It’s official: On the 25th anniversary of the release of their first LP, the "The Roman Games" will once again be performing for two concerts in Switzerland in June, with all original band members, and supported by their friends and musical rivals from back in the days, the Former Franks, who also will get the original cast together for the show.
The Roman Games in the 90s (from left to right): Peter Niedermaier (Keys, Voc.), Roman Elsener (Git, voc.), Fredy Stieger (bass), Oli Rohner (Drums, Voc.)
Former Franks in the 90s
(from left to right) Stefan Peterer: Drums, Peter Lutz: Lead Guit, Frank
Heer: Voc/Guit, Mirco Koch: Bass
“There is no dealing with time,” the Roman Games sang in their radio hit in the 90s - time comes and goes - and knows, as the song says, when love has won. The band played British influenced indie rock. “Here, in the supposedly small is contained everything that makes the greats so great. The four musicians Peter Niedermaier (Keys, Voc.), Roman Elsener (Git, voc.), Fredy Stieger (bass) and Oliver Rohner (drums, voc.) cover a broad spectrum of styles with grace and speed,” one critic wrote at the time.
25 years has passed since the Games released their first LP
"The Crimes of Small Talk" on the indie label "Free Luv
Society" run by Pat Federli. "I still get goose bumps, even now that
I hear the songs for the umpteenth time," Federli wrote in the liner
notes. The Pop/New Wave sound was also
radio-friendly and hit the Swiss airwaves daily for a period.
The Roman Games released two more albums
("Pyroman" 1994 and "By" 1996), then the band members moved to different corners of the planet, from New Zealand to New York, to Berne and the Valais.
But the songs have stood the test of time, and the love for the music has
remained with fans and musicians of the band.
So they return to the stage for the 25th
anniversary for two concerts, on the 16th June at Treppenhaus in Rorschach, and
on the 17th of June at Grabenhalle in St. Gallen.
The reunion of prominent representatives of the Eastern
Swiss indie scene of the 90s is completed by sets by DJ Stanley (Die Letzte
Übung, The Boiled Stanleys, Here Hare Here) and DJ Samuel K. (The Valets, The
Alroys).
For the 25th anniversary of the record, the Free Luv Society
publishes its entire catalog of The Roman Games for digital download, including
the LP "The Crimes of Small Talk", the EP "Reading the Roman
Games" and a T-Shirt.
A new long-play record of the Roman Games is also planned
for the end of 2017.
