Benedict Cumberbatch as Frankenstein and Jonny Lee Miller as the Creature

The set and staging is stunning. From the very start, as the creature viscerally breaks forth, naked from it’s womb-like cocoon, spending aching moments struggling to teach itself to stand. As it escapes Frankenstein’s lab in Ingolstadt and begins to experience the world around it, the birds in the hay bales and the rain-soaked grass are beautifully realised. The steam train which travels towards the audience to signify the beginning of the Industrial Revolution all contributes to the epic and cinematic feel of the production.

The leading men are very much the centre of the production and hold the piece together. Jonny Lee Miller’s Creature is very much a man-child in his wonder and clumsiness at the beginning of the play but soon develops into an unpredictable yet strangely graceful brute. Despite this, out of the creature and Frankenstein it is the creature to which most of the audience’s sympathy is directed. Cumberbatch’s Frankenstein is quite manic in his scientific obsession but moves elegantly. Both leading men are brilliant, although I personally think Cumberbatch is the slightly more impressive of the two.

There is an interpretation of Shelly’s text that the creature and creator are two sides of the same man and, although perhaps it is a product of the actors switching roles, with Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch you really believe this. You almost feel as though Frankenstein’s degenerating relationship with his fiance Elizabeth (Namoie Harris) is played out through both Frankenstein and the creature. At first Frankenstein loves Elizabeth, then ignores and belittles her, until the creature finally sexually abuses and murders her.

The supporting cast seem little more than props in this production although there are some memorable performances. Namoie Harris’ Elizabeth Lavenza and Victor Frankenstein’s younger brother William played on different nights by child actors William Nye and Jared Richard, both stand out a little more from the supporting cast.

The play sticks pretty well to what I so-far know of Mary Shelly’s original text (which I am currently in the process of reading) with the necessary cutting of the initial lead-up to Victor Frankenstein telling his story.

Being based on what is regarded as a classic Gothic novel with an over-arching theme of both the creature and Frankenstein being outsiders, this production would automatically be highly relevant to the Gothic and Alternative sub-cultures. Additionally, the industrial revolution brings a steam-punk flavour to the production. The music also seems industrial inspired, with driving rhythms somewhat reminiscent of a Skinny Puppy track.

All in all, this is an unmissable production particularly to those of the Gothic and Alternative sub-cultures. The National’s adaptation of Marry Shelly’s masterpiece is definitely deserving of all the hype and kudos.

Frankenstein runs until 2nd May 2011 at The National’s Olivier Theatre and tickets are available via The National Theatre’s website. If you can’t get tickets to see it at the theatre, the production is being broadcast live to cinemas both nationwide and internationally on the 17th March 2011 7pm (with Cumberbatch as the creature and Jonny Lee Miller as Frankenstein) and 24th March 2011 7pm (with Jonny Lee Miller as the creature and Cumberbatch as Frankenstein). Visit the National Theatre Live site for venues and booking.

Festivals

Top of my list for festivals this year is Amphi Festival. I have never been to Cologne’s famous Goth and alternative festival but this year’s lineup is just irresistible: it looks as though it’ll be In Strict Confidence‘s only Festival and also on the lineup Covenant, Suicide Commando, Grendel, [X]-rx, Hocico, Nitzer Ebb… check the entire lineup on the Amphi Website.

Coming in at a close second is Wave Gotik Treffen. It’s the 20th Birthday of the worlds biggest Goth Festival and that can only mean it’s going to be bigger and more crazy than ever! The WGT official site has only sent out one newsletter so far stating that there will be a grand opening gig on Thursday 9th June with some of the original lineup from the first festival in 1991. Other rumoured bands have been listed on WGT’s Last.FM events page include The Murderdolls but the lineup isn’t quite capturing my imagination yet. Something tells me though that considering there were almost 200 bands in the lineup last year, I’m sure there will be something for everyone this year.

