A SADGOTH WGT 2006.
Day 1 – Wednesday 31st May 2006
My flight was from Stanstead just after 20:00, flying direct to Leipzig/Halle. Knowing that the drive to the Airport would take about two hours I left
Brighton at 15:30. I decided that I had loads of time and would have a nice leisurely drive up the motorway to Stanstead, and with Unhelig in the CD
player I set out. The drive up to the A23 was fine till I got to Crawley/Gatwick where the motorway had come to a stand still, it had taken half an hour to
get this far, it would take another half an hour to get to the M23/M25 junction, creeping along at 5-10 mph. I looked at the clock and realised that I had lost
twenty minutes travelling time and that the rest of the journey would have to be at normal driving speed if I was to meet my friends at Stanstead for 18:
00. However when I saw the M23/M25 junction it was obvious that there was a real problem, the anti clockwise queue was at a standstill and the
overhead screen was saying that there was congestion all the way till the other side of the Dartford Tunnel. Damn. As I approached I had two options,
join the queue or go the long way around clockwise via Heathrow and just hope that the road would be clear.
The M25 clockwise was quite good, moving at a good speed, until I hit the rush hour, from the M3 to the M40 I struggled to move at above Forty mph, time
was getting on and I started to feel a little stupid for not leaving early enough. After the M40 turn off the M25 picked up again, only to come to a dead halt
at the A1M, road works for miles, and I didn’t get to the M11 turn off until late and finally reached Stanstead at 18:45, having taken three and a quarter
hours to drive there. I picked up a friend outside the airport, I had his luggage in the car, and we drove down to the long stay Pink Elephant car park. The
Car park is easy to find, but as we got out of the car we could see the bus pulling away from the nearest bus stop. After much watch looking and a
complete feeling of frustration another bus appeared fifteen minutes later. I don’t think we have ever moved as fast, running with suitcases to the Berlin
Air check in at 19:15.
We rapidly headed for passport control after getting rid of our suitcases (they weighted 42.5 kg between them, with no additional charges). With the
normal large queues at passport control we did the normal thing of taking our boots off before reaching the x-ray machine. I normally wear an old pair of
New Rocks for WGT, as they normally have to go through a lot, but this year I wore a new pair, and they have small spikes down the front. However
there were no problems apart from one of the X-ray machine women saying that she would not like to get kicked with a pair of them. Booted once again
we headed for the Stanstead Airport train to our terminal, and finally arrived there just before 8pm. Now I was totally knackered and a little pissed off
that I had been rushed. Scoffing my sandwich that I had purchased just before jumping on the train we waited to be called for boarding. However our
flight was delayed 20 minutes due to a ‘go slow’ by baggage handlers at Stanstead. We finally got on the aircraft at 8:40. We met a few friends so that
there were now six of us.
The flight was mostly uneventful apart from some turbulence (that or the pilot accidentally turned the autopilot off). Either way we landed at Leipzig/Halle
after flying over the city and seeing the Wisdom tooth Skyscraper from the air. With an hour added to the clock we got our suitcases and headed out of
the airport at 11:20pm, a nice line of taxis greeted us, and the six of us jumped in a Mini Bus that drove us into Leipzig in half an hour at total cost of €28,
a bargain. The Renaissance hotel was just how we had left it last year, hotel staff knew of our late arrival (as I had rung them that morning) and we had
no problems checking in at Midnight. By ten past Midnight we had our first German Beer. Three beers later and at Half past two in the morning I went to
bed hoping that the rest of the festival would be better and luckier.
Day 2 – Thursday 1st June 2006
This was my fifth WGT and each year for the past few years we had all said that we would all like to visit Colditz Castle; it’s situated about twenty
seven miles south east of Leipzig. I had spent some time organising the trip via a website run by an English guy living in Leipzig. Taxi Tours pick you up,
take you to the castle and bring you back to Leipzig, and this was the reason we had travelled a day early to see the Castle. I needed to get some cash
so I went for an early morning walk to the city centre, having my first walk around. Quite a few improvements have been made to the city centre
especially around the tram area in front of the Hauptbanhof. With money in my wallet I headed back to the Hotel, five of us were going to Colditz and our
tour guide turned up right on time with a large picture of Colditz Castle on it. There was a slight change to the arrangements, as the normal mini bus was
off the road, so we had to go in two Mercedes Taxi’s, and it was going to cost us less. Finally things were looking good after yesterday’s nightmare.
David our tour guide had lived in Leipzig for 10 years and in Germany even longer, and had seen the changes to the city and the re-unification of
Germany. Being born in England but having lived around the world he was a font of knowledge and wanted to know all about us.
The twenty seven mile trip to Colditz took just under an hour, with no fast roads. It gave us a glimpse of the underside of Leipzig and the surrounding
areas, many parts still being in ruin either from the Second World War or from the communist era. Still it was excellent to see and David gave us all the
background info as we drove past places of interest.
On first seeing Colditz Castle I was a little amazed to see that it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I have long been into all things Historic, specialising in
reading everything about the Second World War, from all sides of the conflict. I had seen the film and read the Pat Reid books, so I was expecting to see
a gloomy drab castle. Instead it was quite brightly painted in off white. As we approached David explained that the castle is being refurbished, and now
has a new roof. Colditz is apparently one of many castles waiting for funds and that it will take many years for the repairs to be finished. Driving through
the sleepy streets of Colditz it was obvious that Colditz the town could do with more funds too. The place is clean, just a little run down and in need of
some TLC. David told us that although many people from the Allied Countries of the Second World War are aware of the War history of Colditz Castle that
most Germans are completely unaware of this period of its history. 75% of the tourists to Colditz are from outside of Germany.
David had booked us on the 13:00 tour, so we stopped to take pictures of the castle from the riverside. Much of the other side of the castle is covered in
scaffold as work takes place to repair and paint the walls. We wandered around the town and found a small café to have a beer. There is little in the
actual town to see, the small picturesque streets will one day make nice photos, but with a little rain and in their current state I was happy to get back up
to the castle. David left us in the hands of the Colditz Castle Museum Tour, in English.
Walking into the Castle for the first time I was amazed at how tall the inside of the castle was, to think that this had been a prisoner of war camp, and to
imagine that allied POWs had crept along the roof and climbed down walls whist all the time a full garrison of German Soldiers had been guarding them. In
the Main Courtyard we took pictures and were told that the current owner has plans to restore the castle to its original 16th Century state, and that was
the reason for the off white paint work. However our guide said that the owner has every intention of keeping all the war time tunnels and exhibitions
open. Our guide informed us that the castle has over 700 rooms but nobody has ever managed to count them all. Looking around us I could see that this
castle was indeed very large.
The Tour lasted about two hours and we saw various tunnels that had been found, heard stories of escape and invention, saw various artefacts that
had been found buried under floor boards and saw art work by some of the famous prisoners of war. Having done my home work before coming I was
amazed to actually see the castle to see doorways where prisoners had stood for photos and that film stars had later stood for the making of the
various films about the place. It was unfortunate that much of the castle is still in a state of repair, and that the actual tour only cover a small portion of
the castle, however with 700 rooms plus its full acceptable that we couldn’t be left to our own devices to wander around, we might never escape
(although I did buy a t-shirt saying that I had escaped from Colditz, hehe). I thoroughly recommend going to Colditz, and taking the tour, you will be
amazed at the complexity of items made by prisoners that were imprisoned here, from the plane that was built but never flown from the roof to the jelly
manufactured maps. The drive back to Leipzig got us to our hotel for 16:00pm. We paid about €62 Euros each for the trip; a fair price for the distance
travelled there and back, the price of entrance to the castle and the two hour guide. Excellent.
So back to reality and the real reason you are probably reading this. I quickly got changed and we jumped in a taxi to go down to the ‘Sued Brause’
Restaurant just outside Werk II. As expected there were two small huts just on the other side of Werk II selling tickets and exchanging them for
wristbands. Having been granted a press pass I didn’t need to join the long queue of black dressed people, but my friends quickly brought their tickets
and got their wristbands. After that it was time for beer and food in the restaurant. The food has always been excellent here, and the first beer glasses
were empty shortly after they arrived. We met a few people that made it to the laid back UK Leipzig meeting, and I handed out a bunch of laminated gig
cards.
Full of food and a couple of beers we headed down to the Agra Messepark, so that I could get my photo press pass. However they were not ready yet
so I just got my blue wristband that would get me into this evening’s event. We then headed back to the Hotel to get ready for the evening. An hour later
and I was sitting in reception at the hotel and was jumped on for more gig cards.
I think that this is the first year that we have had a choice of what to do on the Thursday evening, normally it’s either go to the Moritzbastei or go to
Darkflower, and we normally end up in Darkflower. But this year with three planned events we had to choose what to do, see Laibach, see Modcom or
go to the 15th Anniversary Ball. We had over the previous months quite fancied the Laibach gig, but were a little put off by the cost, we guessed that
Modcom and Ronan Harris would pull a huge crowd in the Moritzbastei so we ruled that out, and decided to head to the Volkspalast (formally known to
us as the Messehalle). Arriving by taxi again at just after 22:00 we were amazed to see that the place oozed a luxurious feel that we are not normally
treated with at WGT.
