Airfield Drispenstedt, Hildesheim, Germany11th to 12th August 2017
M’era Luna Festival 2018 Day 2 with Schattenmann, Too Dead To Die, Heimataerde, Massive Ego, Die Kammer, FabrikC, Bannkreis, Torul, Lacrimas Profundere, Frozen Plasma, L’âme Immortelle, Aesthetic Perfection, Peter Heppner, Rotersand, Saltatio Mortis, Atari Teenage Riot, Front 242, Hocico, Eisbrecher
Also the second day of #mera18 turned out as beautiful, black, and brilliant as expected. M’era Luna called its visitors out of the sleeping bags or beds to spend another musical day out at the airfield. It began and ended with some good old “Neue Deutsche Härte” sounds (German for “New German Hardness”): The newish project SCHATTENMANN ensured an energetic kick-off and almighty EISBRECHER made for a golden finish. In between, further seventeen diverse bands of the dark scene graced the festival’s Main and Hangar Stage and were celebrated greatly by their old and new fans.
Schattenmann - Main Stage (LAy)
About two years ago, in September 2016, NDH act SCHATTENMANN (in English, “Shadow-Man”) was brought to life by Frank Herzig. At last year’s Amphi Festival STAHLMANN frontman Mert told us to check out this new project of his guitarist at that time; and this year, Frank’s own band got to open the Main Stage of the second festival day. Centre-stage, on a black backdrop there was the huge white skull and the band’s name decorating the stage. SCHATTENMANN is a four-piece, so Frank is supported by guitarist Jan Suk, bassist Luke Shook, and drummer Nils Kinzig. This March, their creative debut record ‘Licht An’ (transl. “Lights On”) came out. Their gig began with a big bang introducing the “dance title” called ‘Brennendes Eis’ (transl. “Burning Ice”). Pyros and fire are not to be missed when it comes to SCHATTENMANN. With the first sounds the early M’era crowd suddenly became even bigger and when the second tune was played, the powerful ballad ‘Gekentert’, many arms swayed to and fro.
After that melodic moment ‘Generation Sex’ and the wild ‘AMOK’ followed making the crowd lose it completely. The frontman spread some sparks of fire by swirling around a chainsaw. Then Frank said thanks for such a great welcome before it was already time to play the last track - “such a tragedy!”. Their title song ‘Licht an’ was saved for the end. All in all, the band made the most of their short play time delivering a quite dynamic, catchy and at the same time hard and heavy show. The fans sang along the German lyrics and banged their heads. Only twenty minutes with SCHATTENMANN made a fan lament: “No, it’s been way too short!” Frank invited the audience to catch them during their tour with FEUERSCHWANZ in November and join in their own gigs coming up at the beginning of 2019. // https://www.schattenmann.net / https://www.facebook.com/schattenmannband // Setlist: 01. Brennendes Eis / 02. Gekentert / 03. Generation Sex / 04. AMOK / 05. Licht an
Too Dead To Die - Hangar Stage (LAy)
Urban Electro sounds kicked off the day inside the Hangar. Moscow-based act TOO DEAD TO DIE presented their debut album ‘Murder on the Dance Floor’, which was released in 2014 via Out of Line. Beneath his black amour mastermind Andrej appeared in a bright orange pullover. His female helping hand was dancing behind a laptop and told the crowd that the vocalist was very happy to be at M’era Luna. For some fans a 20-minute-long party began as TOO DEAD TO DIE’s modern aggro club hits animated them to dance. Personally speaking, the music didn’t play the trick for me. Back at the Main Stage another band in silver armour hit the stage. The guitars of HEIMATERDE called me back outside... // https://soundcloud.com/toodeadtodie / https://www.facebook.com/toodeadtodiemusic
