29,30,31-05 & 01-06-2009 Wave Gothic Treffen

Location: Leipzich (Germany)
By: Nina Mende

Why do the best weekends always go by so fast?
This year’s Wave Gothic Treffen in Leipzig, which actually lasts four days, felt like it was only one evening. The time went by so extremely fast and it was a lot of fun.

Already as I entered Leipzig you could tell that WGT is back in town: people dressed in black everywhere.

My first way was leading to agra where the main check-in was and also the camping area for those camping. Also was there a hall for shows, another one for DJ nights and the huge shopping hall. There you could find even more “black people” all dressed up and standing in line for getting their festival wristbands. You could see many women with gorgeous dresses, people with amazing hair-dos and all kinds of strange dress ups which probably took hours. The visitors were mixed ages, families with children as well as teenager, elderly people or simply the ones in between. All ready and excited for the next days to come at this festival. The weather prognosis wasn’t promising the best, but besides the cool temperatures and a little rain it wasn’t too bad. Campers might tell you a different story but since I wasn’t camping I did not hear any hail or a lot of rain pouring down.

Like before every WGT I had set up myself a schedule for where to go when again this year. Somehow this schedule always changes due to spontaneous mind changes, people I meet that drag you elsewhere or lack of time. The WGT is spread throughout all of Leipzig so you have to include the travelling time in your planning. Travelling with public transportation was included in the wristband/ticket so you could see trams and busses filled to the very last spot with Goths and such.

FRIDAY

My festival day began at Werk II to see Staubkind. It has been quite a while that I had seen them last. Staubkind is a band from Berlin. They sing in German and their songs are all very touchy and go straight to your mind and heart. Werk II was full of people, all wanting to see Staubkind. Everybody sang and danced along as the four guys performed on stage. They played songs off all albums in their 40 minutes show time. Louis, the singer, danced a lot on stage. They all wore white on stage, only the bass player didn’t. The sound was amazing and it was a very familiar atmosphere in the venue. Louis talked a lot to the audience and was very kind as well. The band also said that it all began at WGT five years ago, so for them it was very special as well.

After the Staubkind show I went on to the agra venue to see Combichrist. It was very crowded in the huge agra venue and everybody was more or less patiently awaiting Combichrist. Combichrist was formed in 2003 by Norwegian Andy LaPlegua (founder of the band Icon of Coil) as an aggrotech project. Combichrist has become quite popular since then. So far they have four albums released including the latest. The cheering was extremely loud as the band entered the stage. Andy was bare-chested but had some black paint all over it. The performance was as energetic as usual. Andy did not stand still not even for a second, neither did the rest of the band. Joe was throwing his drums off the platform again, and so did the other percussionist. The audience went wild and moved around a lot, jumped, screamed and sang along to the beats and music. The keyboarder almost dropped his keys during the performance, at least it looked like it. The percussionist stood on his drums again while playing and Joe threw his drumsticks into the audience again. As they played “Sent To Destroy!” everybody went totally crazy. Combichrist put up an amazing performance. You couldn’t just stand still while watching but had to move along.

The next band was extremely lame compared to Combichrist: The Eden House. They are good, but were totally misplaced after a show like Combichrist, so no wonder that at least half of the audience left. The Edne House is a psychadelic goth rock band from the UK, female fronted and with a violin player. Very interesting to watch, especially with the featuring female vocalist that joined the stage for some songs. But the music was very slow and melodic.

Last one for today was Project Pitchfork. The agra venue filled up in no time again and was even more crowded than it had been during Combichrist. Project Pitchfork is a electronic musical group from Hamburg, Germany. Project Pitchfork was formed by Peter Spilles and Dirk Scheuber. Having agreed to work together, they then picked the project’s name by picking a word at random from the dictionary. The demo ‘K.N.K.A.’ was recorded. Hypnobeat released their debut album ‘Dhyani’ in 1991. They had a guest vocalist on stage for a few songs with whom Peter performed and sang. It looked like they were brothers. The audience went wild again and danced through the more than two hours performance. The guys of the band had some fluorescent stuff allover them and performed very energetic as well. The keyboarder and the singer moved around a lot. Their music was close to Combichrist’s: Quite aggressive electro. Peter said that they haven’t been to this festival in 10 years. Well, it was about time and the audience celebrated their “come back” big time.