The Volkspalast can be found on what can only be described as a run down industrial estate from the communist era, a large red star can be seen on
top of one chimney nearby. It’s a large domed building made from concrete, but still quite beautiful, inside its wonderful, various bars and seating, either
at tables or various couches. There are some wonderful mock pillars around the inside of the dome, and between one set is the small stage. I didn’t
really know what to expect from the evening, so when the band (Pink turns Blue) came on I was quite happy that I was going to be listening to live music
(there had been speculation that the ball might be DJ sets by stars of the Goth world playing various tracks by Pink turns Blue). Pink turns Blue started to
play and not knowing there stuff I headed for the bar, the place filled up very quickly, with a probable capacity of about 1500 people. Returning from the
bar I was beginning to get into the music and the first dancers began to dance in the centre of the dome. After a few songs the first of the many guest
singers appeared. The night turned into what can only be described as one of the best Goth nights I have ever attended, stars of the Gothic world
performing Goth Karaoke, some sang their own songs, others sung songs from other bands or genres, It would be hard to pick a favourite guest from
the excellent line up, however I think in my opinion that Rasc from Rotersand singing Beloved by VNV Nation really hit the spot for me, a rocky guitar
based version of my all time favourite song. However Sven from Zeraphine, Andy LaPleguea, Wayne Hussey and the guys from Das Ich were all
excellent, not that the other guests were bad, a truly excellent evening of entertainment. This type of night just has to be repeated, talking to people
throughout the weekend I think everybody said that Thursday night was the best evening, seeing some of the greatest stars of our genre singing cover
versions has to be a winning formula.
As Pink turns Blue left the stage for the last time we decided that we had best head back to the hotel, it had been a long day, and with so much to do
tomorrow I didn’t want to go to bed late. However the hotel bar was open and more beer was ordered, I think I left the others to it sometime after 3:30am.
Day 3 – Friday 2nd June 2006
So the first official day of the festival, we all met up for a spot of lunch in the town centre at midday, and the first pizza of the festival. Once we had
eaten it was time to head down to the Agra for shopping. But first we went along to the new XtraX shop, located in town. Its covers three floors and
has everything you would expect of such a great store, all your gothic desires. Still I have always hated the place, I hate having to struggle to see
clothes, the clothes rails are so tightly packed its hard to see anything, that and the large amount of people in the store, to me it’s an utter nightmare.
Reduce the amount of clothes on the rails and control the flow of people into the store and I would probably end up buying something (the same is true
of the XtraX store at the Agra). The queue to actually purchase something was huge, with only a couple of people serving we waited twenty minutes
for somebody to get served. I also think that the price is a bit over the top for some items. €50 seems to be a standard price for many items, with the 25%
off it does make it more reasonable, but still I cant be arsed with all the hassle, maybe I am a grumpy bloke, but with money to burn I would rather go
somewhere with better customer relations.
So we left XtraX and headed for the main tram stop, only to find another XtraX store on the other side of the road, very large on a single level with a
stage at the back. However a quick scan of the clothes showed them to be last years stock and looking even closer many of the items seemed to be
seconds. Still the place was easier to get around, with less people although again all of the rails were packed. Leaving the store after 10 minutes we all
headed for the tram stop.
We took the tram as our wrist bands gave us free travel from midday of Friday until Midday of Tuesday. We got down to the Agra at 15:00 and a couple
of our group got their wristbands (they had got later flights and met us at the Volkspalast the night before, so our little group had swelled to eight
people). The Agra was very similar in set up as last year, with XtraX over the other side of the hall from the entrance; we went our separate ways as it’
s impossible to stay together shopping. I had a quick wander around then decided that I had best go and get my photo press pass. I knew I had to go
around the back of Halle 2, but didn’t have a clue where exactly. So I wandered past the main gig entrance to Halle 2, I had never been up around this
area before (having not done the camping thing), I was surprised to find a kindergarten set up in one of the buildings, with toys outside. I wandered past
a security guy and showed him my blue wrist band, and luckierly enough it was the right location, he let me past. I still didn’t really know where I was
going, so I had a wander around the front of a building and wandered in. Still no signs or indication as to where I should go. I finally headed to a sombre
looking room with three desks and a small queue of people, and it was here that passes were handed out. I had previously had to send off a passport
photo of myself and it was just a case of proving who I was and getting my card. Job done and feeling quite special I headed back to the shopping hall. I
purchased a couple of CDs then met up with a couple of friends, I had wanted to see Theatres Des Vampires, having seen them 10 years previous
when they were a Death Metal band I was quite keen to see them now that they were more Trad. However it was not to be, we had taken far too long
at the Agra and we got there in time to see Xandria.
Before coming out to Leipzig I had spent a couple of days digging around for sound bytes of all the bands playing, and Xandria sounded quite good,
rather like Within Temptation, so they were on my list of bands to see. Wanting to put my Press Pass to the test I got myself down with the other camera
carrying people and waited for the band to start. Having no idea what the procedure was I just followed the rest of the photographers when the band
came on, although I have quite a professional camera it was nothing compared to what some of them had, still I got some good shots. After three songs
we were ushered out of the photographer pit and I joined my friends. Xandria were quite good, but not what I was expecting, I was expecting to hear
better to be honest, they just didn’t seem to be together enough. Knowing Parkbuhne quite well I know that the sound system here is quite poor and that
you can’t really judge a band by a performance that you see here, still I was a little disappointed. Anyway it was still quite a good show, the lead singer
enjoyed herself and its always good to see people on stage actually enjoying themselves (not very Goth, but still I find that if the singer enjoys what they
are doing then I normally enjoy what I am hearing). Xandria left the stage too much clapping and I think that in general the crowd had appreciated what
they had just seen.
The next band were The Dreamside, I had purchased their latest album, and really enjoyed the ‘Open your eyes’ video that they did with Rogue of the
Cruxshadows. So from the photographers pit I got some really good pictures of the band as they came on stage all wearing masks, Kemi the lead singer
looked amazing and her voice is tremendous. I hadn’t expected such a good performance from The Dreamside, I am not sure why. But we were treated
to an excellent show; they played extremely well, visually excellent to look at with a fire dancer and the playing of a large kettle drum with lit drum sticks.
The songs were all together and it came across very much like the album, it’s a shame they didn’t record it as it would make an excellent live CD, I look
forward to buying future albums by the Dreamside, and hopefully seeing them again at some stage. Also I must say that I have great respect for the
base player, they guy plays the base to an excellent standard and only has one hand; he must have the plectrum taped to his wrist, sounded
tremendous.
Samael were next on stage, having listened to some of their MP3s on the net I had them on my list to see, however when they started playing I was
disappointed to hear that they didn’t sound the same live, harder and faster seemed to be the method used. The second song was better, but it didn’t
convince me, my feet were aching and I hadn’t been bothered to go to the press pit for them, so we decided to head to the café back in the park. An
excellent location for the venue, good food and some wonderful strawberry juice. I recommend this place, don’t eat in Parkbuhne unless you need to use
the toilet lots, the food is normally very greasy, and I know a number of people including myself that have had upset stomachs after eating in the actual
venue.
With Samael gone we awaited the highlight of the night, I have seen The Gathering twice before at festivals, and I must admit that they are not really my
cup of tea, but still my friends wanted to see them. As they came on stage I remembered why I wasn’t down the front in the press pit, blue jeans, bright
shirts and trainers appeared on stage. Now I don’t think of myself as a snob, but when you are headlining a venue at the worlds biggest Goth festival it
would be good if the band could show a little willing, even if it was just to get in the spirit of the festival, get some black jeans next time guys. Still I was
not there to look at the band clothes its all about the music. The Gathering play well, she sings very well, she even moves quite well, but still, I am not
sure what is wrong from my point of view, I cant fault them technically, but they just don’t do anything for me, I was bored after three songs, after five
my friends that had come to see the Gathering were also getting a little bored. As the sixth song started we headed for the door.
Getting back to the Hotel and changing we had agreed to meet at Midnight. We headed down to the new Darkflower, we always loved the old venue
with its grave stone bar and tables. I knew the new place was a little bigger and that was something of a relief as the last location used to get very full,
even getting to the bar there was hard. The new Darkflower is located in the next street along from the Sixtina Bar, just around the corner from the new
XtraX shop in town. It’s a doorway between two shops, leading down a flight of steps. As we entered we were hit by the heat, it was rammed, the
dance floor was full and the music was full on EBM. Having found a small corner to plonk our coats and a couple of bums we slowly procured an area.
Getting to the bar is still a hassle as it runs down one side of the dance floor, but it is easier than the old venue. I need a little room to dance (being an old
git) so that was out of the question, so it was beer followed by more beer. The music was excellent, and the new club is excellent, more room to move
about in if it wasn’t so packed, and an additional area the other side of the dance floor that is very batcave like. Again the owners have paid attention to
detail and there are various UV paintings on the wall. Some of the atmosphere of the old venue has gone, but the essence of the club remains, even
with the coffin shaped tables.
One thing that I had forgotten about was the amount that Germans seem to smoke, in the UK it seems that when you go out in a group that only one or
two of the group now smoke (ten years ago it was the other way around). I think its slowly becoming unsocial to smoke in the UK, and having just
recently come back from Scotland where smoking is banned in all public places it came as a rather horrid experience to be back in a smoke laden
atmosphere. We were seated in the raised area next to the dance floor, and I gradually found the smoke more oppressive, one of our group left due to
having constantly streaming eyes, and I left at 4am with dry sore eyes. It was a shame as otherwise the place is wonderful. Personally I can’t wait for a
full ban of smoking in public places, but hey you know I am a grouchy old git by now.
