Distortion Fest

Day One at the Distortion Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark

Photos by Matt Werth » Viva Radio’s Matt Werth takes us from the early evening into the wee hours of the night in Copenhagen with Monotonix, We Are The World and Brandt Brauer Frick.

Text by Matt Werth
Posted on June 05, 2009

Monotonix band-dives

Wednesday, June 3rd

The 2009 Distortion Festival line up begs an international audience to Copenhagen, a capital city constantly at the cultural cusp. The five day festival spreads over various neighborhoods and favors the street and unapparent venues to the club. Festival and Copenhagen Post founder Thomas Fleurquin programs with both a local and worldwide community in mind. With Israeli rock monsters Monotonix, Detroit techno legend Carl Craig, and San Fran nu-Glass Candy set to play, he’s on the right and righteous path.

After a series of kick off events and a parade through said streets, Distortion’s first night Club Clash politely crashed the Kunsthal Charlottenborg, a Baroque palace built in the 1700s now occupied by Royal Danish Academy of Art. Berlin based trio Brandt Brauer Frick brought their brand of classical (not classic) techno to an early evening crowd in the courtyard. Live, BBF (Best Best Friend?) reconstructs the organic wind, brass, and string compositions from their debut album on Tartelet Records (TomBoy from WhoMadeWho’s label) into a refined and funked out freak out

Brandt Brauer Frick

Brandt Brauer Frick

Following a short performance piece (I have a feeling I’m in store for many of these) from the Cross Connection Ballet, Monotonix warmed up for the maelstrom with group calisthenics. RIff heavy and far less heady than the outside minimalism, the three piece made a perfect mess of the palace reception hall moving from one end to the other by means of transportation including but not limited to trash cans and crowd hands.

Monotonix

We Are The World

Monotonix

An unintentional mosher head butt to the ol’ shnoz halfway through the Monotonix set left me reeling and stumbling back outside to catch the set in progress by We Are the World. The LA based troop choreographed a couple costume changes to a soundtrack jacked from the primitive techno and industrial leanings of Chris & Cosey Before an further infliction from the exponentially bigger and more inebriated crowd, I followed the water back to the hotel for some jet lagged z’s. Carl Craig tomorrow night.

We Are The World