En Esch at the Raccoon Motel -- April 27.
Monday, April 27, 6 p.m.
Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
A lauded German musician noted for his performances with bands KMFDM, Pigface, Slick Idiot, and <PIG>, Nicklaus Schandelmaier – better known by his stage moniker En Esch – headlines an April 27 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, his 2024 solo recording Dance Hall Putsch, according to Chaos Control Digizine, proving that the artist "continues to create hard, highly danceable electronic music that incorporates a variety of different styles."
Born near Frankfurt in 1968, En Esch is an orchestra percussionist, drummer, programmer, producer, sound mixer, guitarist, and singer. He was a member of the German industrial rock group, KMFDM, from 1985 to 1999, during which time he contributed to 10 studio albums and more than a dozen singles as musician, composer and producer. Esch lived in Germany until 1992, when he moved to Chicago, and it was at this time that the musician first worked with Pigface, whom he also toured with in the early 1990s.
After then moving to New Orleans, Esch released a solo album, Cheesy, in 1993. Six years later, he briefly worked with the band Pizza Whore, which changed its name to Barely Legal, and included Trixie Reiss of The Crystal Method. The band did not last, and Esch began traveling to Canada to visit Günter Schulz, the former KMFDM guitarist. They formed Slick Idiot, released their first album in 2001, and have subsequently released two more albums under that moniker.
In 2005, Esch began working actively with Pigface again and joined them of tour, while in 2007, he began collaborating with fellow German musician Mona Mur. The two released the album 120 Tage in February 2009, and toured together in support of the release over the next two years. Esch and Mur joined former KMFDM guitarist Günter Schulz, Raymond Watts, and Mark Durante to perform at the Wax Trax! Retrospectacle in Chicago, a charity event celebrating the industrial music label, and performed KMFDM songs from the 1990s. A second album by the duo of Esch and Mur was released in 2011, with a second solo album, Spänk successfully crowdfunded and released in late 2014. Since then, En Esch's solo albums have included Trash Chic (2016), Et Nos Unum Sumus (2023), and Dance Hall Putsch (2024), and as a member of <PIG>, the artist has contributed to The Gospel (2016), Risen (2018), Pain Is God (2020), and Red Room (2024).
En Esch brings his tour to Davenport on April 27 with an additional set by Unitcode: Machine, admission to the 6 p.m. concert is $19.84, and more information and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.