Day 4 - Saturday 3rd June 2006
Looking out of my hotel window on Saturday morning I could not see a single cloud in the sky, brilliant sunshine, so I left my umbrella behind. Up until this
time the weather had been ok, a couple of showers but nothing that bad although it could have been a bit warmer. I headed to the Agra alone by tram to
do some real shopping. I got a wurst and pizza from outside the Agra, as there are some excellent food stalls here. And then headed inside to buy some
more CDs and a few T-shirts.
I was quite keen to see Imperative Reaction, having heard quite a few of their songs on Tormented Radio, but I have never got around to buying any of
their CDs. So I headed for the press pit in an almost empty Agra Halle. However people did arrive to see them, and as they started to play I must say that
I was very impressed, a top performance for first act of the day, I got some good photos too. After my 3 songs down the front it was easy enough to
walk around the Halle and get to the front for a bounce.
Necro Facility didn’t really do it for me when I listened to their sound bytes before coming to Leipzig, so I headed back to the shopping Halle for more CDs
and my first Imperative Reaction CD.
Vigilante played after Necro Facility, the music on their Myspace site is excellent, Coldwave EBM, hard and fast from Chile (South America). I was quite
intrigued to see them, one to find out if they sounded like they do on they do on their Myspace site, and two to see what Chilean EBM sounded and
looked like. I was not to be disappointed, the band came on and started, excellent sounding, loud EBM with heavy Guitar over the top. The lead singer
bounced around and in between songs dedicated various songs for repressive struggle in a strong US American accent. I am sure we will hear more
from these guys in the coming years.
By 19:00 it was pissing hard outside, I was completely gutted as I had intended to go and see Unhelig at Parkbuhne. I love Unhelig and to me it would be
one of the highlights of the festival. However we had waited all day in the rain to see Zeraphine last year, and its not very pleasant waiting to see a
band play in the rain, especially with all the umbrellas last year. So we had a choice, see Unhelig in the rain or get inside Halle 2 for SITD before it gets
too packed and see VNV Nation instead. I had followed VNV and SITD around the UK at the end of last year, and whilst any other time I would be very
much up for seeing them again I really wanted to see Unhelig. However with the rain, and knowing that if we left it too late we wouldn’t get in to see
VNV we headed for Halle 2.
Halle 2 was packed, the rain had driven everybody inside, that and many people would know that if you wanted to see VNV you would need to be in the
Halle several bands before to get a good place. As SITD came on the crowd went wild, I do really like the sound of the band and they seem to have
developed loads in the last year, with a strong individual sound, Suffering in Solitude was excellent, but by the time they did this I had done my time in the
pit at the front and was bouncing around with the crowd. A wonderful set and the crowd seemed to love every minute of them. It’s a shame they are not
bigger in the UK, we need to hear more SITD on dance floors in the UK.
I am not sure what the floor of the Agra is made out of, but for some reason my feet always really hurt from standing watching bands, I don’t really like
Cat Rapes Dog that much, not enough to stand and watch them, so I headed for the food stalls and a plate of Currywurst along with a much needed sit
down on the floor. I did remember to bring a black plastic bag, why I hear you ask, hehe, well if you Google the Agra you will find that the place is also
used for farming shows, where you stand and sit, cows and other farmyard animals have pissed and shit. Something to add to the must take with me
next year list I guess, hehe.
From my sitting position I couldn’t really judge Cat Rapes Dog, although I must say that the sound quality of the Agra is very much better than previous
years. The sound quality had been very poor at the Agra over previous years, I suppose because it’s basically a metal box, and not very good for
acoustics. Still this year you can hear the bands from just about anywhere in the Halle, rather than previous years when you have had to get in between
the large metal pillars in front of the stage for the best sound quality.
I worked my way around to the press pit for VNV Nation, it was quite a struggle by now, the place was packed. When I got around to it there were
about 50 photographers all gaggling to get in to take photos. When VNV came on the press guys pushed there way into the enclosure at the front, quite
unbelievable really, most aren’t there for the music, they sit around just outside when they have taken their photos, but they acted just like paparazzi
when VNV came on, pushing and elbowing to get to the front, all rather weird as most seem to have a few grand’s worth of camera hanging from their
necks. Still I got a few good photos. As I was happily taking photos I was grabbed from behind by members of the crowd, I turned to see loads of faces
full of agony, they were all shouting in German, and although I couldn’t understand them I could see that they were getting crushed, there were a number
of people in tears especially a couple of girls pinned up against the barrier. I indicated to security but I am unsure what happened next as we were
ushered out of the press pit. The next task was to find my friends on the other side of the Halle, I tried to walk around the edge, however I have never
seen the place so full, and by the time I got around to the bar I knew it was going to be a nightmare. The area between the two bars, along the back was
block solid with people, people couldn’t move, it took 20 minutes of pushing to get from one side of the Halle to the other, people going out to the toilet had
no chance of getting back in. One huge skinhead of a brute swam his way through the crowd, grabbing people out of the way, and pushing them with
all his might. Those blokes that turned had his face within an inch of there own, not a nice man (and I must add that this is probably the first incident of an
aggressive behaviour that I have ever seen at WGT). I have no idea how many people were there to watch VNV but I guess it was well over capacity, I
couldn’t move my arms from above my head as I struggled to get from one side to the other. We later saw the first aid guys carrying people out.
Still back to the music, VNV were tremendous, Ronan was most defiantly on a high, a top performance and a good mix of songs, Beloved was excellent,
full of emotion. All very together and played to a very high standard, Ronan bouncing around the stage in his normal way, an excellent performance. The
sound quality was so much better than the last time VNV played WGT, wonderful.
We left VNV Nation and headed back to our hotel, got changed and walked down to the Moritzbastei. We struggled to get in but finally found ourselves
upstairs between the two dance floors, finally finding a few seats and settling in for a night of great music and beer. It was packed again beyond any
other year, the stair ways were covered in people but the atmosphere was excellent and after a day of standing up I was happy to be sitting down with
some great beer. The music got better but the dance floor remained packed so I stayed sitting and stuck to the beer leaving sometime after 5am
Worst disappointment of the day was hearing that it had stopped raining for Unhelig, great for them, damn nuisance for me, still it was a gamble, to see
VNV we needed to be there early.
Day 5 - Sunday 4th June 2006
I woke up knackered, one of our little group had to go home Sunday afternoon, so we arranged to eat well before she went. Auerbachs Keller is an
excellent place to relax and eat well, however it’s not a place to eat fast in, especially on a Sunday on a public holiday weekend. Still we managed to get
seats, and order. If you have never been you should take yourself along, a wonderful underground Keller with excellent ancient paintings on the wall.
After eating I headed for the hotel, a couple of extra hours of sleep were needed and I didn’t need to do anymore shopping (or so I thought). Saturday
was another band clashing day, I could have done with 2 doppelgangers to go to the other venues and see the bands I wanted to see. I could have
spent the day at the Agra or Parkbuhne, but instead we went to the new Cabbage Turnip Circus (otherwise known as Kohlrabizirkus). This new venue
is down by the Volkspalast and as everybody told me a stop before the Volkspalast (although the WGT website says use the same stop, and I had
produced a tram venue map with this info on it), still its one of the only errors that I think that I made, sorry to those that had an extra little walk.
The new venue reminded me of Madonna as I approached, rather pointy breast like and maybe a little past its best. A very small security gate proved to
delay entrance, but not too long at 18:30. Inside the venue is tremendous, very large with a few food stalls, two bars, cloakroom and decent toilets. I
would judge the venue capable of holding approximately 4000 people.
Beborn Beton started as we walked in, a group that I wanted to see, excellent songs, although the acoustics of the domed roof seemed to bounce the
base around a bit. They played most of the songs that I knew and I was impressed by what I saw. Good quality music and well played.
Frozen Plasma were on next, another highlight band for me, I loved Namnambulu but missed them when they played the other year. I got the Frozen
Plasma album the day it came out and have played it loads, excellent quality and I was expecting a great gig. I got down the front to take photos as
Ronan Harris came on to announce Frozen Plasma, and as the band came on I found myself trying to take pictures, dancing and singing all at the same
time, it doesn’t work very well, but still I got some great pictures. I then headed back to the crowd and spent the rest of the set in full dance mode.
Excellent gig, better than I expected and an excellent cover of Memories. Long live Frozen Plasma.
I could have stayed for Solitary Experiments and Mesh, but we decided to head for the Agra and see the Clan of Xymox, a band I seemed to have
missed over the years. We jumped in a taxi and got to the Agra in good time, heading inside we caught The Garden of Delight just starting. I have always
loved the Garden of Delight, I think I have about twelve albums by them, however this new heavier version of GOD isn’t as good as the old GOD in my
opinion. However that said, live they were excellent, Armand ever the front man put on an excellent performance and the band played very together,
excellent quality and much better live than on CD. The ‘Alice’ cover was probably better than the Sisters could do themselves and the Mr Crowley song
was excellent. I am really glad that we got there to see them.
Having never seen the Clan of Xymox but knowing a good deal of their songs I was expecting a good gig. I was knackered and the Agra was pretty full
so I unfortunately didn’t make it to the photographer pit. The sound quality seemed to have dipped a bit as they came on, especially on the vocals. They
performed well, doing their hits and doing everything right, however I found them to be lacklustre with little stage presence and almost no interaction with
the crowd. Very unfortunate as we were all disappointed at the performance. A little more effort by the band would have gone a long way.