Heimataerde - Main Stage (LAy)
HEIMATAERDE stand for Medieval Electro Rock since 2004. After the EP ‘Ich hab die Nacht geträumet’ their debut album ‘Gotteskrieger’ came out in 2005. Currently, the band around vocalist Ashlar von Megalon is working on new material for their eighth piece. They decided to share one of those tunes at M’era Luna: ‘Tanz’ asked us to “dance with Death”. The band delivered a great show including knight and monk attire, swords, flags, choppers and blood. For ‘Pater Noster’ the crowd was asked to kneel down as is right and proper for a prayer. Finally, the band’s title song ‘Heimataerde’ concluded a fun and unique Dark Ages Electro show. // https://heimataerde.de / https://www.facebook.com/HeimataerdeOffiziell // Setlist: 01. Der Verfall / 02. Hoch hinaus / 03. König von Thule / 04. Tanz / 05. Wie ein Tier / 06. Hick Hack Hackebeil / 07. Pater Noster / Heimataerde
Massive Ego - Hangar Stage (LAy)
Next on the programme, yet another Out of Line artist. MASSIVE EGO from the UK entered the Hangar stage. Two years ago, the act celebrated their 20th anniversary and their last piece, ‘Beautiful Suicide’, has been out since last year. Marc Massive (vocals), Scot Collins (keys) and Oliver Frost (e-drums) shared their “NewRomantic-DarkWave-Electro-Gothic-Pop-Industrial-hybrid” with the M’era audience kicking off with mid-tempo tune ‘Low Life’ from the latest album. Then, singer and ex-model Marc introduced their song about the “fashion game”, ‘Kate’s in A State’, explaining that there’s a moral: “It’s not all beautiful, but actually fucked up.”
For ‘Drag Me In, Drag Me Under’ Marc asked the fans to show their hands and they immediately began to clap along. The act’s 2011 single ‘I Idolize You’ followed. In the end, he said “Dankeschön” (thank you very much, in German) and told us that he was very happy to be at the festival as he had always dreamt of playing at M’era Luna. All in all, MASSIVE EGO convinced their crowd with a dark and catchy electro pop show ending with ‘Haters Gonna Hate’ featuring German rapper Belzebub coming from tape. The fans screamed along: “Haters gonna hate.” // http://www.massiveego.co.uk / https://www.facebook.com/massiveego // Setlist: 00. Ghost in My Dream (Prologue) / 01. Low Life / 02. Kate’s in A State / 03. Drag Me in, Drag Me Under / 04. I Idolize You / 05. The Girl Who Finds Gifts From Crows / 06. For the Blood in Your Veins / 07. Haters Gonna Hate
Die Kammer - Main Stage (LAy)
DIE KAMMER greeted their audience outside at the Main Stage. The acoustic band, initiated by Matthias Ambré (ex-ASP) and Marcus Testory, consists of eight musicians. Their backdrop announced that we would get to hear some “pure handmade music”. We got started with ‘Gingerbread Heart’ taken from ‘Season Ill: Solace in Insanity’ (2016), which earned the first round of great applause. “Thank you, friends of the moon! We will entertain you this afternoon,” Marcus said. The crowd was happy to join in singing along “Ohhh ohh ohhh...” during the second tune ‘Line of last Resistance’ and the vocalist commented: “And who said Goths are tired at midday?” Thanks to the acoustic guitar, melody horn, tuba, cello, viola, violin tunes, great drumming and bass playing, theatrical vocals telling various stories we got to enjoy half an hour filled with truly infectious singer-songwriter pieces.
