Kulturpark, Deutzen, Germany8th to 10th September 2017
NCN 2017 Day 2 with Beyond Obsession, Reading of Christian von Aster, Massiv in Mensch, The Red Paintings, Seelennacht, NordarR, Mode in Gliany, Dune Messiah, Jäger 90, Seasurfer, Golden Apes, Osewoudt, Dorsetshire, M.I.N.E., A Projection, Thorofon, Boytronic, Crematory, Hearts of Black Science, Rome, Goethes Erben, Lebanon Hanover, Pouppée Fabrikk, Phillip Boa and the Voodooclub
After warming up at the first day of the festival, the second day promised a lot more performances and much more interesting shows as the bands I've seen, also the new names and those for which I was looking for a long time. Now following the "black rabbit" I walked on morning Deutzen streets to the Kulturpark for another portion of emotions. I had expectations, but I did not think that everything would turn out as it turned out. Going into the park, I immediately got on the stage, where the German synth poppers were preparing their performance...
Beyond Obsession – Weidenbogenbühne (Count_Death)
The German band BEYOND OBSESSION was formed in 2012 under the influence of the grand names of synth pop, and a year later they released their first album, followed by its version with remixes. The second album was released on the DE/VISION label, and in 2016 the Germans again released the third album by themselves. Their music is a melancholic synth pop with male vocals in English. At a concert it sounded just like that. Good unobtrusive music, combining light rhythms with simple relaxing melodies, melancholic synths and good male vocals. The vocalist moved on the stage, smiled at the visitors and charged with energy for this long day. There is one known fact that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Excellent performance for the beginning of the festival. Not too hard and danceable to fall dead after the dance, but not too boring and difficult to perceive, to be closed into yourself for the rest of the day. The Germans took pretty part of the day to become perfect part two of NCN. // http://www.beyondobsession.de / https://www.facebook.com/beyondobsessionofficial
Reading of Christian von Aster – Kulturbühne (Dani)
While BEYOND OBSESSION, who started their set a little later, were still playing, CHRISTIAN VON ASTER was reading at the Kulturbühne and he was entertaining as we are used to. Today’s topic was “VON ELFEN, DRACHEN, HELDEN und HOLDEN - verwegene Geschichten zwischen Liebe, Wunder und Abenteuer”, translates roughly as “Of Elves, Dragons, Heroes and Fair Maidens - daring stories between love, miracle and adventure”. Mr. Aster, the part-time bard with the whimsical heart, was telling bizarre legends like you never had them heard before. Unbelievable truths, terrible scandals and a glimpse of eternal love in the frame of fantastic excesses. Just wonderful and blame yourself if you’ve missed it! // http://vonaster.de / https://www.facebook.com/vonAster
Massiv in Mensch – Amphibühne (Count_Death)
The first project on the main stage was the Germans MASSIV IN MENSCH. The project positioned itself in the post-industrial scene as one of the projects combining many genres of electronic music. They are called rave-industrial, future pop, EBM and techno. The first album was released in 2000 and the same year Germans made the debut show at the largest festival Wave Gotik Treffen. Later MASSIV IN MENSCH performed twice at WGT, but recently the formation has disappeared from the radars. And in 2017 the Germans perform at NCN and released a full-length album after four years of silence. Elegantly, but at the same time extravagantly dressed keyboard player appeared on the stage, joined by guitarists and drummer. Later the vocalist appeared also. All were dressed in original elegant costumes predominantly in the colour of the sea wave in combination with black. And the music started. Rhythmic energetic music, but not killer-danceable. The lyrics were mostly in German with clean vocals, although some songs were without lyrics at all. I usually define this sound as “good