As Winter was winding down and the Spring Equinox was just weeks away, bands around the globe were preparing for tours or tours were already underway. What looked to be a healthy touring season for music fans and bands turned into an unhealthy situation physically and financially for both.
The fall out from the global pandemic has forced bands to postpone or worse, cancel scheduled tours. These actions have bands thinking outside the box. There’s a need to keep moving forward, easing financial burden of lost income but to also satisfy the craving of their fans.
Bands have created discounts for existing merchandise, bundles as well as tour ready merch adorned with dates that will come and go with no record of a show.
This was and is the case for Germany’s Kadavar and their merchandise. The band has created merchandise specials and bundles for their fans as well as other surprises.
Unfortunately, though, the band was forced to cancel the For The Dead Travel Fast World Tour 2020. Only the first two dates of the nine European scheduled dates occurred. That was March 11 show in Luxembourg and March 12 in France.
Early on March 13 and hours after the Tourcoing Le Grand Mix date, the second night of the tour, Kadavar issued an official statement via social media regarding the tour. The statement read in part:
“Dear Friends, due to the current health situation regarding the covid – 19 virus, our upcoming European dates are postponed. All tickets remain valid, we are working to reschedule the dates as soon as possible.”
The band added, “But we believe it is also our responsibility to take action to slow down the spread of the virus where we can and rather be safe than sorry.”
Not only were the European tour dates canceled but the Australia / New Zealand and North America tour dates have been canceled as well.
It’s a huge disappointment for the band to cancel the dates but Kadavar would not let their loyal fans down.
Photo courtesy of Kadavar’s Official Facebook page 
Photo courtesy of Kadavar’s Official Facebook page 
Stream image courtesy of Kadavar
Photo by: Brian McLean
To quench the thirst of Kadavar fans who were ready for the live dates, the band made an announcement through social media on March 16. Kadavar would hold a Facebook Livestream Concert from their Berlin studio on March 21, 2020 at 8:00 CET.
With a tour setlist stage ready, song selection was already a done deal. The set would support their latest album, For the Dead Travel Fast with selections also coming from Rough Times, Berlin, Abra Kadavar and the self-titled debut. All albums from their studio catalouge would be represented during the special performance.
Once the feed went live, viewers hand an agonizing five-minute wait before the vertically imposing trio would walk to their respective spots in the studio room. The room where Kadavar magic has been created was now a global stage. Viewers from all over the world were tuned for the live Kadavar performance.
The room consisted of a large, square maroon area rug with cream floral colored designs. Fixed upon the large area rug was a smaller rug positioned towards the back. Around the walls were strategically placed sound buffers, amplifiers, bass cabinets, small lights and a set of dark windows.
Towards the rear of the area rug and perfectly centered was drummer, Christoph “Tiger” Bartelt.
To Bartelt’s left was Simon “Dragon” Bouteloup, the tall, slender bassist in black slacks, black vest and a white shirt topped off with his signature black hat.
To Bouteloup’s left were dark sliding windows and to his right was vocalist and guitarist Christoph “Lupus” Lindemann dressed in all black and gold rim glasses.
It was an odd sight seeing each member take their positions and pick up their instruments in a quiet room. The silence would soon be transformed into live music for a private concert that could be viewed on an electronic device anywhere in the world.
There was the sound of a light breeze followed by social distancing elbow bumps between the three. The sounds of nature being heard was actually “The End”, the opening cut on For the Dead Travels Fast. Kadavar’s one camera, live stream was underway.
The next two selections, “The Devil’s Master” and “Evil Forces” followed the album’s order.
It wouldn’t be until three songs later with selections from Rough Times and Kadavar that the band would dip back into For Dead Travel Fast with “Demons in My Mind”.
Lindemann’s vocals were soothing yet haunting throughout the night as he played away on his cream-colored Gibson SG guitar.
As for Bouteloup, his non-stop pacing and moving about with his bass was a bit more restrictive. Whether he was moving towards his bass cabinet to Bartelt’s left or towards the front of the rug, Bouteloup made it work.
Bartelt didn’t let the smaller, intimate area impose upon his beastly drumming actions. His animated moves along with his full beard, long hair and facial expressions were reminiscent of a Muppet banging away on the drums. Bartelt poured out every ounce of energy possible onto his five-piece kit in that small room.
The lone camera providing the feed was not stationed during the performance. The operator kept the camera consistently moving, changing angles, perspectives, closeup and wide views throughout the stream. It gave the viewers a more intimate look and feel to the Kadavar performance.
Christoph Lindemann Christoph Bartelt Simon Bouteloup
All photos taken by Brian McLean
With a mighty version of “All Our Thoughts” from the debut, 90-minutes of intimate yet heavy Kadavar music ended.
The band may not have realized it at the time the stream was scheduled but the event was something the viewers needed to fulfill their musical needs during a strange time globally. The flawless stream production and performance wise brought the fans closer to band. It was something the Kadavar community and beyond was needing. The event is certain to be a topic of conversation when Kadavar once again hits the road.
Originally streamed through Facebook, the stream can now be viewed at Kavadar’s Bandcamp or on their official YouTube channel. The band has also made the audio available in high quality.
Photo by: Brian McLean
