
Premiering in Europe on May 6 at White Trash, cult rock epic Gutterdämmerung mashes up live performance and silent film with Tweet-able catchphrases and an unbeatable cast.
Looking for the ultimate full-senses rock ‘n’ roll rampage? Forget about Spinal Tap and don’t even bother with Jem and The Holograms. Belgian-Swedish visual artist and music video director Björn Tagemose drew from silent film aesthetics, metal clichés and one hell of a Rolodex to tell a ‘good versus evil’ story that’s as simple as it is riveting.
An angel named Vicious, played by Iggy Pop, sends the sin-inducing “Devil’s Guitar” to Earth, whereby a priest (Henry Rollins) sends the “last pure girl on the planet” (!) to destroy the evil string instrument before it wreaks havoc. Along the way, she runs into a variety of characters portrayed by Grace Jones, the late Lemmy Kilmister, Josh Homme and Jesse Hughes of Eagles of Death Metal, Justice and Berlin’s own Nina Hagen, to name a few.
Much like one of those multimedia fun rides at Disney World – although by no means as traumatising as Ellen’s Energy Adventure – the show mixes on-screen action with on-stage live performance and special effects, while you either join the folks in the sweaty mosh-pit or enjoy a hearty three-course dinner from a safe, yet no less entertaining, distance.
The White Trash gig, which precedes a string of European festival dates, probably would’ve sold out even if the Bataclan attacks, Lemmy’s death and Iggy and Homme’s new album Post Pop Depression hadn’t catapulted Gutterdämmerung’s stars back into relevance – and indeed, there are no more Stehplätze to be had, but seated tickets starting at €117 (dinner included) are still available. If that seems like a lot, consider that Mr. Osterberg is playing a sold-out show at Tempodrom just one day later – so it might be worth gambling that he’ll ‘pop’ in for a surprise off-screen cameo.
GUTTERDÄMMERUNG May 6, 20:00 | White Trash Fast Food, Am Flutgraben 2, Treptow, S-Bhf Treptower Park