It was only fitting that Norway's Apoptygma Berzerk opened up their show at the DNA Lounge with "Starsign," off of their 2006 classic synth pop release Welcome To Earth. The words "It's about time…" have never rung truer.
I was beginning to wonder if I would ever have the chance to see Apop live again. After completing their recently released Rocket Science, three of four band members left the band, leaving founder Stephan Groth by himself and on the heels of a North American tour. But Stephan recruited his brother Jonas on keyboards, Thomas Jakobsen on drums and Brandon Smith (who also plays guitar in the Anix) on guitar. Together the four of them put on a very well crafted set of Apoptygma Berzerk synth-pop classics.
With Stephan's boundless energy, as well as his brother's stellar synth work, Apop had the crowd wrapped around their fingers, and as they delved into the bands back catalog for "Eclipse," "Burnin' Heritic," "Love Never Dies" and "Until The End Of The World," people had finally made their way to the front of the stage. The band totally fed off of the crowd's energy, and it was pretty apparent from the smile on Stephan's face that he was very happy to be performing in San Francisco, and San Francisco was happy to have him. By the time Stephan belted out a near a capella version of New Order's Blue Monday, (with just a little help from his brother) everyone seemed to be swaying in unison.
Of course Apop was not going to deny their fans of their newer material as well. Songs from Rocket Science, including "Asleep Or Awake?", "Apollo (Live On Your TV)" and "Shadow" were all given a new sound with the talent of Jonas, whose dual synthesizers gave the songs even more layers and a certain level of heaviness than they have on record.
As they wrapped up the show with "Non Stop Violence" and "Mourn," I have to say that Apoptygma Berzerk's return to San Francisco was nothing short of a total success.
Artist:
www.apoptygmaberzerk.com
myspace.com/apoptygmaberzerk
Album:
Rocket Science is out now. Buy it on Amazon.