In third place is probably my favourite festival M’era Luna. M’era Luna has an atmosphere like no other and so far we have ASP and Within Temptation and a handful of other bands

We also have the British festivals: no announcements on Infest (Bradford) other than the dates which seem to indicate that it is definitely going ahead. We also have Resistanz in Sheffield which has a similar lineup to Amphi Festival (meaning I might not go to Resistanz – maybe only Amphi Festival).

And finally I have a ticket to see Danny Boyle’s (Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire) adaptation of Mary Shelley’s gothic classic Frankenstein at The National. Benedict Cumberbatch (The BBC’s Sherlock) and Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting). Should be reporting on that too!

Happy New Year!

So instead, here are a list of festivals, performances I saw, brief ratings and some pictures and videos I took. I have seen more bands recently including The Birthday Massacre, Luxury Stranger and Bitter Ruin and that I think it’s unlikely I’ll review at this point so please visit MissJade’s YouTube Channel to see videos from these gigs!

Waregem Gothic Festival – Belgium, Waregem 16th, 17th and 18th July

Bands seen:

Friday 16th July:

• Funker Vogt - 3/5
• Umbra Et Imago - 1/5
• Covenant - 4.5/5

Saturday 17th July

• Anne Marie Hurst - 2/5
• Front Line Assembly - 3.5/5
• Skinny Puppy - 5/5

Sunday 18th July

• Vic Anselmo - 5/5
• The Eden House – 4.5/5
• Alien Sex Fiend – 1.5/5
• VNV Nation – 5/5

Festival Highlight: VNV Nation

Best ‘Unknown by MissJade before the festival’: Vic Anselmo

Special Mention: Covenant (for being massively off their heads on stage!)

M’era Luna Festival – Germany, Hildesheim 7th & 8th August

Saturday 7th August

• Angelspit – 5/5

Angelspit performing at M'era Luna Festival 2010

• Brendan Perry – 1/5
• Stolen Babies – 3/5

Stolen Babies at M'era Luna 2010

• Laibach – 1.5/5
• Rotersand – 5/5

Rotersand at M'era Luna 2010

• Nitzer Ebb – 3/5

Nitzer Ebb at M'era Luna 2010

• Unheilig – 3.5/5

Unheilig at M'era Luna 2010

• Sisters of Mercy – 4/5

Sunday 8th August

• Hanzel & Gretyl – 3/5
• Zeraphine – 3.5/5
• Skinny Puppy - 4/5
• Placebo – 5/5

Festival Highlight: Placebo

Best ‘Unknown by MissJade before the festival’: Stolen Babies

Special Mention: Hanzel & Gretyl (for performing their crazy slightly non-PC German jokes in Germany)

Infest – UK, Bradford 27th, 28th and 29th August

Bands seen:

Friday 27th August

• De Vision – 2/5

Saturday 28th August

• Agonise – 2/5
• [x]-Rx – 4.5/5
• Rotersand – 5/5

Sunday 29th August

• Patenbrigade: Wolf – 4/5
• Nachtmahr – 3/5
• Project Pitchfork – 3.5/5

Festival Highlight: Rotersand

Best ‘Unknown by MissJade before the festival’: [x]-Rx

Special Mention: Nachtmahr (for being hilarious by saying that they had made the woman put the cat in the wheelie bin!)

Dark Mills Festival – Merton Abby Mills, London Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th September (only 4th attended).

Bands Seen:

Saturday 4th September

• Rome Burns – 4/5
• Diva Suicide – 4/5

• Maleficent – 2/5

• Vic Anselmo – 5/5

• Beautiful Deadly Children – 2/5

Beautiful Deadly Children performing at Dark Mills Festival

Festival Highlight: Vic Anselmo

Who I also had my picture taken with!

Vic Anselmo and MissJade at Dark Mills Festival

Best ‘Unknown by MissJade before the festival’: Diva Suicide

Special Mention: Rome Burns (for being lovely people!)

After the mayhem of the previous night’s partying at “Eine rituelle Zusammenkunft” Mittelalter Rock club it was a late start for us. We headed down to the Werk II for Austrian psychobilly rokers Kitty in a Casket.