Treffen feet was setting in now, most of us were very tired from standing watching bands, shopping and nightclubbing. We were going to stay around
for Deine Larkaien but the vote was head back to the Hotel and go down to Darkflower. It was a cab journey back to the Hotel, and then a walk down to
Darkflower. This time we decided to go around to the batcave part of the club, only to find a group leaving. We quickly jumped in their seats and spent
the rest of the night drinking. The level of smoke was much more dispersed here, and the sound level was better allowing us to chat. The Club was still
very packed, as was the dance floor, still the atmosphere was excellent, and it was a shame I ran out of energy by about 4:30am and had to head for
bed.
Day 6 – Monday 5th June 2006
Waking up quite late I felt refreshed and ready for the last day. With band clashes I could have spent the day at Parkbuhne or the Cabbage Turnip Circus.
However before that I wanted to go and wander around the Agra for the last day, pick up some bargains and have some lunch.
With a belly full of Pizza and Wurst I got my last few CDs from the Agra, a couple of WGT t-shirts and an Unhelig hoodie thingy and I was all done. Being
all shopped out we headed to the Kohlrabizirkus for Distorted Vocals Day.
When we got there we could see that the place was already going to be full, Feindflug were playing that evening, and the place was full of Feindflug t-
shirts. After the Haus Leipzig problems a few years ago I expect that most people were playing safe and getting there early. As we entered Reaper
were on stage. Vasi Vallis from Frozen Plasma on Vocals and two Reaper dressed people on keyboards, visually excellent, and sounded excellent, in
my opinion they were the best act all day. Good quality songs and excellent production, what else could we expect from Vasi.
After Reaper came Glis, I had heard a few of their songs on Tormented Radio and like some of them, although not enough to buy anything by them. As
they came on stage it was obvious that the lead singer was a very bouncy man, full of energy and would give his all for the crowd, and excellent
performance to start with. However the closer we watched the more we noticed the dolly bird on keyboards, her hands were barely moving, she was
staring straight ahead and hardly looking down at what she was doing, had somebody stuck her hands to the keyboard? The other keyboard player
was clearly playing, his hands were moving and he was really getting into the music. I thought it was just me, however after four songs several of my
friends had said the same, ‘what’s she doing’. Still the first few songs were excellent. Then it went a bit downhill ending in two terrible songs, harder
EBM with some form of white noise over the top. Maybe my ears are too old, but I didn’t enjoy it, I was thinking of maybe getting an album, but after the
last two songs and the dolly not doing much I decided that more beer was a better investment.
Tactical Sekt stomped onto the stage after Glis, and immediately the quality level was taken up a few notches, good sounding harsh EBM, music to stomp
with, not quite my cup of tea, but clearly playing their instruments and excellent crowd control. I enjoyed the first half of their set, but as they continued
to play I felt that each song was merging into the next, no real definition between songs, a second rate Suicide Commando, if they could make more of
their songs sound slightly different I think they may have a winning solution. However I had by now had enough and sitting down was more important.
One thing I really didn’t like was the talk in between the songs was still in distorted voice mode, most annoying.
God Module followed, I was rather looking forward to them, I had heard a lot about them, but never anything by them. Still I was here to see them so we
moved forward and prepared to be frilled. It was quite a shock when they came on, three very weird people, a very tall large gent who must have been
30 stone plus came to the front to shout abuse, with a short skinny guy on keyboards along with a women probably in her late 30s. Not what I was
expecting, still the first song was rather good and the big guy seemed to get the crowd going well. Then shall we call him Mr Big swapped with Mr Small,
now Mr Small seemed even smaller on stage after Mr Big had been there, and he has a much smaller stage presence, and I sort of turned off whilst he
did his song, rather boring apart from when he fell over (sorry I am cruel), then it was switch time and Mr Big was back, more distorted abuse. And so
they swapped places for every other song. I am not sure if this is because Mr Big can’t do two songs in a row, but Mr Small really was rather boring in
comparison. Keep Mr Big upfront. Still musically they were quite good, but by now I had had my fill of distorted vocals, I wanted out before Sonar. As we
walked out of Cabbage Turnip Circus we saw the vast amount of Feindflug t-shirted people waiting to get in, and as we tucked into a wurst outside
another tram load of people turn up, it was obvious that there would be some unhappy people around tonight.
We did the short walk over to the Volkspalast, it takes about 10 minutes and you can see the dome of the Volkspalast from the main road where you
jump off the tram. Kirlian Camera were headlining and we thought it would be a good place to maybe relax, have a beer and sit down to watch a great
band. By now my feet really did hurt from all the standing, shopping and dancing. And as we walked in to the Volkspalast we found ourselves in a very
packed building, every nook and cranny taken, we managed to make it to the bar and order drinks, unfortunately we got stuck by the bar and couldn’t get
out due to the press of people. Fortunately it was one of the raised bars and we could see the stage so we stay there and waited for the band. After
what seems an age the band emerge wearing balaclavas. Kirlian Camera are excellent, although the sound quality of the Dome is quite poor from the
side. We struggled to hear the vocals from the bar and it was quite hard to pick out each song, still the place is quite electric and the atmosphere is very
good. They play an excellent set, and I really do quite enjoy it, even if the sound quality is poor. The place is very hot and very crowed, probably a place
to see smaller bands in the future, still it is an excellent location and one I hope that is used in future years.
Afterwards we head back to the hotel get changed and head for the Moritzbastei and another highlight event. Steve Weeks from Slimelight generally
plays music that I absolutely love to dance too, and as we ease are way in to the lower dance floor we are hit with intense heat and great sounds.
Ditching our coats we head back for a beer and a dance. The room is half packed with UK, US and South African Goths, the atmosphere is absolutely
amazing, and I spend half the night on the dance floor wearing my flashing VNV Nation T-shirt (that for some reason people want to take pictures of).
With more beer and more dancing any pain in my feet that I did have has gone away. It was just unfortunate that we had to leave at 5am, I could have
gone on till 8am, but we have done that before and it just makes the trip home horrid. So we sulk off to the hotel, another year is over.
Day 7 – Tuesday 6th June 2006
The trip home, a day of misery. I set the alarm to 10:00 and get up to pack and get ready to leave. We check out, and head into town for some decent
food before our train to Berlin. So it’s back to the Italian and more pizza. Walking back to the hotel after is always a little sad. Leaving the hotel is worse,
and we don’t really know how we will get to the airport from the new Berlin train station. We get to the station in Leipzig with plenty of time, check out
the carriage boards and stand where the doors will be. And as planned a train pulls in and the doors are right in front of us, jumping on quickly we stow
the suitcases and jump in some seats. We had booked the train journey but not until a couple of weeks ago, so we don’t have reserved seats. We had
both brought loads of stuff so we both had heavy hand luggage and both wore our heaviest clothes to reduce the weight of our suitcases (having
previously heard of people having to pay a small fortune when they arrive with over weight bags).
The train journey is now only an hour and a quarter to Berlin, that’s about half an hour quicker than last year. As the train pulls into the new station it’s
obvious why it has taken so many years to build. The place is spotless, and huge. The bottom level has the ICE train platform, whilst the top level has the
normal local trains, however there must be nearly 300ft between them and you can see straight up. It’s not until you go up the levels that you really
appreciate just how massive this place is. Three levels of shops and easy access, everything has been thought about and designed well. As we walk
out the front of the building I am once again astounded by the size of the place. The bus stop to Tegel is just over the road from the front of the station. It
takes 30 minutes to get to Tegel from the station on the bus, so we have a few hours to kill. Walking back into the station you can follow the suitcase
signs to baggage storage, €3 is all it costs and we get to wander around Berlin for two hours (something we didn’t expect we would have time for).
Looking out the back of the station you can see the Reichstag and the various other Berlin Landmarks. We start to walk in the general direction of the
Reichstag, only to find a seaside café on the side of the river. Standing on the bridge over the river gives another excellent view of the station and the
vastness of the building. Just over the river we find two huge football boots, one reason we are quite glad to be leaving, there are already quite a few
football fans around. We continue walking around, following the river past the Reichstag we turn to walk past the Brandenburg gate and the hotel that
Jacko held his son out of. Unfortunately the weather is very hot, and wearing all our heaviest warmest clothes in not a good idea. However by the time
we get back to the front of the Reichstag we see a few people from last night at the Moritzbastei, we have a quick chat and then it’s off to collect our
bags and head for the bus stop and Tegel. Buses are every 6-10 minutes and before long we are sitting in the airport, baggage checked in with our last
beer.
Uneventful flight home, followed by an easy drive back to Brighton from Stanstead, getting home for 23:00.
SUMMARY
Personally I had an excellent time, it might seem like I moan a bit, but I really did enjoy myself, I love every minute of being in Germany, in Leipzig and the
festival. Having a photo pass was for me one of the highlights and I can’t wait to find some time to update the website for 2007. If you saw some nutter
taking photos of some quite odd things then that was probably me, I got some weird looks as I photographed ticket machines and other things to help
people in the future. Still the website should be excellent once I have finished. I saw some excellent bands, and some not such good ones, and I missed
a few bands that I still want to see. My CD collection has grown and I have some more T-Shirts for the summer. I still think the best event was the first
night at the Volkspalast and the 15th anniversary ball, I hope it’s repeated in the same location. Low point was not being able to see Unhelig, seeing the
pain on the faces of the guys at the front for VNV and coming home.
These are all my personal views, they are not meant to offend, and I am sorry if my views are not your own. Thank you for reading this, see you next
year.
