Leipzig, Germany3rd to 6th June 2022
Wave Gotik Treffen 2022 Day 2 with Bunkersyndikat performance, Rotersand, Then Comes Silence, The Names, Korine
The first official day of the 29th WGT had set the expectations high and Saturday was about to serve some exciting highlights as well. Second night on the camping ground survived well. By the way, random notes from someone who has been camping most of her WGT years - I loved that there was now running water with soap just next to the dixis (mobile toilets). The soap containers were refilled quite often, so it was very rarely that there was none left when I needed it. The camping ground was definitely not as packed as the years before. However, this also had the advantage that getting our favourable camping spot was easy and I did not experience any queues in front of the showers. This felt quite comfortable remembering the times back in the day, when the waiting time on Saturday or Sunday was easily half an hour or even longer.
The Saturday festivities started for me with a spontaneous and unplanned performance. While enjoying an ice cream in 25 °C on the Agra site, I met some friends who were just on their way to Connewitz for as they told me a “robot dance”. Somewhat puzzled what this may mean, I decided to join as the next ToDo on my list was still a few hours away. So, jumping into the tram, getting some snacks from a supermarket and ready to enjoy the following event. On the green island just across from Werk II (in the past also a venue for WGT) people were already gathering to enjoy the performance by BUNKERSYNDIKAT. We joined them for a picnic and had lots of fun at this kind of little rave party with people dressed as robots and offering the crowd to make their own robot costume. Kids and adults, everyone had fun. Spontaneous things are often the best. Loved spending my time with some friends whom I haven’t seen in a year and enjoying the chilled vibes of this robot rave.
However, the clock was running, and I wanted to catch ROTERSAND at Agra before heading to the city centre. And it was great! I loved every second of the performance by Rascal and Krischan and I wouldn’t mind to sing along and party with them much, much longer! The ROTERSAND set was full of bangers such as ‘War On Error’, ‘Silence’ and of course all-time favourite ‘Exterminate Annihilate Destroy’. And they made me dance, but also cry. Thank you for the references to the Ukraine war! This moment felt immensely strong to connect. A live show which had it all and much more. Thank you!
And here we had the typical WGT situation. I needed to get in really short time from Agra to Haus Leipzig in the city centre, and was already observing the time throughout the last songs of the ROTERSAND gig. Luckily, I made it just in time to Haus Leipzig without having to cut on any of the ROTERSAND songs. Haus Leipzig in the meantime already felt like a sauna - not only because I was in a hurry on my way here. It was hot and packed and THEN COMES SILENCE were about to conquer the stage. The Swedish Post Punk band was presenting their classics and newer songs in intimate, and dark atmosphere. Luckily, Alex Svenson was wearing white, so it was still easy to see where he is. THEN COMES SILENCE delivered a strong, solid and very engaging performance. The band had also much fun on stage and so it was easy to enjoy their show!
Spontaneously decided to stay a bit longer to catch the legendary THE NAMES whom I - to be honest - did not know about before. The Belgian Post Punk band was formed back in 1978 and was therefore on stage for 44 years - which is more than a decade longer than I am alive. And therefore, even more outstanding - I loved seeing so many people of all ages in the audience and the show was really putting you back in time - in a very positive sense. A lovely time travel journey to enjoy.
Some small talks and snacks later in front of Haus Leipzig - we were on our way to Moritzbastei for the last show of this night. Moritzbastei was - as expected - super packed and it was hard to just move between the rooms. Luckily, most people tend to try to get out of Tonne (a stage at MoritzbasteI) after a show, so getting further in before the next gig works well when you arrive on time. KORINE from US invited to close the concert day with them and a lot of people followed. The Tonne was packed in no time again and the audience as extravagant and diverse as you can imagine. Many people seemed to have waited for the Electronic Pop band from Philadelphia and celebrated them ecstatically. KORINE were 100 % engaged and touched by the heart-warming welcome and for sure got many new fans.
Absolutely happy and tired, just shared a drink with some friends while talking about everything under the sun, and was hitting the campground not too long after - three years without WGT were definitely noticeably in the capability to stay up late at night. But two more packed and exciting days were waiting as well!
All Pictures by Nastja Iz
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