background”, because the ear cannot be hooked, but it sounds good and qualitatively. But it's at home, and at the festival it was just a good concert, exactly the same as I expected. Maybe a little better than I thought. Live drums very harmoniously sounded with electronic components, guitars also did not ruin the peculiar sound of Germans. I would not say that the Germans played all their hits, apparently focusing on new material, which I did not listen, but the old things sounded and sounded good. The performance was more EBM than the rest genres of the music. Maybe the new material was same. Good show, good band, good music. // http://de.massivinmensch.com / https://www.facebook.com/massivinmensch // Setlist: 01. Van Weyden / 02. Offensivschock / 03. Monkey Islands / 04. Rotto nave / 05. Sturm / 06. Hamburg / 07. Supermassive Gravity / 08. Pernod / 09. Pop Corn
The Red Paintings – Weidenbogenbühne (Anastasia)
These guys know exactly what to surprise you! Starting with the cover version of MICHAEL JACKSON’s ‘They Don’t Really Care About Us’, THE RED PAINTINGS immediately attracted attention. Bewilderment, surprise, indignation, delight - this is just a small range of emotions that you can call the group. Crazy clothes, live art (right on the stage body art) this is a mad theatre with an excellent musical part - orchestral Art Rock under the leadership of Trash McSweeney. That was perhaps the most vivid performance for the second day! // http://theredpaintings.com / https://www.youtube.com/user/theredpaintings // Setlist: 01. They Don’t Really Care About Us / 02. It Is As It Was / 03. Streets Fell Into My Window / 04. Wasps / 05. Fall of Rome / 06. Mad World / 07. You're Not One Of Them / 08. The Revolution Is Never Coming
Seelennacht – Amphibühne (Count_Death)
German project SEELENNACHT was formed in 2008 and in 2010 released its first self-released album. Then, his albums were released on the label Future Fame. This is a project of one person named Marc Ziegler, musically combining elements of purely electronic synth-Goth based on the future pop. On paper this mixture sounds more interesting as on the CDs. The project doesn’t have bright hits, but all the material sounds smooth and qualitative. But at a concert it was too smooth and too simple, because I was waiting for some kind of progress in the music, but it did not come. Everything was there: sound, melancholy, sweet melodies with ambitions for hits, but there was no raisin and there was no charisma of Mark, who visually wanted to seem BLUTENGEL, but it did not always work. Maybe it will come to him, but for now I cannot say that the project surprised me. However, did not disappointed either. // http://seelennacht.de / https://www.facebook.com/seelennacht
NordarR – Weidenbogenbühne (Count_Death)
The German project NORDARR was formed at the end of the 00s by André Schitteck known for his work in PROCEED and Christoph Lemke, who had performed at KRAFTAKT, ZENTRUM DER ARBEIT and other projects. Nowadays, André is accompanied by C. Dupont. The project immediately became part of the Electric Tremor community. The first full-length album was released in 2010 on the Electric Tremor Dessau label. Since then the duo's music has become more complex and Electric Tremor has already been small. The second album was released on the label Emmo.Biz and the musicians perform at various festivals. After 2012 the Germans did not release anything full-length, so maybe the performance at NCN 2017 is the sign for the new material to be coming soon. Studio sound of their music is a modern EBM with a hint of old-school sound. Anarchist inclinations and protest are the main concept and that was clearly visible on the stage. First there was one band member in the mask and dirty uniform with a sign of anarchy on the back. He began running around in different directions with a microphone, setting the audience to the sounds of some kind of industrial intro. At a certain moment, the first bit notes of EBM sounded, and the second vocalist came singing with pure evil vocals.
