It was a mid-week date for Max Giesinger’s return to Belval and, judging by the amount of youngsters in the audience, it would be fair to say that this gig spanned a generational gap larger than say, The Prodigy’s recent performance would have.
First to the evening’s opener, 6-stringer Ryan Sheridan and his firebrand drummer, Ronan Nolan (whose birthday it just so happened to be). The duo played a barn-storming, if short set. Determined to really ‘go for it’ - this being their last leg on the Giesinger tour, the pair belted out versions of ‘Stay, Stay’, ‘Jigsaw’ and ‘I’m Alive’. Much grittier and full on than recorded versions of his output would suggest, Ireland’s singer songwriter (and The Voice Ireland finalist) will be back for a gig at Op der Schmelz in November, miss it at you peril.
As the stage time approached a projection was beamed on to a huge screen in front of the main stage in the main hall, counting down into the intro for the lead track on Max Giesinger’s latest album Die Reise. If the curtain falling at the song’s crescendo was a tad predictable it did push the buttons for the large crowd keen to get into the swing of things.
As this is a tour for promoting Die Reise, the set list did lean toward the newer tracks, and as such, ones that the crowd were not so familiar with...yet.
So while there were quieter moments and more muted applause for the, being kind, more atypical album cuts, the crowd were in full voice when it mattered.
The set was littered with the BIG hits, ‘Wenn Sie Tanzt’, ‘Legenden’, ’80 Million’, ‘Zuhause’ and ‘Roulette’.
Those that were at Max’ other Lux shows (he asked for a raising of hands - there were more new fans than long-timers) will already know that he likes to get ‘in’ the audience.
Strolling through the crowd and high-five-ing, he is a consummate showman, dropping some Luxembourgish knowledge bites and appearing at a much smaller, mid-crowd stage, a la Coldplay, for a stripped back number of tunes - and that is part of his charm.
A brief segue into fan interaction saw a bemused lad from the ‘Burg get on stage and choose tracks from a selection of ‘200' for a bizzare medley that included Coolio, Simply Red, Oasis and The Beatles before finishing with Tanzt and Million to rousing applause and streamers shot from cannons.
Lyrically, it’s a bit schmaltzy and a touch too broad musically - sometimes song by numbers yet there is something that sticks long after the show has finished.
There are some naysayers who remain of the view that Max and his family-friendly, distinctly non-threatening brand of arena pop is too safe, too saccharine and too ‘meh’.
However, for fans of the irrepressibly chirpy singer, this show was a perfect blend of happy-go-lucky entertainment.
Max’s interview (in German) with RTL can be viewed here:
