Wave Gotik Treffen - Leipzig 2009 (Day 4)

Leipzig, Germany
29th May - 1st June 2009
Wave Gotik Treffen Day 4: Nachtgeschrei, Cumulo Nimbus, Feuerschwanz, Schelmish and Letzte Instanz

The last day came and with a little tear in our eye we made our way from the camping ground to the Agra where we should stay for the rest of the day. Our last day was mostly filled with great music from the genre of the medieval sound. And with high quality bands like NACHTGESCHREI and of course LETZTE INSTANZ, it was promised to be a great end to a great festival we enjoyed as much as we did in the last days. We thank everybody for the great organization, the great bands and the great mood. We hope to see you all again next year to celebrate the next WAVE GOTIK TREFFEN!

Nachtgeschrei

NACHTGESCHREI was founded in 2006. The members were formerly in bands like BLACK SHEEP and PAIMON. In 2008, they released their first album ‘Hoffnungsschimmer’ at Massacre Records. Since their founding they played at different festivals such as the Miroque Festival. Recently, their new CD ‘Am Rande der Welt’ was released. This year, it was their first time to play at the Wave Gotik Treffen.



Music & Performance
‘Hoffnungsschimmer’ is one of my favourite CDs lately. After their release of ‘Am Rande der Welt’ I was even more persuaded by this great band and looked forward to our first concert that day. Opening with the first song from their new album ‘Fiur’, NACHTGESCHREI showed right from the beginning how happy they were to be on stage. And although only a hand full of people made it to the AGRA this day, the mood was pretty good and everybody was ready for the show. With songs like ‘Herz aus Stein’, ‘Fernweh’ and my favourite ‘Niob’, they showed a really good review of their current album. Besides ‘Windstill’ and ‘Der Meister’, they did not play songs from ‘Hoffnungsschimmer’ which was pretty sad if you ask me because I waited for great songs like ‘Drei Lügen’ or ‘Reise zu den Seen’. But it was still a nice concert and the great mood of the band and the good sound made up for the missing songs. And as a plus, they also played ‘Glut in euren Augen’, one of the best songs they have ever made. All in all, it was a perfect start to our last day of this year's Wave Gotik Treffen.

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Light: 7
Sound: 7
Total: 8.4 / 10




Cumulo Nimbus

CUMULO NIMBUS is a medieval and renaissance rock band from Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria, Germany. The band was founded in 2000 and since then, they became one of the most known bands in the German medieval-rock-scene. Their music is influenced by metal and also by old renaissance pieces.

Music & Performance
Right from the beginning, CUMULO NIMBUS reminded me of SCHANDMAUL but with more guitars. And since I am a huge SCHANDMAUL fan, the base to like this band was already there. With two male singers and one female, they also had the voices to back up their sound. Unfortunately, you couldn't hear the flute of the female singer at the beginning. Well, the front singer hit every note and had a good voice and the back-up vocals underlined it perfectly. Although, I had never even heard of the band's name before, I was surprised how good music they played.

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Light: 7
Sound: 7
Total: 7.7 / 10




Feuerschwanz

FEUERSCHWANZ is a German medieval band from Erlangen. They formed in 2004. They've been on tour with big names such as FIDDLER'S GREEN and SALTATIO MORTIS. Up to now, they released 4 CDs and in September their new album ‘Metvernichter’ will com out.

Music & Performance
‘Met & Miezen’ (means something like Met & Chicks), that's the motto of FEUERSCHWANZ. And, just like this assumes, the band doesn't take itself very serious. And that was exactly the way they acted on stage. They made jokes, jumped around and were just like jugglers. Really nice to watch! But there is one good thing about this band: they take their music seriously and that's why they have such a great sound. Nice old instruments combined with modern ones and a great remarkable voice. By playing all kinds of songs from their repertoire they showed even non-fans how great they were and so, the people in front of stage really enjoyed the concert and so did I. Unfortunately, they began too early and so I missed the first 2 songs, pretty bad.

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Light: 7
Sound: 7
Total: 7.7 / 10




Schelmish

SCHELMISH is a German Mittelalter rock band from Bonn. The band formed in 1999 due to a birthday celebration of band member Des Demonia's (medieval bagpipes, shawm, bombard, percussion, bouzouki, vocals) mother. The language of their songs varies between German, English, Latin, French and several old languages.

Music & Performance
Well, I don't know what people who don't know SCHMELMISH would think when a band would enter the stage with the sentence “We are fat, we are ugly, we are antisocial, we are Schelmish!” but I just thought “Hmm, what an interesting start for a concert”.



After telling us that their front singer wasn't going to be performing that day, the people were pretty disappointed and I just waited for things to start. The band started immediately and got the people dancing right from the beginning. Their music was full of energy and loads of fun. Their lyrics were more or less worth to be seen serious but yet really creative and entertaining. The band tried to give their best but didn't really reach their usual quality. The normal vocals were just missing, unfortunately. After listening to the first couple of songs, I took a look at the fans standing in front of the stage and could see that they had a lot of fun although one important part of the band was missing. So, obviously it wasn't that bad for the rest of the people at Agra during that afternoon. All in all, they played a good and solid show without any specialties happen. The sound was ok, too, but - like always this year - just too quiet.

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Light: 7
Sound: 6
Total: 6.9 / 10




Letzte Instanz

These musicians have always been synonymous with movement, departures and courageousness, the line-up having changed several times before LETZTE INSTANZ got together in their current constellation in 2005. The line-up, consisting of artists from Saxony, Bavaria and Berlin, is a novelty on the German music scene, last but not least due to their unusual composition, and together they are among the spearheads of the German rock music scene, relying not on short-lived trends but standing in the tradition of German-language musicians, striving for expression and independence. LETZTE INSTANZ has always opted for artistic independence and against flirting with commercial success. Last year’s album ‘Ins Licht’ (into the light) proved impressively that they are on the right path. High chart positions, successful gigs, and towards the end of the year a tour alongside SCHANDMAUL proved that LETZTE INSTANZ are among the most popular and original acts on the German music landscape.



Music & Performance
Well, the last band of this year's WGT came and it was LETZTE INSTANZ and I was looking forward to it for weeks. They just released their new album ‘Schuldig’ and after some concerts on tour, they made their way to Leipzig this evening. The Agra was crowded like hell and I had problems to get in there without getting harmed. Obviously, half of the WGT wanted to see this band - which I understood. The Setlist was filled with great songs from the new album like ‘Flucht ins Glück’, ‘Mein Engel’, ‘Traumlos’ and, my favourite, ‘Die Eine’. It was absolutely great! And with songs like ‘Ohne Dich’, ‘Jeden Morgen’ and ‘Mein Todestag’ even people who didn't know the new album got their money worth this evening. The stage was filled with people, just like always, but also a huge banner was hung up and led-lights were set up as well. So, something for the eyes, too! After playing the first songs, you could easily see how much fun they had on stage.



The band acted like they were on a playground - the stage. Just really great to see! By the time they played their typical ‘Das Stimmlein’, the crowd was so pumped up and just sang along like they haven't done anything else in their lives. Just unbelievable! I just loved it. Great music, although you couldn't hear all of the instruments - especially the cello, great performance, great show and an absolutely great ending to a great Wave Gotik Treffen 2009!

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Light: 7
Sound: 7
Total: 8.4 / 10