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00 intro D4S5323 kleinAirfield Drispenstedt, Hildesheim, Germany
10th till 11th August 2019
M’era Luna Festival 2019 Day 1 with Markus Heitz, Axel Hildebrand, Christian von Aster, Null Positiv, Empathy Test, Sündenklang, Sono, Ewigheim, Terrolokaust, Stahlmann, Centhron, Deathstars, [X]-RX, Corvus Corax, Neuroticfish, Oomph!, Agonoize, Mono Inc., Zeromancer, Lacrimosa, [:SITD:], Within Temptation, Die Krupps, ASP

Once again, day-flying moths and nocturnal Goths, from here and afar, all have been eagerly awaiting the second weekend of August. It was finally time for the M’era Luna moon to rise and shine again. The airfield in Hildesheim, Germany, was once again transformed into a Gothic wonderland inviting dark music lovers to spend an eventful weekend with friends old and new. After the first visitors had put up their tents, the traditional Friday readings rang the festival in. This year, the combi-tickets were sold out in advance and also day tickets for Saturday were not available anymore.

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According to tradition, the festival was kicked off at 8pm on Friday inside the Disco Hangar. Attending these readings is always highly recommended. People took a seat on the benches or found a spot at the sides to stand closer to the stage. Like in the past years, Markus Heitz was beginning and Christian von Aster was ending the readings. In-between, there was thirty minutes time for Axel Hildebrand. But lets start with the first reader of the evening, Markus Heitz, who came to the M’era Luna to hold the premiere reading of the second season of ‘Doors’, which was just published on August 1, 2019. At the same time, three books of this season were published, which you could buy on site at the book table as well. The first season of the new book concept of Heitz (with the three books ‘Doors! – Blutfeld’, ‘Doors X – Dämmerung’ and ‘Doors ? – Kolonie’) lets the reader choose: three books, three alternative stories, and three doors – which one to open? The same concept is used for season two, so three books are published at the same time, and each book describes another reality. It’s up to the reader to make a decision, which world he wants to enter first.

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Next in the row was Axel Hildebrand, whom I had seen before at a NCN festival and who is guest at the M’era Luna for the first time. Axel writes books about Nordic mythology, and he is a screenwriter. He wrote a lot of stuff for TV and with his books ‘Aussen - Asgard - Tag 1 und 2: die unverfilmten Drehbücher von Loki & Thor’ he was a guest of this year’s M’era Luna. Here, order met chaos - protector of the humans met chaos bringer - Thor met Loki - two gods who could hardly be more different. Frequently, the two, who are uncle and nephew because of the blood brotherhood of Loki and Odin, standing in front of the doors of Asgard, and there they start a conversation about this and that in Midgard and Asgard, and some philosophical questions are raised: Is it still allowed in Asgard to smoke? Are you gay when your beard is curled? Need toilets to be labelled? How much hurts humour? Should vegetarians walk on meat? Is Botox helpful - in case of yes - for what? Loki and Thor gave answers to such topics as tattoos, Facebook, offerings or burgers. Weird combination! Screenwriter Axel Hildebrand wrote the conversations all down, like they definitely never ever happened and with it, caused a lot of laughs.

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Finally, it was time for Christian von Aster, ending the reading sessions for many years now. As always, the verbal acrobat made the audience laugh whole-heartedly and interrupt the author with rounds of applause for his witty rhymes. Quasi tone-in tone, Christian von Aster offered the deep black fruits from ten years of loving Goth taunts to the monochrome audience. Between the ‘Zeugen Patchoulis’, the ‘getöpferter Heinzelmann’, ‘Haus Gruftenblick’, the ‘Mitternachtshüpfburg’ and other classics of midnight humour at the edge of darkness, a new sinister adventure for representatives of the “IG Untergeschossgelächter” was manifested. He read from his latest part of ‘Die Schwestern der unbegrenzten Barmherzigkeit’ and of course there was his famous “Gruftiglosse” telling the truth about Mr Nörkemann. It couldn’t get any more hilarious than with Christian von Aster.

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After the readings, there was of course the traditional warm-up party at the Hangar. After the first night on the M’era dance floor, at the campsite, or some hotel room in town, the following two days had the old familiar M’era Luna extravaganza of great live music in store. On the whole, 21 diverse artists graced the Main and the Hangar stage on the first day of the festival.


