27th WGT-The first confirmations

Posted: 5th March 2018 by blaue-rosen in Music News,press releases
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The Wave Gotik Treffen frenzy has already started, earlier than usual this year, as the 3-day gothic festival, the biggest in the world, will be carried out very early this year, from May 18th-May 21st 2018. Even though some bands have announced their participation in the festival, before the end of 2017, most of the bands have kept this information to themselves. So far, there are a few important highlights in the festival’s line up, the first of which is the live appearance of Siglo XX exclusively for the audience of WGT! We could not believe our own eyes when we saw the band being confirmed in this year’s line up.The band from Belgium celebrates 40years in the music industry and our hearts with an exclusive and special performance at WGT which will follow the re-release of their album ‘Answer’ (originally released in 1983) and of two 12″ EPs, ‘The Art of War’ (originally released in 1987) and ‘Dreams of Pleasure’ (originally released in 1983). Siglo XX have taken their name from an anarchist group during the Spanish Civil War and have been one of the most popular bands of the Belgian coldwave scene of the 80s. The band has been inactive since 1991 before the first WGT and has never played before in the festival before. Antonio (Palermo) and Klaas (Hoogerwaard) of Siglo XX have formed a new band called Honeymoon Cowboys in 2015, which has released two albums so far and in which Dirk (Chauvaux), Erik(Dries) of Siglo XX have also participated as guests. For many fans of this band, having the opportunity to see Siglo XX perform live is a dream come true (as is the opportunity to see Trisomie 21 perform live in this festival).

Next on our list of highlights is the live performance of Arcana which we all thought was a project that was no longer active. Arcana is a much loved neoclassical band and we will be delighted to see them perform live again (probably at Schauspielhaus). Equally important in our list of highlights, is the return of Ataraxia, another much loved neoclassical band from Italy, who last played at WGT in 2010. Ataraxia do not really ‘fit’ in the overall style of neoclassical music as it has been represented by other bands. We had the pleasure of watching them perform live in 2010 and enjoy the theatricality and the strength of the band’s music and of Francesca’s voice in all their glory. This is a band that makes a statement with every performance and takes us on a beautiful journey with them with every note. We could not leave out of our list of highlights the appearance of Raison d’Être, a favourite dark ambient solo project of Peter Andersson, who we had the pleasure to see perform live in 2011, in one of the venues that did not open again for WGT, that was Schaubühne Lindenfels . Raison d’être who released his latest album entitled ‘Alchymeia‘ through Cyclic Law in 2018, creates a beautiful atmosphere, by encompassing the whole space in his show and immerse everyone in a dream-like environment! Guerre Froide and Hekate (last time they played at WGT was in 2012) are two bands with different music styles, both of whom we haven’t had the pleasure of seeing perform live in WGT for quite some time. Guerre Froide, who belong to the french coldwave scene, released their first album entitled ‘Cicatrice’ in 1980 and have never played in WGT before.Beinhaus is one more band that we include in this year’s festival. Coming back to WGT 12 years after their last performance, Beinhaus will give us the opportunity to experience their highly experimental industrial (even martial at some parts) music, in all its strength.

Hekate, is a neoclassical band whose latest album entitled ‘Die Welt Der Dunklen Gärten‘ was released in 2011. However, the band seems to have started working on some new songs which we will have the pleasure to listen to live in Leipzig!The next highlight is of course Trisomie 21 who offered a beautiful show in London on December 2017 and will present their latest album ‘Elegance Never Dies‘, together with older favourite songs to WGT audiences on 21/5/18! Next on our list of highlights is the inclusion of Japan Suicide, a relatively new band from Italy which was formed in 2010 and has not played live in WGT before. The band released its debut album entitled ‘Mothra’ in 2010 and its latest album entitled Santa Sangre‘ in February 2018 and the element that we love in their music is its melodic aspect and the captivating and passionate vocals of Stefano (Bellerba). Finally, even though Qntal is not included (yet)* to this year’s line up, because they are about to release their next album entitled ‘VIII’, we dare to speculate that they will be offering another beautiful show during this year’s festival.So far, another incarnation of this band, VocaMe which includes members of Qntal and released its latest album entitled ‘Christine De Pizan (Chansons Et Ballades)’ in 2015, has confirmed its participation on this festival. We are also delighted for the return of Wardruna at the festival, following their last appearance at WGT in 2012. Since then, the band has released two beautiful albums entitled ‘Runaljod-Yggdrasil‘ and ‘Runaljod-Ragnarok‘ and last month Wardruna completed a tour in North America. We will also have the chance during the festival, to see  Einar Selvik of Wardruna perform live and enjoy his solo work, following the release of his next solo album entitled ‘Hugsjá’ expected on April 20 2018.

Also this year, we will have the pleasure to see several bands who have released their debut albums in 2017 and which Blauerosen has included in different monthly playlists. Among these bands are: SUIR(https://blaue-rosen.com/monthly-playlist-mays-playlist/), Hexheart (https://blaue-rosen.com/june-playlist/) and Second Still(https://blaue-rosen.com/aprils-playlist/).Of the UK based bands, AUTOBAHN (https://blaue-rosen.com/monthly-playlist-november-2017/) who released their second album ‘The Moral Crossing‘ in November 2017, Blanck Mass who released an impressive album last year (https://blaue-rosen.com/marchs-playlist/) and Detachments, have never played in WGT before and we are delighted to see them included in the line up.So far, we know that they will be joined by Black Light AscensionChameleonsVox, CrisisJo Quail, the legendary Modern English with their original lineup, Skeletal FamilySulpher, The Eden HouseThe Jesus and Mary Chain, The Last Cry and The KVB.

