Newcomers to the Saarbrücken scene The Quaves made their debut in the awe-inspiring cellar of Wongar (Altneugasse 19 in Alt-Saarbrücken), now called The Down Under yesterday evening. Their music is pure exaltation! Energetic guitar drenched 60s beat at its best.
This independent band really grooved; so much so that they even earned themselves a residency at this up and coming venue. And what a venue it is! Imagine the legendary Cavern Club in Liverpool but with a bit more breathing space and you’ve pretty much summed up The Down Under, most of which was built sometime in the 17th century. Well the Quaves also made a bit of history last night. I couldn’t believe my ears, but I actually liked every song I heard! Two whole hour’s worth of original and exhilarating songs that you really should treat your ears to next time they play there on Friday 15th July.
This is rare and proved a welcomed refreshing change to all the usual offerings on the local scene at the moment. Their appeal can be attributed to the singer Karoline Jorzyk’s alluringly charismatic voice and looks alongside the absolutely fabulous rhythmic combo (made up of Shanker Keshavdas – what an incredibly innovative bass player he is – and Jörg Hormann, who is just plain sensational on drums) repeatedly churning out catchy tunes written by gifted Australian songwriter and guitarist Libor Mikeska.
The songs are fresh, dynamic, invigoratingly raw and ever so frenetic, whose lyrics either deal with the usual themes of uncontrollable passion and betrayed love. My favourite was a catchy tune called Bla bla, je t’aime, bla bla. So do yourself a favour and check them out next time they play.
Rebecca Schneider, checking out the scene, Saarbrücken, 25th June 2011
Saarbrücken, 15th July 2011
NEW IN TOWN: The Quaves bring the house down ~Wongar: 15th July 2011~
(eclectic band are leaving an indelible impression on German audiences…)
Despite hailing from rather varied ethnic backgrounds and admittedly harbouring different musical influences, Jörg Hormann (drums), Karo Jorzyk (vocals), Shanker Keshavdas (bass) and Libor Mikeska (guitar and songwriting) all left familiar shores, essentially coming quite a long way from and via cities as far apart as Bangalore, Edinburgh, Barcelona, Melbourne, Gießen and Osnabrück to get to where they are now. Chance encounters, a plethora of unlikely twists of fate and the auspicious circumstance of being employed at the university in Saarbrücken brought all four members together to coalesce in early 2011 to form The Quaves.
Their songs caused quite a stir amongst fans at their first concert, so it wasn’t at all surprising that The Down Under (which is actually the infamous Bimmel Music Club of days long gone) was soon packed out right from the onset of their second gig there. It gets deliriously hot and sweaty in that stone cellar when it’s full, yet that didn’t stop the sunny foursome from throwing themselves completely into the performance! Their appearance is a wonder to behold, especially their frontlady. Musically and appearance-wise the show really couldn’t have been better, for the band received such an enthusiastic response that the place was abuzz with calls for multiple encores. Especially addictive, I recall, was a song called “Bla bla, je t’aime” which really brought the house down as did countless other songs like “Insatiable”, “Valentine”, “Tease” and “I found love”. Even though their original repertoire can indeed be described as seductively sixties, no particular bands come to mind in way of comparison. So how does one describe them: refreshingly retro? You’ll all just have to see them yourselves when they play next on 30th September, but do come early, as they are likely to draw huge crowds again!
Pete Leach, impressed to the bones, writes for Ad lib on a regular basis