By Harald Köpping Athanasopoulos
If you weren’t at Haus Auensee last night, you missed a powerful, lively and emotional show by one of Germany’s most talented and original contemporary duos: Boy. I first came across Boy about four years ago after seeing them on the Facebook page of another artist I like. Last night’s performance proved they have emancipated themselves from being an opening act to full-fledged stardom.
Let me first say a few words about Boy: founded in 2007, they basically consist of Zurich-born singer Valeska Steiner and German bassist Sonja Glass. If you hear them for the first time, they may remind you of Feist, and most people would probably classify their style as Indie pop. What really fascinates me about Boy though is the authenticity of their lyrics. Listening to their songs really allows you to imagine the situations that inspired them, and if you’re a romantic like me, you will be able to truly relate. They have released two albums so far, Mutual Friends in 2011 and We Were Here in 2015. Their song Little Numbers made in into a Lufthansa-commercial that was broadcast all over Europe.
How did they perform in concert? They started out with We Were Here, which was also the first single released from their most recent album. The song talks about how you leave behind traces in every place you visit. Indeed, it was a good way to open. Boy’s first performance in Leipzig was in 2010 at Horn’s Erben, where they played for an audience of 25. This year’s concert was actually moved from Werk 2 to Haus Auensee because of high demand. Their experience of Leipzig reflects their growth as a band.
Another song that really stuck out for me was Railway, where Valeska sings about saying goodbye to someone who doesn’t even know she exists. It was the most heart-felt piece of the night. Nevertheless, the concert reached its climax with their final song, This is the Beginning. I have to admit that I usually skip this track on their first album, so I was dumbstruck by the amount of energy the duo managed to get out of this song. When they finished off, the audience got them to play a third encore, where they proclaimed the Leipzig concert to have been the best of their current tour.
If you haven’t heard Boy yet, I strongly recommend you give it a go. I hope we’ll see you next time they play in Leipzig…perhaps at the Arena?
