A Night To Remember

A Night to Remember

► In March of this year, with the release of their acoustic album “Swan Songs”, Lord of the Lost successfully captured artistic uncharted waters and fulfilled their long-held dream: To let the own songs shine in a new light. The combo rearranged 13 of their strongest tracks and transformed them into orchestral-balladic jewels. Also eight new songs found their way onto the disc. Therefore the dark rockers around gloom-godfather Chris 'The Lord' Harms brilliantly gave proof of the transformation ability of their songs, when they got an emotional, melancholic impression in their classical version. The acoustic concert tour shortly afterwards emphasized the magic of this virtuoso expedition and sent the fans into rapture. Now the dark-fraction presents with “A Night to Remember” this concert experience as a close to the action experience for home. Recorded at April 10^th at Markthalle Hamburg, supported from the Swansemble – a selection of classical musicians – the combo serves an emotional show event.

Perfectionism

It won't be long until a very special audiovisual adventure from the house of Lord of the Lost will be released. But front icon Chris Harms is at the moment more afflicted with analytic thoughts than indulging in nervousness: “For big nervousness before a release, I experienced too much with all kinds of bands and projects,” he reports. “I think more about all these small deficiencies, which can't be remedied, and probably only attract my attention, but I always see and hear on a list in black and white in my mind's eye. Especially a live production with sound and video is extremely luxuriant and exhibits us in the acoustic-classic concert-context musically completely naked,” the vocalist adds for consideration. “Unfortunately, something that has gone wrong during the show can hardly be fixed afterwards. But exactly this nonexistent perfection is the interesting part of a live product!” accentuates the head of the band and admits to be driven by his constant perfectionism: “I'm principally always very critical and aware that, with the learned knowledge from the production, the final product could have been better, if you would start all over again”, he lets his thoughts fly free. “But when you start something with this approach, you will never be finished and the fans would have to wait 20 years for an album. We resent following the example of Guns N'Roses,” he comments baldly.

Teamwork

Currently, Lord of the Lost are busy with the last corrections of both mix and cut and the farewell from the project is nearing. Time to finish this process now, “but funnily I compensate the hole occurred by the imminent finishing mostly through songwriting,” says Mister Harms: “Some of our strongest songs from our followup-album were written in the night after the predecessor was finished. In the past it went along with a collective band-booze at St. Pauli, this changed a bit due to my role as a family father – we rather celebrate with a bowl of cornflakes at the breakfast table, before we start out for kindergarten”, laughs the songwriter and tells the decision to produce a live-DVD was made – in contrast to album and tour – only few weeks before the tour, “therefore Hamburg was the only logical consequence, although the Christuskirche in Bochum would have been even more impressive in regard of dimension and crowd. But as Hamburgers it just felt right to make such a recording at home.”

The preparation time for recording of a concert-DVD was indeed short, but the band had an effective team on hand, which made a great job: “My job – as say creative director – was luckily easy: We instructed a motion picture company to care about everything, I just had to approve or refuse their suggestions, with the request for alternatives, and keep the budget distribution reasonably in sight. The audio recording was planned and carried out by our live crew. What and how much happened in the background, I didn't even wanted to know”, he conceded smiling, “sometimes I enjoy just being musician.”

Starting shot

When Chris is looking back, the thoughts cross his mind again immediately and the thrill of anticipation rises. “Although I have to admit right before the show only some sentence parts came up in my mind: 'Don't sing off-key. Dear voice, stay stable. Please no technical failures. No blunders. Don't forget to breathe.' We were definitely already sweat-soaked under our suits before the show”, he admits and remembers: “The first rows were filled with our families, my then three-year-old son was sitting right in front of me. It doesn't assert pressure on me – if someone is forgiving the own mistakes, it's the family. But it affected me a lot and we were all immensely grateful for this emotionally intensive and near experience and that we could share this not only with our fans, but also with our family.”

Not only this show, “the whole tour was something very special!” Chris Harms cherishes satisfied, “because it was the starting shot for a band-internal side-project, which we will keep alive. Probably it will survive even longer. Should I get that old someday, then I can still imagine to do something like this in 30 years. To shake my no longer existing hair to hard guitars and in the stroboscope-thunderstorm in the middle of my 60s? I don't see this conversely.”

Industry-romanticism

Especially the stage decoration radiates a mystical magic and was after all the first approach, when Chris got more concrete with his vision to really start this project. “Those big light-bulbs are too beautiful. Ground fog, not covered riser with spotlights, thereto cool blue in the background. Industry-romanticism instead of candlelight. What fitted perfectly for Blutengel with candles and red curtain would have been totally out of place for us. We are very proud to have satisfied our principle – 'We sound how we look and the other way around',” he reflects.

It's not difficult for him to choose a song, which was very important at this evening. “'Till Death Do Us Part'. It was the moment when it became clear why I wrote this song and that I couldn't have expressed it better. This song have had its day with this tour and will never be played live again by us. Some things mustn't be said again and again.

Chris Harms is sure: “'A Night To Remember' is another proof that you have to open a lot of drawers to find slot for us and that we are capable of a lot more things than make-up and oiled upper bodies. A prejudice which must have been obvious for everyone who really took a look and listened”, he sums up and describes this evening with four words: “Magic, it really exists!”