Dear darklings, it’s this time of year again. We are just two weeks away from the largest festival for the dark alternative scene in the world, in Leipzig. This shall be the 31st Wave Gotik Treffen and even though its lineup is quite humble, it has many highlights which we are about to cover!
If, like us you follow and support new bands, you will surely feel quite excited with the inclusion of Abu Nein (18/5 at 23.10 in Mortizbastei), Nürnberg (19/5 at 19.50 in Volkspalast Kuppelhalle), The Secret French Postcards ( 19/5 15.30 at Volkspalast Kuppelhalle) and topographies (20/5 at 18.20 in Haus Leipzig) in this year’s line up. All these bands will make their first appearance this year in Leipzig and have featured in our playlists since they released their debut albums a few years ago. Speaking about bands that will make their debut in WGT, Dead Astronauts, a band we have also supported through our radioshows and playlists, will allow us to enjoy their unique minimal synthwave mix live on 18/5 at 22.00 in Moritzbastei. Arabrot, a band whose sound flirts with doom metal and has strong noise and post-rock elements releases has also featured in our playlists and will perform for the first time in WGT on 18/5 at 16.30 in Westbad. Complementing Arabrot, Wolves in The Throne Room will be the headliners at Hellraiser on 17/5 at 22.00. We have been great fans of, Death Loves Veronica‘s (19/5 at 20.00 in Moritzbastei) captivating, atmospheric darkwave music and we will have the chance to enjoy it live this year too in their European premiere.
If Ladytron‘s exclusive live in Germany isn’t big news, then their inclusion in WGT is definitely the talk of this festival in our humble opinion. The band , who could be considered an outsider when it comes to the dark alternative scene, have a hidden, cryptic darkness in their releases since their debut album in 2001. They will be included in one of the festival’s midnight special performances on 17/5 at 1am in agra and we can’t wait to enjoy them.
Speaking about big news, Ausgang will return to Leipzig after 18 years (18/5 at 19.30 in Taubchenthal) to perform their captivating deathrock/punk songs that continue to be popular on club dancefloors while Diva Destruction will also perform in Leipzig, a European exclusive show after 20 years on 19./5 at 20.40 in agra.
Fans of neoclassical and post apocalyptic folk genres, will be treated nicely this year as many bands return to Leipzig after a long absence. The highlights are the upcoming performances by Ostara (have not performed in Leipzig since 2009 and will play live on 17/5 at 18.00 in Volkspalast Kuppelhalle), Backworld (have not performed in Leipzig since 2016 and will be performing on 17/5 at 20.30 in Volkspalast Kuppelhalle) , Derniere Volonte (17/5 at 23.00 in Volkspalast Kuppelhalle)/Position Parallele (have not performed in Leipzig since 2009 and will play live on 18/5 at 18.20 in Haus Leipzig), Mila Mar and Camerata Mediolanense (have not performed in Leipzig since 2019 and will treat us to a very special performance, spanning their whole career, on Sunday 19th May at Kirchenruine Wachau following their headline set at 22.40 in Schauspielhaus on 18/5!). Both Mila Mar and Camerata Mediolanense have released teaser singles from their upcoming albums, so their performances will be a great way of previewing them.
A special mention shall be made to the inclusion of Autopsia (20/5 at 22.30 in Volkspalast Kuppelhalle), an experimental post-industrial group that has not performed in WGT since 2012 and will be part of this year’s festival. Complementing Autopsia, Meta Meat will bring their tribal, electronic, sonic experimentations on stage at Volkspalast Kuppelhalle on 20/5 at 17.30. This Morn Omina will perform their ceremonial, psychedelic IDM soundscapes, and we cannot wait to see them on stage on 19/5 at 19.10 in Taubchenthal again after many years. Finally, Haujobb, one of many Daniel Myers’ incredible electronic projects, will headline at Hellraiser on Sunday 19/5 at 22.45.
The highlights of post-punk and gothic rock genres are The Beauty of Gemina (19/5 at 17.30 in agra), A Projection (19/5 at 17.40 in Volkspalast Kuppelhalle) and Soviet Soviet (19/5 at 22.30 in Volkspalast Kuppelhalle) for us. Both bands are always offering great shows and have not performed in Leipzig recently.
Riccardo Principe a.k.a Corde Oblique has always been a band whose music we have supported and loved throughout the years. 7 years after their last memorable performance at Schauspielhaus, the band will return this year ahead of the release of a new album that will not be making any compromises in the lyricism and unique ethereal atmosphere that the band has captured our attention with. Catch them on 20/5 at 18.00 in Schauspielhaus.
We were delighted to see the confirmation of all-time favourite darkwave band Kirlian Camera in this year’s line-up, following the release of another great album earlier this year. The band will be the headliners at agra on Monday 20/5 at 22.45.
The absolute highlight, the reason we were sure that our presence at this year’s WGT was absolutely justified, was the announcement of Spiritual Front as part of this festival. We have caught our breath since the band made the announcement on social media a few months ago and we don’t think we can release our breath until many days after we will come back from Leipzig. The band’s unique theatricality, and their sharp social perceptiveness coupled with captivating melodies and vocals, creates an energy that is hard to describe and even harder to control from an emotional perspective. We shall be at Schauspielhaus on May 19th at 22.40 to celebrate this all-time favourite band.
One thing is certain, Leipzig has been there all these years, waiting for our return for this year’s festival and we will surely not be disappointed!
Enjoy the festival and stay safe!
Blaue Rosen 