Null Positiv - Main Stage (Nastja)

With their first release, the EP ‘Krieger’, NULL POSITIV caused a great stir. Great guitar riffs and blatant drums meet a female front singer, which seems to be from another planet while listen to her for the first time. Growl and scream take turns confidently with hard rock vocals or emotional, softer sounds. There seems to be nothing, that singer Elli Berlin is unable or unwilling to do. Shallow and cliché-ridden statements are not the cup of tea of NULL POSITIV - they understand their music as mouthpiece with genuine content. The slot at 11 am as winner of this year’s newcomer contest is an early one, but many people think it’s totally worth to enter the infield at that time. So the queues at the security point between camping and infield area were totally crowded and long. NULL POSITIV didn’t have much time to convince the audience in front of the main stage - 20 minutes to be exact. But hell they did! Four songs and an extremely strong performance! Also the female and wild dance show performance and the fighter appearance made their short slot very catchy and memorable. Totally worth the early breakfast and start into the day. // www.nullpositiv.com / https://www.facebook.com/nullpositiv // Setlist: 01. Koma / 02. Labyrinth / 03. Friss dich auf / 04. Turm der Angst

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Empathy Test - Hangar Stage (Nastja)

In earlier times, EMPATHY TEST built castles made of black sand, rolled in the dirt and made everything, what a child does in his childhood. In 2013, the former sand box friends Isaac Howlett (vocals) and Adam Relf (producer) founded the Electro Pop duo EMPATHY TEST. Clear identification mark of the band: cinematic synth sounds paired with influences of modern underground dance music. Ever since, they are true “do-it-yourself” artists. From production till artwork - everything is developed totally on their own. The live shows are like a trip into another world. A dream world. With EMPATHY TEST, there was a dreamy, dark performance, and the audience was drifting to booming electronic beats and soft synth sounds.

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The slot of EMPATHY TEST was scheduled for 11:20 am, however they seemed to have started a little bit earlier to fit in one more song, I guess. So when I thought I switched just on time to Hangar from the Main Stage, I already saw the band performing on the screen next to Hangar. A moment later I was standing in front of the stage and immediately diving into the dreamy and absolutely enchanting world of EMPATHY TEST. Almost the minute I entered the Hangar I started to dance along with many others who already were there at this early time. Elliott Berlin, known from e. g. AESTHETIC PERFECTION, supported the band on the keys today, the energetic drums were played by Christina Lopez and the vocals of Isaac Howlett are a trademark themselves already. The magic lasted for little more than 25 minutes, but they really managed to convince me definitively with the first live performance of EMPATHY TEST that I’ve ever had the chance to see. Well done! // www.empathytest.com / https://www.facebook.com/empathytest // Setlist: 01. Holy Rivers / 02. Bare My Soul / 03. Empty Handed / 04. Demons / 05. Losing Touch / 06. Here Is The Place

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Sündenklang - Main Stage (Marcel)

Martin Soer is an extremely active contemporary. Besides his other musical playground, STAHLMANN who played later on the main stage as well, it seems that there is still enough time and creative space to enter the stages and hearts of the world with SÜNDENKLANG. He decided that it’s time to make a short trip to other musical fields and to follow his visions down to the ‘Tränenreich’, and that exactly is the name of his upcoming album. The concert was a stroll through the genres aside the Neue Deutsche Härte. One thing is for sure: SÜNDENKLANG made it an enthralling thing! As second warm-up for the day, SÜNDENKLANG were an absolutely good choice. The area in front of the stage filled quickly and the music acted on the black mass like an easily digestible candy of good mood. The sun now shone in all its glory and we already look forward to seeing Martin again soon. // www.suendenklang.de / https://www.facebook.com/Sündenklang-144525665735233

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Sono - Hangar Stage (Eva)

It’s 17 years ago now that SONO entered the club dancefloors and charts of the world explosively. ‘Keep Control’ was on position 1 of the American Billboard Dance Charts for six weeks in a row. Since then, Lennart A. Salomon, Florian Sikorski and Martin Weiland released seven albums and a lot of singles, produced remixes for RAMMSTEIN, SCHILLER or ICH + ICH at the recording studio of Sikorski, and they were on the road as DJs or as SONO in different band constellations. Now they celebrate their latest track, ‘Amplify’. The song presents a new sound, a darker tone of voice. Nevertheless, with this song that was also released as acoustic version SONO belong to the most creative exponents of electronic music, always on the lookout for new stimuli to expend their musical spectrum. In the electronic version of the song, the three musicians show their talents - Salomon is a gifted songwriter and singer, Sikorski is a popular sound engineer who already was honoured with a Grammy (for Kelly Clarkson’s ‘Since U Been Gone’, by the way), and DJ Weiland is a cool instrumentalist and producer. ‘Amplify’ is also a precursor of the new album, that SONO will present live on stage on October 11 at the Mojo Club in Hamburg.

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Considering all this, I was surprised just how early they played the Hangar stage. But soon it felt like a clever decision by the organisers to get everyone up early and wake them up properly. The Hangar was definitely filled with a partying crowd. Early in the set, SONO played ‘Supersonic’, one of my all-time favourites and it felt like a wave of energy going through the audience. One aspect that I absolutely love about SONO’s live shows is that they always create this certain vibe where everyone is just enjoying themselves, dancing relaxed and peacefully. At the same time, they are far from being a simple party band but instead spread a very human message. Or as Salomon said “Once we need be political. Once we need to be human.” This was the announcement for ‘Somewhere Beyond The Sea’, a song that raises awareness of all the victims that drowned while trying to flee to Europe. There is an impressive music video underlining this single of which all proceeds were donated to sea watch.

