The next morning we had breakfast at the Sleepy Lion Hostel before collecting our wristbands at the collection point near Leipzig Hauptbahnhof (Leipzig Main Station). We then headed off to do some serious shopping at XtraX discount 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