Mark
10/06/06
Day 1 – Wednesday 31st May 2006
My flight was from Stanstead just after 20:00, flying direct to Leipzig/Halle. Knowing that the drive to the Airport would take about two hours I left
Brighton at 15:30. I decided that I had loads of time and would have a nice leisurely drive up the motorway to Stanstead, and with Unhelig in the CD
player I set out. The drive up to the A23 was fine till I got to Crawley/Gatwick where the motorway had come to a stand still, it had taken half an hour to
get this far, it would take another half an hour to get to the M23/M25 junction, creeping along at 5-10 mph. I looked at the clock and realised that I had lost
twenty minutes travelling time and that the rest of the journey would have to be at normal driving speed if I was to meet my friends at Stanstead for 18:
00. However when I saw the M23/M25 junction it was obvious that there was a real problem, the anti clockwise queue was at a standstill and the
overhead screen was saying that there was congestion all the way till the other side of the Dartford Tunnel. Damn. As I approached I had two options,
join the queue or go the long way around clockwise via Heathrow and just hope that the road would be clear.
The M25 clockwise was quite good, moving at a good speed, until I hit the rush hour, from the M3 to the M40 I struggled to move at above Forty mph, time
was getting on and I started to feel a little stupid for not leaving early enough. After the M40 turn off the M25 picked up again, only to come to a dead halt
at the A1M, road works for miles, and I didn’t get to the M11 turn off until late and finally reached Stanstead at 18:45, having taken three and a quarter
hours to drive there. I picked up a friend outside the airport, I had his luggage in the car, and we drove down to the long stay Pink Elephant car park. The
Car park is easy to find, but as we got out of the car we could see the bus pulling away from the nearest bus stop. After much watch looking and a
complete feeling of frustration another bus appeared fifteen minutes later. I don’t think we have ever moved as fast, running with suitcases to the Berlin
Air check in at 19:15.
We rapidly headed for passport control after getting rid of our suitcases (they weighted 42.5 kg between them, with no additional charges). With the
normal large queues at passport control we did the normal thing of taking our boots off before reaching the x-ray machine. I normally wear an old pair of
New Rocks for WGT, as they normally have to go through a lot, but this year I wore a new pair, and they have small spikes down the front. However
there were no problems apart from one of the X-ray machine women saying that she would not like to get kicked with a pair of them. Booted once again
we headed for the Stanstead Airport train to our terminal, and finally arrived there just before 8pm. Now I was totally knackered and a little pissed off
that I had been rushed. Scoffing my sandwich that I had purchased just before jumping on the train we waited to be called for boarding. However our
flight was delayed 20 minutes due to a ‘go slow’ by baggage handlers at Stanstead. We finally got on the aircraft at 8:40. We met a few friends so that
there were now six of us.
The flight was mostly uneventful apart from some turbulence (that or the pilot accidentally turned the autopilot off). Either way we landed at Leipzig/Halle
after flying over the city and seeing the Wisdom tooth Skyscraper from the air. With an hour added to the clock we got our suitcases and headed out of
the airport at 11:20pm, a nice line of taxis greeted us, and the six of us jumped in a Mini Bus that drove us into Leipzig in half an hour at total cost of €28,
a bargain. The Renaissance hotel was just how we had left it last year, hotel staff knew of our late arrival (as I had rung them that morning) and we had
no problems checking in at Midnight. By ten past Midnight we had our first German Beer. Three beers later and at Half past two in the morning I went to
bed hoping that the rest of the festival would be better and luckier.
Day 2 – Thursday 1st June 2006
This was my fifth WGT and each year for the past few years we had all said that we would all like to visit Colditz Castle; it’s situated about twenty
seven miles south east of Leipzig. I had spent some time organising the trip via a website run by an English guy living in Leipzig. Taxi Tours pick you up,
take you to the castle and bring you back to Leipzig, and this was the reason we had travelled a day early to see the Castle. I needed to get some cash
so I went for an early morning walk to the city centre, having my first walk around. Quite a few improvements have been made to the city centre
especially around the tram area in front of the Hauptbanhof. With money in my wallet I headed back to the Hotel, five of us were going to Colditz and our
tour guide turned up right on time with a large picture of Colditz Castle on it. There was a slight change to the arrangements, as the normal mini bus was
off the road, so we had to go in two Mercedes Taxi’s, and it was going to cost us less. Finally things were looking good after yesterday’s nightmare.
David our tour guide had lived in Leipzig for 10 years and in Germany even longer, and had seen the changes to the city and the re-unification of
Germany. Being born in England but having lived around the world he was a font of knowledge and wanted to know all about us.
The twenty seven mile trip to Colditz took just under an hour, with no fast roads. It gave us a glimpse of the underside of Leipzig and the surrounding
areas, many parts still being in ruin either from the Second World War or from the communist era. Still it was excellent to see and David gave us all the
background info as we drove past places of interest.
On first seeing Colditz Castle I was a little amazed to see that it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I have long been into all things Historic, specialising in
reading everything about the Second World War, from all sides of the conflict. I had seen the film and read the Pat Reid books, so I was expecting to see
a gloomy drab castle. Instead it was quite brightly painted in off white. As we approached David explained that the castle is being refurbished, and now
has a new roof. Colditz is apparently one of many castles waiting for funds and that it will take many years for the repairs to be finished. Driving through
the sleepy streets of Colditz it was obvious that Colditz the town could do with more funds too. The place is clean, just a little run down and in need of
some TLC. David told us that although many people from the Allied Countries of the Second World War are aware of the War history of Colditz Castle that
most Germans are completely unaware of this period of its history. 75% of the tourists to Colditz are from outside of Germany.
David had booked us on the 13:00 tour, so we stopped to take pictures of the castle from the riverside. Much of the other side of the castle is covered in
scaffold as work takes place to repair and paint the walls. We wandered around the town and found a small café to have a beer. There is little in the
actual town to see, the small picturesque streets will one day make nice photos, but with a little rain and in their current state I was happy to get back up
to the castle. David left us in the hands of the Colditz Castle Museum Tour, in English.
Walking into the Castle for the first time I was amazed at how tall the inside of the castle was, to think that this had been a prisoner of war camp, and to
imagine that allied POWs had crept along the roof and climbed down walls whist all the time a full garrison of German Soldiers had been guarding them. In
the Main Courtyard we took pictures and were told that the current owner has plans to restore the castle to its original 16th Century state, and that was
the reason for the off white paint work. However our guide said that the owner has every intention of keeping all the war time tunnels and exhibitions
open. Our guide informed us that the castle has over 700 rooms but nobody has ever managed to count them all. Looking around us I could see that this
castle was indeed very large.
The Tour lasted about two hours and we saw various tunnels that had been found, heard stories of escape and invention, saw various artefacts that
had been found buried under floor boards and saw art work by some of the famous prisoners of war. Having done my home work before coming I was
amazed to actually see the castle to see doorways where prisoners had stood for photos and that film stars had later stood for the making of the
various films about the place. It was unfortunate that much of the castle is still in a state of repair, and that the actual tour only cover a small portion of
the castle, however with 700 rooms plus its full acceptable that we couldn’t be left to our own devices to wander around, we might never escape
(although I did buy a t-shirt saying that I had escaped from Colditz, hehe). I thoroughly recommend going to Colditz, and taking the tour, you will be
amazed at the complexity of items made by prisoners that were imprisoned here, from the plane that was built but never flown from the roof to the jelly
manufactured maps. The drive back to Leipzig got us to our hotel for 16:00pm. We paid about €62 Euros each for the trip; a fair price for the distance
travelled there and back, the price of entrance to the castle and the two hour guide. Excellent.
So back to reality and the real reason you are probably reading this. I quickly got changed and we jumped in a taxi to go down to the ‘Sued Brause’
Restaurant just outside Werk II. As expected there were two small huts just on the other side of Werk II selling tickets and exchanging them for
wristbands. Having been granted a press pass I didn’t need to join the long queue of black dressed people, but my friends quickly brought their tickets
and got their wristbands. After that it was time for beer and food in the restaurant. The food has always been excellent here, and the first beer glasses
were empty shortly after they arrived. We met a few people that made it to the laid back UK Leipzig meeting, and I handed out a bunch of laminated gig
cards.
Full of food and a couple of beers we headed down to the Agra Messepark, so that I could get my photo press pass. However they were not ready yet
so I just got my blue wristband that would get me into this evening’s event. We then headed back to the Hotel to get ready for the evening. An hour later
and I was sitting in reception at the hotel and was jumped on for more gig cards.
I think that this is the first year that we have had a choice of what to do on the Thursday evening, normally it’s either go to the Moritzbastei or go to
Darkflower, and we normally end up in Darkflower. But this year with three planned events we had to choose what to do, see Laibach, see Modcom or
go to the 15th Anniversary Ball. We had over the previous months quite fancied the Laibach gig, but were a little put off by the cost, we guessed that
Modcom and Ronan Harris would pull a huge crowd in the Moritzbastei so we ruled that out, and decided to head to the Volkspalast (formally known to
us as the Messehalle). Arriving by taxi again at just after 22:00 we were amazed to see that the place oozed a luxurious feel that we are not normally
treated with at WGT.
