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Relayer (SWI), Five Rusty Horizons (SWI)
Presented by Klangvoll im Rockfact Music Club
Rockfact Music Club, Münchenstein, Switzerland – 27.11.2021
When I think of the music style AOR/Melodic Rock, the 80's come to my mind when this genre got a lot of attention and could be heard in American movies. Meanwhile this has changed and especially in Scandinavia are many bands which play this kind of music. However, a coincidence led me become aware of the Swiss Melodic Rock band
Relayer and I‘ve been watching them ever since. After their last successful gig at the Phönix Rockkeller in Muttenz, it was clear to me that I absolutely had to see them again. Five Rusty Horizons as another band was integrated into the program. That's why I went to the Rockfact Music Club in Münchenstein at low temperatures in the single digits to warm up with fantastic music and have a good time. The doors opened at 7 pm. One and a half hours later, the duo of Five Rusty Horizons was on stage. The group around the two Zurichers Pat Wydler and Goran Bajic arose like the phoenix from the ashes of the post grunge band Soul Strip with which the two made it to California, USA and could play as support act of Alter Bridge and Stone Sour. "Weakness On Demand" opened their performance. Electric instruments and drums were completely omitted here, because it‘s acoustic rock, where the acoustic guitar is in the foreground. Singer Goran showed a good vocal performance and presented his voice with influences from American rock music. Guitarist Pat accompanied him on the guitar and was allowed to sing along with Goran in between and was vocally well matched. If you closed your eyes, I had the feeling as if you were in a place in the USA, experiencing American live sound in a club. It was simply magical how the two musicians presented this "USA Feeling" live. Also funny sayings such as "We are the SPA / Wellness program for what comes after. We hope this doesn‘t overwhelm you" provided some laughs and loosened the mood. They also dispelled the rumor that they were a pure cover band, because that's not true. The majority of their songs were written by themselves. However, covers found their way into the set, namely "Pet Sematary" by Ramones, "Wake Up" by the band Second Function from Zurich (Pat Wydler's brother is with them and he used the opportunity to promote them), "Dirty Diana" by Michael Jackson. There they changed sound and lyrics in the middle and switched to "Keep On Rocking In The Free World " by Neil Young to then return to the Michael Jackson song. My personal highlight was "Citadel", because this song is an absolute hit for me. The last song was the Kenny Loggins classic "Danger Zone", which is known from the movie "Top Gun" with Tom Cruise. One hour of playing time was enough to leave a good impression and warm up the audience with acoustic rock. Currently Goran and Pat are working on a new EP, which shall be called "Elements" and will be released next year. A thank you from the musicians to the Klangvoll and Rockfact team followed before they left the stage. Setlist Five Rusty Horizons Weakness On Demand Blue Of The North Room For A Day Pet Sematary Listening 2 Shine Wake Up Whenever We Fall Waters Denied Forces Of Rain Dirty Diana Citadel Land Of Differences Danger Zone After that the members of Relayer got on stage. The melodic rock band from Solothurn with the likeable singer Sandy Keller opened their show at 9:50 pm with "Loss Of Control". During "Mistery Woman" Sandy introduced the complete band and Hene integrated some notes of "Smoke On The Water" by Deep Purple in the middle part. The music sounded extremely well mixed and unleashed its effect. Singer Sandy shone with her voice and you could see she was happy being on stage. Her band mate Freddy Schaffner convinced with guitar solos in the spotlight. This wasn‘t only cleanly played, but was brought across cool with stage presence. Keyboardist Hene Klodel provided the melodic background with his Hammond organ and was allowed to shine with solos. Furthermore he contributed background vocals, which harmonized with Sandy's voice. Bassist Bruno Gehriger convinced with his bass playing and drummer Markus Kalt could show off his skills behind the drums. "Only U" was announced as a slow song which is correct, because the other songs are faster and harder. During "Dark Times" Sandy animated with fist blows in the air to sing along the chorus "Shout It Out" which didn't work as well this evening as at their previous shows. After this song, a short break occured and the members left the stage. A good moment to have a drink and catch some air. The silence was broken when "Something's Wrong" was played with the announcement "The world is crazy, before it was about money and now Corona is here" and what the band showed was great. It worked like a Swiss clockwork. During "Saturday Night" the audience was asked to sing along the words "Too Late For Love On Saturday, Too Late For Love On Saturday Night". Afterwards Sandy announced the last song with "Free". The audience didn't like that, but joined in. Actually the performance should‘ve been over now, but there was a demand for an encore. This was played with "Loss Of Control" and afterwards the band members Sandy, Freddy, Bruno, Hene and Markus said goodbye to the audience. They showed a great performance and left a great impression. Setlist Relayer Loss Of Control Mistery Woman Woman In Black Flying High Only U Way Of The World Dark Times Something‘s Wrong The Truth Monster Gimme One More Night Don’t Stop Saturday Night Free Loss Of Control Well the shows were over and the last event of Klangvoll in Rockfact team ended. The band dismantled their equipment on stage and took it outside to the van. It was a nice evening at the Rockfact Music Club. A few more visitors would‘ve been great. I would like to thank the two sound mixers Jerry Thomas Ferrat and Tobias Schäublin for the top- notch sound tonight. Livereport by Dominic Latscha