Freizeitzentrum Bostalsee, Nohfelden-Bosen, Germany3rd May 2008
Hexentanz Festival: Subway to Sally, Diary of Dreams, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, Scream Silence
The witches were dancing again at the third Hexentanz Festival. For the first time on two festival days, the top acts of the medieval rock scene were gathering at the Bostalsee in Nohfelden to bring the masses to a boil. As we were in Paris for the DIARY OF DREAMS show on the first festival day, we only had the chance to attend the small festival on the second day…
We left Paris short before seven on the 3rd May; remember we did not have any sleep during the night. So, we tried to sleep a little at the train ride that lasted about two hours until we reached already Saarbrücken where we had some time for resting in the sun and for some warm drink. Our connecting train left about an hour later to bring us to Türkismühle not too far away from the festival area and our hotel. It was a very small village and we had some trouble to get a cab. But of course we made it… and we more or less rented “our” taxi driver for the whole weekend. At around eleven we arrived at the hotel, checked in - of course with some troubles with the reservation - and finally got a few hours of sleep and a shower. At four we were picked up from “our” driver again who brought us to the festival area, got our tickets and entered the field. We realized that all bands were playing thirty minutes earlier than expected so we missed THE PUSSYBATS and just made it for SCREAM SILENCE.
Scream Silence
From their first appearance in 1998 until now the band around singer and mastermind Hardy Fieting continuously developed their style. Ten years after the beginning, the band is already more than just another Goth-Rock band and singer Hardy Fieting became one of the best German live singers. The band already released six full-time albums the latest one being ‘Aphelia’ and right now they’re working on the next album. SCREAM SILENCE are Hardy Fieting (vocals), Robert Klausch (guitar), René Gödde (guitar), Hagen Schneevoigt (bass) and Heiko Wolf (drums) http://www.screamsilence.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/screamsilencemusic
Music & Performance
After I heard the ‘Aphelia’ album for the first time I knew that I needed to see that band some day live on stage. But always I missed them until I finally had the chance during the Hexentanz festival. Just that we had bright day light was not the best condition for the show. I think a small dark club would have worked much better. Anyway we all got delivered a powerful show. Singer Hardy luckily had recovered from his laryngitis and his voice sounded as strong as on CD. Their dark rock songs were supported by wide electronic melodies. The band has developed obviously to a very good live band. While Hagen played the cool guy (are all bass players the coolest ones in a band? ;) ) especially Robert was very vivid on stage and making a lot of faces… very nice to take pics of I must admit. But also Hardy moved from one side of the stage to the other expressing lots of emotions with his songs. A very nice beginning of our festival day!
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: - (daylight)
Total: 7.7
Die Apocalyptischen Reiter
This band tears down all boundaries for more than one decade. The fond their home between melancholy and joy of life, between untamed hate and limitless love, between infatuating folk and crushing brutal sounds. Always new, always different, but with an unquestionable charm. This inflammation of the inner fire of passion makes Fuchs, Volk-Man, Dr. Pest and Sir G to one of the best German live bands, who were never limited to the borders of conventional metal, due to their enormous creativity. Pitrone, who was playing guitars so far, has been replaced by Lady Cat-Man. http://www.reitermania.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/reitermania
Music & Performance
I must admit that this band and the music is not really my cup of tea. But well, those guys and the lady in red shimmering latex made a great show pushing the audience to its limits. It was nearly a bit over the top, but seemed to be just right. The people were screaming and jumping to the songs. Very good vocals were combined with metal riffs. Strange seemed Dr. Pest wearing just black latex pants and a mask and playing his keyboard while being “imprisoned” in a metal cage, cracking his whip. Anyone on and off stage seemed to have real fun. At the end of the show, lots of shirts and other merchandising stuff as well as sweets were thrown into the audience.
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: - (daylight)
Total: 7.3
Diary of Dreams
Finally it was time for the band I really was waiting for. Just at the end of the previous band we moved to the front rows to find a good spot for the concert, and we found one right at the fence facing Gaun:A. Already the sound check caused some cheers and laughs when back liner Alex presented a tongue-twister with many Zs. Anyone still needing an introduction of the now following band? Once resident in the Dark Wave Genre, DIARY OF DREAMS developed their own style over the years and perfected it further with the most recent album ‘Nekrolog 43’. Gloomy, intense and full of fascinating secrets, the works of mastermind Adrian Hates receive worldwide credit. Whether in Moscow, Washington, Rome or Cape Town, DIARY OF DREAMS stirs their fans all around the globe. They surely were the paradise bird among the medieval rock bands of the Hexentanz Festival. DIARY OF DREAMS live are currently Adrian Hates (vocals, guitar), Gaun:A (guitar), D.N.S. (drums) and Taste (keyboard). http://www.diaryofdreams.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/diaryofdreams
Music & Performance
It still was not totally dark when the band around mastermind Adrian Hates entered the stage. I found it a bit strange to see the band playing in day light. The melancholy, deep songs belong to the darkness. Luckily not the whole show was happening in brightness, it got darker and darker during the set which started, as we already know it, with ‘Nekrolog 43’ followed by ‘Chemicals’ and ‘False Affection, False Creation’. Unfortunately the show suffered from some technical problems. There were strange noises and dissonances from Adrian’s mic. So, he had to change it for one of Gaun:A’s to proceed with the set. As you might know, Adrian is a real perfectionist and was not really happy about this fact. But during the show he cheered up again and you could see him smile later when holding out the mic into the crowd which sang loudly the refrain of ‘Traumtänzer’.
The set itself was basically the same as the one played in Paris the day before, just a few songs shorter and without the demanded encore. As for the audience, it seemed to be a bit reluctant at the beginning. There were a lot of fans of the headliner already waiting for their band in front of the stage. But during the show, cheers and clapping as well as singing became louder and louder and made up for a really good mood. As always I especially loved ‘Soul Stripper’ with the powerful drum solo of D.N.S. This is just perfect! But also Taste was really vivid during the show. Unbelievable how heavily he was banging his head! You really feared he would crash it on the keyboard or somewhere else. Even Adrian must have thought so because he was turning away his micro stand. Again well don, guys!
Setlist
01. Nekrolog 43
02. Chemicals
03. False Affection, False Creation
04. The Plague
05. She
06. Play God
07. Hypo)crypticK(al
08. Menschfeind
09. Amok
10. Traumtänzer
11. The Curse
12. Soul Stripper
13. Kindrom
14. Butterfly: Dance! 15. Panik
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 6
Light: 8
Total: 8
Subway to Sally
Founded in 1992, the band gathered a devoted fan base around them due to countless live performances and strong albums. Today, the seven musicians excite thousands of people in Germany, Austria and the Switzerland. The trademarks of the band are harsh Rock and Metal music garnered with medieval melodies, woven into the sound with the help of bagpipe, symphonia, lute, mandolin, walt-pipe, violin and flute. http://subwaytosally.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/subwaytosally
Music & Performance
I am not really a fan of the band at all but I wanted to give them another chance... until I reached the photo pit and got to know that all photo accreditations have been cancelled by the band just before the show. Seems after winning the “Eurovision Song Contest”, the band has its heads far up in the clouds.
So, I decided to rather have some beer with my friends and enjoy the rest of the evening and start up some little after party from which we were back at our hotel quite late, at early morning of the next day. Some hours, basically only two, of sleep until “our” taxi driver came to pick me up for the train station. Several hours in a packed train without sleep and at early evening I was back home after a weekend with nearly no sleep at all but with a lot of exciting and memorable moments.
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com/ / http://www.black-cat-net.de/ / www.myspace.com/vorndranphotography)
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