Nils Frahm at the National Concert Hall, June 17th 2015

Having built a name for himself in both the classical and electro music worlds, Nils Frahm arrived in Dublin with no small sense of expectation. Over the course of near two hours, the German pianist/composer showed just why he’s established such a reputation.

With a brace of tunes, reworked old songs and new, Nils Frahm produces a set in Dublin’s National Concert Hall that is equal parts euphoric and restorative. Simple lighting, with twelve lamps of white and gold, cast the stage in a gently warm bath of light. Surrounded by keyboards, Frahm builds an ever widening soundscape, with washes of tones building to fill the room.

Dipping back into a back catalogue of tunes that run the gamut from contemplative piano meditations to beautifully rendered synth-scapes, Frahm holds the audience rapt. From the opening twenty minutes of new takes on tunes to tracks from his most recent albums, Frahm produces an intense set of music. Building, with a wonderful technical adeptness, layers of ephemeral sound with a pair of pianos, upright and grand, and a sampling of synths.

With nigh on a full house, Frahm’s on-stage manipulation set a sea of heads nodding. The concert hall is bathed in a soup of smoke, and the room full of enraptured punters. Frahm is, as ever, full of energy, his ceaseless work at his myriad keyboards making up an endlessly restless wave of sound.

Toilet Brushes, played as the inevitable encore, is a masterclass in rhythmic inventiveness. Stretched over his opened piano, brushes in hand, Frahm develops an incessant rhythm, layers of sound building before he moves to the keys. Tense, electric, the piece is one that sends a shiver down the spine – each small harmonic move signalling a new sheet of sound.

Electric. The kind of show that raises the hair on the back of your neck. Frahm is one to watch out for; beautiful, haunting music that stays with you.