After the band shared their very first tune ‘The Orphanage’, which holds a special place in everybody’s heart, it was time for the “murderous” tune ‘Sinister Sister’. The audience had a lot fun with the tune’s changes in tempo. One could clearly see and hear that these folks have mastered their instruments. ‘Carnival of the Peculiar’ closed one of M’era Luna’s one-of-a-kind concerts. If you can’t get enough of this chamber’s original and fascinating compositions, join in the upcoming ‘Some T#ings Wrong’ Tour this autumn in celebration of their fourth album. Their fans are already curious what DIE KAMMER’s ‘Season 4’ will bring. // https://die-kammer.com / https://www.facebook.com/diekammer // Setlist: 01. Gingerbread Heart / 02. Line of last Resistance (Version 2) / 03. The Orphanage / 04. Sinister Sister / 05. Carnival of the Peculiar
FabrikC - Hangar Stage (LAy)
Ready for “the hardest bass drum” and “100 percent electro”? FABRIKC is not for the faint-hearted. With the help of keyboard players Frytz and Tony Hellectro frontman Thorsten Berger raised the roof of the Hangar. The project is based in Hannover, Germany. After the release of the first record ‘Farblos!’ in 2005, three further albums and quite a few remixes followed. Their latest release is an EP titled ‘Independent Riot Corps’ (2018). Not only inside the venue, where it was almost unbearably loud, but also outside at the wide screen, which was showing what was going on inside the Hangar. FABRIKC fanatics gave their bodies over to the beat and got lost in the rhythm and noise. The last track ‘Chinese Food’ made the entire crowd bounce and outside all Cyber-dancers were in full action. // http://www.fabrikc.de / https://www.facebook.com/fabrikc // Setlist: 01. 100% Elektronik / 02. Porno! / 03. Klangaktiviert / 04. X³ / 05. Boomstick / 06. Independent Riot Corps / 07. Electric World / 08. Chinese Food
Bannkreis - Main Stage (LAy)
SUBWAY TO SALLY frontman Eric Fish and siren Johanna Krins are the perfectly harmonising voices of BANNKREIS. The band’s epic and folky tunes and magical tales suited the M’era Luna’s Main Stage very well. Together with guitarists Bodenski and Ingo Hampf and percussionist Simon Michael and the quintet easily managed to spell-bind their audience. Apart from the fact that the sound suddenly disappeared during the first song, the sound was amazing throughout the rest of the concert. Johanna sang like an angel, clear and powerful and also reaching the higher notes without effort. Next to their BANNKREIS pieces the band presented their version of ‘The Hanging Tree’ (“The Hunger Games”) and a cover of the timeless ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’, originally by EURYTHMICS. BANNKREIS’ debut album, titled ‘Sacrament’, has been out since March and everyone is hoping that BANNKREIS will be able to catch up on their tour, which they had to postpone, sometime very soon after such a splendid M’era gig. // https://bannkreis.band / https://www.facebook.com/Bannkreis
Torul - Hangar Stage (LAy)
I was very eager to hear the Indie Electro Pop act TORUL from Slovenia at M’era Luna. ‘Dark Matters’, their debut, saw the light of day in 2010. Four records followed, ‘Reset’ from 2016 being the latest. The band has already played at the Wave Gotik Treffen and Amphi festival and have supported MESH. This summer, it was finally time for a Hangar show in Hildesheim. Vocalist Maj Valerij was beaming and seemed as happy as TORUL’s fans to be there. He said that they were “so proud to stand here.” TORUL drove thousands of kilometres to M’era Luna, “but it feels like home.” They enchanted their crowd with soulful electro tunes made of beautiful harmonies, great atmospheres, driving beats of the calmer kind, and pleasant, warm vocals. Just think of the lovely tune ‘Lonely Night’... And of course their amazing ‘Reset’ opener ‘Saviour of Love’ made for a highlight. The trio captured their audience’s attention and imagination. Time flew by fast with TORUL. // http://www.torul-recordings.net / https://www.facebook.com/torul // Setlist: 01. Try (Recharged version) / 02. Explain / 03. In Whole (Recharged version) / 04. Monday / 05. Lonely Night / 06. Saviour of Love / 07. You Won / 08. Waterproof Theme
Lacrimas Profundere - Main Stage (Marko)
The band LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE was founded in 1993. At the beginning of their career, they played Gothic Metal, although since around the turn of the millennium their style of music could rather be called Dark Rock. They have released 11 studio albums so far. The concert at the M’era Luna Festival will be forever remembered in the band’s history, but more on that later. A huge backdrop with the band’s name and logo framed this memorable event. The concert started with the song ‘Dead To Me’ from the album ‘Antiadore’. Despite the daylight, lights on the stage shone in the blue, white and purple. Singer Rob immediately thanked the audience’s extensive applause for the first song. Rob started the second one, ‘Remembrance Song’ with the words “Ready for some good old fucking Rock’n’Roll?” I cannot say exactly how many visitors at the festival knew that Rob had left the band and was playing his last concert here with LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE.
