2003-07-31 - 2:07 p.m.

Is There Any Truth In Beauty?

I still find it odd that the girl whom I moved last weekend is still flirting with me. The idea that an attractive woman, no make that the idea that any woman would find me physically attractive is astounding. Much more, she says I'm both physically attractive and mentally as well. Something about me having a dynamic and strong personality and standing out in a crowd.

But when you get a compliment, it is often best to grab it. You never know when you're going to get another one.

Leipzig

There are so many stories from my trip last June that I've not yet shared, but every now and then a person is treated to a moment of pure beauty. There is no question that you are experiencing it, and no real way to put it to words.

One of my favorite bands, Love Is Colder Than Death performed this year. They were a major forcing in bringing me out to Europe, and certainly something I've been waiting years to experience. I�m not sure if Bane introduced them to me or if I discovered them on my own. I vaguely remember him having Teignmouth, but I could be wrong. However, when I actually bought my own copy of the CD in 2000, I already knew every song. It is one of those things that I'm sure I've been listening to the CD for 10 years or so.

Anyway, on the second to last day of the 5-day festival, I wandered to Leipzig's Schauspielhaus to see three groups (which is a small number for any one Leipzig venue): Schneewittchen, Love is Colder Than Death, and Qntal. First, the way Leipzig works is at any given time there are 2 to 8 different venues hosting live music, plus plenty of other places viewing films or having impromptu concerts. It really is amazing.

Anyway, I believe the German word Schauspielhaus stands for town theatre or literally play house. I'd say the place looked like an opera house. Not some poor American opera house, but the kind of opera house you'd expect from the country that has produced hundreds of world famous classical composers. Germans certainly have always supported music, and I wish more cultures would do the same.

What I didn't realize was how crowded the place was going to get. I arrived and decided to have a liter or so of beer first (yes, they were selling liters down near the coat check area). I was in my little goth boy pin striped pants, while everybody else was massively dressed to the nines. I felt so little! Like a kid really, lost in a sea of adults.

After finishing my beer, I walked up to the opera house and found that it was starting to fill up. I realized I needed to find a seat, so after looking around decided upon the seat next to some pretty goth girls. It happened to be third row from the stage, dead center. How in the world did I get this seat? Maybe there is a God.

The first act was fun. Not for their music, but for their on stage performance. Basically a guy played keyboards while a woman dressed as a gothic Snowwhite sang. You have to admit, an act that begins with the lead singer being carried onto stage in a white coffin by four bald barrel chested East German men is something you can never forget.

But I was really there to see Love Is Colder Than Death. They had just released their new album, and I was wondering if they�d focus on it or older material.

Whatever else I have to write can not do them justice, but I will say, without a doubt, they are the best group I've ever head the pleasure of listening to live.

Music should invoke an emotional response. While industrial music typically has political motivations and messages hidden within it (Throbbing Gristle started this way by building noise around a message!), Love Is Colder Than Death looks more along the lines of classic music. Perhaps this is a characteristic that separates ethereal music from gothic music. The music, not the message, is the focus or point of origin. Messages are still there, but when asked why I can enjoy power noise or pure experimental music and ethereal equally well, I always reply that ethereal music is experimental music. Or at the very least, the focus is the same: to envoke an emotional, not intellectual response.

All this is a very long way of saying I was in the right place at the right time. I got to experience a moment of pure beauty. In particular, when Susann started Veronensis I couldn�t hold back. I cried.

n.p. love is colder than death :: eclipse

-=-

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