Since the war broke out, it has been a while since international artists came back to the country. Tonight, Pink Turns Blue made their way to Haifa for a killer, sold out show!
PINK TURNS BLUE
German rock band Pink Turns Blue was formed back in 1985 by Thomas Elbern (vocals and guitars) and Mic Jogwer (vocals, bass and keyboards). Coming from Berlin, the band was part of the first generation of gothic rock in Germany. The first album, If Two Worlds Kiss was released in 1987 and brought a sound reminiscent of new wave with very dark undertones and use of synthesizers, and went to become part of the developing sub-genre of dark wave.
Pink Turns Blue, released afterwards, a new album about every year before going on hiatus. Thankfully, Jogwer reformed after a reunion show with a different line-up and has been touring the world ever since. The latest album Tainted came out in 2021 and the band has been busy promoting it ever since.
LIVE IN HAIFA
Maybe the tour can be called the War Time Tour, with several dates in Israel and Ukraine. Tonight, a sold out crowd was ready for some post punk, rock and goth music. The crowd was a nice mixture of different people: young, old, goth, classic rock and a bunch of Morrissey shirts.
I would be lying if I knew about the band before I saw there were tickets available earlier this year. I saw the poster, listened to the song and bought a ticket straight away. As I wasn’t fully sure what to expect, I was treated to a great night out. The Tainted Tour brought a set list that featured a lot of the new albums material. To see the crowd react in such a nice manner to new material and sing and dance along was great to see. The energy of the crowd and the band was amazing tonight.
Lead singer Mic Jogwer kicked the night straight off by thanking the crowd for coming, but mainly let the music do the talking. Starting the show with Not Even Trying, There Must Be So Much More, I’ll Never Give Up and So Why Not Save the World.
In the early stages of the show, they featured some of my favourite songs, including Walking on Both Sides and I Coldly Stare Out.
After All, Touch the Skies, Walk Away and Missing You kept the power train of rock going. Before closing the main set, we were treated to You Still Mean Too Much to Me and Your Master Is Calling. Especially the first one sounded killer!
IF TWO WORLDS KISS
What was different from other shows was that we didn’t get just one encore, but two. The first one featured a great rendition of Can’t Be Love, When It Rains, Something Deep Inside Me and Michelle. After leaving the stage for a minute, the band came back for the second encore that included the hits State of Mind and If Two Worlds Kiss.
It was great seeing original member Mic Jogwer on guitar and vocals deliver a stellar performance. He sounds like the record and seems to really get into the zone whilst performing. It was great to see his passion for playing live come alive. When he came on stage in just a black buttoned shirt and jeans, it might not be what you expect from a post punk era band. That said, once that guitar was plugged in, you got what you bargained for.
With Luca Sammuri on bass and Paul Richter on drums, the trio was complete. As a band, they sounded great together, and I was super impressed how it sounded like the albums. I had an awesome time. The band sounded great and brought a wide variety of songs from their discography. After the show, they took their time to talk to the fans and sign some vinyls and CDs (including mine that I bought at the show).
Pink Turns Blue was an amazing-come back to international artists returning to Israel.