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Finally, they choose ‘Keep Control’ as an explosive finale; this number one song that - after all those years - still gets played in so many clubs. Salomon asked the audience to sing along and the whole crowd did. Afterwards the visibly happy band bowed and thanked the audience, but not without another message in the background reading: “No transphobia - no sexism - no ableism - no hate - no racism - no homophobia”. They definitely left a huge smile of pure happiness on my face. By the way, SONO will celebrate their 20 years anniversary with a large tour next spring. If you want to have a wonderful evening with excellent music rich of brilliant details, a lot of joyful dancing and a heart-warming human vibe, be sure to catch them there! // www.sono.fm / https://www.facebook.com/sonofm

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Ewigheim - Main Stage (Marcel)

EWIGHEIM are so much more than just simple entertainment! Already in 1999, Yantit (EISREGEN), Allen (THE VISION BLEAK) and Schwadorf (THE VISION BLEAK, EMPYRIUM) avoid submitting themselves to the omnipresent spirit of the time, and so they release albums with a distinctive identity. No matter if bombast, doom, ballad or electronic, shifted rock: EWIGHEIM break with used listening habits and support the unexpected with their music. Unimpressed and stubborn like an old cattle, the trio dashes to the edge of the scene, and suck in inspirations curiously, and then all culminates to massively staged hymns - some are darker, some are for the dancefloor! Blonde, in leather jacket and sunglasses, that’s the look which also would fit into the ZDF Frühstücksfernsehen, only this man is more personable than the usual mother-in-law types and he has more to say, so EWIGHEIM were - not only because of their history - a perfect choice for M’era Luna. The music was varied - just to mention the songs ‘Schneemann’, ‘Leiche zur See’ or ‘Rückgrat’ - and with each song one saw other visitors dancing. The fact that you cannot be forced into a musical corset is the sparkling recipe for the success of EWIGHEIM. // www.ewigheim.de / https://www.facebook.com/ewigheim

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Terrolokaust - Hangar Stage (Eva)

While the name might still stir up some confusion, TERROLOKAUST definitely grew to a band to be reckoned with. “TERROLOKAUST means vision, hatred against all fascist dictatorships, history and reality of humanity” according to vocalist Javi Ssagittar. And while the name might sound like just another Aggrotech band, they developed a very unique style of Industrial Rock instead. Indeed, TERROLOKAUST is an addictive combination of ingenious music full of driving guitar riffs and exciting synths by songwriter Indio as well as captivating lyrics and amazing variety of vocal styles by Javi Ssagittar, from delicate and melodic to rough and full of pure energy. Thanks to all this, their album ‘Dissensions’ reached a well-deserved first place at the German Alternative Charts when it got released in 2016. Just a few months ago, in June 2019, the next album was finally released, this time with involvement of Andy LaPlegua from COMBICHRIST. ‘The Chasm’ proved to be a more than worthy successor while at the same time developing their style even further, never repeating themselves, never compromising, but becoming even more powerful and diverse.

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So, after listening to ‘The Chasm’ on repeat for many weeks I was more than excited to finally hear those amazing songs live. The more did I worry when TERROLOKAUST entered the stage with terrible sound... During the first song, ‘Pay the Price’, the whole sound shifted regularly as the sound technician obviously tried desperately to make it sound better. Afterwards, the sound still was not perfect, but at least now it was possible to hear the vocals properly - just in time, because now they started presenting three songs from ‘The Chasm’. And TERROLOKAUST put everything into the gig to captivate and amaze the audience despite the sound. Javi proved that not only he is perfectly capable of singing live with the same amazing variety and power, but also that he is an excellent frontman who pushes himself as well as the audience to the max.

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Suddenly, the Hangar stage felt small while he swept from left to right and back. Finally, for ‘Freedom Awaits’, he simply jumped into the pit, stood at the barricade and sang the refrain together with the fans side by side. TERROLOKAUST looked more than pleased with the crowd. “You know, it is a dream for us to play here”, Javi announced. The rest of the setlist was comprised of older songs like ‘The Pain Of Knowing’ and finally ‘The Way It Must Be’ with the obligatory interactive part at ‘Go fuck yourself’. TERROLOKAUST easily exceeded my high expectations with their powerful show and left me hoping to see them live again very soon. // www.terrolokaust.com / https://www.facebook.com/Terrolokaust // Setlist: 01. Intro / 02. Pay The Price / 03. The Writhing Of The Weak / 04. Everlasting Sleep / 05. Freedom Awaits / 06. The Pain Of Knowing / 07. Heterochromia / 08. Reversing In Circles / 09. The Way It Must Be

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Stahlmann - Main Stage (Marcel)

The rising, rusty-silver star at the firmament of the Neue Deutsche Härte is more of a meteor, which is on its way to turn the German musical landscape into dust and ash. Where STAHLMANN walks, the grass will die. Clichés are swept away by tough staccato guitars, crazy and threatening bass vocals and drums, that directly hit your kneecap. In the centre of events are four silver guys like the precursors of the apocalypse. Big words from the press release, but did they deliver the promised bundle of passionate, longing and dark hymns? Martin Soer is back on stage after his SÜNDENKLANG show and fully made-up and ready to demand a lot from the people.

