DEINE LAKAIEN LIVE IN CONCERT DVD SONY RELEASE: NOVEMBER 3, 2003 REVIEW: JANUARY 5, 2004

Deine Lakaien is one of the trend-setting and best-selling bands on the German alternative stage. After enjoying the "Live in Concert" DVD from the "White Lies Tour" in Potsdam (November 29, 2002), I am reminded why. Ernst Horn and Alexander Veljanov have really succeeded to get the best out from the mix of acoustic and electronic music.
The DVD went straight into my heart with the intro song “Colour-ize”. And after that followed most of the band’s hits; half of the songs are from the album “White Lies”, the others are old material in somewhat different arrangements. Compared to the concert I watched with Deine Lakaien in Leipzig in June 2003, it feels like the playlist in Potsdam was more complete and really showed the best from the works of the band.
Although already a saved fan of Deine Lakaien, I am the first to admit this is not a band you catch on stage because of their spectacular scene shows. Ernst Horn did show the audience his back almost all the time and the other four musicians are more focused on their musical performance than anything else. But I have to admit that Veljanov has a charisma that reaches far beyond many vocalists.
The concert starts with some songs from the band’s electronic repertoire, in the middle there are some really nice acoustic songs like ”Return” and “Love Me to the End”, and in the end we can enjoy the "rock songs" as for instance ”Dark Star” and “Reincarnation/Life Is a Sexually Transmitted Disease”.
As extra material, we are just just served a simple interview with Ernst Horn and Alexander Veljanov. It is a quite flat one; Horn tells the story behind the idea with Deine Lakaien and we learn a little bit about the band members rock star habits. But it does not give much extra information and I could have lived without it.
For those who do not have a TV and a DVD-player – don’t worry. The concert is also available on a double-CD and vinyl, which I actually think is a more must-have than the DVD. Not at least because the CD contains some extra tracks.

KARIN MARTINSSON