A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS + DIE ANSTALT – CONCORDE 2, BRIGHTON 24.8.26
You know that on the very rare occasion that you head on off to a concert and honestly don’t know too much about the artists performing and so aren’t expecting much, but then you get your mind absolutely blown away, well tonight is exactly one of those!
It’s the opening night (proper) of the UK & Ireland leg of the 14 date tour from New York’s A Place To Bury Strangers who two days ago appeared as part of the annual Green Man Festival in Brecon Beacons in Wales. This evening we find ourselves camped on the crowd barrier at the ever-popular Concorde 2 opposite Brighton Beach, which has jointly been put on by JOY. and Acid Box promoters. This is my debut encounter with the outfit, as well as their tour support artists who are Berlin’s synth-punk trio Die Anstalt.
A Place To Bury Strangers (APTBS) were formed in 2002 and the current lineup comprises Oliver Ackermann on lead vocals, guitar, and occasional drum (2003–present), Sandra Fedowitz on drums, and occasional vocals (2021–present), and John Fedowitz on bass and occasional vocals (2021–present). A Place To Bury Strangers have thus far released seven albums: ‘A Place To Bury Strangers’ (2007, Killer Pimp), ‘Exploding Head’ (2009, Mute Records), ‘Worship’ (2012, Dead Oceans), ‘Transfixiation’ (2015, Dead Oceans), ‘Pinned’ (2018, Dead Oceans), ‘See Through You’ (2022, Dedstrange) and ‘Synthesizer’ (2024, Dedstrange). More on them shortly….
Tonight is my first encounter with Die Anstalt (stylized as DIE ANSTALT) who formed back in 2023 and comprise Carmen Redeker (vocals), Jakob Feyerherm (guitar, synth) and Emanuele Mattei (bass). The trio made their mark with 2024’s ‘Rat Race’ EP before self-releasing their debut album on a limited run of just 300 vinyl copies. It sold out almost immediately, earning a repress and helping establish Die Anstalt as one of the most vital new acts to emerge from Berlin’s underground. Their reputation has spread rapidly through relentless touring, culminating in an invitation from A Place To Bury Strangers to join them for their UK & Irish tour.
Die Anstalt are the latest signings for the City Slang label who have thankfully reissued the band’s self-titled, independently released debut album. A deluxe LP edition will be released on 25th September and is available to pre-order now – Grab yours HERE.
I believe that Die Anstalt translates as “The Institution” and so it’s no wonder that the cover of the album shows the band’s photos as No.1 (Jakob), No.2 (Carmen), and No.3 (Emanuele), as they are the institution! Prior to this tour and to get punters in the right frame of mind, Die Anstalt shared their new video for ‘Kalter Schweiss’ (“Cold Sweat”) which you can enjoy HERE.
Blending early EBM, synth-punk and classic post-punk with flashes of surf guitar, Die Anstalt have quickly emerged as one of Berlin’s most exciting new bands. Their music channels the grit and tension of 1980s industrial subcultures while feeling unmistakably contemporary, drawing comparisons to Malaria!, Boy Harsher, DAF and Xmal Deutschland. The result is theatrical, confrontational, hypnotic and relentlessly physical, pairing propulsive rhythms with songs that capture generational frustration, political unrest and the surreal absurdities of modern life.
Tonight is Die Anstalt’s debut Brighton concert and we are in their company for 33 minutes, from 8:16pm to 8:49pm and during that period we are rewarded with no less than 10 choice cuts, with 8 of these filling up their debut album and the remaining two being found on their 2024 ‘Rat Race’ EP.