The keyboard player was not present, so it was clear that it was played by phonogram. The participant in the mask made distorted robotic voices not always understandable and sometimes made a drummer-like actions on two metal barrels the sound of which was too weak to be heard. In the middle of the performance the phonogram was cut down, which in some sense slowed down the drive, but the participants got out of the confusion. But the performance did not leave any emotion. Just EBM although the musicians have the potential. They just need to perform more and to create something, which would look like a show. This time it did not work out for me. // https://www.facebook.com/NordarR
Mode in Gliany – Parkbühne (Dani)
The French one-man Synth-Wave project from Bretagne was opening the day at the Parkbühne. The music is made with synths, drum machines, guitar and bass. Boris Volt, an independent and unsigned musician, is the man behind the project. On stage, I found the show kind of boring, especially during the day, even though it was musically well crafted. // https://modeingliany.bandcamp.com / https://www.facebook.com/breizhcoldwave
Dune Messiah – Kulturbühne (Dani)
This Neo-Folk project was a very positive surprise to me. The music is clearly inspired by the early Leonard Cohen, coupled with a slope to Country Postpunk and Neo-Folk. DUNE MESSIAH is the title of the second part from the romance cycle Dune (The desert planes) by Frank Herbert. In the sound of the band the minimalist, rough aesthetic of the desolate planet covered entirely with sand also resonates, not always nice, but extremely interesting. The dark poetic lyrics about loss, loneliness and death with a touch of hope sometimes remind of Nick Cave. Vocal and guitar merge into a sound with a subtle intensity, slumbering a threat as rough as the desert planet. Definitely a band one should check out and for me worth visiting a whole show. // https://dunemessiah.bandcamp.com / https://www.facebook.com/dunemessiahcph // Setlist: 01. Alive / 02. At the Borders of Malice / 03. This far / 04. In my Arms / 05. Featherless Creatures / 06. We Vanish / 07. What You’ve Become / 08. Buried in the Sand / 09. The Joys of Spring
Jäger 90 – Amphibühne (Count_Death)
Another German band from the Electric Tremor community performed already on the main stage. The project JÄGER 90 is the creation of one man named Thoralf Dietrich. The project has existed since the beginning of the 00s and has already released several full-length albums. In general JÄGER 90 in the Anhalt EBM system is a pretty respected project, however, I somehow did not enjoyed fully its performance in Prague last time. Dry monotonous sound bored me after the third song, and then it did not change at all. I expected that at NCN Toralf and Vigo Stahlmann would surprise me, but it still did not work out, although the performance was still better than in Prague. On the stage came Toralf, behind which sat Vigo on drums. Toralf wore a helmet of a tank man or a pilot, and he was dressed in the form of khaki or green. The concept is clear. And for music it was still the same dry EBM without steps left and right, from which sometimes interesting tracks slipped out, but in general everything was as boring as in Prague. But this time I at least understood the feature of this kind of show, although it did not catch me. It’s very weird about me and Anhalt EBM projects. As far as I like to listen to all these projects at home and in the player on the way to work, I'm so bored with their performances at the concert. Till now there no project from Electric Tremor, which impressed me. I will look further. In the meantime nothing new. // http://www.jaeger90.com / https://www.facebook.com/jaeger90 // Setlist: 01. ??? / 02. Achtung ein Jäger / 03. Brauchen kein Feuer / 04. Ich schwitze / 05. Ein neuer Tanz / 06. Wie Du / 07. Sonntag ist Krieg / 08. Jäger 90 / 09. Dessau Dessau / 10. Gib mir deine Hand / 11. Stiefelblitz / 12. Sonne und Regen / 13. Magic Fly / 14. Muskeln und Küsse / 15. Scheißegal / 16. Blitze in deinen Augen
Seasurfer – Parkbühne (Count_Death)
