The 27th Wave-Gotik-Treffen (WGT) took place from 17th until 21st May 2018 as usual in Leipzig. And also as usual there was a diverse and interesting program.
Thursday
The traditional Sadgoth.com meeting moved to Ratskeller this year since the sheer amount of people got too big for the rooms at Bayerischer Bahnhof. There were more than 200 people present! At about 11:30 pm, I decided to go to the Moritzbastei for an hour or so, where I left shortly after 5 am in the end 😉 SO the arriva day ended at about 6:30 already…
Friday
Strangely enough ,the routine of going to Felsenkeller was absent this year – in fact, I didn’t have this location on my schedule at all. The day started rather early when THE LAST CRY finally played at WGT after trying to get in for so long – and once again it was a great concert. Second band were UNDERTHESKIN who I had seen a couple of times already as well. The Polish trio did well on the big stage at Täubchenthal. After that, one of my rare location changes was due. At Schauspielhaus, it was time for MERCURY’S ANTENNAE, whose style in the vicinity of bands like the Cocteau Twins worked fantastic in this venue. And to be able to sit down for a gig wasn’t too bad either… Then I heded back to Täubchenthal where it was time for a snack. Then came one of my highlights, the fantastic SKELETAL FAMILY, who apparently wanted to make up for the – dogbite-caused – somewhat subdued gig last year. With a lot of energy and obvious joy of playing the concert evening came to a fitting end, before dancing ensued at the WHEN WE WERE YOUNG night – At about 5 in the morning the staff wanted to finish so I went back to bed, where the day ended once more at 6:30.
Saturday
Saturday had one location change as well. First destination was Haus Leipzig where DEAD LEAF ECHO played, one of my personal band discoveries this year. Then it was time to go to Täubchenthal once again to see some old heroes and one current favourite. Up next were JOY/DISASTER who I had not seen for quite a while. After the French guys rocked the house properly, one of my current heavy rotation bands, SECOND STILL, came on. I have seen then four times now and they were always great. A good old friend was on next with FRANK THE BAPTIST, and I can only say that the band around Mr Vollmann never disappointed me. Then it was time for the eagerly awaited reunion show of ALL GONE DEAD who have not played for eleven years (unfortunately without former guitarist Steve, although Miah fits in the band really well). Singer Ben aka Stich raced across the stage and through the press pit in his usual way, and Barb aka Darlin’ Grave has not lost her skills on the bass. And the good news is that the band seem to have tasted blood again and want to contnue 🙂 Afterwards, the party continued at the WHEN WE WERE YOUNG night once more. Bedtime was 6:30 as usual.
Sunday
The venue for Sunday was Volkspalast just like it had been the years before, where the bands played alternately at Kuppelhalle and Kantine. Already at 3:30 pm A PROJECTION started with a high-energy and high-quality gig. At Kantine SUIR from Frankfurt followed, whom I liked quite a lot. Back at Kuppelhalle the next band were AUTOBAHN who rocked just like at their gig in Hannover in February. With BOOTBLACKS there came another one of m WGT highlights, their mixture of electronic beats and nice guitars just makes you want to move. Up next at Kuppelhalle came SCHONWALD who once again prsented their cooled-down neo-postpunk. The next band, ACTORS, was one I had been looking forward to seeing for quite a while, because I wanted to see how they are live since their single “PTL (Post-Traumatic Love)” from 2012. And I was not disappointed – a great gig by a nice bunch of musicians, here’s to next time! Last band of the night at the Volkspalast were THE KVB at Kuppelhalle who every time I see them have become a little better again. Also nice to see how the two of them harmonize with each other and communicate with simple looks. After that I went – just like almost every year – to see the midnight special at the agra hall, where an almost legendary band played: THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN. From here I went (indeed for the first time during WGT) to the Darkflower to see THE PIRATE TWINS a.k.a. William Faith and Scary Lady Sarah, who were DJing here this night. After some dancing and some talking I relocated to Moritzbaster for a bit until I emerged into daylight again a few minutes before 6 o’clock – so once again it was 6:30 when I went to bed…
Monday
The last day of the festival took place at Haus Leipzig. First band were JAPAN SUICIDE who entered the stage with animal masks and managed to play a solid set in spite of jetlag (they had just come back from their US tour). With SILENT RUNNERS from the Netherlands there followed yet another WGT discovery, I can only recomment this great band! After them one postpunk legend followed the last. First MODERN ENGLISH, whose gig in Hannover last October unfortunately got cancelled. Dressed all in white they played a craking set with old clssics and less well-known tracks. After them TRISOMIE 21 followed, who played a good gig even though the stage sound wasn’t too good apparently, so that the singer sometimes didn’t quite hit the right notes. But the songs are great anyway! About CHAMELEONS VOX I proobably don’t need to tell eaything any more, the band is just fantastiv live and the songs are among my favourites for more than 20 years now. Since there was no oldschool club nicht at Täubchenthal this year I then went to the closing party at Moritzbastei without great expectations. But at Oberkeller there was quite good music to dance to, and some nice conversations as well. So it was after 7 am, when the staff wanted to go home. So the last day ended even later 😀
See you at the 28th WGT next year!
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