SATURDAY

A new day begun and many Goths were already out in the streets others were still recovering from the day before and the after parties which are in several clubs all over the town.
My day began at the Parkbühne, the only open air stage at the festival. Mono Inc opened there. Mono Inc is a German band founded in 2000. They have a female drummer. Despite the early morning hours – it was about 3pm – the place was quite filled. The audience was thrilled to see the band live. There was a little bit of rain as they performed but nobody seemed to care. The audience went along with the music: clapping, dancing, singing and of course cheering after each song. The band had a very positive attitude which gave it all a very familiar touch and not a band-fan atmosphere. Mono Inc also played a drum solo and played with the audience. The show was nice and you could tell that everybody had fun. The music was very melodic and powerful electro rock, really nice to listen to.

I had walked around town later on which was full of the glamorous dressed Goths, photographers and curious minds. I somehow got the impression some people don’t come here for the festival itself but more to walk around in these gorgeous dresses, show them off and dress up like they did in the middle ages. Whereas others just seemed to be there to enjoy the atmosphere.

My next “stop” was Cinestar, but not to watch a movie (yet) but to check out the signing session of Combichrist. Many people were already waiting there long before the band took their seats. Sitting around in CC merch, chatting excitedly and holding posters, pictures and books in their hands which they wanted to get signed by the band. As the signing session began people wanted to get lots of other crazy stuff signed: their boots, panties, wings, and so on… The fans took pictures with the band. One girl was even dressed like a fairy. The guys received some presents from some of their fans as well. The queue seemed never ending.

After a little snack I went back to the Parkbühne to see Eisbrecher. It had started to rain more by now and many people in the audience had their umbrellas up – black ones of course. Eisbrecher is a German band singing in German, reminding a little bit of Rammstein. The Parkbühne area was crowded. The band came out complaining about the umbrellas in the audience, so the singer took one he had on stage and sang a song with his umbrella open. By the end of the songs almost all umbrellas in the audience had disappeared. All the fans sand and shouted along big time, clapped and jumped and made it a fun gig. The band appreciated it a lot. Alex, the singer, was talking a lot to the audience. It was very crowded out here although it was also getting quite cold, but the masses kept warm and so did moving around.

As Eisbrecher were done playing, many people had left. And it was getting quite empty out here. Clan Of Xymox didn’t seem too interesting for the visitors, or something else way more interesting. It’s WGT and there is a lot going on everywhere at the same time, so everybody has a hard time deciding where to go and what to skip. Clan of Xymox, also known as Xymox at various parts of their career, are a darkwave/gothic rock band founded in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, in 1983 by Ronny Moorings, Anke Wolbert, and Pieter Nooten. Of the original members, only Ronny Moorings remains in the band today. They are a very electronic band with a tall female bass player and a female keyboarder. Some die hard fans were in the audience shouting along to every song, but there was not much going on in the audience room. Not because it was much emptier than before (there were still quite many people, only not close to what has been there before during Eisbrecher) but because most people didn’t seem to know too much of the band. Quite a pity because they were good.

I ended my day at the movie theater. The WGT also has some movies playing for its visitors each year, but you better be there early or at least in time since seats are limited. I watched the movie “Repo! The Genetic Opera”. A very interesting one I can recommend to each and every one of you. A highlight of the movie: Paris Hilton losing her face. But this movie is not about Paris, it is about genetic perfection by a finance plan. If you miss out on paying a rate the Repo man is going to repossess the organs or whatever you got from Geneco, the company doing it all. It’s a very very interesting and odd musical. Rock music combined with opera singing, the most interesting actors wildly mixed and put together in one movie. I don’t think it will hit many movie theatres but it’s out on DVD so go give it a shot!!!

SUNDAY

Half of the festival is over again already. But there was still a lot to come. The day began at the Parkbühne again, this time it was sunny and quite crowded again. First band to play here was Nurzery Rhymes. Nurzery Rhymes was started back in 2000 and originally inspired by frontman Chris’ foray into DJing. Joined in live performances by Franco and Mario, N[R] began lighting up stages locally around Frankfurt as well as across the European industrial music scene. The people in the audience moved along to the music of the three guys on stage. Nurzery Rhymes had face paint and blood all over and enjoyed their performance just as much as their fans and listeners did. Even the sun did because it came out from behind the clouds and warmed during the show. (The sun wasn’t out the entire day and some rain fell as well, so it was worth mentioning ;-p ). The crowd cheered a lot and had a blast.