After EBM madness it was necessary to rest a little and fortunately the organizers put on the stage Parkbühne the performance of the German project just for this purpose. SEASURFER was launched in 2013 in Hamburg by a member of the punk rock band DARK ORANGE Dirk Ritter. Before the release of the first album, the line-up changed a lot. Later Volker Zacharias known for his work in GIRLS UNDER GLASS joined the band and the vocalist Apolonia also. Julia Beyer from CHANDEEN was for some time a vocalist also. Now another vocalist is Ännie Bird. The marine name of the project should involve atmospheric deep music, so the influences specified in the project’s Facebook did not surprise me: SLOWDIVE, COCTEAU TWINS, MY BLOODY VALENTINE. I was looking for the long time to attend a concert of this kind of music, but my ears never reached that. And here it is finally. First came out the guys who started the performance with an atmospheric introduction. Then the girls joined them, and Twin Peaks started. The beautiful female voices under the mixture of Dreampop and Shoegaze on one side led of course to the world of Twin Peaks, especially if you consider the similarity of one of the vocalists with Audrey Horn (well, or I am too influenced by Twin Peaks), but on the other hand some tracks were not from the Twin Peaks area and did not quite fit into the sound of the Dreampop music. In any case, the quartet did what nobody could do at the festival before: they turned off my mind. I completely melted in the atmospheric music of SEASURFER, pierced on one hand with the prickly romantics, and on the other hand showered by warm drops of cold sea. Excellent performance with the sound that I was looking for. And the female vocals that I have long wanted to hear at the concert. // http://seasurfer6.wixsite.com/seasurfer / https://www.facebook.com/seasurfer // Setlist: 01. Intro: Under Water / 02. Too late for Good Bye’s / 03. We Run / 04. Bring Me His Head / 05. New Dawn / 06. Stay / 07. Trust The Path Unseen / 08. If You Leave / 09. Tricolore / 10. Waves
Golden Apes – Weidenbogenbühne (Anastasia)
If I had the opportunity to characterize GOLDEN APES in one word only, then I would choose “depth”. A voice of darkness was heard from the stage! Vibration of low frequencies and disturbing Peer Lebrecht’s vocal… Time slowed down and became tractable, like the rhythms of guitars. The drum machine emits a dusty sound - it's an echo of depth. Black sunglasses of the vocalist, one by one cigarettes and pleasure from the rhythm of music. It is impossible to consider the view of the vocalist, but undoubtedly he saw everything that was happening. Black people are swaying in time with the music. What to add? Only that the abyss to tighten. // http://www.goldenapes.com / https://www.facebook.com/GoldenApes // Setlist: 01. Ignorance / 02. Verity / 03. Shadowplay / 04. Occams’s Razor / 05. Grinding Mills / 06. Ferryman / 07. Travelling Strangers / 08. Riot
Osewoudt – Kulturbühne (Dani)
OSEWOUDT is a Neo-Folk and Post-Punk band from Rotterdam in the Netherlands, which was founded in 2010. A first 4-track demo was released in autumn 2010 and in November 2011 the German label Lichterklang released the debut album ‘Gelag Van Zwartgeklede’. OSEWOUDT took its name from a novel by the Dutch author Willem Frederik Hermans, ‘De Donkere Kamer’ (The Dark Chamber). Inspirations such as resistance, delusions, and reality, good and bad times are taken up from the novel and processed in their lyrics. Musically it is a mixture of romantic Neo-Folk and post-punk. The romantic and dreamy element of their music can be attributed to the accordion play and the Post-Punk to the electric guitar. The stage performance of the band members was somewhat static and seemed a bit uninspired, but the music and lyrics are the most important elements. // https://osewoudtnl.bandcamp.com / https://www.facebook.com/Osewoudt // Setlist: 01. Intro / 02. Geheimnis / 03. Ogen Van Stro / 04. Finsternis / 05. Knokploeg / 06. Terugkeer / 07. Nachtvlinder / 08. Aan Lager Wal / 09. Zonen Van Rotterdam
Dorsetshire – Amphibühne (Count_Death)
The next performing group was DORSETSHIRE. I listened to them long time ago, but I did not particularly remember their work, which is weird. Actually it was strange until the moment I read about the band. The project appeared in the early 90's, released two full-length albums and sank into oblivion. In the mid-90s this group from Germany performed on big scenes with such grandiose acts of the dark scene as FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY, SUICIDE COMMANDO, PROJECT PITCHFORK and others. Then the participants of the project dispersed to other groups in different genres and DORSETSHIRE became history. Then came the year 2017, when the project revived in an updated line-up. Bruno Kramm from DAS ICH joined the band and the project got pushed to the new beginnings. The new material did not come out yet, but the band prepared several surprises. It all started quite usually in the style of electro-Goth with variations on the guitar and electronic music of the dark scene. At first everything was normal. Only Bruno did not look like himself fooling around with keyboards which were “packed” on the mobile table with which the musician could literally run around the stage. At some point the vocalist of the band announced that he invites Andy Koa from STILL PATIENT? to play the song. And from that moment the show has begun.
