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vampyresheepAs ever, the festival was over before it began! Bandswise, there wasn't a great deal that appealed to us either, other than Heimataerde early at the Viking Village, no big headliner for me to bounce and squee about!
Went for brunch at the Moritzbastei, meeting with Steve K and soon joined by the Garsides, so it ended up being quite a leisurely affair. Our initial plan was to go to the Agra for shopping, to Volkspalast for the first couple of electro bands, back up to Viking Village for Heimataerde and then either stay there all evening or back down to Volkspalast for more electronic weirdness.
However as breakfast took longer than we'd thought, we realised we didn't have much time to go to the Agra, so instead jumped off the tram at the Panometer to see their installation on the Titanic. These are installations created by the artist Yadegar Asisi and we'd previously been to his Amazonia one, which was a delightful chilled out break from the mayhem of the festival. This installation was a little darker, reflecting on the destruction of the passenger ship Titanic.
It started with an exhibition on the growth of industry and how man was creating bigger and more powerful structures, then ending up in the main installation which consisted of a 360 degree panorama of the Titanic under the sea, which you viewed from different aspects via a scaffold tower in the centre, accompanied by an atmospheric soundscape and changing lighting.
reconstruction of the hight of the Titanic .... gulp!
Surprisingly we were in there for two hours and before we knew it, was time to head to the Volkspalast for the first band, Sarin.
Got to the venue to find it hadn't opened yet .... an hour later we were still waiting outside, the whole day apparently delayed by the headliner (Blixa Bargeld) soundcheck. We were finally let in and Sarin were still setting up, so by the time he finally started, we could only stay for half the set and couldn't see the next band at all.
I was pretty torn about leaving as I absolutely loved the music, upbeat Berlin-style techno. I knew however that he'd be playing at Infest later in the year, so reluctantly left to dash up to the Viking Village for Heimataerde.
They were worth the trip though. Despite no longer having their medieval instrumentalist and becoming overall more rocky, they were fantastically entertaining and we danced the entire set.
Cecile and Simon were going to finish the day at Volkspalast for Blixa Bargeld, so we decided to go with them. The schedule was still overrunning greatly, so it meant we managed to catch Author & Punisher - an artist I've seen before but never ceases to impress, with his custom made noise machines. Unrelenting and loud, in some places reminiscent of Nine Inch Nail's artier stuff, in other places a tad doomy.
next up, in the adjacent venue, was another dark doomy act - Trepaneringsritualen. A very hairy man with a sack on his head, creating similar sounds to A&P but without the instruments. Some tracks were pretty cool but mostly it was a little dull compared to A&P
we left part way through the set as we realised the other room would be filling up for Blixa Bargeld - and we were correct! