Taras

support The Guilt
author PP date 30/08/14 venue High Voltage, Copenhagen, DEN

It's a Saturday night and Copenhagen is about to get flooded big time without warning, this venue included. But ragnarok happens much later, thankfully causing no disruption to all-girl rockers Taras' first hometown concert in more than a year after having spent time writing, recording, and even supporting Danish rock legends D-A-D in London for a concert. The girls have been hyping up this gig for months leading up to the gig, and sure enough, they do provide entertainment for all kroners during their set tonight. Along with them they have brought Sweden's The Guilt, who've only had to cross the Øresunds bridge to get to the venue tonight, so let's talk about that duo first.

The Guilt - in one of many compromising positions

The Guilt

That's right, I said a duo. Consisting only of guitarist Tobias and vocalist Emma, the two Swedes rely on extensive playback to make up for the lack of a bassist and a drummer, which unfortunately hurts their show because the programmer drums simply don't have the same effect as a live drummer do. They play a curious mix of garage punk, hardcore, and disco based rock'n'roll, which is fueled by the riot grrrl attitude and performance of Emma throughout the set. She showcases a mix of aerobics and halfway pornographic stances on stage, bringing to mind the raucous antics of Slöa Knivar who have almost certainly been an influence to the type of aggressive, eye-capturing performance we're treated to tonight. Granted, it's only on occasions when the show takes a turn towards a PG18 direction, and otherwise the band is engaged in freakish dance moves and frenetic energy throughout. The attitude on display is not questionable, however, the songs are exactly that. Few crowd members seem to care by the end of their set as floor clears and leaves a hollow space with a few curious bystanders looking at the band. I can understand them, other than the catchy "Dance To The Revolution", their material isn't exactly friendly for first time listening in a live environment.

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Taras - rocking out with their...err...hairs out!

Taras

It's been more than a year since you've last played at home or been particularly active on the live circuit. How do you respond? The answer to that should always be with a fuckin' confetti bomb. The moment the girl trio kicks off their set, an enormous amount of confetti fills the stage area of High Voltage accompanied by a high pitch scream "WHAT'S UP HIGH VOLTAGE!". The girls are all dressed in glam rock inspired night club outfits, taking full advantage of the mostly male audience, rocking out in suggestive, but yet entirely appropriate manner as you should if you've opened for D-A-D in London. Point being it's easy to see they've done this before in front of bigger audiences, considering the sheer amount of charisma the girls put into their performance. They rock out with attitude, power, and engagement, remembering to entice people to clap along with brief periods of crowd control to keep us all interested. Their problem is still the questionable nature of their rock'n'roll fueled songs, that at this stage have way more attitude and energy packed into them that catchy choruses and killer riffs to draw international attention that isn't solely focused on their gender. But based on the sneak peeks I've heard both online, in person, and in at least one new track aired tonight, this is something that's going to come soon enough. Once the songs begin clicking properly, Taras have the complete package for a solid rock band on the national stage, and should be able to escape the novelty of 'being an all girl band' which still seems to plague them whenever people discuss the band in any context.

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Photos by: Philip B. Hansen

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