Phoenix Rockkeller, Muttenz, Switzerland - 04.09.2021

It's been a while since a concert with the band F.U.S.E because of the prevailing Corona Pandemic. They also had to cope with the departure of guitarist Dominik Weber, who left the band. This left a position as guitarist free and they started looking for the right man. They found him in "JT" Ferrat, who completes the group with his talent and incorporates new vibes. A concert was announced in the Phönix Rockkeller in Muttenz, canton of Basle-Country to celebrate this and to present new music to the listeners. The Melodic Rock Band Relayer from Solothurn was performed as support act. I was immediately interested in the event and marked the date in my agenda. I made my way to the Phoenix Rockkeller in Muttenz towards evening. The doors opened at 7 PM. At 8:30 PM the band members of Relayer were on stage. Recently I was allowed to see this band at Seppis Mampfe-

ria in Möhlin and they thrilled me. A short intro announced their performance. Then the first song "Loss of Control" was played and you couldn't hear from the outset the vocals of singer Sandy Keller. This changed in a few minutes. She was happy about it and showed her joy with a great vocal performance. During the second song "Mistery Woman" the people clapped along with front woman Sandy. There was a lot of enthusiasm, because guitarist Freddy Schaffner shone with guitar solos and dexterity on the strings. Keyboardist Hene Klodel rocked behind the Hammond organ like a young John Lorde of Deep Purple and was allowed to support singer Sandy with vocal interludes in between. While listening one could hear influences of Magnum and Rush. The melodic rock was presented in a great way and unleashed its effect on the audience present, which was received with joy. This was shown in applause and singing along as for example with "Saturday Night" where Sandy asked the audience to sing along the words "Saturday Night" and "Shout It Out" in "Dark Times". The positive vibes were a welcome opportunity to escape the gray everyday life in times of Corona and indulge in audiovisual pleasure. For the second time ever in their career, the song "Free" was played live tonight. Actually, this should have ended the performance, but the audience disagreed and shouted "encore". For this reason "Hey Baby" and "Don't Stop" followed and that was the end of their performance. 60 minutes of playing time was enough to leave a great impression and for that they received a lot of applause from the enthusiastic audience. I am looking forward to more concerts from this band in the canton of Basle-Country. Setlist Relayer Intro Loss Of Control Mistery Woman Way Of The World Something’s Wrong Monster Gimme One More Night Dark Times Saturday Night Free Hey Baby Don’t Stop After this performance a short interruption followed. At 9:55 PM headliner F.U.S.E was on stage. "Real tempation" sounded as the first song and the music kicked ass from the beginning. There were power rhythms audible through Stefan Christen, which gave the sound a very special coloring. There were crunchy hard rock, kick ass rock'n'roll and metal influences intertwined. Frontman Rob switched sides of the stage to dazzle the audience with stage presence and vocals. Lead guitarist Thomas "JT" Ferrat inspired with guitar solos. Although the sound was hard, it was melodic and catchy at the same time. This was also noticed by the audience, who reacted with much enthusiasm and joy. A quieter number followed with the track „With You“, they created space to breathe and let the soul dangle. The hardness returned with the song "System", which was a side blow against the media landscape. The part grooved like hell and went from the head down to the feet and let the audience dance. Guitarists Thomas and Stefan fought guitar duels, bassist Danny provided the rhythm with drummer Jerry. A song called „Shoot the moon“ followed after „Snowblind“ and „Your Philosophy“ and this song was totally different from all the previous songs. Here you could feel from the beginning the alternative rock from the 90s when such music was properly pushed on MTV. A great gesture by the band to show a completely different facet and a surprise that no one really expected. The atmosphere was great and the audience wasn‘t happy when Rob announced the last song "Forgotten". They wanted to hear an encore and demanded it loudly. "Real temptation" was played one more time but in a modified version. After that it was over and Rob thanked the organizer and the audience in the name of the band for this great evening. 70 minutes of playing time were enough to convince with a varied sound and to generate party mood. Setlist F.U.S.E Real temptation Anywhere Outside Rolling Home With you System Snowblind Your philosophy Shoot the moon Native Zombie Forgotten After these two performances there was music from the can and you could linger with drinks in the Phoenix Rockkeller. I stayed for a brief moment and then made my way home. With nice memories of a great evening with a lot of fun and great music. Thanks to the organizers from Phoenix Rockkeller, the bands F.U.S.E and Relayer for their shows. Another thanks goes to mixer Patrick Schibler. Live report by Dominic Latscha