6. May 2022
Are the guitars properly plugged in anyway? When Bilderbuch are currently on stage, it sounds like a real rock concert. The band, which has revolutionized pop sound in Austria in recent years, is once once more enjoying handmade music reduced to the essentials. This is not only proven by the new album “Gelb ist das Feld”, but also by the accompanying tour that took the quartet to the Vienna Arena yesterday, Thursday.
Three years have passed since the group’s last open-air gig, as singer Maurice Ernst reminded the audience – apart from the benefit concert for Ukraine in the Ernst Happel Stadium a few weeks ago. The hunger was there, as it was in front of the stage: the rather groovy opener “Golden Retriever” already cleared things up and presented a band that – supported by Katrin Paucz on guitar and vocals and Lukas König on percussions – was simply in a good mood wanted to spread.
The songs released a few weeks ago also fit in with this. After all, romantic love in all its forms dominates on “Yellow is the field”, be it the spherical “ZZO between your world and mine” or “Dates”, which is becoming more and more of a hit because of its concise synth melody. You will look in vain for hip-hop beats and crude experiments at Bilderbuch in 2022, instead a renewed joy in playing together reigns supreme, which was also expressed in a rather reduced stage show. A few oversized lengths of fabric in green and white and the effective use of light were enough this evening to accentuate the loud and quiet tones accordingly.
But actually one man was enough: Maurice Ernst is and remains an entertainer, as there are probably only a few in the local music circus. Admittedly, he has been more exalted in the past, but anyone who turns to his Vienna so nicely and wraps people around his little finger can hold back the movement of the hips a bit – which does not mean that the enthusiastic crowd had to do without it completely. After all, the pleasant May temperatures were reason enough for him to bare his upper body (screeching!).
But back to the music: As energetic as much of the new material was in the live implementation – not least thanks to an excellent Michael Krammer, who elicited some wonderful solos from his guitar – it was the still young classics of the band that created ecstasy worried. “Bungalow” kidnapped us to the south, “Welcome to the Jungle” made the temperature rise and the great peace anthem “Europe 22” was an expected safe bet in the encore block. In between, it wasn’t just because of “Nahuel Huapi” or the great “Frisbeee” that one was reminded of one’s own dance virtues. Yes, Bilderbuch just know what gets on your legs.
The question remains, were there any big surprises? Maybe the fact that a group, for which the expectations have increased immeasurably over the years, delivered a wonderfully solid and at the same time downright straightforward gig. Of course, following almost exactly two hours, “Maschin” was the wrecking ball that broke all dams and marked the obligatory bouncer.
But in the end it was the desire to do one’s own work that was so contagious. If you ruin your heels early in the set like bassist Peter Horazdovsky and then continue playing barefoot, or set the groove as tightly as drummer Philipp Scheibl, you convey a damn authentic rock ‘n’ roll feeling, the picture book itself probably a few years ago would not have thought possible. All that remains is to take off your hat and look forward to the upcoming performances. An evening straight out of a picture book.
(SERVICE – Further performances in Austria: May 6th and 7th Arena Vienna, June 30th and July 1st-2nd Kasematten Graz, August 20th Frequency St. Pölten; )
