Reflections of Darkness - Music Magazine - Live Review: 31st Wave Gotik Treffen - Leipzig 2024 (Day 3 & 2) (2024)

Leipzig, Germany
17th to 20th May 2024
Wave Gotik Treffen 2024 Day 3 & 4 with The Secret French Postcards, The Foreign Resort, A Projection, Klez.e, Nürnberg, Agent Side Grinder, Editors, Lisa Eckhart, Merciful Nuns

Our program during the last two festival days was very mixed. We had Post Punk, we hat Goth Rock, we had Indie with EDITORS and we even had some cabaret. That’s what WGT is famous for… you can experience very different styles of dark music and a varied surrounding program…

The Secret French Postcards

On the third day, the Volkspalast was our first choice. With THE SECRET FRENCH POSTCARDS, the first of today’s Swedish bands started in the Kuppelhalle. This wonderful location was already well filled at this point and gave us a feeling that it would get full during the evening. Musically, the band lined up perfectly with the acts still to come. Visually, the band presented themselves somewhere between cliché Frenchmen and ZZ TOP, which guaranteed a good atmosphere. All in all, a very successful start to the day.

The Foreign Resort

It wasn’t Swedish, but Danish with THE FOREIGN RESORT. It was the third performance at WGT for the band from Copenhagen, which was founded in 2009. There was a queue beforehand, as the doors to the Volkspalast Kantine only opened just before the concert. The trio got off to a powerful start and Mikkel gave short German-language announcements in between. Within a short time, the Kantine turned into an overcrowded sauna full of happy, dancing people. At the end of the set, there was another new song to listen to. So, the day could go on. // Setlist: 01. Resound / 02. New Frontiers / 03. She Is Lost / 04. Hearts Fade Out / 05. Flushed / 06. Obsessing / 07. Take A Walk / 08. World Of Fools / 09. Outnumbered / 10. Dead End Roads / 11. Disbeliever (new / unreleased song)

A Projection

After more than six years, A PROJECTION were back as guests in the Kuppelhalle. One look at the instruments and it was clear that the band had changed. For the first time, A PROJECTION performed as a trio in Germany. Only frontman Rikard remains from the previous line-up. We were excited to see what awaited us and were prepared for a change. Rikard entered the stage wrapped in a floor-length cloak and with a plague mask on his face. After the intro, both were removed and A PROJECTION were back. A black and white film ran in the background throughout the concert. The progress bar shown at the beginning revealed that the set was scheduled to last an hour. The concert was dominated by tracks from their latest releases. Titles such as ‘No Control’ and ‘Darwin’s Eden’ were not to be missed, with ‘Transition’ and ‘Hands’ they picked up on the old days. The Swedes were celebrated enthusiastically in the Kuppelhalle and there was no sign of their initial skepticism. A worthy new beginning. We can only hope to see A PROJECTION on this stage again in six years’ time at the latest.

Klez.e

Anyone experiencing KLEZ.E for the first time is initially irritated. Is even the silhouette a plagiarism? For insiders, it is an homage, which became more obvious than ever with the title of their penultimate album. There were three tracks from this album ‘Desintegration’ to be heard this afternoon and the current long-player ‘Erregung’ was played in its entirety. Anyone who has experienced THE CURE’s ‘Pictures Of You’ live could also recognize the pose between Robert and Simon, sorry, Tobias and Daniel. Everything is “somehow” reminiscent of THE CURE and yet KLEZ.E are independent. It wasn’t our first and definitely not our last KLEZ.E concert. // Setlist: 01. Drohnen / 02. Düster / 03. Wie schön du bist / 04. Mauern / 05. Flammen / 06. Erregung / 07. Verpassen / 08. Herbstherz / 09. Mr. Dead And Mrs. Free / 10. Tortur / 11. Nachtflug

Nürnberg

When the show began, “Nürnberg” was clearly visible in large letters on the canvas wall. The writing was joined by two shadows on the stage. Shades of grey dominated the show and the shadows were always present. Post Punk from Minsk was announced, but our expectations were not completely fulfilled.

Agent Side Grinder

For the last time that day, we went to the Volkspalast Kantine. Once again, music from Sweden was on the program. With AGENT SIDE GRINDER you can be sure that it will be good. And once again the capacity of the hall was almost exhausted. The trio was supported by Henrik Meierkord on cello for two songs each at the beginning, middle and end of the concert. As usual, Peter spent some time with the tape recorder. The 13 songs played came from all of the Stockholm band’s albums, so everyone in the audience was sure to experience a personal favourite, but will also have missed one or two tracks. // Setlist: 01. 210-392 (w/Henrik Meierkord on cello) / 02. Decipher (w/Henrik Meierkord on cello) / 03. Waiting Room / 04. Love at First Sight (Absolute Body Control cover) / 05. Giants Fall / 06. Bloodless / 07. The Archives (w/Henrik Meierkord on cello) / 08. For the Young (w/Henrik Meierkord on cello) / 09. This Is Us / 10. Wolf Hour / 11. Stripdown / Encore: 12. In From The Cold (w/Henrik Meierkord on cello) / 13. Into the Wild (w/Henrik Meierkord on cello)

Editors

On Sunday, the EDITORS were invited to the midnight special in the Agra Hall. They have already played four times in Leipzig alone, but never before at WGT. There was pure energy from the very first minute. Expectations of the band are always high and this time we were again pleasantly surprised. Unexpectedly for many, but not for the first time, the Brits covered ADAMSKI’s ‘Killer’. The EDITORS offered no room for criticism. Frontman Tom Smith always dominated the show. He is and remains unique with his gestures, poses and voice and yet the EDITORS are a coherent band. Ed Lay on drums and Russell Leetch on bass outdid themselves on this evening, which led to a magnificent ‘Bricks and Mortar’. With the preceding ‘Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors’ it became impossible to put the final song ‘Papillon’ as the undisputed highlight of the concert. 10 out of 10 points... // Setlist: 01. Strawberry Lemonade / 02. An End Has a Start / 03. Sugar / 04. Bones / 05. Formaldehyde / 06. A Ton of Love / 07. Karma Climb / 08. Picturesque / 09. Eat Raw Meat = Blood Drool / 10. The Racing Rats / 11. Two Hearted Spider / 12. Heart Attack / 13. Killer (Adamski cover) / 14. Ocean of Night / 15. Munich / 16. Smokers Outside the Hospital Doors / 17. Bricks and Mortar / 18. Papillon

Lisa Eckhart

Change of scene: cabaret! On Monday, the polarising LISA ECKART was a guest at the WGT for the second time. In the packed hall, she presented her current stage programme as ‘Kaiserin Stasi die Erste’ in her usual biting and duplicitous manner. She ruthlessly revealed the motto “Cabaret must hurt and prick open wounds” to the listening audience and proved once again that “language is the source of all misunderstandings”.

Merciful Nuns

The MERCIFUL NUNS were our farewell to this year’s WGT. At the beginning, the Agra was still not really full, but numerous spectators kept coming. We had last seen the MERCIFUL NUNS as a support act for one of their idols. The band picked up exactly where their idols left off during this performance. At times you got the impression that only the lyrics didn’t quite fit. The now numerous visitors seemed to like it. Unfortunately, we had to move on at this point. Thank you WGT and see you next year.

All Pictures by Yves Zander