Excellent collaboration on the gothic-rock composition with some electronics and two vocals turned out very cool. But it was not everything concerning surprises. After Andy’s song the vocalist of the famous NOSFERATU band was invited to the stage to sing... ‘Lady in Black’. And this has already become not only a surprise, but also just sparked off the audience. ‘Lady in Black’ for me personally is almost the first song of rock music, which I was listening again and again in my player. It's a cover on URIAH HEEP, if anyone does not know, and it was quite far from the original, but it was like balm on ears. After that the band played a few of their songs with one more dude unknown to me, and then another explosion occurred. On the stage to DORSETSHIRE came Thomas Lüdke from THE INVINCIBLE SPIRIT and DORSETSHIRE with Thomas blew up the public with a cover on the hit ‘Push’ of Thomas’ project. It was just a wow thing. Then the musicians continued on their own, but the energy after this show was enough to remember and hold all the remaining days of the festival. Excellent performance, which may have initiated the revival of the DORSETSHIRE band. I will not be surprised if in 2-3 years DORSETSHIRE will play on Agra stage at WGT festival as headliners. // https://www.facebook.com/Dorsetshire // Setlist: 01. Krankes Fleisch / 02. Hass / 03. Lady in Black / 04. Time Machine / 05. Herzschlag / 06. Push / 07. Straße der Verdammnis
M.I.N.E. – Weidenbogenbühne (Count_Death)
Marcus Meyn from CAMOUFLAGE created the project M.I.N.E. in 2016 and still did not produce full-length albums, but already performed in different countries with his material. Musically it was the same CAMOUFLAGE only with a more modern sound. Also the band included keyboard player and guitarist. After a minute sound check the musicians went away and returned to show how the correct synth pop should sound. Marcus sang with the perfect vocals, the musicians played with perfect crystal sound, which suits excellently for synth pop music (I do not think that in EBM such a sound would work). I would not say that the M.I.N.E. were energetic, danceable and crazy, but sounded qualitatively, competently, melancholic and romantic. A good professional performance with its charm, its flavour and its atmosphere. Show without excess. Show without surprise. And this is good. It's good when the band does not try to “develop” its sound where it is not expected. I hope that M.I.N.E. will remain M.I.N.E. // http://www.mine-music.com / https://www.facebook.com/minemusicband
A Projection – Parkbühne (Dani)
One of my so much beloved NCN surprises! I really liked this show! A PROJECTION is a very young quintet from Stockholm with unbelievable likes for Post-Punk and New Wave and does not sound Scandinavian at all but rather very British. The foundation of A PROJECTION in 2013 was basically an act of despair. All the band members were in a safe employment relationship, which gave them a comfortable life, and yet they all felt an ever-growing, inner emptiness, a longing for music, for art, and for the exciting pulsation of the big city. So they decided to hang up their office careers and follow their true vocation, lead an artist life and make music. A short time later, A PROJECTION was launched. Dark, yet aggressive, impulsive and danceable is their sound, with a lot of emphasis placed on hook lines and refrains. Cool. Zapping Dark. Unapproachable. Lifted. Melancholic. Depressive - or even depressed… there are a lot of tags you could give their sound. You just should listen to it. Recommended! Fans of INTERPOL, CHAMELEONS or JOY DIVISION/NEW ORDER will surely love it! // http://aprojection.com / https://www.facebook.com/aprojectionband
Thorofon – Kulturbühne (Anastasia)
German industrial/ power-electronics project was founded by Daniel Hofmann (known also as Anton Knilpert) in 1995 with support of charismatic vocalist Geneviève Pasquier. THOROFON reformed in late 2010. Aggression and despair in a pop music suit and fill the space with noise from a dying society... The group propagandizes Power Electronics and Industrial. This is interpretation of “power on vinyl” even when today vinyl releases become rare. THOROFON characterized by such old school industrial acts, where the musical part is harsh disco. // https://www.facebook.com/Thorofon-125914984206296
Boytronic – Amphibühne (Count_Death)
