Leipzig, Germany7th to 10th June 2019
Wave Gotik Treffen 2019 day 4 with Erik Cohen, Banane Metalik, Fliehende Stürme, The Foreign Resort and The Creepshow
WGT Monday always comes way to sudden. Though it is already one of the festivals that are longer than others, it hits always really hard when the Monday morning (or noon for some of us) arrives.
The main plan for the day was to take care of our beloved tradition of the (Horror) Punk Monday at Täubchenthal - one of my favourite locations for sure with the best program to dance away the upcoming melancholy. One band though made some of us change the location at the end to Haus Leipzig and finish WGT 2019 there with THE FOREIGN RESORT while the apocalypse in the form of a thunderstorm came over Leipzig and was responsible for the cancellation of the outdoor gigs and markets in the evening.
But before going to Täubchenthal, where we were about to start with the concerts, we joined the funeral march against the species extinction that followed a route from Bayerischer Bahnhof where the organizer and WGT app developer Tobias Theiss first spoke to the crowd about the march and the motivation behind it, supported by a contribution of Oswald Henke (HENKE, GOETHES ERBEN etc.) through the city to Moritzbastei with a speech by Dr. Mark Benecke and a very special performance by MILA MAR and finishing at central station with the performance by FELINE STRANGE and more speeches. About 1,500 – 2,000 people took part in it and the final “die-in” (participants lay down on the ground and did not move for about 1 minute). A very important message and last call to safe our planet and environment, with important warnings that there are already many things that cannot be undone anymore, but we should act to prevent worse.
Erik Cohen - Täubchenthal (Nastja)
ERIK COHEN opened the last day of WGT 2019 at Täubchenthal. Daniel Geiger, the musician behind the pseudonym, played in different Hardcore and Rock bands since 1997 and started with ERIK COHEN a solo project back in 2011. At the beginning the lyrics were in English, but the musician decided to switch to German lyrics. This actually makes the project quite unique. When you listen to the music first, you kind of expect English lyrics here. The Post Punk touch makes you believe that the vocals would be in English. But it is quite an interesting mix and something that is not that usual here. The music is straight forward, German lyrics, quite catchy melodies and performance, self-confident appearance. A really good start into the day! // https://www.facebook.com/erikcohenofficial
Banane Metalik - Täubchenthal (Nastja)
If you were not awake yet, you would be here. BANANE METALIK are actually the reason why we decided y few years ago that closing WGT on Monday at Täubchenthal might be a great tradition to follow. Horror masks, absolutely amazing Gore’n’Roll, a wonderful variety of instruments and a frontman who loves his audience so much, he would like to eat them all. If you are still not dancing here, then you are probably really dead. Like dead-dead. The French zombies are conquering the world with their heartfelt, playful and amazingly fun music and show. The audience didn’t need an extra invitation and so it didn’t take long for a mosh pit in the middle just in front of the stage to appear and grow quite fast. Everyone on and in front of the stage just had a lot of fun.
Different than about three years ago, Ced666, the vocalist, jumped just once into the crowd, but that didn’t mean that there was less interaction. Not at all! I just remember from last time when he suddenly jumped on the bar counter, dancing and growling up there and the - let’s say - slightly surprised facial expression of the bar staff. Moments to remember! Also this time we had some crowd surfing, crazy zombies all over the place playing contrabass and of course how could you contradict to such a charismatic French zombie guy if he asks “Do you also know the feeling of wanting to eat people you love?” Sure. Once a month at least! An amazing, energetic band celebrating life, I mean death, of course and helping to fade away the beginning after-WGT-depression. // https://www.facebook.com/bananemetalik
Fliehende Stürme - Täubchenthal (Nastja)
But as we are all goths or related here, depression, melancholy and all familiar feelings are nothing to hide from. FLIEHENDE STÜRME are a German Depro Punk and Dark Wave band and so perfect here to get the whole spectrum of emotions. The band was found in 1983 and so can be counted to the founders of the back in the day very young scene. The performance was unagitated and focused on feelings inside. The break after BANANE METALIK was a bit hard though, so it felt a bit difficult to calm down after the very heated and energetic performance of the band before and the oppressive air outside that preannounced the upcoming thunderstorm made many of us struggle a bit with our circulation (though the conditioner inside worked perfectly - thanks to the venue responsible persons!).