Rob said it has always been an honour for him to play at the M’era Luna Festival. ‘My Mescaline’, a slower, soulful song followed. One noticed the love that these musicians have for their music - great musicians, who have mastered their instruments perfectly. The area before the main stage was really well filled for the band’s performance, and they paid back this recognition from the audience with a great performance. During the song ‘Amber Girl’, Rob introduced the bandmates. Then came one of the most emotional moments of the whole festival as singer Rob finally said goodbye to his bandmates and the fans. He said his 10 year journey with LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE had started at M’era Luna, and that’s where it ends. He thanked everyone for everything. ‘Hope Is Here’ - the last song for Rob Vitacca with LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE and for the fans of the band certainly a goose-bump moment. One or the other probably even had a tears in their eyes. Thank you Rob for everything!
Then new singer Julian Larre took over the microphone. Julian had the honour of presenting the band’s biggest hits. Right at the first song there were some technical problems and Julian could not hear himself and had problems with the in ears. He soon overcame these problems with minimum fuss and very professionally. At the next song there was also a strange echo, but that did not disturb the singer either. The audience made it very easy for the “newcomer” and the mood was still overwhelmingly positive. Julian came to the barrier several times during the four songs he sang. He skilfully played with the cameras and the audience. It was an unforgettable, terrific performance. At the end of August LACRIMAS then announced that the other band members Steele, Clea and Tony had also left the band. Former members Dominik (drums) and Daniel (bass) were welcomed back and currently new songs are in the making. So, LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE will remain on the road to success. The fans are looking forward to the new material and will certainly never forget Rob, Tony, Steele and Clea. // http://www.lacrimas.com / https://www.facebook.com/lacrimasprofundereofficial // Setlist: 01. Dead To Me / 02. Remembrance Song / 03. My Mescaline / 04. Amber Girl / 05. Hope Is Here / 06. Velvet Little Darkness / 07. My Release In Pain / 08. Again It’s Over / 09. Ave End
Frozen Plasma - Hangar Stage (LAy)
Full house for German Electro-Synth-Pop act FROZEN PLASMA. The Hangar venue was jam-packed awaiting a melodic and beat-driven celebration of sound. FROZEN PLASMA was founded in 2005 when Vasi Vallis’ NAMNAMBULU had called it quits. The act is well-known for making it impossible to just stand still. Together with vocalist Felix Marc (DIORAMA) the duo celebrated a hell of a party at M’era Luna thanks to hit singles like ‘Hypocrite’ and ‘Irony’. Needless to say that their dance floor filler ‘Tanz die Revolution’ (transl. “Dance the Revolution”) was also on the setlist. The crowd had a very good time jumping and clapping along to the sweet melodies and bouncy beats of ‘Living on Video’ and ‘Murderous Trap’, which concluded the gig. From the first till the last row all arms up high for that last tune. Good times with FROZEN PLASMA! // https://www.facebook.com/FrozenPlasma // Setlist: 01. Hypocrite 02. Safe.dead.harm 03. Saving the moment 04. Irony 05. Maniac 06. Living on video 07. Tanz die Revolution 08. Murderous trap
L’âme Immortelle - Main Stage (Marko)
L’ÂME IMMORTELLE is an Austrian Electro Rock band founded in 1996 by Thomas Rainer. Singer Sonja Kraushofer joined the band shortly thereafter. The texts of L’ÂME IMMORTELLE are partly in German, partly in English. In 2000 they played their first headliner tour and a year later, with the album ‘Dann habe ich umsonst gelebt’, they enjoyed their first chart success in Germany. After the release of the 12th album ‘Hinter dem Horizont’ in January 2018, L’ÂME IMMORTELLE were on the very successful “Shattenwelten Tour”. An absolute must for all fans is the beautiful 3CD Book Edition of the 2018 album.
