CLAN OF XYMOX Live in Sofia

20 December 2008
news page

After The Sisters of Mercy in Burgas this summer, at the very end of the year it came time to hear another of the big gothic rock / dark wave bands on a concert here.

Clan of XymoxВ  may have fewer fans in our country but about 250 people in Party Center '4 km' made the show unforgettable even for the Dutchmen themselves.

And Review once again reminded how and when we saw and heard the wave in Bulgaria for the first time.

The Cozy of the hall gave shelter off the biting cold outside to the first spectators and around 9 PM Vasso Gyurov welcomed the audience with 'Good evening, dear guests!'. Review served us a cup of black coffee to the frozen crowd and brought the warmth of their 20 years-mellow music. Milena had to leave, so, as we are used for the last several years, the vocals were taken by Chrissy Seraphimova who enters excellent in the role of frontwoman of the Bulgarian wave legends.

Review drowned us in the bass-dominated hits from the 80’s and the 90’s and the audience rapturously sang along; people who apparently have lived in the spirit of this age enthusiastically applauded their favourites and one after another they sent off the favorite songs of the quartet. A conditional quartet on its own because the young guitarist sometimes was leaving the stage only to return in a while. “1968”, “Uncle”, “Breakfast”, “Director of a waterfall”... Thank you for all the flowers! And the band withdrew to leave the night in the hands of the dark magicians Clan of Xymox.

If we forget the one-hour delay of both bands, DerCircle managed to organize the concert at a laudable level. Adequate security, great sound, working wardrobes, nice atmosphere with lighted candles on the tables. Strong start. And the audience alone contributed a lot for the smooth run of the happening. Fans who obviously were acquainted with the works of the bands, devoted, happy and dancing, there just was no way not to infect the musicians ahead with good mood. And so, around 11 PM, when the guests of Netherland came out under a dense fog of stage smoke, besides the make up on their faces, we also saw wide and hearty smiles.

The synthesizer and synthetic chill in the music of Clan of Xymox heated in the warm attitude of the band and its fans while it presented for the first time in Bulgaria songs of its 25 years of history. Ronny Moorings read a several times “Blagodarya” on a slip of paper from his pocket while the two ladies and Mario offered their synth-pop gifts for the full pleasure of the people in the hall. A light technical problem, caused “by my big feet” called the smile of Ronny but a man of the technical team quickly stuck the cable on the stage and Xymox started for second time their “Louise”.

 After it we heard the yet unreleased “Emily”. Warm messages in the cool wave sound of the four musicians. And somehow unnoticeably there passed an hour and the band hid with “There’s No Tomorrow”...

It appeared, however, that there is tomorrow. A minute later Clan of Xymox were again before us and smiling they continued the gothic rock trip with “A Day”. And again goodbye. And another encore. “Stranger”. And a third encore.

The people were dancing and the musicians again and again sank them in the blue heat of the programming, the synthetic beat and the distorted string instruments. A small audience but just. Every one of the visitors knew why he was there. And there weren’t dissatisfied. Half an hour after midnight, the intimate date with the dark wave titans was over and we drowned in the night freeze while the rain slowly turned into snow…

Source: