Edinburgh Evening News 13/6/00
Review of Giant Tank's performance at La Belle Angelle with Funkstorung

GERMAN PAIR'S UK DEBUT A RELIEF AFTER CHAOTIC SUPPORT ACT

h**** of d***** have been tickling the fancy of the capital's alternative music buffs for a while now, and this was their usual mix of the enjoyable and the downright mental.
This much anticipated gig was funkstorung's first in the UK, but before we could sample their bleepy wares we had to enter the scary, chaotic world of opening band GIANT TANK. Giant tank are, to say the least, interesting. This was their second ever gig, and they've already been banned from the venue of their first fig, the Fruitmarket Gallery, presumably for being mad as a box of frogs.

Sadly, their plan last night to be joined on stage by ten ballet dancers fell through at the last minute when the dancers saw what kind of "music" giant tank make. And what kind of music do they make, i hear you ask? Well, there's nine of them (roughly): a drummer, three bassists, various horn players and a selection of shouty gentlemen. They have an agenda, apparently, which is a bit unclear, but seems to be about hating everything. Especially art. Which would be good if only they didn't come over like a bit of an arty band themselves. It's probably ironic. "we keep getting billed a jazz, but i don't see any jazz here, do you?" well, yes, as it happens. What giant tank produce is a kind of freeform jazz-metal punk, with arty tendencies thrown in for good measure.

The overall impression when watching the collective on stage is one of complete and utter chaos. No-one appeared at any point to be playing the same song, or even know what was going on around them. At one stage, a punter who had been heckling them all gig was invited (kind of) on stage and proceeded to rap very, very poorly over some improv musical mayhem, then have a bit of a scrap with the drummer. Oh, and they had some televisions showing quite arty super 8 footage of a bloke eating crisps and stuff. After this insanity, it was a welcome relief to hear the therapeutic cerebral dance noodlings of funkstorung.

Doug Johnstone.


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