Subject: Back from Leipzig
From: "Ian Dutton" <darkpilot@mindspring.com>
To: NY Goth List <NYCgoth-L@necronomi.com>


Shea and I returned from the Wave-Gotik Treffen in Leipzig, Germany. It
was...memorable.

Firstly, I underestimated the scale of the event. When I first learned about
the Treffen ("meeting" in German), it was from the Leipzig city newspaper, and
it said that 6,000-8,000 people had attended. I had also heard that the size
doubles from one year to the next - and thought that must have been an
exaggeration. I was wrong.

Imagine a large, formerly-East German city, overrun with 30,000 to 35,000
"darkies" (what our host friend calls our group). Everywhere you look, black
black black. The restaurants, the cafes, the parks and streets. Even the
strassenbahn (streetcars) and busses and every passing car. Vinyl, velvet,
lace. Absolutely incredible.

There were far more events and bands and "locations" than you could ever get
to. A dark Renaissance festival along the medieval city walls (and inside the
wall, where the old catacombs were). A pagan village, in the woods amidst
centuries-old buildings. Ancient choral and instrumental music inside bombed
out churches. Gothic literary and film festivals. Markets, vendors, and
artists. And huge stages in the abandoned civic center complex (there is a new
one in Leipzig - I guess they didn't want us there), the agricultural
exhibition center, and around the city in parks and alongside monuments.

Then there was the chaos. Even though transportation around the city was very
good, it was not set up to shuttle thousands of out-all-night types around to
the diverse locations. The temperatures were unusually hot for Germany, until
the unusual-for-Germany hailstorm and heavy rains. And...

The organizers of the event have a reputation for poor management. They never
set out to create an event of this magnitude (350 bands in 4 days?), and there
are always shortcomings and financial mismanagement. Quietly, the organization
declared bankruptcy at the beginning of the festival, but everything was to go
on as planned. Then, not-so-quietly, one of the primary organizers disappeared
with 3 million DM ($1.5 million) - and the third day of the festival was
plunged into total chaos...and the fourth day all but cancelled. 

Even with that, the festival was unbelievable. Bands like VNV Nation,
Covenant, Apoptygma Berzerk, Das Ich, Death In June, Wolfsheim, And One. Some
packed with 4,000 (plus?) people, some in front of the huge
Volkerschlactdenkmal monument, and others in small tents. Death in June, for
example, was relocated to a tiny tent in the woods, trees dripping from the
earlier thunderstorms. Without electricity, they nonetheless played through a
short set, knowing that the festival organizers weren't going to pay them for
their appearance.

Needless to say, these are just the beginning of the stories. You'll have to
get Shea and I to tell you. And we'll put up some of the pictures online - but
they only just start to get the feeling across.

Who else was there? We met a number of other Americans...but no other New
Yorkers. I know some were out there...

                Ian    (darkpilot@mindspring.com)