Leipzig: Monday...
Jun. 9th, 2004 09:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mrphOne thing I haven't really mentioned is the background music. Not the bands, but the stuff that was playing at the market and the outdoor stalls...
Kill Bill seemed to be a recurring theme. The mead stand seemed to have That Certain Female on repeat, which is fair enough. But there were also goths on trams whistling Elle Driver's Twisted Nerve theme... and, later (and more disturbingly), a different bunch of goths on a tram singing one of The 5.6.7.8's songs, "Woo Hoo". That was scary.
One of the bazaar stalls was playing The Darkness when I called by, too ("Get Your Hands Off My Woman"). That amused me as well. Perhaps I'm just easily amused.
I was a bit of a broken wreck on Monday morning. No surprise there. And everyone else at breakfast seemed unfeasibly perky (or, like![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gigib, had decided that the sensible option was not to get up so early...).
This was unfortunate, as Monday was the day when I attempted to Do Stuff. I'd got a wonderful plan mapped out - see the first band (Vivus Temporis) at the Agra, see a couple of bands at the Parkbuhne, head to the Moritzbastei for New Days Delay (partly because I really wanted to see them, partly because Karen had made it clear that her mission in life was to herd UK goths to that gig and she'd kill us all if we didn't turn up)... and then head back to the Agra to catch the last two bands before heading to the Moritzbastei forsteveslimelight's DJ set and general socialising.
Things didn't go to plan. Do I even need to say that things didn't go to plan? :) Although they didn't go that badly...
I didn't quite make it to the Agra on time. Caught a bit of Vivus Temporis, noticed that the Schandmaul CD on the merchandise stand was €3 more expensive than the one in the market, headed off towards the Parkbuhne.
I'd decided to follow Adrian's cunning short-cut to the Parkbuhne. It's one of the more remote stages, and involves a fair bit of walking after you get off the tram. Adrian claimed he'd found an easy route - it still involved a bit of walking, but it let you use the #11 tram, which runs between our hotel and the Agra, instead of messing about and changing to a different line... so far, so good.
He'd given me quite clear instructions, too. Hop off two stops down the line from our hotel, turn right and follow the road 'til the end. Simple enough. Of course, I was coming back from the Agra, not travelling from the hotel... so I was relying on memory to tell me when I was two stops away. Still, I thought I'd got the right one, I thought I'd got the right turning and I could see the occasional goth on the road...
Which didn't stop me being a bit nervous. Thankfully, after a few minutes walk I could hear music from the park ahead. So obviously I'd got it right. I think I had about ten seconds to smile about this before the heavens opened and it started raining. Raining very heavily. Did I mention that this was an open-air stage?
Thepoor bastardsband onstage when I got there were Staub. Growly industrial metal. Not bad at all. And an audience of... about 10. Actually, that's not fair. There were hundreds of people there, but the rest were crammed under the awnings of the stalls outside and the overhanging roof at the side/back of the stage. It looked like this. I hadn't packed an umbrella, and I hadn't even got a plastic bag to protect my phone or camera... so I joined the crowd at the back, I'm afraid.
Next up were the Tors of Dartmoor. Despite rumours of metal, they're actually a goth-rock outfit, with the emphasis on the rock. Pretty good too - just a duo, singer and guitarist. The rain was just stopping as they came onstage, which must have cheered them up a lot...
After that it was Komu Vnyz. The announcer told us that they'd driven for 24 hours to get there, crammed into one car with all their equipment, all the way from Ukraine. And that after their 40 minute set, they'd be driving back again. I hate to imagine the atmosphere backstage during Staub's set... "those poor bastards, out there with no crowd. And what about us? 48 hours of driving here and back, a set at the world's largest goth fest... and we're going to play to ten soggy goths?" That's what I'd have been thinking, anyway. Thankfully, the skies were definitely clear when they came onstage. They had an audience. And they were good.
By this point I'd founddavefish again, as well as macrina and a few other familiar faces. But it was time to run, so davefish and I promptly headed off towards the Moritzbastei... we passed caveynik on the way to the tram, on his way to the Parkbuhne to see Antiworld, and he gleefully told us that we were heading in the wrong direction. Well, maybe. But I've seen Antiworld twice, so if the schedulers are daft enough to put them opposite NDD then the latter (who I've wanted to see for a year or two) are going to win...