The Volkspalast can be found on what can only be described as a run down industrial estate from the communist era, a large red star can be seen on
top of one chimney nearby. It’s a large domed building made from concrete, but still quite beautiful, inside its wonderful, various bars and seating, either
at tables or various couches. There are some wonderful mock pillars around the inside of the dome, and between one set is the small stage. I didn’t
really know what to expect from the evening, so when the band (Pink turns Blue) came on I was quite happy that I was going to be listening to live music
(there had been speculation that the ball might be DJ sets by stars of the Goth world playing various tracks by Pink turns Blue). Pink turns Blue started to
play and not knowing there stuff I headed for the bar, the place filled up very quickly, with a probable capacity of about 1500 people. Returning from the
bar I was beginning to get into the music and the first dancers began to dance in the centre of the dome. After a few songs the first of the many guest
singers appeared. The night turned into what can only be described as one of the best Goth nights I have ever attended, stars of the Gothic world
performing Goth Karaoke, some sang their own songs, others sung songs from other bands or genres, It would be hard to pick a favourite guest from
the excellent line up, however I think in my opinion that Rasc from Rotersand singing Beloved by VNV Nation really hit the spot for me, a rocky guitar
based version of my all time favourite song. However Sven from Zeraphine, Andy LaPleguea, Wayne Hussey and the guys from Das Ich were all
excellent, not that the other guests were bad, a truly excellent evening of entertainment. This type of night just has to be repeated, talking to people
throughout the weekend I think everybody said that Thursday night was the best evening, seeing some of the greatest stars of our genre singing cover
versions has to be a winning formula.
As Pink turns Blue left the stage for the last time we decided that we had best head back to the hotel, it had been a long day, and with so much to do
tomorrow I didn’t want to go to bed late. However the hotel bar was open and more beer was ordered, I think I left the others to it sometime after 3:30am.
Day 3 – Friday 2nd June 2006
So the first official day of the festival, we all met up for a spot of lunch in the town centre at midday, and the first pizza of the festival. Once we had
eaten it was time to head down to the Agra for shopping. But first we went along to the new XtraX shop, located in town. Its covers three floors and
has everything you would expect of such a great store, all your gothic desires. Still I have always hated the place, I hate having to struggle to see
clothes, the clothes rails are so tightly packed its hard to see anything, that and the large amount of people in the store, to me it’s an utter nightmare.
Reduce the amount of clothes on the rails and control the flow of people into the store and I would probably end up buying something (the same is true
of the XtraX store at the Agra). The queue to actually purchase something was huge, with only a couple of people serving we waited twenty minutes
for somebody to get served. I also think that the price is a bit over the top for some items. €50 seems to be a standard price for many items, with the 25%
off it does make it more reasonable, but still I cant be arsed with all the hassle, maybe I am a grumpy bloke, but with money to burn I would rather go
somewhere with better customer relations.
So we left XtraX and headed for the main tram stop, only to find another XtraX store on the other side of the road, very large on a single level with a
stage at the back. However a quick scan of the clothes showed them to be last years stock and looking even closer many of the items seemed to be
seconds. Still the place was easier to get around, with less people although again all of the rails were packed. Leaving the store after 10 minutes we all
headed for the tram stop.
We took the tram as our wrist bands gave us free travel from midday of Friday until Midday of Tuesday. We got down to the Agra at 15:00 and a couple
of our group got their wristbands (they had got later flights and met us at the Volkspalast the night before, so our little group had swelled to eight
people). The Agra was very similar in set up as last year, with XtraX over the other side of the hall from the entrance; we went our separate ways as it’
s impossible to stay together shopping. I had a quick wander around then decided that I had best go and get my photo press pass. I knew I had to go
around the back of Halle 2, but didn’t have a clue where exactly. So I wandered past the main gig entrance to Halle 2, I had never been up around this
area before (having not done the camping thing), I was surprised to find a kindergarten set up in one of the buildings, with toys outside. I wandered past
a security guy and showed him my blue wrist band, and luckierly enough it was the right location, he let me past. I still didn’t really know where I was
going, so I had a wander around the front of a building and wandered in. Still no signs or indication as to where I should go. I finally headed to a sombre
looking room with three desks and a small queue of people, and it was here that passes were handed out. I had previously had to send off a passport
photo of myself and it was just a case of proving who I was and getting my card. Job done and feeling quite special I headed back to the shopping hall. I
purchased a couple of CDs then met up with a couple of friends, I had wanted to see Theatres Des Vampires, having seen them 10 years previous
when they were a Death Metal band I was quite keen to see them now that they were more Trad. However it was not to be, we had taken far too long
at the Agra and we got there in time to see Xandria.
Before coming out to Leipzig I had spent a couple of days digging around for sound bytes of all the bands playing, and Xandria sounded quite good,
rather like Within Temptation, so they were on my list of bands to see. Wanting to put my Press Pass to the test I got myself down with the other camera
carrying people and waited for the band to start. Having no idea what the procedure was I just followed the rest of the photographers when the band
came on, although I have quite a professional camera it was nothing compared to what some of them had, still I got some good shots. After three songs
we were ushered out of the photographer pit and I joined my friends. Xandria were quite good, but not what I was expecting, I was expecting to hear
better to be honest, they just didn’t seem to be together enough. Knowing Parkbuhne quite well I know that the sound system here is quite poor and that
you can’t really judge a band by a performance that you see here, still I was a little disappointed. Anyway it was still quite a good show, the lead singer
enjoyed herself and its always good to see people on stage actually enjoying themselves (not very Goth, but still I find that if the singer enjoys what they
are doing then I normally enjoy what I am hearing). Xandria left the stage too much clapping and I think that in general the crowd had appreciated what
they had just seen.
The next band were The Dreamside, I had purchased their latest album, and really enjoyed the ‘Open your eyes’ video that they did with Rogue of the
Cruxshadows. So from the photographers pit I got some really good pictures of the band as they came on stage all wearing masks, Kemi the lead singer
looked amazing and her voice is tremendous. I hadn’t expected such a good performance from The Dreamside, I am not sure why. But we were treated
to an excellent show; they played extremely well, visually excellent to look at with a fire dancer and the playing of a large kettle drum with lit drum sticks.
The songs were all together and it came across very much like the album, it’s a shame they didn’t record it as it would make an excellent live CD, I look
forward to buying future albums by the Dreamside, and hopefully seeing them again at some stage. Also I must say that I have great respect for the
base player, they guy plays the base to an excellent standard and only has one hand; he must have the plectrum taped to his wrist, sounded
tremendous.
Samael were next on stage, having listened to some of their MP3s on the net I had them on my list to see, however when they started playing I was
disappointed to hear that they didn’t sound the same live, harder and faster seemed to be the method used. The second song was better, but it didn’t
convince me, my feet were aching and I hadn’t been bothered to go to the press pit for them, so we decided to head to the café back in the park. An
excellent location for the venue, good food and some wonderful strawberry juice. I recommend this place, don’t eat in Parkbuhne unless you need to use
the toilet lots, the food is normally very greasy, and I know a number of people including myself that have had upset stomachs after eating in the actual
venue.
With Samael gone we awaited the highlight of the night, I have seen The Gathering twice before at festivals, and I must admit that they are not really my
cup of tea, but still my friends wanted to see them. As they came on stage I remembered why I wasn’t down the front in the press pit, blue jeans, bright
shirts and trainers appeared on stage. Now I don’t think of myself as a snob, but when you are headlining a venue at the worlds biggest Goth festival it
would be good if the band could show a little willing, even if it was just to get in the spirit of the festival, get some black jeans next time guys. Still I was
not there to look at the band clothes its all about the music. The Gathering play well, she sings very well, she even moves quite well, but still, I am not
sure what is wrong from my point of view, I cant fault them technically, but they just don’t do anything for me, I was bored after three songs, after five
my friends that had come to see the Gathering were also getting a little bored. As the sixth song started we headed for the door.
Getting back to the Hotel and changing we had agreed to meet at Midnight. We headed down to the new Darkflower, we always loved the old venue
with its grave stone bar and tables. I knew the new place was a little bigger and that was something of a relief as the last location used to get very full,
even getting to the bar there was hard. The new Darkflower is located in the next street along from the Sixtina Bar, just around the corner from the new
XtraX shop in town. It’s a doorway between two shops, leading down a flight of steps. As we entered we were hit by the heat, it was rammed, the
dance floor was full and the music was full on EBM. Having found a small corner to plonk our coats and a couple of bums we slowly procured an area.
Getting to the bar is still a hassle as it runs down one side of the dance floor, but it is easier than the old venue. I need a little room to dance (being an old
git) so that was out of the question, so it was beer followed by more beer. The music was excellent, and the new club is excellent, more room to move
about in if it wasn’t so packed, and an additional area the other side of the dance floor that is very batcave like. Again the owners have paid attention to
detail and there are various UV paintings on the wall. Some of the atmosphere of the old venue has gone, but the essence of the club remains, even
with the coffin shaped tables.
One thing that I had forgotten about was the amount that Germans seem to smoke, in the UK it seems that when you go out in a group that only one or
two of the group now smoke (ten years ago it was the other way around). I think its slowly becoming unsocial to smoke in the UK, and having just
recently come back from Scotland where smoking is banned in all public places it came as a rather horrid experience to be back in a smoke laden
atmosphere. We were seated in the raised area next to the dance floor, and I gradually found the smoke more oppressive, one of our group left due to
having constantly streaming eyes, and I left at 4am with dry sore eyes. It was a shame as otherwise the place is wonderful. Personally I can’t wait for a
full ban of smoking in public places, but hey you know I am a grouchy old git by now.
