A Band In A Box 2005-2009
Off Stage concert
A Band In A Box refers to the Zita Swoon’s off stage format. The band plays amid the audience, standing at the same level. The vocals and instruments are amplified from the heart of the band, so the audience and the musicians hear an identical sound mix. The sound resonates as it is produced by the musicians, without compression or effects. Every member of the audience has a unique experience, depending on their location in relation to the band.
Stef Kamil Carlens is convinced that Zita Swoon’s music is best enjoyed in this setup. The sound is rough, unmanipulated, relatively quiet and is produced close to the audience. As a consequence, the emotions are pure and communication is direct.
calendar A Band In A Box archive
Album
Artists
Stef Kamil Carlens, Aarich Jespers, Kapinga Gysel, Eva-Tshiela Gysel, Amel Serra Garcia, Bart Van Lierde, Simon Pleysier, Hugo Boogaerts.
and before Joris Caluwaerts, Kobe Proesmans, Tom Pintens, Leonie Gysel
Quotes
“A Band in a Box is the name of Zita Swoon’s newest live CD, DVD and concert tour. Concretely, this means: an unplugged performance, not on a stage but in the center of the hall, which for the occasion was outfitted with a lowered ceiling of red plush. The audience sat cozily around the combo and seemed to literally embrace the band. Stef Kamil and court consciously chose for a cheaper concert formula, because touring with a sound installation and crew costs tons of money. So no PA, no clever sound mix, no battery-powered microphones around the drums and amplifiers. The musicians and audience had to make do with four insignificant monitors.”
The voice of the people for cuttingedge.be
“A concert with chairs, and it isn’t a traumatic experience. It’s a pleasure, so clean and pure, the tears honestly gather in your eyes. Beautiful songs like Hey You Watshadoing? Thinking About You All The Time and Song For A Dead Singer are performed in a reserved and sober manner by Zita Swoon. It’s so quiet you can hear a coin fall, the bottles of beer clanging. During the semi-amplified soulful, funky songs the band’s pleasure is infectious. The background singers sing with a lot of passion and feeling, and the musically gifted Carlens becomes completely free. Unforgettable!”
Haika Nanninga for LiveXS
“The place exploded when the intro of Jintro and The Great Luna reverberated. A wave went through the audience, people jumped out of their chairs, stormed the center of the space, cheering reverberated and Zita Swoon completely disappeared into the dancing crowd. So that’s what Carlens meant when he said ‘feel free to dance a little’. (-) We’ve never seen Zita Swoon like this. A Band in a Box is one of the concert pre season’s highlights”
Sasha Van der Speeten for De Standaard