It’s been respectively 32 and 30 years since dEUS published the songs that are played on this special tour called Worst Case versus In A Bar, a split concert between their debut Worst Case Scenario (1994) and their sophomore album In a Bar, Under the Sea (1996), nothing else.
To be honest, my mind is short-circuiting to the idea of 1994 = 32 years ago – how is it possible? The songs still sound so fresh and timeless.
The opening of the evening is the local band Supercapra on a stage overcrowded with instruments and mic stands. They delivered a 30 minutes set of 90s rock with a touch of 70s prog straight to the point. Entertaining but not unforgettable.
In the meantime, Amager Bio filled up with a very heterogeneous crowd: fans that listened to the albums since the 90s and fans that might have discovered dEUS rummaging in their parents music collection. However they got here, it’s beautiful to see how this band is still relevant across generations.
On a partially emptied stage, dEUS walk in at 21:00 sharp, led by Tom Barman and his always improbable outfits, this time represented by black and white striped pants that look like he’s just escaped a life sentence in Alcatraz or a Tim Burton dream.
The concert starts strong with Jigsaw You, Via and Morticiachair to then move on with W.C.S. (First Draft) and the crowd chanting with the band.
After a rock and tumultuous beginning, the atmosphere is relaxing, becoming softer and more intimate with deep bass lines and Right as Rain is storytelling on a guitar fingerpicked, but Mute reignite the spirits, both on the floor and on stage, with Tom delighting the crowd with his moves.
Young or less young, it’s clearly a crowd of connoisseurs as it responds precise and sharp at the topic moments of the songs.
Then it comes, my favorite song, the one I was waiting to hear live for I don’t even remember how long: Hotellounge (Be the Death of Me), the love story according to dEUS. In a decandent smoky dark hotel, a lady of the night and a regular engage in a dance of appearances “to keep the dream alive” and the music takes you from within, in a crescendo of passion and disillusion.
The mood changes symmetrically right after, with the cinematic and obsessive Theme for Turnpike, rock without frills to enter the In a Bar part of the setlist characterised by several passages of prog rock intense and alive.
Serpentine brings the mood back to intimate just for a song, then Little Arithmetic makes the crowd shake their hips to the catchy cadence of the music while the musicians clearly enjoy themselves on stage, with potent presence.
An acid bouncy violin riff and it’s instant classic: Suds and Soda is the hypnotic ending of the main set, an explosion of memories and energy.
The band returns for an encore – Roses and Disappointed in the Sun – to calm the spirits down and close that brought us back in time, even for just two hours.