On the afternoon of the second festival day, L’ÂME IMMORTELLE entered the main stage. In beautiful summer weather the area in front of the stage was well filled. The concert started with the opener ‘Undendlich’ from the current album ‘Hinter dem Horizon’. Three big black and white banners adorned the stage. The second song was ‘Stumme Schreie’, one of the band’s big hits. The musicians of the band were completely black-clad and thus fitted in nicely with the majority of festival visitors. Singer Sonja did not change clothes during the concert but as usual was dressed beautifully. For the next few songs Thomas took the second keyboard while Sonja sang alone. As always, they convinced with their great performance and a wonderful, emotional live version of the song ‘Fallen Angel’. The great sound let the clear voice of Sonja come into its own. By now the audience were dancing right to the back row. Then came ‘Ich fang dich auf’ - which Thomas sang alone and then thanked the fans for the applause. This was followed by two beautiful duets, especially the performance of ‘Es tut mir Leid’ which is absolutely fantastic live.
The performance of their music on the big open air with live drums works great, even if the guitar from the old days is sometimes missing. By now was getting warmer and warmer in Hildesheim, the drinks stands had a lot to do, although there were some places in the festival area for free drinking water. At the end of the concert, there came two of the band’s best-known songs. First the song ‘Phoenix’, followed by the last song ‘5 Jahre’. The song is so well known that Thomas even said it is not necessary to introduce or announce this song. As always, the band gave everything despite the heat and delivered a great performance in front of a huge audience and they were rewarded with storming applause at the end. // https://www.facebook.com/LAI.official // Setlist: 01.Unendlich / 02. Stumme Schreie / 03. Fear / 04. Fallen Angel / 05. Schwerkraft / 06. Ich fang Dich auf / 07. Letztes Licht / 08. Es tut mir leid / 09. Phönix / 10. 5 Jahre
Aesthetic Perfection - Hangar Stage (LAy)
After FROZEN PLASMA the party inside the Hangar was far from over. Industrial Pop heroes AESTHETIC PERFECTION from L.A. took over the stage. Mastermind and frontman Daniel Graves created the project 18 years ago and now the act is widely celebrated for their smashing tunes and outstanding, entertaining live gigs. Daniel’s skilful switching between clear and harsh vocals and screams, Elliot Berlin at and “on” the keyboards, and Joe Letz going crazy at the drums make up the winning team. Their M’era gig showed once again that AP stand for infectious high-class electro and that these guys know how to carry their crowd. It was a wild ride across AP’s discography; every single track on the set was a fan favourite which made the crowd burn a lot of calories. Starting with ‘A Nice Place to Visit’, ending with “Spit it out - SCREAM! Spit it out - SCREAM!”, and dancing along to the ‘Antibody’ and many more hits in between, everybody had, as always, a blast with AESTHETIC. Just perfect! // http://aesthetic-perfection.net / https://www.facebook.com/aestheticperfection // Setlist: 01. A Nice Place to Visit / 02. The Great Depression / 03. Inhuman / 04. Rhythm + Control / 05. Antibody / 06. Never Enough / 07. Ebb and Flow / 08. Love Like Lies / 09. LAX / 10. The Dark Half / 11. Spit it Out
Peter Heppner - Main Stage (Nastja Iz)
The Sunday turned out to be even sunnier and warmer that the Saturday, so the amount of visitors using umbrellas to protect themselves and the porcelain skin from a sunburn, raised significantly. That didn’t mean that it would stop anyone from seeing the great bands on the main stage. This next spot was reserved for PETER HEPPNER, the voice of the former band WOLFSHEIM and for a significant amount of time active as solo musician. PETER HEPPNER’s voice is not comparable with anyone else’s. He creates a warm, spherical atmosphere around him and makes anyone listen to the calm but strong songs, always containing a powerful message.
