are unfamiliar with Atlanta's club scene, The Chamber is one of their premiere fetish nightclub's. I found it to be slightly cheesy, they even had their own little "fetish store" where you could purchase whips, chains, and dildo's if you left yours at home. Seriously though, it was a nice place to see a concert. Cut Rate Box opened to a crowd of about 25 people, which was a shame since they were very good. Despite the small number of people (which did get slightly larger toward the end of the set) they were well received. Lead vocalist G. Wygonik strode up and down the stage making very dramatic gestures (he even struck a pose for me as I was taking photo's) while Clint Sand and one other keyboardist pounded out their dark ebm groove. Song's such as New Religion, Restless, Heartbreak Cinema, and The End along with several others got the crowd really moving. These guys were a great opening act, and I would really love to see them headline sometime in the near future. 
      Icon Of Coil
   Icon Of Coil was up next, and the crowd was definitely ready. They came out blazing, with a huge surge of energy that just engulfed the audience. Front man Andy LaPlegua looked like the energizer bunny on speed. The man was all over the place, and since he is at least 6'2" he absolutely towered over everyone. The stage setup was the same as Cut Rate Box's with Sebastian Komor and Christian Lund manning keyboards on either side, but for some strange reason, they never took down Cut Rate's banner that was hanging in the background. Regardless, the band poured it on as they moved through song after song from Serenity Is The Devil and One Nation Under Beat. I was slightly disappointed that "Computer Girl" was not with them as part of their live setup. The band really took the audience by surprise with their encore of Front 242's Headhunter. At first it seemed that they were only going to play part of the song leading up to something else, but they ended up doing the entire thing. The show was great, and both bands stayed and signed autograph's and hung out with everyone at the bar.
   
Covenant
   Well, after that incredible show I could hardly wait for Covenant and And One. We ended up shopping most of the next day until it was time for our interview with Covenant, which by the way, was very cool. We actually saw Claus and Eskil doing some shopping in a record store in little Five Points. (How neat is that!) The entire band was very friendly and gracious, but we only interviewed Joakim, who is the spokesperson for the band. We even met the members of And One as they came through while we were talking. Later that night we arrived at the Riviera for the show, only to discover that we had missed almost the entire set from And One. They had gone on earlier than we anticipated, but we did manage to catch about three songs. What little I did hear sounded great. Sorry guys, maybe next time.

   Covenant took the stage shortly thereafter and was greeted with an incredibly warm welcome from an obviously delighted audience. The band was impeccably dressed in suit and tie, which lended to the elegant quality the band gives off. Eskil's voice was absolutely stunning, and the sound was perfect. Not too loud, but loud enough to really feel the beat. Claus was all smiles as he and Joakim handled keyboards and backing vocal duties. They even stepped out from behind their keyboards when not needed, to help pump up the audience. Having an extensive catalogue of music to draw from, the band had no shortage of material to play. They performed many older songs such as Stalker, Tension, I Am, Final Man, and Go Film but a good portion of the material was from their latest CD "United States Of Mind." I was delighted to hear some of my favorites such as, Dead Stars, Tour De Force, One World One Sky, Like Tears In Rain, and Helicopter in a live setting. The material is incredible on disc, but it was phenomenal live. The only songs that I wanted to hear but did not get played were Tabula Rasa and Still Life. They came back for two encores, before finally saying goodnight. We ended up going to an after party at The Vault where we stayed till about three before finally retiring to our hotel. Kudos to the Dj's at the Riviera and The Vault as their choice of songs was excellent, not to mention their mixing skills as well.

   I had a great time, and all of the bands were just great and very personable. I would like to thank Covenant for taking time out for the wonderful interview, and making us feel so welcome. I only saw one person from Jacksonville there, so I assume most went to see them in Orlando. If you didn't, you missed one hell of a show.



-Craig Harvey