Messed!Up
The first time I came across De/Vision was in 1995 when a friend of mine brought a copy of Unversed In Love, their third album, to the studio I was working in. As a huge fan of most synthpop, especially German bands like Boytronic, Cetu Javu, and Camouflage, I thought it was interesting with something new in the scene, and songs like “Dress Me When I Bleed”, “Free From Cares”, and “Blue Moon” were interesting but nothing new, and the band sort of fade away from my playlists – for a full year. The year after, in August 1996, Steffen, Thomas, and Markus (who later left the band) returned with their fourth album Fairyland?, something completely different and with instant classics as “I Regret” and “Sweet Life”, which are still among the best of their output.
The following decade De/Vision were super productive in the studio and poured out some amazing albums; Void (2000), Two (2001), NOOB (2007), and, my personal favorite, Popgefahr (2010) are still awesome records, and what made them even better was interesting live performances (not the strongest suit amongst synthpop bands). However, after fourteen studio albums and 38 years in the scene, the band felt the need to reinvent themselves, because in a genre like synthpop, where nostalgia is always lurking just beneath the surface, staying relevant requires more than simply replaying the hits. It demands reinvention. That’s exactly what De/Vision understands. Rather than treating their back catalogue like a museum exhibit, they’ve torn it apart, brought in Haujobb’s mastermind Daniel Myers, and rebuilt it all for the dancefloor. Myers work speaks for itself, and bands like Haujobb and Covenant fuse synthpop, EBM, and techno into a melting pot – and out comes music for clubs. And that’s what this night was about: a reinvented sound under the moniker De/Vision Redux.
Tonight at Markthalle in Hamburg was about classic tracks transformed into pulsing, club-ready versions – faster tempos, heavier basslines, sharper electronic textures. The familiar melodies were still there, but they shimmered differently, refracted through driving beats and euphoric builds that felt designed for 2 a.m. under strobe lights. Some of my favorites had been reshaped into club hits, especially songs like “I Regret”, “Free From Cares”, and “Rage”. Don’t get me wrong, they were still sing-alongs, but just like Thomas instructed us to d,o we found ourselves moving – and moving a lot!
In my opinion, reworking older material live isn’t just a stylistic choice; it’s a survival strategy. As a fan, I don’t want replicas of studio recordings or the same version of songs played over and over again, especially not over the course of 30 years (my first De/Vision show was in 1997), I want new energy, surprise, and a reason to show up again. By reshaping classics into upbeat, high-BPM anthems, De/Vision proved that evolution doesn’t mean abandoning your roots. It means a new take on old songs, getting them ready for the 2030s.
At the center of it all was frontman Steffen Keth, who was in club mode and moved across the stage in ways I haven’t seen him do before. But it took its toll; in between songs, he turned to Daniel Myer and laughed while having a longer break than usual, while sipping on water and having a laugh. I know the feeling and how harder it has become to dance for a full show after turning fifty, and I can take breaks when I want to, while Steffen has to continue riling up the fans.
To summarize: with these redux versions, the band avoid the trap of nostalgia fatigue. In fact, the songs felt alive, modern, and relevant, not because they were new, but because they were reimagined. And in a live setting, that makes all the difference. I would love to get them on record (preferably on vinyl) because some of the classics sounded a lot better than the originals – it was new, and it was fresh. And Steffen seemed to have a very good time on stage – maybe it’s a win-win for all of us?
Thanks for the show!
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Photographer: Niko Schmuck