The opening band at the Moritzbastei were... strange. Siela are Lithuanian, and while they seem to be a quintet on their website, we only got a duo. Not really my thing.
New Days Delay kicked much arse. By the time the soundcheck finished, it was clear that this was going to be fun, with Insa (who's looks far too much likesweethippygurl's evil twin) turning the "one two, one two" mic check into a comedy routine. The set had a few sound problems, but nothing quite managed to sink it - catchy tunes (deathrock meets B52s), great stage presence, generally top quality.
By this point we were surrounded by UK goths, and managed to persuade_sarnandsynara_ to join us for a little "hot and sweaty bagpipe action" back at the Agra. So back we headed, with chimera_s feeding us dried cranberries and Sarn explaining her views on merits of the French language...
chimera_s managed to really confuse the Agra security staff with those cranberries, by the way.
We were expecting Schandmaul to come onstage just after we got there, but instead we got a fire show. A very good fire show, too - partly using Subway To Sally's Veitstanz for its soundtrack, which is a sure way to win points for style from me. :)
Schandmaul were, as ever, fun. They bounce. They're perky. They have members who can bounce while playing violin, bagpipes or hurdy-gurdy. That's... impressive.
And then it was time for the headliners, Corvus Corax. We got your hot sweaty bagpipe action right here, boys... and it was indeed rather good. Although the Agra was wearing me down by this point, sodavefish and I headed back to the Moritzbastei after a bit of the set. And after seeing the queue for the trams, we decided that a taxi was the way to go...
The rest of the evening was great fun at the time, but probably not terribly interesting to report. We grabbed a table withgigib, dave_exile, Karen, Lorena, Isabelle, _sarnandsynara_ and assorted other reprobates. Beer, cocktails (non-alcoholic in my case, purely because I wanted to stay awake!) and red wine were involved. I tried to go home. Several times. Ran into wendles and chatted for a bit. Poked my head around the door and decided that, yes, the music being played was very good... but I really didn't have the energy for it.
Eventually, I got back to the hotel. Somewhen just before 4AM again, I think. Stil... a great way to end a festival. And Tuesday was going to be nice and simple, wasn't it? Just get up, pack and go home. No hassle or stress there, oh no. Of course not...
Kill Bill seemed to be a recurring theme. The mead stand seemed to have That Certain Female on repeat, which is fair enough. But there were also goths on trams whistling Elle Driver's Twisted Nerve theme... and, later (and more disturbingly), a different bunch of goths on a tram singing one of The 5.6.7.8's songs, "Woo Hoo". That was scary.
One of the bazaar stalls was playing The Darkness when I called by, too ("Get Your Hands Off My Woman"). That amused me as well. Perhaps I'm just easily amused.
I was a bit of a broken wreck on Monday morning. No surprise there. And everyone else at breakfast seemed unfeasibly perky (or, like
gigib, had decided that the sensible option was not to get up so early...). This was unfortunate, as Monday was the day when I attempted to Do Stuff. I'd got a wonderful plan mapped out - see the first band (Vivus Temporis) at the Agra, see a couple of bands at the Parkbuhne, head to the Moritzbastei for New Days Delay (partly because I really wanted to see them, partly because Karen had made it clear that her mission in life was to herd UK goths to that gig and she'd kill us all if we didn't turn up)... and then head back to the Agra to catch the last two bands before heading to the Moritzbastei for
steveslimelight's DJ set and general socialising.Things didn't go to plan. Do I even need to say that things didn't go to plan? :) Although they didn't go that badly...
I didn't quite make it to the Agra on time. Caught a bit of Vivus Temporis, noticed that the Schandmaul CD on the merchandise stand was €3 more expensive than the one in the market, headed off towards the Parkbuhne.
I'd decided to follow Adrian's cunning short-cut to the Parkbuhne. It's one of the more remote stages, and involves a fair bit of walking after you get off the tram. Adrian claimed he'd found an easy route - it still involved a bit of walking, but it let you use the #11 tram, which runs between our hotel and the Agra, instead of messing about and changing to a different line... so far, so good.
He'd given me quite clear instructions, too. Hop off two stops down the line from our hotel, turn right and follow the road 'til the end. Simple enough. Of course, I was coming back from the Agra, not travelling from the hotel... so I was relying on memory to tell me when I was two stops away. Still, I thought I'd got the right one, I thought I'd got the right turning and I could see the occasional goth on the road...
