Volcano!
Josef-Strauß-Park, 2009
With the midi-controller tucked under his arm, Mark explains why he is not so enthusiastic about these kind of instruments in general. He paid good money for it, but the reward is limited. At least he can take it for a walk. So that is what we invite Chicago-based volcano! for, after they finished their soundcheck at Chelsea in Vienna. Yet before you could turn round, the twilight of this spring evening is eaten up by early darkness and we stumble just some two hundred metres from the concert venue into a deserted park. Let the galanty show begin! After having evocated some gloomy spirits with the performance of “Tension Loop” in the arbour, Aaron, Mark and Sam go for a melancholy and insofar really different sounding interpretation of “Performance Evaluation Shuffle”. When the reddishly aflame trio comes to an end, a distant clapping can be vaguely heard, but not a soul to be seen. A “hello?” to obscurity.
- Photography
- Judd Hower
- Artist
- Volcano!
Josef-Strauß-Park
Josef-Strauss-Park is an oasis in an area of Vienna with particularly little public green space. The 7,800 square meters English-style park is a bit hidden behind a block of houses in the 7th district, with a hard-to-find entrance in Lerchenfelder Straße and one in Kaiserstraße. Due to its location in the middle of apartment houses, the park creates a very private feeling, like walking through a quiet, shady backyard. In summertime, however, the urban greenspace comes to live when children with their parents use the ample playground facilities and passers-by take a break on one of the benches. Not too long, though, because the wrought-iron gates usually close at dusk (watch our session with Volcano! for the counterevidence). The park is named after 19th-century architect, inventor, composer and conductor Josef Strauss, whose brother Johann is the creator of some of the most famous waltzes.