Musa Dagh - Backstage Munich - Pitview

On the release day of "Endurance", the band was already on stage - at the Backstage in Munich this wasn't an ordinary concert night but a kind of celebration of their own release.

Anyone who read my preview with Safi knows I had been looking forward to this night for a long time. The venue was well filled, which made for an exceptionally good atmosphere. In a setting like this there was nowhere to hide, and that is exactly what made the night so immediate.

Curt opened the night and warmed up the room before Musa Dagh took over.

"Endurance" hits the stage

From the very first minute it was clear: this was not a night for sitting back. Musa Dagh played with intensity and drive, with an energy that swept through the whole room. The new songs from "Endurance" in particular gain a force live that even surpasses the recording.

The small room created very intimate, almost family-like moments that the crowd clearly appreciated and celebrated. Safi's extraordinary and impressive vocals, the massive bass playing, Aren's incredible guitar riffs and dense walls of sound, all underpinned and carried by "Dog" Kessler's drums - an absolute recommendation for fans of passionate, handmade, loud, honest and gripping music.

What really carried this night was how they played together as a band. Seeing Musa Dagh live, you can tell that three musicians have found each other here who genuinely listen to one another - no playing past each other, but one sound that breathes. Aren Emirze remains the pulsing centre on guitar, while Safi and "Dog" Kessler deliver the pressure from behind, without it ever sounding like mere accompaniment.

One of the loveliest moments came in Aren's introduction to "Hollow Rooms": he told the story of how Safi first sent him the track - and he immediately got goosebumps - before passing it on to "Dog", who had exactly the same reaction. A small, honest anecdote that showed how deeply "Endurance" gets under the skin of all three of them, even before it ever reached the stage.

The actual tour kick-off had already been the night before in Cologne, where the album was presumably already available at the merch stand. But the special meaning Safi had talked about in the preview - "as if I were going to my first Musa Dagh concert" - could clearly be felt in Munich too: focused, present and visibly in the moment.