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The new album, ‘Children of Desire’, hit steely and the Steampunk-inspired costumes increase the intensity of the show once more. And finally, the STAHLMANN crew was back in silver again. Hard to believe what the show did to the audience. Some could go to refill the first litre of water after the concert. It was very intense and close to the audience! // www.stahlmann-band.de / https://www.facebook.com/Stahlmann-138756019513864 // Setlist: 01. Willkommen / 02. Stahlmann / 03. Adrenalin / 04. Der Schmied / 05. Kinder Der Sehnsucht / 06. Süchtig / 07. Engel der Dunkelheit / 08. Spring nicht / 09. Schwarz

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Centhron - Hangar Stage (Marcel)

Provocative, erotic, aggressive, dark, melodic, driving - that all is CENTHRON! They are driven by the insatiable hunger for dancing masses, banging basses and attracting melodies, and they smash the world like the hammer of Thor smashes the head of the Midgard snake. Musically, CENTHRON are characterized by distorted shouts, and together with danceable bass lines, they merge to a steam hammer of electronic music. Their outfits highlight the connection with the SM scene, and they turn every one of their live shows into a unique spectacle, especially for the so-called Cyber Goths. There we had them again, the functional clothing of the hard and obscene Electro including the typical contact lenses. Never change a running system! What seems trite at first sight, disappeared into the background during the great show! The hangar was filled to the brim and the crowd was celebrating. CENTHRON understand it very well to bind followers from each musical direction to themselves and the mixture seems to ignite well. When leaving the Hangar you could see so many happy faces. // www.centhron.de // https://www.facebook.com/centhron

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Deathstars - Main Stage (Nastja)

The Swedish Industrial Metal band was founded in 2001 and conquered the hearts of the underground Industrial music lovers in no time with their debut album ‘Synthetic Generation’ that came out in 2003. The band itself describes their style as Death Glam and Russian Death Pop. That description makes obvious that DEATHSTARS are trying to combine the glamour and the darkness and gloominess in their songs and appearance. DEATHSTARS have been touring together with such legendary bands like KORN or RAMMSTEIN. After a longer break, DEATHSTARS were back on performing in 2019 and one of their long awaited appearances is at M’era Luna 2019.

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Watching DEATHSTARS perform in the shiny bright sunlight was a bit confusing. On the one hand the Hangar stage would have been probably a better aesthetic fit, on the other hand the infield was already absolutely packed, so capacity-wise it was for sure the right decision. I’ve never seen DEATHSTARS before, though I used to listen to them in my teenager years, so this gig felt quite special. The Glam & Doom band played a cool gig with some of their most epic songs like ‘Cyanide’ that was the first song I ever heard from them or the last song of the setlist ‘Blitzkrieg’. Whiplasher was in best mood for some creative announcements and the other guys showed a lot of passion and Goth’n’Roll attitude in their live performance. // www.deathstars.net / https://www.facebook.com/deathstars // Setlist: 01. Night Electric Night / 02. Death Dies Hard / 03. Tongues / 04. Semi-Automatic / 05. The Perfect Cult / 06. Chertograd / 07. Blood Stains Blondes / 08. Cyanide / 09. Blitzkrieg

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[X]-RX - Hangar Stage (Eva)

Hard, bloody, danceable, uncompromising. [X]-RX exactly know which buttons need to be pressed, to put the partying fans of future industrial rave in ecstasy. When they started like a rocket in 2006 with their dancefloor evergreen ‘Disco Distortion’ and entered the heart of the black dance music scene, [X]-RX did not hesitate and released ‘Unmöglich Erregend’ and soon after ‘Die Sexualkiste Der Hölle’, and they then became a constant of the scene and every good dancefloor cannot do without their songs. They are on tour tirelessly, and remain faithful to their style and to the taste of their fans. So it was not surprising that the Hangar was packed to its maximum and they even had to stop admission for a while. Inside, the crowd was exploding and it was very impressive to see how the whole audience was dancing even to the very last row. After all, Pascal Benisch and Jan Teutloff gave everything to make the audience move. If you have seen [X]-RX before, you know that the focus is less on standing at the synths but more on actually celebrating a party together with the fans.