Day 4 - Saturday 3rd June 2006
Looking out of my hotel window on Saturday morning I could not see a single cloud in the sky, brilliant sunshine, so I left my umbrella behind. Up until this
time the weather had been ok, a couple of showers but nothing that bad although it could have been a bit warmer. I headed to the Agra alone by tram to
do some real shopping. I got a wurst and pizza from outside the Agra, as there are some excellent food stalls here. And then headed inside to buy some
more CDs and a few T-shirts.
I was quite keen to see Imperative Reaction, having heard quite a few of their songs on Tormented Radio, but I have never got around to buying any of
their CDs. So I headed for the press pit in an almost empty Agra Halle. However people did arrive to see them, and as they started to play I must say that
I was very impressed, a top performance for first act of the day, I got some good photos too. After my 3 songs down the front it was easy enough to
walk around the Halle and get to the front for a bounce.
Necro Facility didn’t really do it for me when I listened to their sound bytes before coming to Leipzig, so I headed back to the shopping Halle for more CDs
and my first Imperative Reaction CD.
Vigilante played after Necro Facility, the music on their Myspace site is excellent, Coldwave EBM, hard and fast from Chile (South America). I was quite
intrigued to see them, one to find out if they sounded like they do on they do on their Myspace site, and two to see what Chilean EBM sounded and
looked like. I was not to be disappointed, the band came on and started, excellent sounding, loud EBM with heavy Guitar over the top. The lead singer
bounced around and in between songs dedicated various songs for repressive struggle in a strong US American accent. I am sure we will hear more
from these guys in the coming years.
By 19:00 it was pissing hard outside, I was completely gutted as I had intended to go and see Unhelig at Parkbuhne. I love Unhelig and to me it would be
one of the highlights of the festival. However we had waited all day in the rain to see Zeraphine last year, and its not very pleasant waiting to see a
band play in the rain, especially with all the umbrellas last year. So we had a choice, see Unhelig in the rain or get inside Halle 2 for SITD before it gets
too packed and see VNV Nation instead. I had followed VNV and SITD around the UK at the end of last year, and whilst any other time I would be very
much up for seeing them again I really wanted to see Unhelig. However with the rain, and knowing that if we left it too late we wouldn’t get in to see
VNV we headed for Halle 2.
Halle 2 was packed, the rain had driven everybody inside, that and many people would know that if you wanted to see VNV you would need to be in the
Halle several bands before to get a good place. As SITD came on the crowd went wild, I do really like the sound of the band and they seem to have
developed loads in the last year, with a strong individual sound, Suffering in Solitude was excellent, but by the time they did this I had done my time in the
pit at the front and was bouncing around with the crowd. A wonderful set and the crowd seemed to love every minute of them. It’s a shame they are not
bigger in the UK, we need to hear more SITD on dance floors in the UK.
I am not sure what the floor of the Agra is made out of, but for some reason my feet always really hurt from standing watching bands, I don’t really like
Cat Rapes Dog that much, not enough to stand and watch them, so I headed for the food stalls and a plate of Currywurst along with a much needed sit
down on the floor. I did remember to bring a black plastic bag, why I hear you ask, hehe, well if you Google the Agra you will find that the place is also
used for farming shows, where you stand and sit, cows and other farmyard animals have pissed and shit. Something to add to the must take with me
next year list I guess, hehe.
From my sitting position I couldn’t really judge Cat Rapes Dog, although I must say that the sound quality of the Agra is very much better than previous
years. The sound quality had been very poor at the Agra over previous years, I suppose because it’s basically a metal box, and not very good for
acoustics. Still this year you can hear the bands from just about anywhere in the Halle, rather than previous years when you have had to get in between
the large metal pillars in front of the stage for the best sound quality.
I worked my way around to the press pit for VNV Nation, it was quite a struggle by now, the place was packed. When I got around to it there were
about 50 photographers all gaggling to get in to take photos. When VNV came on the press guys pushed there way into the enclosure at the front, quite
unbelievable really, most aren’t there for the music, they sit around just outside when they have taken their photos, but they acted just like paparazzi
when VNV came on, pushing and elbowing to get to the front, all rather weird as most seem to have a few grand’s worth of camera hanging from their
necks. Still I got a few good photos. As I was happily taking photos I was grabbed from behind by members of the crowd, I turned to see loads of faces
full of agony, they were all shouting in German, and although I couldn’t understand them I could see that they were getting crushed, there were a number
of people in tears especially a couple of girls pinned up against the barrier. I indicated to security but I am unsure what happened next as we were
ushered out of the press pit. The next task was to find my friends on the other side of the Halle, I tried to walk around the edge, however I have never
seen the place so full, and by the time I got around to the bar I knew it was going to be a nightmare. The area between the two bars, along the back was
block solid with people, people couldn’t move, it took 20 minutes of pushing to get from one side of the Halle to the other, people going out to the toilet had
no chance of getting back in. One huge skinhead of a brute swam his way through the crowd, grabbing people out of the way, and pushing them with
all his might. Those blokes that turned had his face within an inch of there own, not a nice man (and I must add that this is probably the first incident of an
aggressive behaviour that I have ever seen at WGT). I have no idea how many people were there to watch VNV but I guess it was well over capacity, I
couldn’t move my arms from above my head as I struggled to get from one side to the other. We later saw the first aid guys carrying people out.
Still back to the music, VNV were tremendous, Ronan was most defiantly on a high, a top performance and a good mix of songs, Beloved was excellent,
full of emotion. All very together and played to a very high standard, Ronan bouncing around the stage in his normal way, an excellent performance. The
sound quality was so much better than the last time VNV played WGT, wonderful.
We left VNV Nation and headed back to our hotel, got changed and walked down to the Moritzbastei. We struggled to get in but finally found ourselves
upstairs between the two dance floors, finally finding a few seats and settling in for a night of great music and beer. It was packed again beyond any
other year, the stair ways were covered in people but the atmosphere was excellent and after a day of standing up I was happy to be sitting down with
some great beer. The music got better but the dance floor remained packed so I stayed sitting and stuck to the beer leaving sometime after 5am
Worst disappointment of the day was hearing that it had stopped raining for Unhelig, great for them, damn nuisance for me, still it was a gamble, to see
VNV we needed to be there early.
Day 5 - Sunday 4th June 2006
I woke up knackered, one of our little group had to go home Sunday afternoon, so we arranged to eat well before she went. Auerbachs Keller is an
excellent place to relax and eat well, however it’s not a place to eat fast in, especially on a Sunday on a public holiday weekend. Still we managed to get
seats, and order. If you have never been you should take yourself along, a wonderful underground Keller with excellent ancient paintings on the wall.
After eating I headed for the hotel, a couple of extra hours of sleep were needed and I didn’t need to do anymore shopping (or so I thought). Saturday
was another band clashing day, I could have done with 2 doppelgangers to go to the other venues and see the bands I wanted to see. I could have
spent the day at the Agra or Parkbuhne, but instead we went to the new Cabbage Turnip Circus (otherwise known as Kohlrabizirkus). This new venue
is down by the Volkspalast and as everybody told me a stop before the Volkspalast (although the WGT website says use the same stop, and I had
produced a tram venue map with this info on it), still its one of the only errors that I think that I made, sorry to those that had an extra little walk.
The new venue reminded me of Madonna as I approached, rather pointy breast like and maybe a little past its best. A very small security gate proved to
delay entrance, but not too long at 18:30. Inside the venue is tremendous, very large with a few food stalls, two bars, cloakroom and decent toilets. I
would judge the venue capable of holding approximately 4000 people.
Beborn Beton started as we walked in, a group that I wanted to see, excellent songs, although the acoustics of the domed roof seemed to bounce the
base around a bit. They played most of the songs that I knew and I was impressed by what I saw. Good quality music and well played.
Frozen Plasma were on next, another highlight band for me, I loved Namnambulu but missed them when they played the other year. I got the Frozen
Plasma album the day it came out and have played it loads, excellent quality and I was expecting a great gig. I got down the front to take photos as
Ronan Harris came on to announce Frozen Plasma, and as the band came on I found myself trying to take pictures, dancing and singing all at the same
time, it doesn’t work very well, but still I got some great pictures. I then headed back to the crowd and spent the rest of the set in full dance mode.
Excellent gig, better than I expected and an excellent cover of Memories. Long live Frozen Plasma.
I could have stayed for Solitary Experiments and Mesh, but we decided to head for the Agra and see the Clan of Xymox, a band I seemed to have
missed over the years. We jumped in a taxi and got to the Agra in good time, heading inside we caught The Garden of Delight just starting. I have always
loved the Garden of Delight, I think I have about twelve albums by them, however this new heavier version of GOD isn’t as good as the old GOD in my
opinion. However that said, live they were excellent, Armand ever the front man put on an excellent performance and the band played very together,
excellent quality and much better live than on CD. The ‘Alice’ cover was probably better than the Sisters could do themselves and the Mr Crowley song
was excellent. I am really glad that we got there to see them.
Having never seen the Clan of Xymox but knowing a good deal of their songs I was expecting a good gig. I was knackered and the Agra was pretty full
so I unfortunately didn’t make it to the photographer pit. The sound quality seemed to have dipped a bit as they came on, especially on the vocals. They
performed well, doing their hits and doing everything right, however I found them to be lacklustre with little stage presence and almost no interaction with
the crowd. Very unfortunate as we were all disappointed at the performance. A little more effort by the band would have gone a long way.
