Where’s the name of OTHER DAY on the program? Well, the band was there, but this man was still cruising around in Utrecht when it was playing. Left my house right on time, but the directions (‘long live the internet!’) weren’t as clear as I had thought them to be. Due to some problems at the door (‘your name isn’t on the guest list’ – the worst case scenario for a journalist) I even missed the last ten minutes of their gig. The shame, the horror!!! Especially if you know that the release of Other Day’s “Secidan” is an absolute stunner if you’re into melancholic electronic music… The moment I got in, Other Day went off stage. At that moment I felt more in the mood for explosive acts like Hocico or :Wumpscut:, but I had to settle with the melancholic DIORAMA.

We didn’t have to wait too long for the three members of DIORAMA. Their best known song is the dance floor filler ‘Advance’ and therefore people might be surprised by the modest music that DIORAMA actually makes.
The band consisted of a bass player, keyboard/ electronics man, and singer Torben Wendt, whose emotional voice was in perfect shape during this show. They spun some moments of beautiful music and played a perfect version of ‘Between The Shadow And Me’. Especially when Torben got behind the (electronic) piano the band had some fragile moments.

On the other hand, it didn’t always work. Most of the songs have got a quiet pace and a somewhat distant mood and therefore it’s sometimes hard to keep your attention on the music. Especially when you see musicians who are creating good music, but just don’t seem to have that extra touch. It was noticeable that Torben

was the only one who felt the real meaning of what he did; the other two were just making music. It was nothing more and nothing less. In the end it was a good thing that DIORAMA put more pace into their music with songs like ‘Said But True’ and the obvious, but well performed, ‘Advance’.
A good show, but hopefully next time we’ll see more tension and diversity throughout their set list…