German synth pop collective BOYTRONIC is one of those who developed the genre when it was not yet popular. The project originated in Germany in 1983 and played a mushy light synth pop mixing it with a classic electro pop with neoromantic motives. Germans have eight full-length albums, several reissues, compilations and remix releases plus a lot of singles some of which jumped to high places in the German charts. I would not say that I expected from the project to be energetic and crazy on stage. Rather it should have been something like a DESIRELESS concert on WGT few years ago. But the Germans surprised me with a lively and modern program. Modern not in terms of new compositions, but in terms of modern sound. It was their usual program, but with new arrangements that sounded like a classic synth pop of the old school. Without being masterpiece and genius creations the music sounded very good. I would not say that I know their songs well, but some of them sounded familiar, and some I even sang along. But some lulled me. The performance went well. The vocalist communicated with the audience as if he had by chance met old friends at the schoolmates meeting. Such a warm atmosphere made this performance also warm. // https://www.facebook.com/boytronicmusic // Setlist: 01. Trigger Track / 02. Time After Midnight / 03. Mad Love / 04. Red Chips / 05. Share / 06. Luna Square / 07. Diamonds And Loving Arms / 08. The Universe / 09. You'll Never Be the Same / 10. My Baby Lost Its Way / 11. You
Crematory – Weidenbogenbühne (Marco)
On the second festival day of the NCN, the only real metal band of the festival rocked the Weidenbogenbühne. Back in 2009 they played the wonderful Kulturpark Deutzen already. The band was in a good mood; singer Felix was making jokes with the audience and poking fun at electronic music. This atmosphere wasn't broken even when a short keyboard 10 minute breakdown occurred. After that, the mood continued and CREMATORY presented some of their “Black Pearls”. When the band played their hits ‘Shadowmaker’ and the DEPECHE MODE cover ‘Black Celebration’ the vibe of the concert reach its climax. The band regularly exchanged drinks with the audience. Great fun on both sides. Another highlight of the performance was the duet ‘Kommt näher’ with BATTLE SCREAM singer Alex. The end of a very entertaining 75 min set was the classic ‘Tears of Time’. // http://www.crematory.de / https://www.facebook.com/CREMATORY // Setlist: 01. Misunderstood / 02. Tick Tack / 03. Haus mit Garten / 04. Ravens Calling / 05. Everything for you / 06. Shadowmaker / 07. The Fallen / 08. Höllenbrand / 09. Black Celebration (Depeche Mode Cover) 10. Kommt näher (Duet with Alex / Battle Scream) / 11. Die so soon / 12. Tears of Time
Hearts of Black Science – Parkbühne (Count_Death)
The Swedish duo, consisting of childhood friends Daniel Änghede and Tomas Almgren, was formed in Gothenburg in Sweden in 2005. Daniel was already a member of the experimental rock/ electronic group CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX, and Tomas was the director of horror movies. They gathered their music preferences together in the HEARTS OF BLACK SCIENCE project. The project has released three full-length albums on various labels and on its own. Their music is a mixture of Dreampop, ambient, post-rock, new wave and elements of other music genres mostly from the indie scene. With the beginning not outstanding looking guys made a very powerful performance in the style of Dreampop, which again took me to the world of Twin Peaks. Obscure atmospheric male vocals were not heard at all as men vocals, electronic music was replaced by guitar opuses, rhythmic compositions were calmed down by slow melodies and gloomy images in my head were replaced by melancholy and calmness. Their performance was emotionally different from Seasurfer, but it was no less strong. The only thing they lacked was the presence of female vocals, which in the studio recording is performed by guest vocalists, for example Chrysta Bell. Together with her the show would be completely perfect. // https://heartsofblackscience.bandcamp.com / https://www.facebook.com/Hobsband // Setlist: 01. Miles / 02. Until Morning / 03. ??? / 04. Unfolding / 05. Icon / 06. Silver / 07. Wolves At The Border / 08. Protector / 09. We Saw The Moon
Rome – Kulturbühne (Anastasia)