Which didn't stop me being a bit nervous. Thankfully, after a few minutes walk I could hear music from the park ahead. So obviously I'd got it right. I think I had about ten seconds to smile about this before the heavens opened and it started raining. Raining very heavily. Did I mention that this was an open-air stage?
The
Next up were the Tors of Dartmoor. Despite rumours of metal, they're actually a goth-rock outfit, with the emphasis on the rock. Pretty good too - just a duo, singer and guitarist. The rain was just stopping as they came onstage, which must have cheered them up a lot...
After that it was Komu Vnyz. The announcer told us that they'd driven for 24 hours to get there, crammed into one car with all their equipment, all the way from Ukraine. And that after their 40 minute set, they'd be driving back again. I hate to imagine the atmosphere backstage during Staub's set... "those poor bastards, out there with no crowd. And what about us? 48 hours of driving here and back, a set at the world's largest goth fest... and we're going to play to ten soggy goths?" That's what I'd have been thinking, anyway. Thankfully, the skies were definitely clear when they came onstage. They had an audience. And they were good.
By this point I'd found
davefish again, as well as macrina and a few other familiar faces. But it was time to run, so davefish and I promptly headed off towards the Moritzbastei... we passed caveynik on the way to the tram, on his way to the Parkbuhne to see Antiworld, and he gleefully told us that we were heading in the wrong direction. Well, maybe. But I've seen Antiworld twice, so if the schedulers are daft enough to put them opposite NDD then the latter (who I've wanted to see for a year or two) are going to win...The opening band at the Moritzbastei were... strange. Siela are Lithuanian, and while they seem to be a quintet on their website, we only got a duo. Not really my thing.
New Days Delay kicked much arse. By the time the soundcheck finished, it was clear that this was going to be fun, with Insa (who's looks far too much like
sweethippygurl's evil twin) turning the "one two, one two" mic check into a comedy routine. The set had a few sound problems, but nothing quite managed to sink it - catchy tunes (deathrock meets B52s), great stage presence, generally top quality. By this point we were surrounded by UK goths, and managed to persuade
_sarnandsynara_ to join us for a little "hot and sweaty bagpipe action" back at the Agra. So back we headed, with chimera_s feeding us dried cranberries and Sarn explaining her views on merits of the French language...chimera_s managed to really confuse the Agra security staff with those cranberries, by the way. We were expecting Schandmaul to come onstage just after we got there, but instead we got a fire show. A very good fire show, too - partly using Subway To Sally's Veitstanz for its soundtrack, which is a sure way to win points for style from me. :)
Schandmaul were, as ever, fun. They bounce. They're perky. They have members who can bounce while playing violin, bagpipes or hurdy-gurdy. That's... impressive.
And then it was time for the headliners, Corvus Corax. We got your hot sweaty bagpipe action right here, boys... and it was indeed rather good. Although the Agra was wearing me down by this point, so
davefish and I headed back to the Moritzbastei after a bit of the set. And after seeing the queue for the trams, we decided that a taxi was the way to go...The rest of the evening was great fun at the time, but probably not terribly interesting to report. We grabbed a table with
gigib, dave_exile, Karen, Lorena, Isabelle, _sarnandsynara_ and assorted other reprobates. Beer, cocktails (non-alcoholic in my case, purely because I wanted to stay awake!) and red wine were involved. I tried to go home. Several times. Ran into wendles and chatted for a bit. Poked my head around the door and decided that, yes, the music being played was very good... but I really didn't have the energy for it.Eventually, I got back to the hotel. Somewhen just before 4AM again, I think. Stil... a great way to end a festival. And Tuesday was going to be nice and simple, wasn't it? Just get up, pack and go home. No hassle or stress there, oh no. Of course not...
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-06-09 04:02 pm (UTC)(not sure about bagpipes, though..) :D
no subject
Date: 2004-06-10 04:25 am (UTC)I'm still convinced that if you plan things carefully, it's quite possible to see a full set of bands without ever seeing a futurepop/EBM/synthpop band. Or, for those inclined the other way, without ever seeing a trad goth/goth-rock/goth-metal band...
Leizpig is good. You know you want to go to Leipzig. And next year's dates are already announced...
no subject
Date: 2004-06-10 04:33 am (UTC)will be going, for sure