Why releasing a "Live" album about 16 years after this band came to an end?

Well, on one hand there certainly is a big amount of nostalgia, but on the other hand it´s simply much fun to listen to this band on their musical peak.

After many weeks in the rehearsal room, everybody in the band was eager to eventually play live. The two concerts at Berlin´s famous "Quasimodo" club were the first ones in a series of concerts all over Berlin and surely there was a lot of excitement about these events. You can sense this in every moment of the recording.

The life versions differ quite a lot from the studio versions. Lorenz Allacher´s saxophone adds a special and (sometimes free) jazzy note ("FFARM") and with Susa Lie and Gabriel Le Mar exchanging the part of the bass-player, the basic sound varies from Prog-Rock-Pop ("The Sham Man") to "karnish" Funk ("Riding The Nighttrain"). Ingo Ito´s guitar-synth creates some moody athmospheres ("These Two Hands") while drummer Hans Schumann stays as solid as a rock in the sometimes stormy sea of sound.

The whole band plays with a refreshing roughness, much reflected in the music and especially in the instrumental parts, which let one surmise to what extraordinary life-band Bamboo Industry might have developed.
Without further support by their then record company and obligations of the band members in other projects, Bamboo Industry unfortunately came to an end - only some months and a few concerts later.

But "Bamboo Industry - Versus The Sham Man - Live" still shows the band in a play- and powerful mood and the outstanding performances will surely enthuse listeners today all the same as the audience 16 years ago.

It is recommended to listen to this album without any gaps between the songs to get the most out of the live athmosphere.