As we are waiting for the official programme to be announced, here is what we know so far from the official websites and social media pages of some of the 172 confirmed (so far) bands that will participate in Wave Gotik Treffen of 2018 which seems to have a prevailing aroma of post punk music this year! If you haven’t decided yet whether to visit Leipzig this year, here is the list of the confirmed bands: http://www.wave-gotik-treffen.de/english/bands.php

(this article is being updated as new information becomes available)

Friday 18.05.18

  • Ash Code– Venue: Altes Stadtbad
  • Black Line
  • Boy Harsher – Venue: Altes Stadtbad
  • Buzz Kull
  • Crisis
  • Detachments-Venue: Altes Stadtbad
  • E-Craft– Venue: Moritzbastei 22.00
  • Eivør
  • Fairytale-Venue:Heidnisches Dorf
  • Formalin-Venue: Westbad
  • Guerre Froide-19.40 
  • Merciful Nuns
  • Mercury’s Antennae-Venue: Schauspielhaus
  • Mystigma-Venue: Moritzbastei
  • Phil Schoenfelt & Southern Cross
  • Raison d’Être- 18.00 Venue: Schauspielhaus
  • ROME
  • Rapalje
  • Schandmaul-Venue: Agra
  • Scheuber-Venue: Moritzbastei
  • The Beauty of Gemina
  • The Eden House– Agra Hall 18.20
  • Undetheskin-Venue:Täubchenthal  18.00
  • Vogon Poetry-Venue: Moritzbastei

Saturday 19.05.18

  • Aeon Rings-20.00 Venue: Mortizbastei
  • Arcana-Venue: Schauspielhaus
  • Black Light Ascension-Venue:Moritzbastei
  • Confrontational-Venue: Altes Stadtbad
  • Crying Vessel
  • Dead Leaf Echo
  • Diorama-Venue:Felsenkeller 20.40
  • Eden Weint Im Grab-Venue: Westbad
  • First Hate
  • Frank The Baptist-9pm Venue: Täubchenthal
  • Hekate
  • Heldmaschine-Venue: Westbad
  • Joy/Disaster
  • Kaunan
  • Les Discrets
  • Model Kaos-Venue:Felsenkeller
  • Monica Jeffries
  • Mr Kitty-22.20-23.40 Venue:Stadtbad
  • Nachtsucher
  • Oomph!-Venue: Agra
  • Ost+Front-Venue:Westbad
  • Paddy And The Rats
  • QNTAL-Venue: Heidnisches Dorf 21.20
  • Randolph’s Grin-Venue: Felsenkeller
  • Readership Hostile- Venue:Täubchenthal
  • Second Still
  • Siglo XX-Venue: Felsenkeller 22.20
  • Traitrs
  • Zanias
  • Zeromancer-Venue: Agra

Sunday 20.05.18

  • Actors
  • Aeverium-Venue:Felsenkeller
  • A Projection
  • Arcana-Venue: Kirchenruine Wachau
  • Dool
  • Elegant Machinery
  • ES23-Venue:Moritzbastei
  • Heidevolk-Venue:Heindisches Dorf
  • Hexheart
  • Jo Quail-Venue: Schauspielhaus
  • Kaizer-Acoustic set, 18.00 Venue: Absitnherie Sixtina
  • Klutae-Venue: Stadtbad
  • Männerchor Leipzig-Nord – 16.00 Venue: Südfriedhof
  • Matthias Eisenberg-21.00 Venue: Krypta
  • Nothgard
  • QNTAL-Venue: Schauspielhaus 20.30
  • Pyogenesis
  • Rosa Crux
  • Schandmaul– Venue: Heindisches Dorf
  • Schonwald
  • Siva Six
  • Solitary Experiments-Venue: Agra
  • Spark!-Venue: Stadtbad
  • SUIR-Venue: Volkspalast/Kantine
  • Sturm Café
  • The Jesus And Mary Chain-Venue:Agra
  • The KVB
  • Thomas Manegold-14.00-15.00 Central Kabarett
  • Tiamat
  • Torul-Venue: Agra
  • Totus Gaudeo
  • Xenturion Prime-18.25-19.15 Venue: Agra

Monday 21.05.18

  • Ataraxia
  • Author&Punisher
  • Beinhaus
  • ChameleonsVox
  • Dageist
  • Feuerschwanz
  • God Module-Venue:Agra
  • Grave Pleasures-21.10pm
  • Grendel
  • Grimner
  • Heimataerde-18.50 Venue: Heidnisches Dord
  • Imperium Dekadenz
  • Kaizer
  • Modern English
  • Oberer Totpunkt-Venue: Westbad
  • Palast– 20.30
  • Principe Valiente
  • Sardh-Venue:Volkspalast Kuppelhalle
  • Scarlet And The Spooky Spiders– Venue: Täubchenthal
  • Seelennacht
  • Silent Runners
  • Still Patient?
  • Surturs Lohe– Venue: Heidnisches Dorf  15.30-16.30
  • Svartsinn-Venue: Volkspalast Kantine
  • The Crimson Ghosts– Venue: Täubchenthal
  • The Fright
  • Traumtaenzer-Venue: Westbad 19.40-20.40
  • Trepaneringsritualen
  • Trisomie 21
  • The Other
  • Ye Banished Privateers

* Since we published this text, QNTAL have been in the list of confirmed bands for this year’s WGT

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