UMUR
"Live aus Kaiser Bierwurst Halle" is a live album by Danish metal act Red Warszawa. The album was self-released by the band in October 2001. The album was recorded December the 15th and 16th 2000 at Kaiser Bierwurst Halle (aka Loppen, Christiania, Copenhagen, Denmark). The 24 tracks on the 72:30 minutes long live album are all taken from the band´s first three studio albums: "Hævi Mætal og Hass (Greatest Hits 1986-96 Volume 1) (1996)", "Skal Vi Lege Doktor? (Greatest Hits 1986-97 Volume 2) (1998)" and "Tysk Hudindustri (Greatest Hits 1986-2000 Volume 3) (2000)". As mentioned the tracks were recorded over two nights, so there are a couple of cuts here and there and even a couple of tracks that appear twice ( that would be "Hæwi metal og hass" and "Norsk black metal").
"Live aus Kaiser Bierwurst Halle" is what I´d call a "real" live album. There are no overdubs, lots of mistakes, sound issues and other things you are not bound to hear on a more polished live album. We´re not talking bootleg sound quality though but it´s certainly a raw and stripped down sound. The sound really suits Red Warszawa´s simple yet effective heavy metal/ thrash metal songs well though and an authentic live atmosphere is guaranteed. Complete with talking between the tracks, audience noise and talking, and guitarist Hævi Henning repeatedly asking the sound man to turn up the sound on the guitar monitor. I´ve personally attended quite a few Red Warszawa shows throughout the years, and "Live aus Kaiser Bierwurst Halle" is a very authentic documentation of how they sound live. It´s all about having fun and drinking alcohol. Hmm...or maybe it´s drinking alcohol and then having fun?
Oh well...the song selection is really good and while there are always a song or two that you´d have liked to have been there instead of one or two other songs that are present on the album, I´m pretty much content. Songs like "Mosekonen Brygger", "Hæwi metal og hass", "Norsk black metal", "Jeg hader alle mennesker", "Singelingeling", "Aldi", "Mc Nymands rap" and "Pludselig får du cirkelspark af folk du ikke kender" are Red Warszawa classics and it´s hard not to crack a smile and say a hellyeah when being exposed to such an energetic and oddly charming performance of those songs.
As a live album "Live aus Kaiser Bierwurst Halle" is a very enjoyable release and while it wouldn´t make the best introduction to the band´s music (live albums seldom are) it´s still a great, raw and authentic release deserving a 3.5 star rating.