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For long parts they solely rely on playback and instead take their microphones, go to the front and encourage the audience to party with them. If you ask me, this is exactly what this kind of music needs and what makes their shows so explosive. Part of this is also a small “competition” with the song ‘Virus Infect’. Here Pascal and Jan each pick one side of the audience which then shouts one of the two lines alternatingly. The louder half wins and both have a lot of fun cheering their own side to be louder while jokingly kidding about the “opponent”. Of course, they also played many other of their classic club hits like ‘Kein Herz’ and ‘Stage 2’ as well as the energetic ‘Gasoline and Fire’, title song of their current album. [X]-RX clearly made it impossible not to dance to their catchy rhythms and energetic performance. // https://www.facebook.com/XRxmusic

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Corvus Corax - Main Stage (Marcel)

CORVUS CORAX formed our understanding of medieval music - with an influence, that ranges from Moscow to Mexico City. Their albums from more than two decades are not only music, but also entire stories. Gods and legends became alive mystically and shrouded in legend, Celtic and Nordic traditions were processed, and the culture of the Vikings was brought to us people of the modern present. Everyone, who already has seen them live, knows how successful they bring all of that on stage. Driving rhythms, traditional melodies and the sound of old times: with fascinating large drums and self-made bagpipes, CORVUS CORAX Liven up the atmosphere of old times and make the audience dance and jump around like crazy as it happened in medieval times during the St. Vitus’ dance. The old masters of the loud Minnesang entered the stage in a good mood. However, the mood in the audience even decreases during the show. Of course there were fans who celebrated every song and rejoiced, but some would have liked to have more songs to join in. CORVUS CORAX was also the possibility for many to chat with friends on the lawn and have a drink. Maybe also a welcome break before what was coming today. // www.corvuscorax.de / https://www.facebook.com/CorvusCoraxBand

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Neuroticfish - Hangar Stage (Eva)

NEUROTICFISH puts a substantial, semantic substructure under Industrial, Trance and Synth Pop by dealing intensively with neuroses, paranoia and emotional sensitivities of all kind. That context, paired with sugar-sweet Pop melodies, compacts the sound experience NEUROTICFISH to a highly intensive, morbid and fascinating bastard made of aggressiveness and catharsis. This is how witty, reflected electronic sounds are made; this is music with spirit and purpose. No wonder - mastermind Mario Klein patterned himself on high-quality bands like SKINNY PUPPY, NINE INCH NAILS, or DEPECHE MODE. NEUROTICFISH is Future Pop that understands how to captivate the listeners.

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And captivate, they did. Unfortunately the sound was not perfect and especially in the first songs the vocals were too quiet and the unique details of the songwriting got blurred out. But as soon as those problems were solved, everyone was dancing and listening attentively to the charismatic voice of Sascha. Classics like ‘Silence’ were celebrated just as enthusiastically as the current single ‘Fluchtreflex’ from their album ‘AntidoronÄ. And so it felt way too early when they ended their set with the famous club hit ‘Velocity’. // www.neuroticfish.com // https://www.facebook.com/OfficialNeuroticfish

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Oomph! - Main Stage (Lina)

There was a time, when OOMPH! landed a hit with counting rhyme of a notorious children’s game. That was something new - Neue Deutsche Härte combined with EBM and Industrial at its finest. Controversial and honest, loud and present - this is what OOMPH! ever was and is still today. Dero, Flux, and Crap stand for departure and continuity. During the course of more than twenty years, the trio renewed, expanded and deepened on a regular basis, and every band member is smart, eloquent and quite pugnaciously. The effect of that permanent innovation process was, that OOMPH! remained relevant, versatile and always on a very high musical level, and so it is today.

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After a well visited autograph session OOMPH! entered the main stage on Saturday afternoon. With ‘TRRR-FCKN-HTLR’ a big party on the infield started. With a great mix of ten old and new songs OOMPH! guided us through a great concert full of power and energy. The band animated the audience to clap and sing and the audience did as commanded for the whole concert. Even through Oomph! FORMED already 30 years ago they definitely lost none of their energy and were my personal highlight at M’era Luna 2019. // www.oomph.de / https://www.facebook.com/oomphband // Setlist: 01. TRRR-FCKN-HTLR / 02. Labyrinth / 03. Träumst du / 04. Der neue Gott / 05. Niemand / 06. Kein Liebeslied / 07. Gott ist ein Popstar / 08. Gekreuzigt / 09. Sandmann / 10. Augen auf!

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Agonoize - Hangar Stage (Eva)

AGONOIZE, most fittingly, introduce themselves as “Godfathers of Hellectro”. Indeed, formed 2002, they soon became pioneers of their very own kind of aggressive and uncompromising Electro, polarising with provocative and explicit lyrics. And while songs like ‘Koprolalie’ and ‘Femme Fatale’ became essential parts of every Dark Electro party, AGONOIZE never got tired of producing new material and will release a new album, ‘Midget Vampire Porn’, in October 2019. All in all, AGONOIZE are a very sweet band that smells like raspberry. Jokes aside, AGONOIZE are famous for their provocative live show which involves a lot of artificial blood (which smells and feels indeed a lot like raspberry syrup). It was funny to see how the first rows prepared, some with rain capes to protect their clothes, while others intentionally dressed in white. And the fans were not disappointed. Already at ‘Schmerzpervers 2.0’, vocalist Chris L. used the metal claws on his right hand (just imagine Wolverine) and acted as if he was cutting himself and spread a lot of blood (and I mean A LOT) in the front rows.

