September 20, 6:10 PM, almost two hours before the concert, I try to nap, but am too amped for the show! I lay down for a bit and then write into my phone for awhile before heading down to the lobby for a coffee and a cookie.
Some editing, sipping, and dipping and two hours magically become thirty minutes till showtime, and so I walk the two cold, clad-in-twilight blocks down to the venue. I’m about to see Tangerine Dream! I brighten.
Sitting in the dimness of the ballroom , I recalled the last time I was here at the Regency Ballroom to see a concert. It was for SWANS in 1995. A screen displaying rain fall is behind the bands sleek setup of keyboards and modules. A rainbow pattern of lights streak down Thorsten Quaeschning’s keyboard setup.
The sampled sound of rain gets louder progressively as I engage with a young man, Sebastian, who is excited about seeing the band, “I mean aren’t they the strangest band, ever, none of the original members remaining, but still putting out such amazing music,” he says as a mercurial wave pulls us into excited conversation.
“What would you say your favorite album was?” He asked, genuinely curious. I mention two, Poland is one. I learn that the young Sebastian even read Force Majeure, Edgar Froese’s biography (and the title of my other favorite album) and we burn the remaining wait time till the lights go down, finally, and after a few false starts, one in which Thorsten becomes embarrassed that he shouted out to San Diego—We were a forgiving audience, no boos—Thorsten comes back on stage blushing, laughing at himself “cut, take two” he signs, the audience chuckles, and then the band plays.
Thorsten seems a nice man, something goofy and intense about him, wrapped in a tall, darkly suited burrito. I saw him earlier in the day crossing Van Ness St, taking in the city as I hunted down my hotel, the holiday Inn. I waved to him and called out. No good, he crosses the street not noticing.
TD start their set softly, with Hoshiko Yamane’s violin parting the sonic rainclouds of the others synths then segueing to a version of Betrayal (Sorcerer) that completely melts my face off. Honestly, I always disliked this piece, and had always found it basic. This version, however was a reeducation to me, as the wall of electronic texture coupled with the controlled chaos of sheer ecstatic volume pinned me to my seat! I felt there was an edgier almost industrial vibe to their approach (a much less mean skinny puppy?) .
They tamed a flying dragon here, and I only wanted its roar louder, and with it spitting more fire into my face! It was fantastic. It quite literally reminded me what electronic music was— not a trip to guitar center to play with the drum machines or looping 16 bit sounds in my Korg sampler at home, but only what the grandparents of electronic wizardry (their well learned grandchildren) reveal in the competent joy in their true art.
Sure, some bits were uneven, (Love on a Real Train) mainly the bass either being too dominant or a misplayed bass note actually introduced to the loop, but nevertheless it was an absolute joy to again be seeing high stakes live Tangerine Dream, as Thorston’s hands wore many hats. Behind him, a huge Moog-like module and sequencer kicked off rhythms by the twist of a knob, as he played chords and leads on the four keyboards in front of him. To not diminish their roles both Hoshiko Yamane and Paul Frick were great to watch. Yamane’s violin approach, her rhythms and loop additions, her poised subtlety and cleverness was fun, and Paul Frick’s Jupiter8-esque synth leads, and all his knob twiddling was fantastic as he bent over his own console and rocked to the rhythms.
In my opinion, all songs from the Raum album were flawless, Portico and Para Guy being my favorite and their live renditions obvious and enjoyable. Nothing about this performance seemed canned, only elegantly and creatively performed with care.
Coronzon from the Exit album was probably my favorite Virgin years song, and had Mr Frick enthusiastically killing it with the leads. The bass here was so perfect as the keyboard stabs and sequences dovetailed nicely. White Eagle was angelic, and the improvisation over the rhythms quite good. There were other crowd pleasers such as Dolphin Dance, and a few more authoritative moody pieces worthy of mention such as Los Santos City Map where the digital textures were un-effing believable and where Yamane’s melodies reigned.
Oh Phaedra, you ask? Another face melter! They then did a 30 minute jam which I liked for the most part. It contained a sample from the movie Risky Business, where Joel (the main character) recounts his sex/shower dream, “The Dream is Always the Same,” the sample repeats, repeats, repeats, until the rain imagery and sound from the pre-show tape returned.
An excellent show, equal if not better than when I saw them at center stage in Atlanta in 1988!
Outside the venue, as we descended the stairs, I say “I think TD maybe spent some early years wishing they had better tech,” their equipment in the 70s and 80s were always breaking down on tour,” I offered to Sebastian, when he asked why the 90s catalogue was so different, maybe uninspiring in his opinion.
“Then they got their wish granted and maybe it killed the risk taking element, maybe it distracted from composition and made it hard to not just press play on a laptop?” Now looping tech is all the rage and is better, and actually that’s really what TD were doing from the beginning, looping sequences, paying close attention and praying nothing went south.
I mused as I walked back to my room, on how Edgar Froese put together the ‘quantum phase,’ of the band (back to the 3 member configuration) a group of younger players, a group that has that essential TD dynamic (now) beyond his own lifetime, reestablished with Thorsten his protégé, and what a lovely thing how everything came wonderfully back to full circle, as a younger, goofier, intense, and darkly suited version of Herr Froese grinned on the stage last night, carrying the torch.
Please come again Tangerine Dream!
Here is a great article from Montecristo Magazine, I lifted the pic from.