Time to examine the smoke in the rays of bright lamps. Time to listen… and understand about this world a bit more. The drums are injected into the trance. The shoulders of the vocalist’s shoulder… Jerome Reuter is a poet primarily. The stories that could happen to everyone. The history of war, pain, love - the history of feelings. Rome is a cocktail of pleasure, consisting of a drop of gloom, blissful tranquillity of eternity and depth. Pleasant acoustics, rhythm... // http://rome.lu / https://www.facebook.com/romeproject // Setlist: 01. Nothing / 02. Celine in Jerusalem / 03. Les îles noires / 04. Stillwell / 05. The Accidents of Gesture / 06. Blighter / 07. Secret Germany / 08. Spanish Drummer / 09. Neue Erinnerung / 10. Skirmishes / 11. A Farewell to Europe / 12. One Fire / 13. Das Feuerordal
Goethes Erben – Amphibühne (Count_Death)
The German project GOETHES ERBEN apparently is the only active project playing Darkwave almost in its pure form. Oswald Henke together with Peter Seipt founded the project in 1989 as a kind of musical theatre, the main role in which was singled out to Oswald's unique monologue with very unusual music. In the end this creation turned out to be Darkwave. The band released a lot of albums which are actually acts and made a lot of shows on the festivals and solo. The original members are no longer there, but Oswald continues to create acts sometimes doing short intermissions. Henke also has a solo project in which he makes similar music but less theatrical and more musical. I’ve never considered myself a fan of both GOETHES ERBEN and the style of the Darkwave, but I knew that their performance would not just be interesting, but a bright in its darkness and memorable. There were a lot of musicians on the stage including guitarists, keyboard player and drummer.
Oswald joined them and started to act as a real actor and not a musician. His emotions were passed on to the public. He lit candles and passed them to the audience, so the atmosphere changed with every of his movement, he played all the roles in his play. He was God and the Devil, he was the Angel and the Demon, and he was the Evil and Good. Oswald Henke was the play by himself. But the music was perfectly performed by his band. Not without surprise. GOETHES ERBEN has a song ‘Glasgarten’, in which Peter Heppner sings. On the performance at NCN GOETHES ERBEN invited to perform for this and some other songs with Sonja Kraushofer from L'ÂME IMMORTELLE. And she did very well as she does usually. Strongly emotional performance, from which you cannot just tear yourself away, even if you really want. GOETHES ERBEN made the show that I expect and even more. I think that they will became one more band that I want to see every time I have the opportunity. // http://www.goetheserben.de / https://www.facebook.com/goetheserbenoffical // Setlist: 01. Angespuckt / 02. Vermißter Traum / 03. Lebend lohnt es / 04. Glasgarten / 05. Helden (German version of Heroes by David Bowie) / 06 Mensch sein / 07. Die Form / 08. Zimmer 34 / 09. Denn es ist immer so / 10. Lazarus / 11. Nichts bleibt wie es war / 12. Himmelgrau / 13. Zinnsoldaten / 14. Sitz der Gnade
Lebanon Hanover – Parkbühne (Anastasia)
A duet with a sound from the last century. This is the aesthetics of the 80's, the elegance and cold of the Dark Wave, the airiness of Minimal Synth and the atmosphere of Post-Punk. Larissa Georgiou created the project in 2010. LEBANON HANOVER - an ice-cold reply to the alienating world coming from two warm hearts. The duo of Larissa Iceglass and William Maybelline create music of detachment, longing, love and melancholy. William is baselines, rhythms and structures, Larissa is chaotic, strange-sounding, haunting voice, lyrics and keyboard. // http://lebanonhanover.bandcamp.com / https://www.facebook.com/lebanonhanover
Pouppée Fabrikk – Weidenbogenbühne (Count_Death)
The evening slowly approached to an end, but before this performance it was necessary to recharge the energy and have time to recover from emotions after the performance of GOETHES ERBEN. Henrik Björkk, known under the pseudonym Nordvargr created dark ambient music solo, played black metal in the project VARGR, noised and experimented in the MZ.412... But now it's not about those projects. In 1988 Henrik created one of the first Swedish EBM projects called POUPPÉE FABRIKK. Under the influence of DAF and NITZER EBB, POUPPÉE FABRIKK began to make a voluminous, more powerful and tougher EBM. At the moment the project has 6 full-length albums, the last of which was released in 2013. The project does not releases albums too often, but at a concert its power, drive, energy and massacre. I already saw the Swedes performing on the WGT, and it was slaughter. Now I was ready for this. Having warmed up with previous performances and alcohol it started!
