Soft Kill @ Trompete Bochum

Soft Kill visited the Trompete last time in 2017. It was the first place they played in Germany so we were ready for a warm welcome back. Along with them came this time Choir Boy, Ghum and Korine.

Korine just released their Audiotree-Session in 2022 and opened this evening. Judging from the reaction a significant part was already familiar with their material. Songs like “Cruel” or “Cast” were Korine are a Indie-Post-Punk-Electro something duo in the course of their set then also took those who had their first exposure with Korine. If you are into dreamy, poppy Post Punk you should definitely watch out for Korine and get a good impression of their live-qualities with the aforementioned Audiotree-Session.

Up next were Ghum from England. With their debut Bitter album coming out this Friday (17th of June) they were ready to showcase some of their new material. Blending Grunge with Post Punk elements, Ghum were warmly welcomed by the Bochumer audience. Songs like the brooding “Rivers” or the uptempo “Deceiver” kept the audience on their feet and several head nodding and bodies shaking.

Then long time Soft Kill-friends Choir Boy took over. Opening with the bittersweet “It’s over” you were immediately somewhere around the 80s in a neon light drenched club with a lot of fog and hairspray. Armed with a lot of keyboards and even a saxophone, Choir Boy showed me that I’d rather had my disco days in the 80s. They took the energy Ghum pumped into the crowd and elevated it into even higher spheres. After such an amazing warm-up the Trompete was more than ready for Soft Kill.

Dead Kids R.I.P. City has been one of my of favorite records of 2020. I was really looking forward to this show, even more since I heard the Live at the Starland Ballroom record.

Opening with the atmospheric “Hit the Floor“and then tearing into the pushing “Wanting War“. Tobias’ mood was not the best on that day because their van got broken into in Paris, but luckily the Bochumer audience managed to change that in the course of the evening.

“Build your Prison Walls” was a personal highlight for me. In a live-setting this song is much more straight forward and gets a really heavy touch compared to the demo version. As mentioned before, Soft Kill could easily craft an excellent album just out of their Demo-Compilations.

One thing Soft Kill and Nine Inch Nails have in common is that they are total different beasts live. Especially the older songs like “From this Point on” or “Selfish Love” had a rather clinical touch on record but when they are played live they are shining with raw energy and emotion.

“Magic Garden” was one of the two new songs (the other one was “Press Play“) played on this evening. Guessing from the two (three if you count the Demo “Concrete Fluid” off the “Press Play” Single) songs we heard, the coming Soft Kill album will be a more Post-Punk oriented affair. Either way, I’m intrigued what they have in store for us.

A little bummer was that “Matty Rue” made the setlist but wasn’t played because Adam (Singer of Choir Boy) wasn’t in the room. Keeping fingers crossed I will witness this favorite of mine one day.

“Whirl” ended the show in an epic fashion. The whole room seemed to vibrate once the intro started. By the end of the song Tobias was standing right in the crowd surrounded by fans and Choir Boy members celebrating this glorious night.

Setlist Soft Kill:

Hit the Floor
Wanting War
Build your Prison Walls
Magic Garden (new Song)
Selfish Love
Roses all around
Press play
Dancing on Glass
From this Point on
Pretty Face
New Age
Wake up
On the inside
Whirl