So this past Friday the Filthy Broke Billionaires had a show to support the release of their new EP “in god we trust, the others pay cash”. They were supported by 2 more local acts, Fox, and the Majestic Unicorns from hell. They played at the Rockhal Floor, which is the 3rd room in the Rockhal and by far its smallest, but sound wise may just be the best, as it is so small it has none of the Rockhal typical problems of too much hall and echo. Certainly a venue to be considered for smaller events and gigs! The event was stated to start at 8:30pm which due to the weather (yes winter finally swept through Luxembourg and as usual the traffic world fell apart) turned into a 9pm start when the crowd had swollen to a decent size. First up was Fox which although all of the musicians are solid craftsmen is not my cup of tea, at all, too easy listening, and too radio friendly sounding for me, but overall nice performance.
Up next were the Majestic Unicorns from Hell, which indeed were quite Majestic in their sound but did not look like Unicorns in the least. But looks don’t matter to me as long as the sounds is there, and they sure do have a solid sound! Their music is heavy, fast, and structured, providing you with plenty of hooks and rhythm changes to not become boring, all the while telling you a nice story with their sound.
The final slot was taken by the Filthy Broke Billionaires to present their 5 track EP (which I did pick up but didn’t get around to listening yet so I won’t comment on the EP). They played for about an hour which was very reasonable, and they sounded spot on, right from the start! And the crowd well warmed up by the previous 2 bands got into a good groove right away. Priscila da Costa on vocals was the star of the night with her smoky rough vocals and screams tearing through the crowd like a sword. They played every song from their EP, plus a few other that did not make the cut, but still sound great! On drums there is Spit which is quite an animal, and pounds away on his drums with ease and precision, Yves van Oekel on Bass nicely completes the rhythm section! (On bass a little bladder training is recommended though, as having to take a piss break in a 1 hour set was a bit weird,and considering it was their EP release they all looked fairly sober so we cannot blame booze.) Yacke on guitar completes their line up, and although he is the shortest of the pack he sure knows how to handle his guitar, he stands out through competence on guitar as well as a bit of a big mouth, but rounds out the sound of the Filthy Broke Billionaires nicely! Overall I'd say the filthy broke billionaires play a fairly dirty sounding Rock 'n' Roll with a touch of blues. I sure hope they captured the intensity of their live sound on the EP as well.
If you haven’t seen them yet, be sure to check them out, as they are one of the more recent and interesting up and coming bands in Luxembourg. For me this show marked my first concert of the year, and well it was a very promising start, and I look forward to many more shows!