Kitty in a Casket performing at Werk II

I couldn’t help thinking that lead singer Kitty Casket reminds you somewhat of a cooler, more rock and roll Avril Levine. She’s a small, slight woman who jumps around and prances about on stage. The rest of the band: Slappin’ Suspender, Billy The Bat and Mike Mean Machine (I bet their parents don’t call them by those names!) all performed well and although I do enjoy Psychobilly music, I do find it hard to get really excited about.

Kitty in a Casket‘s most recent release “Horror Express” is available here from Amazon. This and their back catalogue is also available from missjade’s alternative music & culture shop.

Rating: 3/5

After some time milling around in the Medieval Village (above the Moritzbastei), we headed to the Kohlrabizirkus (which we had by this point rather maturely nick named “the boobie building” in honour of the two cones sticking out of it’s roof making it look like Madona‘s bra). We went to the Kohlrabizirkus to see the fantastic In Strict Confidence.

In Strict Confidence at the Kohlrabizirkus

The German Electro-rockers In Strict Confidence gave a tremendous performance. They performed infront of some of their fantastic music videos such as when performing “Forbidden Fruit“, “My Dispair” and “Silver Bullets” and front-man Dennis Ostermann has a wonderful voice when performing live. Beautiful female vocals provided by Nina di Lianin and additional guitars were provided by Haydee who, when not rocking out on her guitar performed with fire staffs and poi. This, along with Nina di Lainin‘s skinny figure being hugged by a tight, red latex dress with matching elbow-length gloves provided plenty of spectacle to the event.

In Strict Confidence were definitely one of my favourite performances of the festival, especially as it is impossible to see them play in the UK. Their new album “La Parade Monstrueuse” is also fast becoming one of my favourite albums this year!

“La Parade Monstrueuse” is available available from Amazon or this along with their back catalogue is also available from missjade’s alternative music & culture shop.

Rating: 5/5

Having seen our final performance of Wave Gotik Treffen, we headed out to find an end-of-festival party. Although almost every venue was holding a party, we decided to go to the Moritzbastei as we hadn’t yet been inside the venue. What a venue it is! The Moritzbastei is an old fortress which is made up of brick rooms linked by a series of catacombs. Each room has been converted into bars, seating areas and dance floors giving a very unique feel to the venue. The music policy was fairly eclectic and a remix of Depeche Mode‘s “Master and Servant” particularly stood out from the night. We partied late into the night, saying a final goodbye to friends before heading to bed in order to catch our train from Leipzig Hauptbahnhof to Berlin in the morning.

Rating: 5/5

We decided to miss Lola Angst in order to have a chilled out morning so went back to the Pagan Village it was then a short walk over to Agra for Italian Goth Rockers The Lovecrave.

The Lovecrave performing at Agra Halle

I came to hear about The Lovecrave after hearing their rather catchy Metal inspired Goth Rock tune “Little Suicide” on the compilation “Fuck the Mainstream“. After looking them up on Spotify I found a couple of albums with the catchy pop-rock track “Vampires (The Light That We Are)” and “Tru Blood” (presumably inspired by the series of the same name).

The band put on a decent performance but never particularly engaged with the audience. Lead singer Francesca Chiara has an interesting vocal quality with plenty of passion. The songs were a little repetitive in type but the performance was fairly well put together.

The Lovecrave performing “Little Suicide”

Rating: 3/5

The Lovecrave‘s recent release Soul Saliva is available from Amazon. This and their back catalogue is also available from missjade’s alternative music & culture shop

After killing a few hours around Agra it was time to see a band I had been wanting to see for almost a decade: Faith and the Muse. Despite my recent enthusiasm for Faith and the Muse waining, the band are definitely one of those few bands that are highly talked of on the alternative and gothic scene and they did not disappoint.

Faith and the Muse performing at Agra Halle

Their show was incredible and very theatrical. They opened with the appearance of two of the dance troop Serpantine (called Aradia and Lucretia) dressed in white gowns with beaded headdresses and unbelievably long, branch like fingernails.

Aradia and Lucretia of Serpentine performing with Faith and The Muse at Agra Halle

The rest of the band then appeared with Monica Richards at the front wearing an amazing red and gold gown with glittering horns and antlers.

Monica Richards of Faith and the Muse performing at Agra Halle

Monica’s voice was deep and resonant and filled the Agra halle beautifully. The rest of the live band including Steven James and Marzia Rangel of Christ vs. Warhol, percussionist Julia Cooke and of course William Faith (among others) were also fantastic.

Faith and the Muse; the entire live band performing at Agra

Serpantine’s Aradia and Lucretia returned to the stage in white bellydance outfits to dance to a former favourite song of mine; “The Burning Season” from the album of the same name:

The best track from the setlist had to be the live performance of “Nine Dragons” from their most recent album “Ankoku Butoh“. William Faith‘s war cries accompanied by Julia Cooke and others on Taiko was just amazing!

Faith and the Muse‘s recent album : Ankoku Butoh : is available from Amazon. This and their back catalogue is also available from missjade’s alternative music & culture shop.

Rating: 5/5

I missed Diary of Dreams (who I’m not a big fan of) but did want to see Lacrimosa.

Lacrimosa performing at Agra Halle

Although not a huge fan of the band, I did enjoy the darkwave duo in my youth. The first point I would make about their set is that a two hour set by any band at any festival is too much even if a band is celebrating it’s 20th anniversary, although I guess I should have taken a hint from Lacrimosa‘s self indulgent style of music from vain lead singer Tilo Wolff. The problem with Lacrimosa is that they take Gothic Pretentiousness a little too far and do not produce particularly good music either. I find their songs extremely repetitive and this, coupled with a particularly aloof performance meant that I eventually got bored and went to find some other fun.

Lacrimosa performing at Agra Halle

Rating: 1/5

Lacrimosa‘s best of album Schattenspiel is available from Amazon. This and their back catalogue is also available from missjade’s alternative music & culture shop.

I received a phone call on my way out from the gig from a friend who wanted to see if I was interested in going to a “Mittelalter Night” in a venue I had not heard of or been to before – the Speigelpalast (Mirror Palace). Mittelalter Rock (Medieval Rock) is a type of gothic rock that is popular in Germany but has yet to really take hold in other parts of the worldwide gothic and alternative community. I had initially heard it and felt that it was not to my taste so I had my reservations about going. However with much encouragement and pleading I gave in and went along.

Am I glad I went! The evening I later found out was called “Eine rituelle Zusammenkunft” (A Ritual Meeting) and was amazing as it seemed that many of the fashionistas who made their own historically accurate period clothing turned up here. Despite feeling hideously underdressed, I didn’t feel that I was being looked down at or in anyway despised because I was underdressed. I had a great time “people watching” and the music was better than I remembered it. The Mittelalter Rock was also mixed with some other related gothic rock.

Here are some pictures of some clubbers at “Eine rituelle Zusammenkunft“:

Clubbers in period dress at Eine rituelle Zusammenkunft

Clubbers in period dress at Eine rituelle Zusammenkunft

What made the cub even better was the venue. The opulent mirrored walls and red velvet drapes of the Speigelpalast transported you back in time and gave the atmosphere of a sophisticated party. It was a truly excellant venue which matched the tone of the club perfectly! By the time the club was closing down at 5am, I felt like I could have stayed there longer.

Rating 5/5

You can hear some Mittelalter Rock in London on 23rd October at Mittelalter Night at Zeitgeist pub. Further information of London’s Mittelalter Night here.

At Wave Gotik Treffen days do rather beautifully melt into one and other. That is why I mistakenly said that When We Were Young took place on Friday when in fact it took place on Saturday night. I have no clue where I was on Friday Night (therefore probably Sixtina) and if anyone can remind/enlighten me I would be most grateful!

After an afternoon trip to Morrison’s Irish Pub to meet with friends, we missed Luxury Stranger (who after endorsements from friends, I was eager to see) due to some stupidity on my part. We didn’t realised we had missed the gig until we turned up so spent some time milling around the Werk II area and had some food and drinks.