Though this time PETER HEPPNER was not the only singer on stage, and so, none other than JOACHIM WITT joined him for the epic ‘Die Flut’ and the very new, just recently released single ‘Was bleibt?’. That said, the gig contained great surprises. But PETER HEPPNER also used the show to perform the magnificent classics, originally known from WOLFSHEIM like ‘I feel you’, ‘Kein Zurück’ and ‘Wir sind wir’ that gave everyone shivers through the sun was heating up the place. // https://www.facebook.com/peterheppneroffiziell // Setlist: 01. I Won’t Give Up / 02. Alleinesein / 03. Once in a Lifetime / 04. Vielleicht? / 05. Meine Welt / 06. The Sparrows And The Nightingales / 07. Die Flut (feat. Joachim Witt) / 08. Was bleibt (feat. Joachim Witt) / 09. Leben… I Feel You / 10. Kein Zurück / 11. Wir Sind Wir
Rotersand - Hangar Stage (LAy)
Rascal Nikov and Krischan J. E. Wesenberg are responsible for creative Future Pop sounds of ROTERSAND. 2003 saw the release of the first record ‘Truth Is Fanatic’ and in 2016 they presented their sixths album: ‘Capitalism TM’. The act made the Hangar people dance along to their oldest hit single ‘Merging Oceans’ and sing along to newer pieces like the amazing track ‘Torn Realities’. Meaningful lyrics and such a beautiful chorus... Next to the melodic stomper ‘Waiting to Be Born’ the tune ‘First Time’ was a real treat with its calm and ambient vibes in the first half of the tune before it grew and gave way to driving beats. The more aggressive track ‘Exterminate, Annihilate, Destroy’ invited the audience to shout along and marked the end of a successful show. A lot of fists were raised up high. ROTERSAND - Yay! // http://rotersand.net / https://www.facebook.com/rotersand
Saltatio Mortis - Main Stage (Nastja Iz)
SALTATIO MORTIS started their Medieval Rock show with historical voice samples that caught the attention and showed one more time that this band has also a political message that they do not get tired of communicating, which is great. This intro was followed by a hot fire show, so even people who got used to temperatures above 30°C during the last weeks would not freeze. The show was so hot, so the frontman Alea already got rid of his vest during the second song. SALTATIO MORTIS are great entertainers who have a huge fan base that supports them on all their paths.