Up next was Container 90, a Swedish duo doing harsh EBM music. During their show you could see a lot of moshing going on the crowd. The music was very energetic and the two guys ran up and down on the stage, did push ups and many other things to entertain their audience. Many people seemed to know the songs and shouted along, cheered and yelled for more. It was nice to see how two guys can capture that many people with their show.

Next one at the same stage was MDM from Canada. A band I just happened to see because I was waiting for a friend before leaving for another venue. But their sound and performance ended up capturing my attention. They played rock music and had a female keyboarder who seemed very shy. The singer talked a lot with the audience and seemed very kind. The audience area was not that crowded anymore, but well, most electro heads are not too much into rock. Too bad though since I really enjoyed the music.

Finally I was off for agra, a little late but I still made it somewhat in time for Lacrimas Profundere. It was quite crowded in the agra venue and people were queuing to get in. As I arrived they had already started and got the audience wild. The performance was Lacrimas Profundere is a gothic metal band from Germany. Their name means “to shed tears” in Latin. Their stylistic aesthetic has evolved over time, originally a death doom rooted gothic metal band, they have progressively changed their style to a more mainstream gothic style with the late albums. But they were still rocking and many people did so with them. The guitar and bass player animated the audience to clap along, so did the singer. The girls were screaming in the front row trying to get attention of anyone in the band. Lacrimas Profundere performed rock and gloomy goth songs from all their albums. The show was very professional but the guys have been around for a while already and know that what they do is great. They played for about an hour, unfortunately no encore was possible.

Back down at the Parkbühne it has gotten full again. Many people were there to see Aesthetic Perfection. Aesthetic Perfection is an American electronic-industrial musical project created by Daniel Graves in 2000. The style is reminiscent of many aggrotech, industrial, dance music bands, while also leaning towards commercial pop and alternative music styles. I have to admit I was quite distracted by the singer’s snake bite piercings – you know the two piercings on the lower lip. But the two guys entertained the audience well beyond that. Everybody was going crazy, dancing along a lot and just having a good time. Although they were really good, I don’t really agree to what people had told me: I don’t think they are better or do better performances than Combichrist. But that might just be a matter of opinion.

Next was Icon Of Coil, another project by Andy LaPlague. Icon of Coil is a Norwegian electronic music band. The band was established as a solo project in 1997 by Andy LaPlegua who was joined by former Sector 9 (now Moonitor and Zombie Girl) bandmate Sebastian Komor to perform live. With the release of Shallow Nation, the band’s first single, Komor joined full-time. In 2000, Christian Lund joined the live lineup. Later that year the band’s first full-length album, Serenity is the Devil, was released, which climbed to number one on the Deutsche Alternative Charts. Shortly thereafter, Lund became a full-time band member. Only two guys on stage again, but they seemed more vital on stage. Chris (keys, synths) and Andy were running around the entire time. Andy still didn’t stand still, played with the audience. Everybody had a blast watching Icon Of Coil and the two guys had a blast watching the audience going wild. Another great closing for the day.

MONDAY

The last day of the festival has begun. Several visitors had left already because they had a long way home and/or had to work the next morning. But there were still many people remaining. Yet another day that began at the Parkbühne. This time it was very empty though. Tunes of Dawn were on stage to perform. Tunes of Dawn is a German goth rock band with slow and melancholic songs. The few people watching them were either sitting or standing still while watching, only very few viewers were moving at all. The singer now had short hair which reminded me a little bit of Alex from Zeromancer. The guys wore white suits and rocked on stage way more than the audience did. For all those who were still tired it was a great band to keep on snoozing, for waking up it was definitely not very suitable at all. Since I was still in my snoozing stage but willing to wake up I went over to Werk II early.

There the venue had just opened so it was still empty, but filling up quickly as the first band began to play. The Dead End Guys are a punk/ska band from Ulm. Their songs were extremely fast and punky, the singer went crazy on stage jumping around the entire time. That’s also why he was always out of breath when announcing the next song. But that was not the reason why nobody really seemed to understand what he said. Yet that didn’t matter and the guys kept on rocking. They had 50 minutes show time but only used 30 of them.

