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introSandstone Cave Langenstein, Halberstadt, Germany
15th & 16th April 2016
Kasematten Festival 2016 Day 1 with Evi Vine, Still Patient?, Near Earth Orbit, Syntec, Wayne Hussey, Kirlian Camera

Taking place in a cave makes the quite young Kasematten Festival without any doubt a truly special event within the dark scene. In 2015, the festival took place for the very first time at the sandstone cave Langenstein in Halberstadt and about 1,000 folks had a great black celebration together. This year, the line-up once again was calling for a successful festival. Legendary Wayne Hussey, lead singer of THE MISSION and former guitarist of THE SISTER OF MERCY, was there on April 15, just to mention one of the fantastic artists.


Evi Vine

London-based artist EVI VINE opened the festival on Friday and at first it might seem that with such music it would be better to close the event and calm the audience. The music of the project is described as folk and post rock, with beautiful, painful and meaningful songs. Actually for rock it is way too soft, but of course it has its moments. And a few minutes after the beginning of the concert one can completely get lost into soft, delicate and really dreamy melodies and words and forget what’s going on actually. Later on, all songs merge and turn into one long fantasy, I can’t say “never-ending” because the mesmerizing set of EVI VINE came to an end and despite the seeming simplicity it produced a great impression and for some times still echoed in my head, yet it was only the beginning of the evening full of different music. // http://evivine.com / https://www.facebook.com/evi.vine.music // Rating: 8.5 / 10

evivine


Still Patient?

I saw STILL PATIENT? for the first time in 2014 at Nocturnal Culture Night festival and that time the show didn’t impress me much. However it was a sunny day and an open-air stage so in such conditions gothic rock partially loses its dark appeal. This time everything seemed to be right for a dynamic and cool set, which included a couple of songs form the band’s new album ‘Shape Shifters’, released in 2015, as well as earlier creations. Expressive guitars and vocals well supported by lights helped the musicians to attract the attention of the audience and moreover to create an appropriate atmosphere which remained till the very last seconds of their performance. // www.stillpatient.de / https://www.facebook.com/stillpatient // Setlist: 1. Seconds of Fame / 2. God and Satan / 3. Impact / 4. Metropolis / 5. The Sun / 6. Anavryn / 7. The Devils Bride / 8. Mascara Osiris // Rating: 8 / 10

stillpatient


Near Earth Orbit

A quite specific band in every aspect, but definitely starting with the name. So NEAR EARTH ORBIT turned out to be a band of an old-fashioned pilot and a couple of black friars judging by the outfits. The vocals and music were also a bit weird but interesting in their own way. With all those words and images on the screens behind the musicians the whole performance looked cosmic enough and definitely skilfully thought and produced, will all the strange sounds and shadows. But the band’s concept itself is mostly for those who understand and appreciate it. Yet the concert was worth watching once. For sure. // http://www.nearearthorbit.org / https://www.facebook.com/NearEarthOrbit // Rating: 7 / 10

neo


Syntec

Another band I was familiar with and I can’t say that their show at Kasematten Festival differed a lot from the one I saw at NCN 9. At the same time it produced a better impression, maybe because Synth Pop in general is meant for clubs. This year SYNTEC released a compilation album entitled ‘Puppets & Angels’ and I guess, as I don’t know the band’s discography at all, that the setlist consisted of their most well-known and well-loved compositions. Anyway all the songs sounded rather good and even the overdose of electronic didn’t ruin anything. // http://www.syntec-band.de / https://www.facebook.com/syntec.official // Rating: 8 / 10

syntec


Wayne Hussey (The Mission)

Recently I’ve become a fan of solo shows, from those salon-like acoustic gigs to something a bit bigger with a wider audience and more instruments. WAYNE HUSSEY played both the guitar and the keyboard and did quite well. I think he’s rather famous among fans of THE SISTERS OF MERCY and of his project THE MISSION, but I don’t belong to them and actually I didn’t know any of the songs played within the set. However it was nice and if not the lyrics in English, it could remind a concert of some Russian underground band of the 80s, also in a salon format. It was obvious that WAYNE HUSSEY enjoyed playing and singing maybe even more than the audience watching the concert, although there was nothing special to watch, but a lot to listen to. Many songs were interesting, some sounded a bit tousled, but nice and the whole atmosphere was surprisingly positive. // http://www.waynehussey.de / https://www.facebook.com/themissionuk // Rating: 9 / 10

waynehussey


Kirlian Camera

The last band for the first day became Italian formation KIRLIAN CAMERA. The band was founded in 1980 and still continues to attract new fans with their powerful and energetic music and beautiful female vocals. I saw them live several years ago in Moscow but don’t remember anything about the show. So this time was like the first time and definitely good. There’s a kind of mysteriousness about the band and of course it was also reflected in their show. And all the songs played live became more expressive and fascinating than they were on the albums. Besides the style of the formation itself is interesting, but the concert even doubled the impression. Another great moment became the appearance of Eskil Simonsson from COVENANT who joined the singer Elena Alice Fossi and pleasantly surprised the fans. All in all KIRLIAN CAMERA with the heartfelt vocals and calm dark melodies was a perfect band to finish the festival day and strike the audience’s imagination. // https://www.facebook.com/kirliancamera.official // Rating: 9 / 10

kirliancamera

All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)


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