Nevertheless it was a very intense performance and great to see another legendary band live on stage. The vocals made us sink inside ourselves and feel the lyrics and the moments at the deepest. Post Punk vibes and Dark Wave melodies conquered the hearts of the audience. // https://www.facebook.com/fliehendestuerme // Setlist: 01. Die Königin darf nicht fallen / 02. Zwischen Liebe / 03. Ein Tropfen im Feuer / 04. Kaleidoskop / 05. Puppen / 06. Maschinentrauma / 07. Duell der Letzten / 08. Spieler / 09. Das Chaos brütet / 10. Blauer Mond / 11. Himmel steht still / 12. Lunaire / 13. Satellit
The Foreign Resort - Haus Leipzig (Nastja)
One thing that I knew for sure today was, that I didn’t want to miss THE FOREIGN RESORT at Haus Leipzig tonight. From the first time I saw them at Nocturnal Culture Night Festival (NCN) last year, the preference for this band just kept growing. Their current album ‘Outnumbered’ feels very homogeneous and exciting and so I was really looking forward to the show at Haus Leipzig. The venue was fully crowded and the air thick and hot, though at least the air conditioner was on, but it was a hard task to fight against the heavy air outside and the masses of people inside. The band convinced from the first second and it was not possible to resist the urge to dance and enjoy the sophisticated Punk Rock and Wave hymns.
The guys from Copenhagen just keep touring around the world and the growing follower community cannot be mistaken. The songs are well composed, the guitars driving and pushing, while the voice of Mikkel is carrying all the tragic and emotions of a heavy, but willing to live heart without being whiny at any time which sometimes happens to other bands in that genre. The combination of riffs and drums that go forward with a lot of power, danceable melodies and real, unfiltered emotions make THE FOREIGN RESORT quite unique and a strong band in that genre that just started showing its full potential. The band is giving full energy on stage and Mikkel is talking some German in between the songs - he is doing really good while asking himself whether the decision to use dative was correct. Something that is even a hard task for many native speakers, believe me. Very charismatic musicians showing their hearts on stage!
THE FOREIGN RESORT leave the decision to the listener - you can dance to their music or just close your eyes and dive deep in. Whatever you do, you can always discover a new facet of their music and your own emotions. The emotional riots are my personal closing gig of this year’s WGT and I could not wish for a more perfect ending while the world seemed to go down outside with the storm racing through the city and the water masses covering the streets. // https://www.facebook.com/theforeignresort // Setlist: 01. Onto Us / 02. Obsessing / 03. Hearts Fade Out / 04. Dead End Roads / 05. Suburban Depression / 06. She Is Lost / 07. Quiet Again / 08. Flushed / 09. Skyline/Decay / 10. Outnumbered / 11. orange Glow / 12. New Frontiers / 13. Send Your Heart To The Riot / 14. Dark White
The Creepshow - Täubchenthal (Marko)
THE CREEPSHOW started the concert with the song ‘Death At My Door’, and after only a few seconds after the intro the Täubchenthal crowd went crazy! The band set an incredible pace, and the audience followed. They jumped, danced and shook their heads - everyone in the club was on the move! “Sickboy” Sean was even kneeling on his double bass - what a cool show the band put on. The club was completely full and it was very hot and humid. It was exactly at this time that WGT open air locations had to close because of severe weather warnings. But we did not have this problem in this indoor location! The third song, ‘Run For Your Life’ was received with great applause and the next one with the fans clapping along loudly in rhythm.
“It’s great to be back here again,” said the Canadians and then asked us, “Are you having a good weekend so far?” Singer Kenda casually played her low-hanging guitar on some songs and during the songs that she did not have a guitar; she hopped wildly and hilariously, delivering pure energy. The stage became coloured with red light shining in the fog and again the people in the hall were clapping, also up on the gallery. Up there, the fans were crowded in several rows. ‘Hellbound’ was sung by the boys from the band alone while singer Kendra took a little trip through the audience. From start to finish it was a totally cool and crazy show from these exceptional Psychobilly Canadians. This autumn the band will be back in Germany for four concerts and will surely celebrate with a great party together with their fans! // https://www.facebook.com/TheCreepshowOfficial
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet), Marko Jakob and Nastja Iz
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