Treffen feet was setting in now, most of us were very tired from standing watching bands, shopping and nightclubbing. We were going to stay around
for Deine Larkaien but the vote was head back to the Hotel and go down to Darkflower. It was a cab journey back to the Hotel, and then a walk down to
Darkflower. This time we decided to go around to the batcave part of the club, only to find a group leaving. We quickly jumped in their seats and spent
the rest of the night drinking. The level of smoke was much more dispersed here, and the sound level was better allowing us to chat. The Club was still
very packed, as was the dance floor, still the atmosphere was excellent, and it was a shame I ran out of energy by about 4:30am and had to head for
bed.
Day 6 – Monday 5th June 2006
Waking up quite late I felt refreshed and ready for the last day. With band clashes I could have spent the day at Parkbuhne or the Cabbage Turnip Circus.
However before that I wanted to go and wander around the Agra for the last day, pick up some bargains and have some lunch.
With a belly full of Pizza and Wurst I got my last few CDs from the Agra, a couple of WGT t-shirts and an Unhelig hoodie thingy and I was all done. Being
all shopped out we headed to the Kohlrabizirkus for Distorted Vocals Day.
When we got there we could see that the place was already going to be full, Feindflug were playing that evening, and the place was full of Feindflug t-
shirts. After the Haus Leipzig problems a few years ago I expect that most people were playing safe and getting there early. As we entered Reaper
were on stage. Vasi Vallis from Frozen Plasma on Vocals and two Reaper dressed people on keyboards, visually excellent, and sounded excellent, in
my opinion they were the best act all day. Good quality songs and excellent production, what else could we expect from Vasi.
After Reaper came Glis, I had heard a few of their songs on Tormented Radio and like some of them, although not enough to buy anything by them. As
they came on stage it was obvious that the lead singer was a very bouncy man, full of energy and would give his all for the crowd, and excellent
performance to start with. However the closer we watched the more we noticed the dolly bird on keyboards, her hands were barely moving, she was
staring straight ahead and hardly looking down at what she was doing, had somebody stuck her hands to the keyboard? The other keyboard player
was clearly playing, his hands were moving and he was really getting into the music. I thought it was just me, however after four songs several of my
friends had said the same, ‘what’s she doing’. Still the first few songs were excellent. Then it went a bit downhill ending in two terrible songs, harder
EBM with some form of white noise over the top. Maybe my ears are too old, but I didn’t enjoy it, I was thinking of maybe getting an album, but after the
last two songs and the dolly not doing much I decided that more beer was a better investment.
Tactical Sekt stomped onto the stage after Glis, and immediately the quality level was taken up a few notches, good sounding harsh EBM, music to stomp
with, not quite my cup of tea, but clearly playing their instruments and excellent crowd control. I enjoyed the first half of their set, but as they continued
to play I felt that each song was merging into the next, no real definition between songs, a second rate Suicide Commando, if they could make more of
their songs sound slightly different I think they may have a winning solution. However I had by now had enough and sitting down was more important.
One thing I really didn’t like was the talk in between the songs was still in distorted voice mode, most annoying.
God Module followed, I was rather looking forward to them, I had heard a lot about them, but never anything by them. Still I was here to see them so we
moved forward and prepared to be frilled. It was quite a shock when they came on, three very weird people, a very tall large gent who must have been
30 stone plus came to the front to shout abuse, with a short skinny guy on keyboards along with a women probably in her late 30s. Not what I was
expecting, still the first song was rather good and the big guy seemed to get the crowd going well. Then shall we call him Mr Big swapped with Mr Small,
now Mr Small seemed even smaller on stage after Mr Big had been there, and he has a much smaller stage presence, and I sort of turned off whilst he
did his song, rather boring apart from when he fell over (sorry I am cruel), then it was switch time and Mr Big was back, more distorted abuse. And so
they swapped places for every other song. I am not sure if this is because Mr Big can’t do two songs in a row, but Mr Small really was rather boring in
comparison. Keep Mr Big upfront. Still musically they were quite good, but by now I had had my fill of distorted vocals, I wanted out before Sonar. As we
walked out of Cabbage Turnip Circus we saw the vast amount of Feindflug t-shirted people waiting to get in, and as we tucked into a wurst outside
another tram load of people turn up, it was obvious that there would be some unhappy people around tonight.
We did the short walk over to the Volkspalast, it takes about 10 minutes and you can see the dome of the Volkspalast from the main road where you
jump off the tram. Kirlian Camera were headlining and we thought it would be a good place to maybe relax, have a beer and sit down to watch a great
band. By now my feet really did hurt from all the standing, shopping and dancing. And as we walked in to the Volkspalast we found ourselves in a very
packed building, every nook and cranny taken, we managed to make it to the bar and order drinks, unfortunately we got stuck by the bar and couldn’t get
out due to the press of people. Fortunately it was one of the raised bars and we could see the stage so we stay there and waited for the band. After
what seems an age the band emerge wearing balaclavas. Kirlian Camera are excellent, although the sound quality of the Dome is quite poor from the
side. We struggled to hear the vocals from the bar and it was quite hard to pick out each song, still the place is quite electric and the atmosphere is very
good. They play an excellent set, and I really do quite enjoy it, even if the sound quality is poor. The place is very hot and very crowed, probably a place
to see smaller bands in the future, still it is an excellent location and one I hope that is used in future years.
Afterwards we head back to the hotel get changed and head for the Moritzbastei and another highlight event. Steve Weeks from Slimelight generally
plays music that I absolutely love to dance too, and as we ease are way in to the lower dance floor we are hit with intense heat and great sounds.
Ditching our coats we head back for a beer and a dance. The room is half packed with UK, US and South African Goths, the atmosphere is absolutely
amazing, and I spend half the night on the dance floor wearing my flashing VNV Nation T-shirt (that for some reason people want to take pictures of).
With more beer and more dancing any pain in my feet that I did have has gone away. It was just unfortunate that we had to leave at 5am, I could have
gone on till 8am, but we have done that before and it just makes the trip home horrid. So we sulk off to the hotel, another year is over.
Day 7 – Tuesday 6th June 2006
The trip home, a day of misery. I set the alarm to 10:00 and get up to pack and get ready to leave. We check out, and head into town for some decent
food before our train to Berlin. So it’s back to the Italian and more pizza. Walking back to the hotel after is always a little sad. Leaving the hotel is worse,
and we don’t really know how we will get to the airport from the new Berlin train station. We get to the station in Leipzig with plenty of time, check out
the carriage boards and stand where the doors will be. And as planned a train pulls in and the doors are right in front of us, jumping on quickly we stow
the suitcases and jump in some seats. We had booked the train journey but not until a couple of weeks ago, so we don’t have reserved seats. We had
both brought loads of stuff so we both had heavy hand luggage and both wore our heaviest clothes to reduce the weight of our suitcases (having
previously heard of people having to pay a small fortune when they arrive with over weight bags).
The train journey is now only an hour and a quarter to Berlin, that’s about half an hour quicker than last year. As the train pulls into the new station it’s
obvious why it has taken so many years to build. The place is spotless, and huge. The bottom level has the ICE train platform, whilst the top level has the
normal local trains, however there must be nearly 300ft between them and you can see straight up. It’s not until you go up the levels that you really
appreciate just how massive this place is. Three levels of shops and easy access, everything has been thought about and designed well. As we walk
out the front of the building I am once again astounded by the size of the place. The bus stop to Tegel is just over the road from the front of the station. It
takes 30 minutes to get to Tegel from the station on the bus, so we have a few hours to kill. Walking back into the station you can follow the suitcase
signs to baggage storage, €3 is all it costs and we get to wander around Berlin for two hours (something we didn’t expect we would have time for).
Looking out the back of the station you can see the Reichstag and the various other Berlin Landmarks. We start to walk in the general direction of the
Reichstag, only to find a seaside café on the side of the river. Standing on the bridge over the river gives another excellent view of the station and the
vastness of the building. Just over the river we find two huge football boots, one reason we are quite glad to be leaving, there are already quite a few
football fans around. We continue walking around, following the river past the Reichstag we turn to walk past the Brandenburg gate and the hotel that
Jacko held his son out of. Unfortunately the weather is very hot, and wearing all our heaviest warmest clothes in not a good idea. However by the time
we get back to the front of the Reichstag we see a few people from last night at the Moritzbastei, we have a quick chat and then it’s off to collect our
bags and head for the bus stop and Tegel. Buses are every 6-10 minutes and before long we are sitting in the airport, baggage checked in with our last
beer.
Uneventful flight home, followed by an easy drive back to Brighton from Stanstead, getting home for 23:00.
SUMMARY
Personally I had an excellent time, it might seem like I moan a bit, but I really did enjoy myself, I love every minute of being in Germany, in Leipzig and the
festival. Having a photo pass was for me one of the highlights and I can’t wait to find some time to update the website for 2007. If you saw some nutter
taking photos of some quite odd things then that was probably me, I got some weird looks as I photographed ticket machines and other things to help
people in the future. Still the website should be excellent once I have finished. I saw some excellent bands, and some not such good ones, and I missed
a few bands that I still want to see. My CD collection has grown and I have some more T-Shirts for the summer. I still think the best event was the first
night at the Volkspalast and the 15th anniversary ball, I hope it’s repeated in the same location. Low point was not being able to see Unhelig, seeing the
pain on the faces of the guys at the front for VNV and coming home.
These are all my personal views, they are not meant to offend, and I am sorry if my views are not your own. Thank you for reading this, see you next
year.
Mark
10/06/06
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