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‘Schmerzpervers 2.0’ was one of three new songs that AGONOIZE were already presenting at M’era Luna, followed by ‘Homme Fatale’ and ‘Blutgruppe Jesus (-)’. On the other hand, they also played many club hits that are well known from the Electro dance-floors like ‘Staatsfeind’ and ‘Bis das Blut gefriert’. Finally AGONOIZE concluded their set with ‘Breathe’, a cover version originally written by THE PRODIGY, a homage “to say goodbye to the biggest entertainer”. I’m sure, I was not the only who looked outside over to the main stage where just a year ago THE PRODIGY performed at M’era Luna just a few months before the unexpected death of Keith Flint. // www.agonoize.berlin / https://www.facebook.com/AgonoizeOfficial // Setlist: 01. Intro / 02. Dafür / 03. Schmerzpervers 2.0 / 04. Homme Fatale / 05. Staatsfeind / 06. Blutgruppe Jesus (-) / 07. Vollrausch / 08. Deutsch / 09. Bis das Blut gefriert / 10. Breathe (Prodigy Cover)

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Mono Inc. - Main Stage (Marcel)

MONO INC. - virus, fever, medicine, addiction - or just a simple Rock band? Derived from the term “Monomanie”, a monomaniac quartet was founded short after the beginning of this millennium, and it took seven years and seven albums to end up in the hearts of thousands of fans. It’s not surprising, that the concert halls have reached a dimension, that in their beginning, the band never had dreamed of. MONO INC. is a band that always looks for new challenges, so steam machine keeps running, and they never get tired of writing new, fantastic songs, release unique albums and enchant the fans sustainably. MONO INC. are and remain a guarantee for good concerts.

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Anyone who has ever attended a MONO INC. concert knows what I’m talking about. And who did not do that should catch up quickly. Many hits were played, the new album including tour was announced and as beautiful as on ‘Children of the Dark’ you probably never hear an audience sing along better. A round thing and you got what you expected. // www.mono-inc.com / https://www.facebook.com/monoinc // Setlist: 01. Welcome to Hell / 02. Funeral Song / 03. Arabia / 04. Symphony of Pain / 05. Gothic Queen / 06. The Banks of Eden / 07. Get Some Sleep / 08. After the War / 09. Voices of Doom / 10. Children of the Dark

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Zeromancer - Hangar Stage (Nastja)

It’s been a while since the release of the last album by ZEROMANCER, actually six years by now, but the loyalty of the fan base and the power of their live qualities are always a magnet for a huge crowd. ZEROMANCER arose from the Norwegian Alternative Rock band SEIGMEN who became incredibly successful, especially with the release of ‘Metropolis’ in 1995 in Norway and beyond. ZEROMANCER’s hits ‘Clone Your Lover’ and ‘Dr. Online’, being released in the very early 2000s, still fill the dance floors of underground clubs. With the last album studio release, ‘Bye-Bye Borderline’ in 2013, ZEROMANCER once more proved their talent in writing electrifying music and creating deeply emotional lyrics that cut deep inside.

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The break in the genre was quite huge between AGONOIZE who played the Hangar Stage just before ZEROMANCER. Therefore there was a big changeover, though a bunch of fans from the front rows was still covered all over in fake blood. Usually not the view that ZEROMANCER are used to at their gigs, I’d say. Just a few hours before entering the stage, ZEROMANCER finally announced the name of the new guitar player who was stepping in for Dan Heide who left the band last year after 15 years (Dan is still member of Kim Ljung’s other band LJUNGBLUT, though). So the music family around Kim Ljung got a new member, Per-Olav Wiik, also member of the Norwegian Rock & Metal band UNTIME. Playing the first show in that new formation must have been quite exciting for everyone in the band, but also the fans were extremely curious about that gig. The audience already started to shout out for the band moments before they came on stage and the first Norwegian flags came up here and there.

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ZEROMANCER started very energetic and obviously excited to play in front of the very packed Hangar. After the intro ZEROMANCER got the audience right away with one of the evergreens ‘Clone Your Lover’ and no one was standing still. Hangar was caught by the five Norwegians for the next 40 minutes, playing an exciting setlist with three songs from my personal favourite list: ‘The Hate Alphabet’, ‘Die Of A Broken Heart’ and ‘Fade To Black’ that are all extremely dark, aggressive and incredibly beautiful in their own way. In between frontman Alex obviously having a great time, laughing, making jokes with his band colleagues like pretending to pull away Lorry’s drum. His “Seid ihr bereit?” calls were answered enthusiastically and also Kim seemed to be in perfect mood while aggressively shouting at the crowd, just to send kisses into the air the next second. And also Per-Olav seemed to master this challenge of the first gig in the most perfect way.