Next band at the same venue was the French band Banane Metalik. They played ghoul rock’n’roll. The guys came up on stage dressed up as mummies and such, with a corpse bride dancing for them during some songs. It was interesting to watch and the stage set up was very nice with all the Halloween decoration which gave you the impression of watching corpse bride, but the songs sounded a little too familiar reminding of too many other songs. They had a stand up bass which was great as well. It was a pity that they had a lot of fog and hardly any light. The stage looked very gorgeous and would be great for pictures, but maybe next time. The singer’s very French accent while talking English made it hard to understand him. The band’s performance was quite chaotic on stage but fun to watch. Many people enjoyed it, danced and cheered along. The venue was crowded by now.

For the upcoming band it was getting even more crowded and you could see one very logo almost everywhere on the cloths now: The one of the Texan horrorpunk band Shadow Reichenstein. You could find the typical people in the audience that you always see at SR shows and they were also the ones shouting the loudest and commenting on everything the singer said to the audience. Shadow Reichenstein played old classics as well as very new songs and got their audience going wild to the music. The light was bad and the fog was enshrouding the badn completely at times but every one had a blast.

The next one was a band I had looked forward to quite a lot: Calabrese. A trio from Phoenix/Arizona playing rockabilly music combined with punk. Some of their songs reminded me of old Misfits and you just had to go along to the music. I really enjoyed their performance big time but was a little sad to see that many people had left after Shadow Reichenstein. After the second song of Calabrese many rushed back in though. The performance of the threesome was very powerful and energetic, thriving and captivating. You could tell that they are very passionate about their music. I surely hope that Europe will get to hear and see more of Calabrese in the future. They are really amazing on stage.

Now my excitement made me rush to Kohlrabizirkus that I arrived there a band early which was good. Kohlrabizirkus had locked the doors because there were too many people inside so two never ending queues of black dressed people were standing outside waiting for people to come out so they could go in. Somehow we managed to get into the crowded huge circus hall called Kohlrabizirkus. Just in time to see Agonize perform. Agonoize is a German hardcore electro band. The singer came on stage led by a hangman. As the hood was pulled off the singer’s face you could see him wearing a muzzle. He performed two songs with it before he returned on stage with a knife and blood all over, splattering some liquid into the audience. And not just a few drops, no, a hell of a lot. There was a stream of liquid coming out of his arm for about a minute. Their performance was totally energetic and powerful, they didn’t stand still for a second, and neither did the huge audience. The cheering was loud and the show was amazing. I was glad to have come here early.

Last band of this years WGT was KMFDM. KMFDM is a German industrial band led by founding member Sascha Konietzko. Their show lasted for 1 ½ hours and was more than just amazing. The music varied from punk, rock to electro and back. Everybody on stage gave their everything. They played songs from all albums and had the audience singing along. They didn’t talk too much with the audience but nobody cared. Just seeing and hearing KMFDM is more than enough. The audience was dancing like hell, enjoying every second of it and shouting along from the top of their lungs. KMFDM has a female co-vocalist who knew how to play with the audience, but the rest of the guys were not less active in getting the audience wind up. KMFDM spread their passion for music to everyone in the venue. There was really nobody standing still. After there performance the audience shouted for encore extremely loud. And they got one. Sascha came back on stage with a bottle of Moscovskaya which already gave you a clue which song would be played for encore: Davai. And here it was, the Russian countdown and Sascha shouting Davai to the audience. This was the point were the masses went completely wild. What an amazing closing for the festival. There couldn’t be a much better one for it.

See you next year in Leipzig!

Links:
Wave Gothic Treffen Official
Staubkind MySpace
Combichrist MySpace
The Eden House MySpace
Project Pitchfork MySpace
Mono Inc. MySpace
Eisbrecher MySpace
Clan of Xymox MySpace
Repo Opera Website
Nurzery Rhymes MySpace
Container 90 MySpace
Lacrima Profundere MySpace
Aesthetic Perfection MySpace
Icon of Coil Official
Tunes of Dawn MySpace
Dead end Guys Myspace
Banane Metalik MySpace
Shadow Reichenstein MySpace
Calabrese MySpace
Agonize MySpace
KMFDM MySpace