You could feel it from the first drum hit: this was not a cosy night out. SPLIT:TED and ZIMA took the stage at Rust as if they had already played there ten times before — and the most provocative thing was almost how effortless it looked. The question wasn’t whether they could do it. The question was who would leave with the sharper edge.
One star
Two stars
Three stars
Four stars
Five stars
Disclaimer: Apropos Magazine received access or a review copy. As always, we share our own impressions — unfiltered.
Six stars
You can go to a concert with a tape measure. Or you can go because you want to back someone. On 24 February at Rust, it was the latter. We weren’t hunting for stars, but driven by a genuine curiosity to see two young bands already playing as if they had decided this was serious business.
The first thing that struck me was the energy. Not the rehearsed, industry-coached kind, but the raw, slightly cocky, slightly overconfident energy of youth. Two bands in their early twenties stepping onstage as if they had already decided they belonged there. It’s inspiring to watch. You can’t learn that kind of confidence in a workshop.
SPLIT:TED – Middelfart, melancholy and boarding-school intensity
Four boys, dressed completely normally, almost as if they had walked straight from an apartment in Nørrebro to the edge of the stage. There’s something likeable about that. No costume tricks. No fake attitude. Just a band that wants to play.
It sounded good. Really good. You could hear the craft. They have ambitions of seriousness, of moving and lifting the audience — and they succeed in several places. There’s a nerdiness to them. A determination that the songs should be more than just chorus and hook. You can sense the influence of The 1975 and Peter Sommer — especially in the lyrical reach for something bigger than just “boy meets girl.”
But there were also moments when I missed a break in the pattern. A crooked turn. A risk. Something that would pull the rug out from under the neat construction. Everything worked — perhaps a little too well. That’s the classic challenge for young bands: you can hear that they can do it. But you also want to hear who they are.
There was an almost boarding-school vibe to it — and I don’t mean that as an insult. There was that feeling of community and youthful conviction. They sat down on the edge of the stage in one of those setdowns that all bands apparently feel obliged to do. Personally, we could retire that tradition. It gets awkward fast. But even that was delivered with charm.
Technically, SPLIT:TED may have been the night’s most solid band. You could feel they are shaping a project that wants something. Now it’s about daring to push it a little over the edge.
ZIMA – Tempo, edge and the unpredictable factor
ZIMA took the stage with a different kind of will. Where SPLIT:TED built, ZIMA kicked the door in. There was pace. There was devil-may-care energy. There was a sense that this could go wrong — and precisely for that reason, it was interesting.
The band moves in a rock universe with hip-hop attitude and an electronic edge, and live it makes sense. It wasn’t necessarily more polished. Not necessarily more technically accomplished. But it had edge.
We’ve learned over 20 years of talent shows that being good isn’t enough. You have to want something. ZIMA wanted something. There was an energy that didn’t ask for permission. A performance that felt more dangerous — in the best possible way. You don’t have to be the sharpest drummer or the cleanest vocalist if you can deliver an expression that feels necessary.
If you absolutely have to frame it as a battle, SPLIT:TED was the more technically refined band. ZIMA was the most interesting live moment. They may not have left with the most streamlined package — but they left with the most eyes on them. And yes, probably the most phone numbers too.
Two beginnings, not a verdict
We weren’t at Rust to pass judgment. We were there to see two projects in motion. Two bands that aren’t finished yet, but have already found a stage they can own.
The most inspiring thing about the evening wasn’t one song, one hook or one perfect passage. It was seeing young musicians stand in their own conviction. Dare to fill the room. Dare to take the stage seriously.
Both bands are on a journey. SPLIT:TED is in the process of manifesting a sound and a lyrical universe that wants more. ZIMA is in the process of defining a live energy that could become their signature. It’s not certain that in five years we’ll talk about them in the same way. But it is certain that they are not done developing.
And maybe that is exactly the point of a showcase.
Not to conclude.
But to witness the beginning.