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When ‘Dr. Online’ started, the energy literally exploded; and then, way too fast, the last song for the day, ‘Photographic’, an individual cover version of the DEPECHE MODE song, closed this epic gig. ZEROMANCER came, performed and conquered the hearts of the audience. That’s how we love it. For all of those who are now craving for more: just two days after M’era Luna Pluswelt Festival announced ZEROMANCER to headline their 20-years-anniversary edition in Oberhausen on November 1st and in Berlin November 2nd 2019. // www.zeromancer.com / https://www.facebook.com/zeromancerzentral // Setlist: 01. Intro / 02. Clone Your Lover / 03. Flirt With Me / 04. You Meet People Twice / 05. The Hate Alphabet / 06. Sinners International / 07. Die Of A Broken Heart / 08. Fade To Black / 09. Dr. Online / 10. Photographic

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Lacrimosa - Main Stage (Marcel)

Like no other German-speaking band, LACRIMOSA can look back to such a turbulent, musical history. Since more than 30 years, Thilo Wolff and his teammates have the back of the black scene and add important innovations to the Gothic genre, what makes the band still today very relevant. LACRIMOSA walk between the genres and ever since, they are pioneers, who reveal their fans unique moments between melancholy and poetry. Gothic Rock or Symphonic Metal, melancholy or quiet hope - there is a virtually inexhaustible repertoire that recurrently brings us memorable moments of black music art.

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Unfortunately, the shallow sounds after what has already taken place here today were a bit boring and the area in front of the stage was not as crowded as before. But with 14 albums and 30 years of experience, Tilo Wolff and Anne Nurmi mastered their show professionally and they still enjoyed their music. The fact that the area in front of the stage is a bit emptier was ignored by LACRIMOSA and a great show was presented to the gentle listeners. Nothing to dance, more to swing, but not boring. Earlier in the program, the show would definitely have become a hit. // www.lacrimosa.com / https://www.facebook.com/LacrimosaOfficial // Setlist: 01. Schakal / 02. Nach dem Sturm / 03. Alles Lüge / 04. My Pain / 05. Der Morgen danach / 06. Copycat / 07. Bresso / 08. Ich bin der brennende Komet

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[:SITD:] - Hangar Stage (Marcel)

Hard beats, Trance, aggressive sounds - [:SITD:] are well worthy of their good name, because the band’s name is short for “Shadows In The Dark”, and that’s exactly what the thrilling electronic sound of the trio is: dark, apocalyptic, energetic, with dark lyrics and finally a sound, that you can’t escape from. Let you be carried away, inhale the darkness, and dance to trance. Fortunately, [:SITD:] are impregnably not only at the clubs, but also live on stage. [:SITD:] are some kind of icons of thickness, monoliths of slow panic and inner conflict. They are that kind of musicians, who get locked up in the basement together with a C64, and the next morning, they enter the surface with a brand-new and dystopia completely added with sound.

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Party, danceable rhythms, bullets and screams are normal for [: SITD:] from the first to the last note. Their strong sounds and tonal power plunged from the stage into the audience and left no foot on the ground. It quickly got hot in the hall and the fog on the stage together with the bright letters in the background almost made up for a club atmosphere. Good that the door is only seconds away after the concert for the fresh air since hits like ‘Lebensborn’, ‘Suffering in Solitude’ or the uber hit ‘Snuff Machinery’ made people dance during the whole show. // https://www.facebook.com/SITDofficial // Setlist: 01. Intro / 02. God’s Blessing / 03. Lebensborn / 04. Genesis / 05. Code Red / 06. Olymp / 07. Suffering in Solitude / 08. Kreuzgang / 09. Laughingstock / 10. Rot / 11. Richtfest / 12. Snuff Machinery

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Within Temptation - Main Stage (Marcel)

Since their humble start, the band is coming a long way: million-fold sold albums make WITHIN TEMPTATION to one of the biggest Rock acts worldwide. About 23 years ago, singer Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt started with classic Gothic Metal, and in the course of time, the project developed to a Symphonic Metal band, without denying or losing their roots. More enthralling as their albums are the live shows of the Dutch, and that’s not only caused by the fanciful dresses of learned fashion designer Sharon den Adel, which she is tailoring for herself according to the respective music style, but also by the spectacular stage shows. To sniff the special atmosphere during a WITHIN TEMPTATION concert will end in addiction for this special mixture of Metal and bombast.

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With a large portion of entertainment the evening was now continuing on the main stage. The stage design for the second-last show on the main stage today was really immense. The Dutch see the M’era Luna as one of the most special festivals in the world and delivered a corresponding show. A whole arsenal of lasers was set up and RAMMSTEIN surely would have shown interest in the lot of Pyro fired here. You noticed directly that the band was used to big stages and there was no fear of the audience. Sympathetic they presented pieces from the entire band history that both the audience and some yellow vest danced. // www.within-temptation.com / https://www.facebook.com/wtofficial // Setlist: 01. Raise Your Banner / 02. The Reckoning / 03. Stand My Ground / 04. In the Middle of the Night / 05. The Heart of Everything / 06. Ice Queen / 07. Faster / 08. Supernova / 09. Paradise (What About Us?) / 10. What Have You Done / 11. Mad World / 12. Mother Earth

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Die Krupps - Hangar Stage (Marcel)