And so also this gig approved that they totally deserve their standing in the scene. The show was interactive and as usual not only a workout for the band, but also the fans in front of the stage. When you attend a show by SALTATIO MORTIS you not only get a workout, you also get to know all the people around you and a good portion of positive vibes for the rest of the day. // https://brotundspiele.saltatio-mortis.com / https://www.facebook.com/saltatiomortisofficial // Setlist: 01. Früher war alles besser / 02. Idol / 03. Wo sind die Clowns? / 04. Große Träume / 05. Dorn im Ohr / 06. Wachstum über alles / 07. Prometheus / 08. Heimdall / 09.Totus Floreo / 10. Rattenfänger / 11. Brunhild / 12. Koma / 13. Spielmannsschwur
Atari Teenage Riot - Hangar Stage (LAy)
Back inside the indoor venue one the most unusual M’era Luna bands had the honour: ATARI TEENAGE RIOT! Their “Digital Hardcore” might had been too digital or too hardcore for some ears, but ATR fans tore apart the Hangar at full blast. Techno sounds and punky vocals resounded surprising those who got to know the act for the first time at M’era. The duo, consisting of Alec Empire and Nic Endo, delivered a wickedly loud and wild set with ‘No Remorse’, ‘Speed’, and ‘Adrenaline’. The latter one, a new track, is expected to be on ATR’s upcoming album. // http://www.atari-teenage-riot.com / https://www.facebook.com/Atari.Teenage.Riot.ACTIVATE // Setlist: 01. 30c3 (Intro) / 02. Blood In My Eyes / 03. Transducer / 04. Destroy 2000 Years Of Culture / 05. Reset / 06. Into The Death / 07. Modern Liars / 08. No Remorse / 09. J1M1 / 10. Speed/ 11. Adrenaline / Encores: 12. Collapse Of History / 13. Activate / 14. We Are From The Internet
Front 242 - Main Stage (LAy)
Meanwhile at the Main Stage, EBM forefathers FRONT 242 delighted the large and ever-growing M’era Luna gathering outside as the co-headliners. The Belgian act was founded back in 1980 and can look back to an impressive history. Their M’era gig in a nutshell: a blast! The two vocalists Jean-Luc De Meyer and Richard (Jonckheere) 23 ran and jumped around on the big stage complementing each other. A variety of synthesizer sounds and infectious drums took possession of our bodies. FRONT 242 filled their one-hour-set with diverse classics, like their 1981 hit song ‘Body to Body’, animating people to dance into the sunset.
With all in all 16 pieces from the combo’s repertoire the airfield in Hildesheim had been turned into a massive outdoor dance floor. Their opener ‘Happiness’ even caused a moshpit in front of the stage - a rare sight at this festival. Needless to say that their smashing club hit ‘Headhunter’ from the ground-breaking record ‘Front to Front’ (1988) was celebrated greatly. It was very easy and a lot of fun to dance in step and keep the rhythm with FRONT 242 - “Im Rhythmus Bleiben”! // http://www.front242.com / https://www.facebook.com/Front.242 // Setlist: 01. Happiness / 02. Take One / 03. Body To Body / 04. Together / 05. Triple X Girlfriend / 06. Quite Unusual / 07. Moldavia / 08. Funkahdafi / 09. U-Men / 10. Commando Mix / 11. Until Death (Us Do Part) / 12. Headhunter / 13. Im Rhythmus Bleiben / 14. W.Y.H.I.W.Y.G. / 15. Masterhit / 16. Welcome To Paradise
Hocico - Hangar Stage (LAy)
Just like two years ago, hard-floor heroes HOCICO from Mexico were the final highlight headlining the Hangar. A jam-packed venue filled with HOCICO diehards was more than ready for “Pure Electronic Hate”! Frontman and extreme vocalist Erk Aicrag and Racso Agroyam, his partner in crime at the synthesizer, hit the stage to unleash their Aggrotech beasts on us starting with the atmospherically dark ‘Scars’. ‘Sex Sick’ and ‘Bite Me!’ followed very soon and folks went completely wild. The Dark Electro duo was supported by a masked percussionist who was wearing massive wings with black feathers and who contributed to the harsh electro show not just with a killer look.
