DAY 1
Held in the beautiful city of Leipzig, as usual, the city dressed in black and the gothic spirit was the main driving force behind an alternative weekend that took over the entire city.
After getting our credentials, we planned which events we would cover on the first day, so decided to focus on the shows that were going to take place in Agra.
As the first band was only playing at 5 pm and it was still early, we went to Heidnisches Dorf, the medieval village set up annually specifically to host concerts and other activities.
Heimatærde (full gallery below)
When we arrived, the band Heimatærde was about to start playing. They’re a German electro-industrial band with a medieval motif. Despite it still being early and the weather being warm, the venue was well-attended.
The danceable electro sounds and some theatricality in the vocalist’s performance made this show a good preview of what we were going to see in the venue next to the medieval village, and from what we witnessed, the audience was very enthusiastic.
Das Ich (full gallery below)
After the concert we went to Agra. And promptly at 5 pm, one of the big names of the day began: Das Ich, a German electro-gothic group formed in the late 80s and recognized worldwide. The electrifying presence of vocalist Stefan Ackermann quickly dominated the stage, and the audience surrendered to an exemplary performance by the group. The two keyboardists roamed the entire stage, with two keyboards mounted on rolling tables, while they played, giving the whole concert a dynamic and moving feel. The crowd didn’t hold back, and in a packed venue, many people were seen moving and dancing. Lazarus and Kannibale, the first two pieces, set the tone for a very intense concert, and other songs such as Brutus, Uterus, Engel, Reanimat, ending with Destillat, were heard in Agra.
Solar Fake (full gallery below)
Next, Solar Fake, a German electro-pop band, took to the stage. The danceable rhythms continued to sound and echo off the walls of the venue, although in a way that was not as aggressive and harsh as Das Ich. Some of the audience moved to the back outside the venue, although the concert was still audible from there.
Sven Friedrich, the band’s charismatic vocalist, led the audience through a very good performance, and not only was there dancing in the emptier spaces, but there was also a lot of clapping to the rhythm of the beats. Hurts So Bad, This Pretty Life and Under Control were the first three songs heard, followed by others such as Not so Important, Invisible, This Generation Ends, Sick of You, Observer, and Papillon, a “Editors” cover.
The third performance of the night in Agra was by Kim Wilde, one of the pop icons of the 80s, and I think she needs no introduction. This was undoubtedly the most anticipated performance of the night for most of the audience. The venue was packed again, making it difficult to move anywhere.
Kim Wilde (full gallery below)
With decades of experience on stage, the now sixty-year-old Kim Wilde showed that she continues to dominate the stage, singing beautifully and enchanting the audience. The first song, Hey Mister Heartache, was a bit bland, as if testing the waters with the audience, but from the second song, You Came (more pop, more danceable), until the end, where she revisited many of the hits that made her name, the audience’s engagement with the show was magnificent. Never Trust a Stranger, Words Fell Down, Cambodia, Chequered Love, Water on Glass echoed through Agra. As we were in Germany, the cover of Nena’s – the equally iconic German singer from the 80s – Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime couldn’t be missing and was one of the most acclaimed songs of the night. There was still time for Enjoy the Silence, a Depeche Mode cover, and to close the show, the world-renowned “Kids in America,” with the crowd singing along together.
Einstürzende Neubauten (full gallery below)
The last performance of the night that we attended was by Einstürzende Neubauten, a German experimental music band founded in 1980. Mixing different genres such as industrial, dark ambient, minimalism, avant-garde, and experimental, sometimes using unorthodox instruments like sheet metal, jackhammers, and all sorts of metal objects such as knives, saws, cans, tools, and household appliances, they created a unique sound and gained a legion of fans within the more alternative scene.
This mix of musical genres isn’t for everyone, and that was evident in the number of people who left the venue, but the many who remained showed that they were well acquainted with the band’s nearly half-decade-long work.
With a physically intense and orgiastic sound, tribal rhythms associated with a deafening sound producing an almost hypnotic state in the audience; combined with digitally processed sounds and a carefully placed voice from Blixa Bargeld, sometimes singing in a martial tone, sometimes declaiming, this show was quite different from the previous ones that night.
They opened the show with Ten Grand Goldie, followed by Pestalozzi and Ist Ist, where they had their first big reaction from the audience, who sang “ist ist” in chorus. They also played Wedding, Grazer Damm, Sonnenbarke, Sabrina, Seven Screws, How Did I Die? among other songs, finishing with an encore of Stella Maris.
HEIMATAERDE
DAS ICH
SOLAR FAKE
KIM WILDE
EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTEN
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