WGT 2024 – Review (1/4)

When the Leipzig outdoor store in the city center painstakingly collects everything that is even remotely black for its shop window, the Italian on the shopping street adds black food coloring to its vanilla ice cream and the pharmacies suddenly hang skeletons in their windows, even the last holidaymakers know: the Wave-Gotik-Treffen is starting again. (FW) And so every year it is interesting to see how quickly the switch can be flipped and festival mode is set as soon as you set foot on Leipzig soil. This year there was a certain reluctance regarding the line-up – unfortunately there were a few cancellations due to illness – but nevertheless the anticipation was undiminished. (MLH)

Thursday – Warm celebrations

Almost 50 different venues awaited this year’s 18,000 guests at the 31st WGT, most of whom arrived on Thursday so as not to miss any of the numerous events that started on Thursday evening. And one or two warm-up parties also wanted to be included. (FW) The euphoria at the event organized by Daniel Myer (u. a. Haujobb) organized a “karaoke evening” with the Elektro All Stars, who provided many a surprise that evening. Visually, Peter Mastbooms (The Juggernauts) was the undisputed leader, because a Lemmy Kilmister-style appearance in a squeaky yellow flokati jacket and vinyl pants is something you don’t see every day. Ky aka Acey from Berlin really blew us away, because what this lady does with her voice is just awesome! Isaac Howlett from Empathy Test, who even presented the debut single of his solo project “House of Cards” – a first in this series of collaborations – provided a real treat. As always, a better start to the Whitsun weekend was unthinkable! (MLH)

Friday

Carnival in black?

The day got off to a somewhat mixed start with weather that wasn’t too suitable for a festival, but as the saying goes: there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. Some people seized the opportunity to get hold of one or two accessories. (MLH) Many of those who had not completely shot themselves up at the festivities, for example in the Felsenkeller or directly in the Agra, and spent the entire Friday comatose in their dormitory, were drawn to Clara Zetkin Park around midday on Friday to take part in the Victorian Picnic. In addition to a number of onlookers, a large number of meeting guests had gathered to celebrate the jokingly named “scene carnival” dressed up. This year, too, the trend for outfits was towards pompous. See and be seen is the motto and this is always adhered to. Always a feast for the eyes. (FW)

Electro, synth, goth rock and dark wave

As far as the musical aspect was concerned, one destination was the Westbad, which was able to attract the audience with the finest electronic sounds. The first official festival day ended relatively quickly with the American band Psyclon Nine, who, after initial technical problems, turned the Westbad into a veritable cauldron! (MLH) In the Agra, however, more sober synth-pop sounds were convincing. First those of Melotron, to then make way for the incomparable Peter Heppner, who alternated between beloved Wolfsheim songs and his own creations before emotionally leaving the stage with “Die Flut”. The evening was rounded off by the British band Ladytron, who brought a certain electro-pop flavor to the Agra. The venerable Schauspielhaus was more dignified with Miranda Sex Garden , who had re-formed in 2022 after a break of over twenty years and now showed at the WGT how hot their fire still burns. The enchanting Anneke van Giersbergen ensured that this evening will certainly be remembered. (MV)

FW = Fabienne Wiedmann
MLH = Marie-Luise Henke
MV = Maria Vain

Take a look at our extensive picture gallery:

Of course, you will also find numerous WGT impressions and reports in our summer edition: