First we take Tilburg, and then we dance to Berlin

Laibach @ 013, Tilburg (NL), 9.10.2003

by Zlato Krec

The box office of the Popcentrum in Tilburg (The Netherlands) was nicely adorned with Tanz mit Laibach poster showing Laibach as brutal military gang with faces of beasts. Only Milan could be recognized on it. How suitable with the lyrics of Anti-Semitism. Next to the poster, there was a warning that tonight the volume of the sound will be extremely strong, so ear plugs are available. Afterwards, there would be an after party in The Bat Cave of the same Popcentrum complex. Laibach performed in the bigger hall - The Choice, with a big 1.5 m high stage with the auditorium place rising by steps. Some 2200 people could be packed in at maximum. For Laibach, it was set as a regular venue for 800 people what appeared to be appropriate, for the 823 who turned up.

As usual on the WAT Tour, the stage was embellished with two classic Laibach banners. The sound system and huge park of lights promised an ultimate event. All necessary conditions for the perfect Laibach gig were given. While the venue was filling in a very relaxed atmosphere, Laibach started their usual pre-concert preparation (and torture) with a suitable classic music, Johann Strauss waltzes, now and then some holy smokes, and ticking of the time.

Audience was pretty colorful and of all ages. Most of them were goths, hard rockers, heavy metallurgists, all kind of other alternatives, and common people of all ages too. There were a lot of old time Laibach fans whom one could tell from old Laibach T-shirts and age. One could spot even couple of drag queens. And there was Simon, the veteran Laibach fan from Amsterdam; there was Katrin from Slovenian band Coptic Rain... It was quite something watching all those people. And after all, it was nice to recognize some Rammstein fans. Hopefully, they got a nice educational lesson of whom did Rammstein rip off.

When time was ticked away, Laibach started to appear on stage one by one. From the very first moments of B Mashina, Laibach won the applause of the audience. Milan’s voice seemed to sound a bit hoarse. Considering his "normal" voice, maybe the reason is in being on the road already for couple of weeks. It was interesting to notice again how the male part of the band behaves almost like a "normal" rock'n'roll band, while the girls are towers of cold and alienated totalitarian power. Together they form a perfect men-machine. The set list was the same as two nights before in Krefeld. Reactions of the audience were frantic during each song. I have never seen yet, on any Laibach gig, that audience would dance to Laibach as much as in Tilburg. It seems like being under the stage is no more so "dull and safe" as it used to be. But, I couldn’t hear any Sieg-Heil-ing or any Hou-Zee-ing which one could expect maybe. Instead, during the Mars On River Drina, an attentive eye could notice a bunch of raised right hands with three fingers. Young company was particularly overwhelmed by this song. Funny enough, the one who would appreciate this song even more, is on trial in (not so far away) The Hague. In this excellent atmosphere the set was brought to an end through most of the songs from the new album and culminated with the magnificent WAT. It took some time and a lot of shouting Zu-ga-be, Zu-ga-be that Laibach returned for an encore. It will remain a mystery to me whether those guys were German fans, or Dutch fans consciously playing the Laibach game. After the encore, Laibach left the audience to dance unashamed to the Wir tanzen Ado Hinkel remix, and afterwards we got some fine American war songs for chill out. One of them was Little Jack Little’s I've Always Wanted To Dance In Berlin.

Another brilliant Laibach gig was over. Everything seemed to be in the right place that night. Except that Ivan of Laibach, after he packed his film projector, couldn't enter the backstage with some friends and fans, as security didn't recognize him as the member of the band. The security of 013 passed the alert test well. However, Laibach didn't appear at their after party in The Bat Cave afterwards. Instead, they walked around the corner to Café Vatican.

Set list:
1. B Mashina
2. In the Army Now
3. Dogs of War
4. Alle gegen Alle
5. Mars on River Drina
6. God is God
7. Tanz mit Laibach
8. Du bist unser
9. Now You Will Pay
10. Hell : Symmetry
11. The Great Divide
12. Achtung!
13. Das Spiel ist Aus
14. Ende
15. WAT
+ encore +
16. Anti-Semitism
17. Sympathy for the Devil