They commence with ‘Alles Kariert’ (“All Checked”) from their ‘Die Anstalt’ album. This immediately confirms the Xmal Deutschland nod above but with added hardCORPS – Don’t know who hardCORPS were then check them out. The sound tonight is excellent as is the lighting and in fact is very much the case all evening! Selection two is ‘Isolation’ from 2024’s ‘Rat Race’ EP. It’s not the Joy Division song of the same name. For this Carmen stands atop the speakers immediately in front of me, this being a mere teaser of what is to follow. ‘Isolation’ has a wonderful booming beat. Prior to ‘Stillstand’ (“Standstill” in English) Carmen announces that this is their first Brighton show. ‘Stillstand’ has a long keys intro and sits very much in the DAF (Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft) camp and Carmen uses a megaphone in this track.
‘11. Stock’ (“11th floor”) from their album is selection four and this reminds me of Kraftwerk’s ‘The Robots’ (“Die Roboter”) but a deep floor shattering version. This is absolutely epic and I get the goosebumps for the first time tonight. After this Carmen informs us that the next track is “about men”, cue ‘Der Mann’ (“The Man”). This has a faster beat than the previous tune and is less electronic in its nature and very much heavily laden with scuzzy guitar. Judging by the applause thus far, Die Anstalt are going down a storm.
The next number from their LP is ‘Kalter Schweiß’ (Kalter Schweiss) which means “Cold Sweat” and this starts with a Devo style electronic beat and then the chugging backbeat kicks in. For this, Carmen gets up close and personal with the punters as she leaves the stage and has a wander throughout the crowd. With Carmen back on the stage, they commence with ‘Dieser Hass’ (“This Hatred”) and this reminds me of The Serfs. Carmen is so animated and really going for it that I notice her leather studded wristband comes flying off and hits the crowd barrier in front of me. It remains there until the end of the set, but I point it out to the Concorde 2’s medic/security guard and said item is successfully reunited with its owner.
‘Ich Will’ (“I Want”) is yet another aural onslaught and Jakob and Emanuele are certainly doing their parts. Their penultimate selection is ‘Kriegen’ (“Get”) and is followed by the set closing DAF sounding ‘Schon OK’ (“Already OK”) from 2024’s ‘Rat Race’ EP. This is where things go stratospheric! Carmen moves across the stage and somehow manages to walk along the thin ledge where punters rest their drinks. She pauses next door to the C2 logo and sings a few lines and then astonishingly scrambles up the wrought ironwork above us and then she shuffles along further and then hangs upside down whilst singing. She has become a human-bat. She then manages to get to the supporting framework and wraps her legs around it and sings some more. She then slides down and joins the crowd and sets off a moshpit! I have previously witnessed similar shenanigans in that area of the venue by Spanish chicas Hinds as well as our very own Phoebe from Lambrini Girls, but Carmen seriously outshone both of these!
I have to say that this has more than likely been the very best support act set that I’ve currently witnessed all year thus far! Suffice to say that I made a beeline to their merch stall to congratulate them and to buy a copy of their vinyl album.
Die Anstalt:
Jakob Feyerherm – synth, drum machine, guitar
Carmen Redeker – vocals
Emanuele Mattei – bass
Die Anstalt setlist:
‘Alles Kariert’ (from 2026 ‘Die Anstalt’ album)
‘Isolation’ (from 2024 ‘Rat Race’ EP)
‘Stillstand’ (from 2026 ‘Die Anstalt’ album)
‘11. Stock’ (from 2026 ‘Die Anstalt’ album)
‘Der Mann’ (from 2026 ‘Die Anstalt’ album)
‘Kalter Schweiß’ (Kalter Schweiss) (from 2026 ‘Die Anstalt’ album)
‘Dieser Hass’ (from 2026 ‘Die Anstalt’ album)
‘Ich Will’ (from 2026 ‘Die Anstalt’ album)
‘Kriegen’ (from 2026 ‘Die Anstalt’ album)
‘Schon OK’ (from 2024 ‘Rat Race’ EP)
After a 26 minute live music hiatus, the action begins again with the arrival of A Place To Bury Strangers whose Bandcamp page states that the band offer an “Overwhelming walls of noise. Pure sonic destruction” and I, for one, certainly aren’t going to argue with that! They perform a decent length set which runs from 9:15pm to 10:32pm.
From their arrival on stage, I’m thinking to myself, how on earth are they going to compete with the Die Anstalt performance and its accompanying antics! Surely APTBS are on a hiding to nothing, or so I thought….
They open with ‘We’ve Come So Far’ from 2015’s ‘Transfixiation’ album and immediately I reach for ear protection in my back pocket! I’m still standing in front of the right hand speaker and I’m already contemplating a buzzing sound as my head hits the pillow tonight! APTBS clearly love to ramp up the decibels and the title of UK Decay’s 1980 ‘Message Distortion’ tune springs to mind. No wonder they are often referred to by music writers as the “loudest band in New York”, a reputation the band developed even before the release of their first album!
The penny has finally dropped with me and I realise why there were a whole host of signal-scrambling or noise-scrambling stomp boxes available to purchase on their merch stand, as Oliver creates these and instrument effects. These guitar effects pedals are designed to distort, glitch, feedback, or completely fracture an audio signal. Instead of providing a clean or polite tone, these devices turn normal guitar inputs into chaotic, oscillating soundscapes, aggressive fuzz, or stuttering sonic anomalies….et voilà!….this is the backbone of the APTBS heavy, atmospheric Wall of Sound. Hence they give us a loud blend of noise rock, shoegaze and space rock, and take no prisoners along the way!
That’s our ears catered for, but what about our eyes! Well there’s a backdrop screen behind Sandra and this plays distorted images to accompany the music. There are also rotating disco balls to add to the enjoyment and the lighting is moody. The title ‘We’ve Come So Far’ is rather apt as during the tune Oliver suddenly engages in Pete Townshend mode and takes off his guitar and raises it above his head and smashes on the stage floor. It doesn’t survive! We have just witnessed that shot on the front cover of The Clash’s 1979 ‘London Calling’ album, although that was Paul Simonon ending his bass guitar’s journey in New York.
For tune two Oliver materializes a new guitar and the trio set about performing ‘I Lost You’ from 2012’s ‘Onwards To The Wall’ EP. This is the bastard child of Suicide’s ‘Ghost Rider’ but with a dirtier beat and the screeching guitars of The Jesus And Mary Chain meets early Warsaw (pre-Joy Division) and then some! Oliver’s new guitar survives and is traded in for a new (third) guitar for ‘Disgust’ from 2024’s ‘Synthesizer’ album. Musically there’s an overload everywhere, with the banging of the drums and the distorted guitar and rumbly bass guitar action. I look behind me, a sizeable moshpit is beginning to take shape! At the song’s conclusion, the latest guitar is dropped to the ground. This one does survive!
Things then become a little edgy as Oliver materializes a 12” metal sheet that he clips to wires and swings it above his head lasso style. Thankfully it remains attached and then he kneels down and wraps the sheet across his face and the movements give off distortion, meanwhile bassist John and drummer Sandra are motionless. Memories of SPK’s two intense Brighton performances come flooding back to my mind.
‘Dragged In A Hole’ from 2022’s ‘See Through You’ album is the next offering. Sandra’s drumming is notable here and it’s heavy throughout. I study John who is standing above me and I realize there’s a strong whiff of Dee Dee Ramone in stance and looks, which is certainly a very good thing! Musically Warsaw’s ‘They Walked In Line’ comes to mind. There’s a psychobilly guitar and then the earth shattering drums kick in like an earthquake! Sandra’s bass drum has been cranked up to 12 for ‘Lost Feeling’ from 2009’s ‘Exploding Head’ album. Sandra then comes out from behind the drumkit and knelt at the front of the stage and was adjusting John’s footpedals for maximum effect. She returns to her drums and f*cking hell her bass drum is now cranked up to 15!
