Emiliana Torrini in Cologne

Emiliana Torrini can speak German, and she does it with a delightful Icelandic accent. Unless you speak German too, you'll not understand the hilarity of a shaggy dog story that she told about a "Gemüseschwanz". Whatever, it caused plenty of amusement for the 20 to 30-something crowd who had assembled to see her play in the "Kulturkirche", a deconsecrated church that puts on concerts, book readings and other cultural events.
As a space, the church enjoys a certain originality and atmosphere, especially for goth bands, I suppose, but this can't make up for two massive failings that are sure to make any passionate gig-goer pause.

The first problem is the sound. At last night's concert it was disastrous: a steely sheet of treble that bounces off the stonework and hits the listeners from every direction. At the other end of the scale, we had to send out a search party for the bass. In fact, the sound engineer may have thought it was some kind of fish for all I know, because he certainly didn't think that it was required to give weight, form and substance to the music. Which was a real pity, because la Torrini is a spirited and delightful performer, and her band also played on bravely against the treble storm. The quieter songs come over well, and the gig was worth it for these alone, as Torini certainly develops a poignancy and power in these ballads which could tumble into inconsequentiality in other hands. Standing watching her in my outdoor coat, I almost shed a tear.

And that's the venue's second problem: no cloakroom. This might be alright in a squat (where you wouldn't want to put your coat down, or trust the "staff"), but in a venue charging over 20 Euros for admission it's inexcusable.

Thumbs up, therefore for Torrini and band, thumbs down for the Kulturkirche.