Hard beats, mechanical sounds, Henrik's powerful vocals and classic EBM conquered NCN and blew up the entire dance floor. In centre of the floor the crowd started the slam. And Henrik ran around the stage, warmed the audience, jumped down into the public area, shouted and armed with energy. And it was super power. It was difficult to stand on his show and not move. I didn’t dance in the literal sense of this term at events for a long time, but now I did it for all the years that I was just standing aside listening to music. And it was worth it. Of course there was a surprise in the form of a guest vocalist on the show of POUPPÉE FABRIKK as well. “I'm tired of singing, so I need help,” Henrik said. And on stage came Torny Gottberg from CRYO, so the massacre continued with renewed power and double attack from the stage. And even temporarily not working microphone did not ruin the show. What we did not hear, we invented by ourselves, something that was not being sung by Torny, was sung by the audience. And it was cool! And it was POUPPÉE FABRIKK! // https://www.facebook.com/Pouppée-Fabrikk-100329766260
Phillip Boa and the Voodooclub – Amphibühne (Marco)
On the second day of the NCN festival, PHILLIP BOA AND THE VOODOOCLUB were headliners on the Amphibühne, as in 2013. Already half an hour before the beginning of the concert numerous fans gathered to secure the best seats. Right at the beginning with the opener ‘Bells of Sweetness’ Boa drew the audience into its spell. Numerous classics followed, such as ‘Deep in Velvet’ and ‘Love on Sale’. Even after so many years, PHILLIP BOA has not lost the pleasure of live performances on stage. Next they played ‘Albert is a Headbanger’, ‘And then she kissed her’ and the punky ‘Diana’. PHILLIP BOA AND THE VOODOOCLUB offered a great cross-section of over 30 years of band history. It is always a pleasure to experience the band live.
‘Container Love’, 'This is Michael’ and ‘Kill Your Idols’ rounded off the successful set. Only ‘Twisted Star’ from the newer hits was missed. At midnight, after a rainy beginning, the second successful festival day came to an end. // http://www.phillipboa.de / https://www.facebook.com/phillipboaandthevoodooclub // Setlist: 01. Bells of Sweetness / 02. Fine Art in Silver / 03. Speed / 04. Standing Blinded on the Rooftops / 05. Annie Flies the Love Bomber / 06. Deep in Velvet / 07. Death Is a Woman / 08. Love On Sale / 09. Til the Day We Are Both Forgotten / 10. Atlantic Claire / 11. Albert Is a Headbanger / 12. And Then She Kissed Her / 13. Diana / 14. Container Love / Encore: 15. This Is Michael / 16. Kill Your Ideals
There were everything possible on the second day of the NCN 2017 festival: pleasant surprises, new discoveries, great start, great ending, dancing to death, a theatrical show, duets, Twin Peaks, parallels, great music and lots of emotions. I can say with certainty that the second day of the NCN 2017 festival was the best and most emotional day in terms of performances of bands from all days at all the festivals that I had previously attended. This I did not expect. Therefore looking at the line-up of the third day I expected boring and uninteresting third day after such a second day. But it was necessary to hope and wish. And also it was necessary to sleep, so I went to the hotel and did it as each and every one of the visitors.
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet) and Anastasia Filippova (Impressions, Beyond Obsession, Crematory, Golden Apes, Lebanon Hanover, M.I.N.E., Phillip Boa, Rome, The Red Paintings, Thorofon)
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