We then decided to investigate the Pagan Village for a bit. The Pagan Village is a fantastic place to just lay back and relax at the festival. At the Pagan Village you can taste all kinds of freshly made food from freshly baked goods to a whole pig roast! All can be consumed with mead (from a drinking horn if you are willing to pay extra) or beer. There are also many stalls full of everything from homemade elderberry wine to medieval style clothing.

After the Pagan Village I made my way to the Agra Halle to see a band who’s performance turned out to be one of the highlights of the festival – Rotersand.

Rotersand performing at Agra Halle

As a recent EBM convert, I really only knew Rotersand for “Exterminate, Annihilate, Destroy” (especially being the Doctor Who geek I am) but unlike some electronic bands they really put on a tremendous show. They opened to an expectant and excited crowd to “Basterds Screaming” – a brilliant call to rebellion from their new album “Random is Resistance“.

Rascal Nikov and Gunther Gerl really got the crowd going – jumping around on stage and looking like they were having a fantastic time. One of the things that I think sets a decent performance apart from a great performance is interaction with the audience which Rotersand did beautifully – talking to the audience and jumping down to party with the rest of the Agra Halle.

Rotersand performing “Waiting to be Born”

Just to add to what would have been an already fantastic performance, Rascal then unexpectedly invited a very special guest onto the stage – Ronan Harris of the fantastic British/Irish Futurepop kings VNV Nation!

Ronan Harris of VNV Nation performing with Rotersand

Rascal and Ronan did a special duet version of “Merging Oceans” - Rotersand‘s breakthrough hit. This really was a great treat for the audience at Agra – seeing these two giants of the alternative scene perform together and if the crowd weren’t excited enough, then this sent them wild!

Ronan leaving the stage took the tone down a little but Rotersand’s top performing skills kept the pace. Of particular note, during “War on Error” Gunther Gerl donned a dollar sign mask which added well to the tone of the song which is about being against a “big brother society”.

As a finale to Rotersand‘s set the voices of the Daleks were heard to introduce Rotersand‘s most famous track – “Exterminate, Annihilate, Destroy“.

Rating: 5/5

Rotersand‘s latest album Random Is Resistance is available here from amazon and this and their back catalogue is also available from missjade’s alternative music & culture shop.

Then, on the recommendation of a friend, we went to see Portugese Goth Metalers Monspell. Despite not particularly being a Metal Head myself it was an enjoyable gig. They gave a good performance and the graphics and music videos on the wall behind the band definitely added to the performance. As previously stated I’m not a metal fan so I can’t really say that the music was to my taste but by the reactions of a friend who is a fan of Moonspell it was a good performance.

Moonspell Performing at the Kohlrabizirkus at Wave Gotik Treffen 2010

Rating: 2/5

Moonspell‘s latest album Night Eternal is available from Amazon and this and Moonspell‘s back catalogue is available from missjade’s alternative music & culture shop.

For those who haven’t heard of XtraX before, XtraX is a chain of large Gothic fashion shops which are at four locations throughout Germany. Although they do have a permanent shop in Leipzig, during Wave Gotik Treffen, they setup an additional, temporary shop in order to have a massive sale of their old, excess or damaged stock. Flogging cheap clothing to Goths is of course not difficult as they know how to bargain hunt and with so many descending on Leipzig from around the world for WGT, it’s no wonder that XtraX have a sale shop every year. At prices of up to 50% off and 3 for 2 on all items, this is an absolute must for those who want to flesh out their wardrobe.

Although you can see why some outfits are in the sale, you will be able to find some gems in amongst the racks so as with any thrift shopping, be prepared to search and battle fellow shoppers for the right piece. The reward for those with enough persistance is that you can find an entire new outfit for around €40.

Rating: 3.5/5

Even mainstream shops in Leipzig ensure that their blackest, Gothiest wares are on display so we continued shopping, only breaking to stop for coffee with some new found friends and later on for a late lunch/early dinner

We got so involved with shopping that we almost missed the fantastic Zeromancer at the Agra Halle who I became a fan of after seeing them at last year’s Mera Luna festival.

