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Rating: We just got back home from the concert, it's 00:22 and despite the annoying ringing in my ears and heavy eyes, I couldn't resist the temptation to comment almost in real-time on this splendid concert at the Knaack in Berlin. After the recent and total disappointment of Trail of Dead we really needed it! First of all, the performance of the supporting band, the Icelanders Silt, was commendable. Although there are only three of them, they deliver a delightful indie rock, a kind of Pavement in a minimalist noise version with some hints of Scandinavian punk-rock. At most, two guitar chords, drums, and bass surprise with counterpoints and rhythm changes, pauses and silences, progressive restarts with slightly distorted and faster chords: overall, the tracks are harmonious and melodic. The voice is well integrated into the distinctive sound, natural and not burdened by any effect. In a way, Silt are almost folkloristic, as the diversity of the songs seems to reflect the stunning and colorful natural beauty that Iceland offers, from silent glaciers to explosive volcanoes, from treacherous seas to desolate steppes, from hot vapors to polar winds. Interesting young people, a perfect choice as the opening act for Sparta, with a promising future in their hands. The purchase of their EP "In Line" at the end of the concert was already a given after the first 2 tracks. Now let's move on to Sparta, who truly deserved it! Wow, what a wave of rock and engaging energetic guitar riffs. When you go to a concert of a band of which you only know 3 songs (the content of the "Austere" EP) and you return home with a big smile on your face, the concert playlist, a pick used by the leader and dropped in a moment of musical madness, and two sweat-drenched armpits, you can be certain you've lived and enjoyed life intensely for a few hours and with that, you manage to appreciate the moment and forget for a while the sad and disheartening events that, especially now, surround us. I willingly allowed myself to be influenced and dragged by the mere rock of Sparta, born just a few months ago from the ashes of At The Drive-In, and distinguished with the same compelling recipe as the latter. More melodic, certainly, the absence of Omar Rodriguez's voice at the mic has indelibly removed the At The Drive-In seal, but guys the sound inherited and showcased tonight by Sparta is to say the least the best that American rock has proposed in recent years. 5 guys (1 added for the tour) who with great success and courage have decided to carry on a well-established old project, without pulling punches (of guitar); it's their sound, the known instrumental track that made At The Drive-In great and original and which doesn’t disappear (fortunately) in Sparta. And for how they remixed everything with 11 tracks, I don’t mind or get irritated at all, indeed!!! "Sans Cosm" and "Cut Your Ribbon" are the first two songs, not included in the EP but full of energy, that immediately seem to satisfy even the most skeptical of the approx. 150 people present in the room. The splendid "Vacant Skies" and "Cataract" follow, already included in "Austere", and I observe I am not the only one who knows and above all appreciates the above-mentioned EP. The air grows thin, the heat becomes almost unbearable, photographers are increasingly annoying, snatching precious spaces and breaths, but it doesn’t matter to anyone, at least not up front with me under the stage. I don’t remember exactly whether it was "Collapse" or the following "Red Alibi", I only know that one of the two has a fantastic guitar and drum loop, a strong distortion alternating with quieter moments: in the same piece, the foot pressed on the distortion pedal at least a dozen times. Technically perfect, never a wrong note, absolutely amazing. "Glasshouse Tarot" and "Assemble", both once again previews, are of that genre that grabs you on the first listen. We approach the end, a look at the playlist stuck near the pedalboards makes me understand that there are few tracks left. There it is, "Mye", my favorite from "Austere", the aggressive voice is that of the cd, it's almost like Rodriguez's, a gift for the nostalgic! Beautiful bass, played by a pseudo-Mexican with white All Stars on his feet Celentano style. With "Air" the concert ends, no encore (with which tracks anyway?!?), but a grateful and positively surprised audience and a prodigious and generous band, which in a very short time has made the past its most important and precious baggage for the future. For the record: they are 5, 3 guitars (Les Paul, Fernandez, and SG with Park and Mesa Boogie Rectified heads and Marshall cabinets plus a Fender Twin Reverb '65), 1 bass (Fender Precision with SWR head and Ampeg cabinet), and the drums (Tama, 1 snare, 2 toms, 1 bass drum and a couple of cymbals). The singer/leader/guitarist's constitution makes him seem almost Lupin, thin with tight jeans and somewhat druggie schizoid attitudes. The other 4 are more modest, friendly, and well-fed. djd
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