Symphony for the Devil was recorded Sunday August 22, 1999, at the 12th Bizarre Festival, Cologne, Germany. This gig was originally recorded for a German live-in-concert program, 'WDR Rockpalast', and broadcast on German television. The band bought the live footage because it seemed to be the best one available to date regardless of the previous TV releases. 12 cameras were used.
Commander Cody already gained cult status with his band The Lost Planet Airmen by 1980 when he was invited to play the Rockpalast. His music wandered between the genres blues, country rock, boogie, rockabilly and Tex-Mex spiked with his very own wit and humour. The audience witnessed a colourful, high energy concert evening in the WDR Studio A in Cologne. In his known manner, Commander Cody was rocking through the setlist, always with a tongue-in-cheek. That evening he was accompanied by Steve Mackay (saxophone, vocals), Tona Johnson (drums, vocals), Bill Kirchen (guitar, vocals), Doug Killmer (bass, vocals) and Peter Sigel (pedal steel guitar, guitar).
The concert was filmed on June 4th, 1982 at Sartory Säle in Cologne (Germany) during the 82' COLLISION DRIVE tour. In 1981 Alan Vega had released his second solo LP under the title Collison Drive.
Guitarist, singer and harmonica player Roky Erickson was one of the pioneers of Psychedelic Rock with his band 13th Floor Elevators in the 1960s. After being diagnosed with a serious case of schizophrenia, Erickson spent years in mental institutions, but continued to make music. As the nineties began - especially among musicians from the alternative rock sector - to form a growing fan base to this day. These include such diverse bands as REM, Okkervil River or Kasabian - a testament to Erickson's great influence on today's rock scene. Since 2008, Erickson is back on stage and brought in 2010 with Okkervil River as a backing band on his album "True Love Cast Out All Evil" out.