Zeromancer Performing at the Agra Halle

The thing that strikes you most about Zeromancer is how spot on their live performance is. The industrial rockers blend driving rhythms with beautiful vocals provided by front man Alex Møklebust who spends most of the set with his shirt off in true rock star style. The Norwigen rockers have a definite Trent Reznor/Nine Inch Nails influence even taking on a similar violent themes for songs such as suicide and abusive relationships. The band play tracks such as “Doctor Online” and “Sinners International” from previous albums as well as tracks from their current album “The Death of Romance”. They also play a cover of Depeche Mode’s “Photographic” which I had not heard before but have since found out it was released as a track on the EP “It Sounds Like Love (But It Looks Like Sex)”. The driving guitars work really well with this track and it is definitely the highlight of the set. As a finale, they invite Conjure One vocalist and the original vocalist on “House of Cards” a track from the “Clone Your Lover” album, Free Dominguez to sing with them on stage. Personally, although great to hear this duet sung live, this track was a little slow for a finale.

Zeromancer performing Photographic at Agra Halle – Wave Gotik Treffen

Zeromancer’s back catalogue is available at missjade’s alternative music & culture shop and their latest album “The Death of Romance” is available from Amazon

Rating 4.5/5

As we were in the Agra Halle anyway, we took a look at the Market area. The Market at the Agra Halle is a great place to shop for Gothic merchandise from all over Germany and around the world but beware, it is very easy to spend a lot of money! In the Arga Halle I met Amelia Arsenic who I met a few months ago at Angelspit‘s Gig at Slimelight last April who this time was there selling her Miss.X Range of Jewellery and Makeup. After a quick chat about makeup and my varied results in using false eyelashes, I bought a set of Marquis De Sade lashes – lovely unusual lashes that have three elongated outer lashes with tiny feathers attached.

Rating: 4/5

I then left the Agra Halle Market to go and see Kirlian Camera in the performance area of Agra Halle. I went to see Kirlian Camera mainly because a friend was interested in seeing them live and I have to say that seeing them at Wave Gotik Treffen, I was not particularly impressed. I think that their music is a little boring and sounds like it has been put together using standard out-of-the-box music software samples. The lead singers vocals were pleasant enough but nothing special. Their performance was also fairly bland and disinteresting.

Kirlian Camera’s back catalogue is available at missjade’s alternative music & culture shop. Their latest album “Odyssey Europa” is available here from Amazon

Rating: 1/5

Our final stop of the night was the club “When We Were Young“. The Alternative 80′s/90′s Trad Goth nostalgia club is a yearly festival event and year’s club took place at Städtisches Kaufhaus, a strange but not unpleasant little venue with a tiny and packed dance area. The weather was too hot for a crowded dance floor and the slightly rude bar staff meant we spent most of the night sitting in the basement area of the club talking until and drinking into the small hours of the morning.

Rating: 3/5

We flew to Berlin and made the short train ride from Berlin to Leipzig. Our train arrived around 7:30pm so after dropping our bags off at the Sleepy Lion Hostel we headed to meet up with some people from at the Bayerische Bahnhof, a restaurant/bar serving traditional German food and and a wide selection of beer which is located towards the south east of the city centre. Our intention was to meet up with the American WGT meet up but the venue was so vast, with so may rooms that we ended up finding the Swiss meet up instead and sat near them. As ever with German food, there is little-to-no variety for vegetarians so if you are vegetarian eating here may not be for you. Myself an omnivore, I choose the Sauerbraten (beef marinated in a vinegar gravy/sauce to tenderise it) which came with traditional potato dumplings and red cabbage. The food was very good and the prices reasonable as a main meal should be no more than around 10 Euros. A group of us gathered at the bar increased and the drinks were flowing until we realised that the waitresses were trying to close the bar.