When talking about Industrial pioneers, don’t miss DIE KRUPPS. Besides KRAFTWERK and the EINSTÜRZENDEN NEUBAUTEN, the band from Düsseldorf was one of the leading pioneers of the Industrial sound, and like no one else they added tool rhythm and machine sound to a steelwork. Not for nothing, DIE KRUPPS founders Jürgen Engler and Ralf Dörper borrowed the name from the Essen heavy industry family Krupp, and called their first album ‘Stahlwerksinfonie’. Later, bands like FRONT 242, NITZER EBB or even RAMMSTEIN pulled their inspiration from the crashing tracks of the Electronic Body Music pioneers. Their heavy guitar sound paired with pushing sequencers turned DIE KRUPPS into the epitome of innovation: Especially that mixture makes their music timeless and is always a guarantee for full dance floors and energetic live shows. Without doubt, the highlights were the frenetically celebrated DIE KRUPPS Japan Tour and the performances at the Wacken Open Air and already in former years at the M’era Luna Festival.

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This band entirely consists of sympathetic people. Everyone controls his instrument perfectly and gives everything. There was no sign of restrain at all. That the guys wrote music history for decades and just cannot get tired is a sure sign they still love what they do. The songs were fun and the feedback from the audience you got after each song gave a new motivational boost. If there is also a visit from NIGHT DRIFTER with it, it almost seems like the guys could only give full throttle. The setlist consisted entirely of classics and so was after the concert the most people in the rooms were breathless. As a little surprise, they had a guest vocalist on stage for ‘Der Amboss’. The female vocals were delivered by Liz van den Acker, entering the stage in a stunning outfit with silver pants. If the hall was not built so sturdy, there would only be rubble and ashes left after the show. // www.diekrupps.com / https://www.facebook.com/diekruppsofficial // Setlist: 01. Intro Godzilla 2018 / 02. High Tech/Low Life / 03. The Dawning of Doom / 04. Germaniac / 05. Schmutzfabrik / 06. Der Amboss / 07. Tot he Hilt / 08. Metal Machine Music / 09. Robo Sapien / 10. Nazis Auf Speed / 11. Machineries of Joy / 12. Fatherland / Encore: 13. Bloodsuckers

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ASP - Main Stage (Lina)

A motor of the black scene’s heart: with their mixture of driving Rock music, electronic elements and Folk melodies, the gothic novel rockers from Frankfurt fascinate the audience for many years, especially with their breath-taking festival performances. No matter if works from the narrative cycles ‘Schwarzer Schmetterling’, from the world of the sorcerer’s apprentice Krabat or the ‘Fremder’ cycle, or notorious “Ever-Blacks” or new songs, ASP know how to thrill the masses with their shows full of energy. With pleasure and dedication, seriousness and joy of laying, but also with a pleasant portion of self-irony - ASP always stay authentic, independent and “black as night”. No chart success or sold-out concert has changed who they are.

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The German Goth-Rock band ASP is a frequent but welcome guest at the M’era Luna Festival. 2019 they were back and Saturday’s headliner. And after all these years it still never gets boring to see “den Meister” and his band live on stage. With a dark, black robe and the song ‘Phragmokontrolle’ ASP entered the stage, supported by loud applause. With all-time favourites like ‘Schwarzes Blut’ and ‘Ich bin ein wahrer Satan’ they rocked the stage and showed us that they are real showmen. Pyro, fire and steadily changing costumes leaded us throw the show. A show full of surprising and stunning show effects. As a real highlight ASP played their new song ‘Kosmonautilus’ which will be on their new album that will be released in November this year.

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In the end they played the band hymn ‘Ich will brennen’ und set the main stage literally on fire with fire columns and sparkles coming down from the ceiling of the stage. All in all it was a great show and ASP a worthy headliner for the 20th edition of the M’era Luna Festival. // www.AspsWeltEn.de / https://www.facebook.com/AspsWelten // Setlist: 01. Phragmokontrolle / 02. Schwarzes Blut / 03. Weichen[t]stellung (GeistErfahrer Reprise) / 04. Astoria verfallen / 05. Ich bin ein wahrer Satan / 06. 20.000 Meilen / SonARTa / BernsteinbeerengeL / Zutiefst / 07. Me / 08. Kosmonautilus / 09. Werben / 10. Kokon / 11. Denn ich bin der Meister / 12. Ich will brennen

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On the whole, all M’era lunatics had a splendid Saturday. Most acts delivered outstanding shows making their fans happy. The festival’s popularity keeps on growing and the grounds were well visited from the early hours on. As the day went on, it felt too crowded though since the festival was sold-out once again and when you wanted to run from one stage to other and get inside an already packed Hangar you might had some problems. Once again, this year the weather gods had been gracious to all attendees. It was sunny, but not too hot. Bearable temperatures, slightly dry and dusty, and only the wind made M’era Luna’s characteristically great sound somewhat less perfect at times. After the concerts, there was again the famous Hangar party where people could dance until the early morning hours.

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Written by Daniela Vorndran, Marcel Lüke, Nastja Iz, Eva Lhum & Lina Neike
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)

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