HOCICO also threw in three Spanish titles as well: the whiplashing ‘Bienvenido a la Maldad’, the sinister yet driving ‘Ecos’, and finally, the fast-paced ‘Tiempos de Furia’ for a furious finale. On the whole, an impressively badass HOCICO show - as always, all thumbs up! // http://www.hocico.com / https://www.facebook.com/hocicoofficial // Setlist: 00. Intro / 01. Scars / 02. Sex Sick / 03. I Abomination / 04. Bite me! / 05. Bienvenido a la Maldad / 06. Ecos / 07. Poltergeist / 08. Dead Trust / 09. Forgotten Tears / 10. Tiempos de Furia
Eisbrecher - Main Stage (LAy)
Full speed ahead! As mentioned above, “Neue Deutsche Härte” framed this year’s M’era Luna Sunday. And finally, it was time for Munich combo EISBRECHER to appear as this year’s festival headliner. The winning team around vocalist Alexx Wesselsky hit the stage, rocked out, and blew their fans away. Frontman Alexx and his band mates Noel Pix (guitar, programming), Jürgen Plangger (guitar), Rupert Keplinger (bass) and Achim Färber (drums) know how to put the petal to the metal and have a splendid time with their crowd. Once again, Alexx gave away his tie as a gift to fan in the front row “who clearly deserved it”. The band got their ice-breaking party started with the title track of their number one album ‘Sturmfahrt’ (2017).
This year, EISBRECHER is celebrating fifteen years of existence, seven records, and countless outstanding concerts. Their M’era best of set brimmed over with their characteristic energy, unbelievable melodies that you can’t get out of your head and cool electro sounds next to killer riffs making up their neck-breaking smashers like ‘Amok’, ‘Verrückt’, or the thundering ‘Himmel, Arsch und Zwirn’. When Alexx reappeared on stage dressed in a winter jacket and armed with an ice axe I was looking forward to hearing one of my personal favourites: ‘Eiszeit!’ With their in-your-face tune ‘Was ist hier los?’ (transl. “What's going on in here?”) EISBRECHER give society a wake-up call.
The band concluded their spectacular show with a MEGAHERZ cover of ‘Miststück’ and their atmospheric tune ‘In einem Boot’. All in all, the band nailed it, the sound was bombastic, the light show superb, and the spirits were high. EISBRECHER made for a perfect #mera18 closure. Thanks for the ride and horns up! // http://www.eis-brecher.com / https://www.facebook.com/eisbrecher // Setlist: 01. Sturmfahrt / 02. Das Gesetz / 03. Augen unter Null / 04. Amok / 05. Prototyp / 06. Himmel, Arsch und Zwirn / 07. Eiszeit / 08. 1000 Narben / 09. Was ist hier los? / 10. This Is Deutsch / Encores: 11. Verrückt / 12. Miststück (MEGAHERZ cover) / 13. In einem Boot
Conclusion
Compared to the first day of the festival, it was less windy and the sound at the Main Stage improved. Apart from minor technical fallouts, which can always be part of any music event, M’era Luna presented all artists at both stages in their best form. A big and heartfelt thank you is order to all musicians, helping hands, technicians, partners, and of course the promoters FKP Scorpio. Thank you! M’era Luna lovers have already marked the dates for next year’s Goth get-together. On 10th and 11th August 2019, the festival will celebrate its 20th anniversary! On our gift wish list for M’era Luna would be a more surprising line-up for some change. The fans are hoping to see even more old bands that haven’t played in a long, long while at M’era and are curious about more new projects that haven’t had the chance of being part of this annual lunacy in August yet. After all, the majority of the dark music fans have attended the festival every summer for many years and plan on keeping up the tradition for many more to come.
Most importantly, M’era Luna always promises us a weekend filled with international top acts and amazing live music. Obviously, the festival’s unique vibe makes it one of the most popular and magical events in summer as well. This is thanks to the authentic Medieval Market, the Gothic Fashion Town, interesting walking acts and decorations (remember this year’s new guardians on the roofs watching over us), and of course a rich supporting programme including the literary Friday readings, signing sessions, late parties at night with well-known DJs, the M’era Luna Academy offering interesting workshops and talks on various topics (make-up, hair dying, expressing one’s inner beauty, Voodooism, and sounds effects in film), extravagant fashion shows, and this year’s new attraction, a tunnel of horror. On top of that, it is all the guests coming from here, arriving from around the corner, or even from wide afar that make M’era Luna this special meeting point for reunion and celebration that it is. See you again in about 300 days!
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
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