Eating at Bayerische Bahnhof

Rating : 5/5

We headed back into town to absinthe bar Sixtina where we stayed until about 3am. Sixtina is a great place to meet people at the festival as it has a vast outside seating area with benches which inevitably causes you to strike up a conversation with the person or group of people sitting next to you. During the Wave Gotik Treffen weekend Sixtina is open 24 hours and in addition to a range absinthes, also serves Black Hole (I believe a pre-mixed bottled mixture of Cola and absinthe) and beers for those who don’t want a visit from the Green Fairy. Sixtina has their own-brand absinthe which is the cheapest in their range and which, unless you are a absinthe aficionado, is fine to stick to. In order to melt the sugar cube that is provided with your absinthe, you can either use the paperclip the bar staff provide as a (perfectly acceptable) absinthe spoon, or pay extra for use of a proper spoon. Sixtina also has some small festival events taking place but unfortunately all that we managed to see whilst there was some people doing readings of their bad Goth poetry – a Goth stereotype I personally feel is unnecessary.

At Sixtina with Absinthe

Rating: 4/5

Friday
Zeromancer 6:30pm at the Agura-Halle

Saturday
Rotersand 8pm at Agura-Halle – also playing Mera Luna & Infest
Bloody Dead and Sexy 9:30pm at Parkbühne

Sunday
Lola Agst 4:30pm at Parkbühne
Kitty in a Casket 5:30pm at Werk II
SITD 7:30pm at Parkbühne
Suicide Commando 9pm at Parkbühne
Faith and the Muse 9:15pm at Agura-Halle – also playing Mera Luna & Waregem
Lacrimosa 11pm at Agura-Halle
Alien Sex Fiend 1:30am at Agura Halle – also playing Waregem

Monday
In Strict Confidence 8:30pm at Kohlrabizrkus

If you read this blog and see me wandering lost around Leipzig, please come and say ‘hi’ (and ask if I need help with directions!)

As the Germans would say – “Bis nach das fest!”

Flyer for Global Citizen at Club Reptile

Reptile is an unusual club; it has a “strictly no EBM” policy. “Anyone found in possession of glow sticks will be prosecuted” claims their website. What they do play is Industrial, Electro, Metal, Goth and Punk.

It’s here that Global Citizen are playing. I last saw them perform at 2009′s Dark Mills Free festival where I remember them as standing out from the lineup. The London based Electro-Industrial band have decided to do a special short preview show of their brand new material.

Singer Richard Mills stands on a makeshift platform stage to perform. On his face is a black, mask-like eye stripe with peaks and troughs that make it look almost like sound waves. Its a distinctive and unsettling look and although Global Citizen‘s music is perhaps not quite as original as Richard Mills’ makeup, the unsettling part definitionally applies to the bands sound. Behind him Vade Retro and Callum Gray (aka DJ Jo The Waiter) play repeating post-apocalyptic electro rhythms on keyboards.

They open with “Kimochihi II”. Singer Rich Mills has a fantastic bass melancholic voice, reminiscent of classic Gothic vocalists such as Sisters of Mercy‘s Andrew Eldritch or original Fields of Nephillim frontman Carl McCory. His voice is flawless throughout and sings with obvious passion. The next songs are “Broken Doll” and “Early Morning Star” followed by the slow track “New” which makes for a good chill-out tune. The song “Don’t Make it Slow” is next which, as the name suggests not nearly as slow as the previous song “New” (funny that…)

The penultimate song – “Things” is probably my favourite track they perform. Despite the somewhat uninspired lyrics of “I make things difficult for myself” repeated over and over, it does have the most catchy rhythms and danceable beat of all the songs performed. The anti-monarchy anthem “Majesty” is Global Citizen‘s finale and leans more towards post-punk than the rest of their set.

Global Citizen‘s short set is polished but does somewhat lack interaction between performers and the small, supportive crowd.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera before the gig but I asked Bobbie Bajwa who has very kindly said that I may use her great pictures on my blog. Please visit Bobbie’s site – Chameleonart.

Vade Retro, Richard Mills and Callum Gray perform as Global Citizen taken by Bobbie Bajwa

Global Citizen taken by Bobbie Bajwa

Global Citizen performing to the audience taken by Bobbie Bajwa

You can buy Global Citizens 2009 album “Master Stroke” here or from the missjade’s alternative music & culture shop

Rating: 4/5