Leipzig, Germany3rd to 6th June 2022
Wave Gotik Treffen 2022 Day 1 with ESA, Solar Fake, IAMX
The Pre-Opening at Moritzbastei was already a great event to get back into the WGT world. After three years, it still felt somewhat unreal to be back here. Friday is always somewhat of a weird day. It feels like the festival will be going on forever since there are full four days of program, but at the same time everyone knows that these days will be over in no time.
First things first, meeting Dani for breakfast in the city was a great way to kick-off the long festival weekend. Catching up with friends after a really long time was in general one of my most precious highlights of the WGT. But of course, another really important reason to be here is the great music variety. I always get confused when people say they feel like there are not enough “good” bands or artists in the program. I am wondering, how many of the artists they checked out or knew before stating this? We used to have a lovely tradition to check out bands we don’t know on the Sunday before the festival by watching videos or listening to the songs on streaming platforms. And every single time, we used to discover artists which really surprised us and became some of our highlights during the festival.
First on the list of day one for me was ESA at Haus Leipzig. A very awesome electronic artist whom I am curious about for quite some while. Actually, I was supposed to see ESA, among other, in April 2020 at Resistanz Festival in Sheffield, but - we all know what happened in March 2020. And this year, when Resistanz finally happened, I couldn’t make it. Anyways, WGT was still very high on the priority list and ESA was really cool. Unfortunately, there were some sound issues and Haus Leipzig could have been a lot more packed, but for an event like WGT on the first evening this was still a pretty decent show. And it made curious for more!
Next on the list - hurrying back to Agra for something a bit more “approved”. SOLAR FAKE was calling and many were following! I do really enjoy their shows in general, but this show felt particularly good to me. It was the mix of a really good, engaging show, songs and artists on stage whom one is really familiar with and just a bit of this “good old times before pandemic and all the other BS which happened in the meantime”. The show was super energetic and just so much fun. Enjoyed every second of it.
Another band had to cancel and so IAMX who were planned as a midnight special became a pre-midnight special. Never mind. After three years staying up really late felt a bit hard anyways, even though the tent was just around the corner at the Agra camping ground. Chris Corner invited to the “Machinate” show. This show was definitely very different, an interplay of modular synths and lots of different electronic gear which formed an impressive set-up on stage which was mostly covered in layers and layers of fog and strobe-like light. Chris Corner owned the stage and after a little moment also the audience. The show was very different from what one would expect from an IAMX show if you’ve seen one before. And the opinions went a bit in different directions from some levels of confusion to people stating this was the best live show they’ve ever been to. I guess, you should have been there yourself to feel and experience it. IAMX never fail to surprise and therefore, we love Chris and the people around him.
The first day ended with some dancing at the Agra café and Agra 4.2. Just like in good old times. And the songs didn’t change much. For the good and the bad of it. Anyways, Friday passed by. As expected in no time. In between the shows catching up with some friends, be it planned or spontaneously. Tired, happy, and looking forward to the next days to come, it was about time to hit the sleeping bag after a while and get some sleep before Saturday started its program.
All Pictures by Nastja Iz
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