Another onslaught follows in the form of ‘Bad Idea’ from 2024’s ‘Synthesizer’ album. In this section there is a speedier beat and joint vocals from Oliver and John. After this, Sandra jumps off the stage and climbs over the crowd barrier and spends some time standing amongst the eager punters. She’s found her spot and her bandmates follow and before we know it, all three of them are playing in the middle of us! Sandra has a single drum, John has his bass, and Oliver has a vocal distorting box which is held within a flightcase. We receive several tracks from their latest position, and for one of these Sandra talks to a girl in the crowd and hands her drumsticks and explains the beat and the new duo set the speed whilst the boys follow along. Many punters appear to be having a shamanistic experience as they are being bathed in hypnotic tribal style sound. The girls are in perfect sync and after this Sandra hugs the girl in appreciation.
The band and the equipment return to the stage for the final four songs which are ‘—————— Metal Faces’ which is unreleased; ‘Never Coming Back’ from 2018’s ‘Pinned’ album; ‘I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow Of Your Heart’ from 2009’s ‘Exploding Head’ album; and ‘Have You Ever Been In Love’ which is another from 2024’s ‘Synthesizer’ album. In this section Oliver briefly alternates between his guitar and a drum, which he briefly holds aloft. He then moved a drumstick up and down the length of his guitar. There was a section that was rather punky and reminded me of The Damned’s ‘Smash It Up’. I was rather hoping that no one in attendance is susceptible to epilepsy as the stage lights were out bar a flashing white light held (and swung around) by Oliver, which was bandied around, and he played his guitar with it and then it ended up sitting on top of the drumkit facing Sandra.
At one point Oliver is laying on the stage floor playing his guitar. Then Sandra joins the boys at the front of the stage and the trio are in a line. She has brought two of the drums with her and the flashing white light is positioned under the largest drum and facing upwards to great effect. Sandra shouts into the mic and John offers lyrics as well, to the fast Jesus And Mary Chain style beat. Oliver then carries an amp around the stage whilst still having his guitar strapped on. This guitar also survives! There’s one last laying on the floor by Oliver and that’s our lot. The showmanship has been absolute top dollar and did actually match Die Anstalt.
It’s been such an epic evening, that I’m betting that quite a number of this evening’s punters will be purchasing tickets for the other Sussex concert. This will be happening at The Piper in St. Leonards-on-Sea on Saturday 5th September – Grab your tickets HERE.
Remaining tour dates for A Place To Bury Strangers & Die Anstalt:
25 August – Sheffield – Sidney & Matilda
26 August – Manchester – The White Hotel
27 August – Glasgow – Stereo
28 August – Belfast – The Deers Head
29 August – Galway – Róisín Dubh
30 August – Dublin – The Grand Social
2 September – Birmingham – Hare and Hounds
3 September – Norwich – Waterfront
4 September – Southampton – Papillon
5 September – St Leonards-on-Sea – The Piper
7 September – London – The Dome
8 September – Newcastle – Anarchy Brew
9 September – Oxford – The Bullington
Tickets for all A Place to Bury Strangers concerts can be located HERE.
A Place To Bury Strangers:
Oliver Ackermann – lead vocals, guitar, bass, drums
Sandra Fedowitz – drums, vocals
John Fedowitz – bass, vocals
A Place To Bury Strangers setlist:
‘We’ve Come So Far’ (from 2015 ‘Transfixiation’ album)
‘I Lost You’ (from 2012 ‘Onwards To The Wall’ EP)
‘Disgust’ (from 2024 ‘Synthesizer’ album)
‘Dragged In A Hole’ (from 2022 ‘See Through You’ album)
‘Deadbeat’ (from 2009 ‘Exploding Head’ album)
‘Lost Feeling’ (from 2009 ‘Exploding Head’ album)
‘Bad Idea’ (from 2024 ‘Synthesizer’ album)
‘—————— Metal Faces’ (unreleased)
‘Never Coming Back’ (from 2018 ‘Pinned’ album)
‘I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow Of Your Heart’ (from 2009 ‘Exploding Head’ album)
‘Have You Ever Been In Love’ (from 2024 ‘Synthesizer’ album)
