Live report LONG DISTANCE CALLING, RISING INSANE & HEADGEAR, HellSeatic postponed, Bremen – 05.09.2020

In normal times, Long Distance Calling should put the last dots on the ‘i’, preparing for the ‘Seats & Sounds’ shows, but the pandemic sticked a needle in this endeavor. The tour is postponed to next year, but even COVID-19 can’t stop the quartet from playing live.

Not only the bands have to suffer these days. It’s a whole business that all of a sudden finds itself in rough sea. Also the Hellseatic festival had to adjust plans for the 2020 edition and created with Hellseatic Postponed a format that allows live music even in strange times we are all in.

Before Long Distance Calling enters the stage there are two additional acts on the billing for today. The first of two local bands is Headgear. The first riff of the youngsters from Bremen immediately proves that everybody joining this evening wants to listen to real live music. Too long was the time without concerts and a positive atmosphere, that’s what fills the Zollkantine area right away. The band enjoys playing live and the fans appreciated the end of a long wait for live music.

Headgear plays Modern Metal and the guys do a good job. The set includes with ‘The Enemy’ a song that’s played live for the very first time, while with ’41 Seconds’ some older tracks come to life too. Closing with the new ‘Suffocate’ and wearing face masks is a good choice for finishing off an energetic show with a message.

The next band can enjoy a homegame too. Rising Insane comes from the greater Bremen area and Metalcore is what we face next. The quintet released their latest album in 2019 and a tour in early 2020 should have helped to promote the newest delivery. What was planned as a tour in March/April ended up in four shows of which the Bremen concert is the last one for 2020. No surprise that the guys give all they got to turn this show to a great one. And they succeed. One hour of solid Metalcore and boundless energy is manifested by songs like the opener ‘Dead and Gone’ and ‘Porcelain’, the title track from the latest longplayer. The five-piece powerhouse belts out song by song with a mixture of anger and passion … relentless and if there would be no tomorrow.

The musical direction of the two support acts is slightly different than what we can expect from the headliner. Long Distance Calling, the masters of musical craftsmenship, have a new album out in the stores, asking the question of ‘How Do We Want to Live?’. The quartet enriched their sound with the addition of more electronic elements and the question is, how these songs do their job being a part of a live set. The conclusion is, they fit into a Long Distance Calling setlist right off the bat. Leading it off with the ‘Curiosity’-intro, Long Distance Calling cruise through a setlist that delivers right on the money. The guys from Münster are gifted with the great sense for making instrumental music to something thrilling. Powerful riffs, gentle moments and a grooving rhythm, together with a tightness in playing together as a band, are ingredients for Long Distance Calling’s success formula, again proven today by a stellar live show. New and old, all the songs fit together by a glue of a unique sound that differentiates Long Distance Calling from other bands, also today. These guys deliver a real headliner show.

Things are different these days and there is a new normal. Hellseatic did their best to adjust to the situation and created a small event that was very well organized. The Hellseatic team, bands and fans showed that live music is possible even in a situation that is new to everybody. There is always something new and positive in change and Hellseatic did a bold step towards discovering and unfolding it. A night to remember.

Location: Hellseatic, Zollkantine, Bremen, Germany

Date: September 5th, 2020