join in the chant! *finally*

the band nitzer ebb and i have a fun history…

…and like kramer, it’s one of the few i can track to a specific day:

(a quick note – i googled this stub because mine was destroyed by an ex’s dog. i was also in the arena, but i was in the first row, which is how…)

between the opener (omd) and the headliner (depeche) their was metallic clanging music coming from the stage monitors, which for that tour were hard to miss, since they looked just like what was on depeche’s current album cover:

when i ran up to the stage and asked a roadie who the music was, he said it was their label mate nitzer ebb. turns out they were label mates in europe (mute records) but not in the states (warner bros vs geffen). i grabbed the cassette the next day and the rest is history. to this day their debut, that total age, is still my favorite album from them.

the next depeche tour came two years later and this nitzer ebb was the opening act – i caught them in dallas on depeche’s world violation tour. and then that was it. they released a couple more lackluster albums after that, but i never really heard anything else out of them. they had an ep semi-recently, but again it was just kinda eh.

so i’m not sure why, back in february, i got excited to find out they were opening their 2019 us tour in austin, but i did. i went out and got a ticket the next day (and i only waited the day to ask the ufc if she wanted to go). well the show was last night, and it had some good and some bad. the guys have aged pretty well. they still have good energy on stage…but they added an additional date the night BEFORE the austin show, eliminating that whole “tour opener” excitement, and merch was a bit overpriced (and i just noticed that some of the print is already rubbing off the shirt i got) so that’s kinda lame. on top of that, i had a good time with a good friend and co-worker (and her mom, who’s my age) after my other friends had to bail the show for various reasons, so that was cool.

i also took pics, but they kinda sucked. a great show if it rolls through near you!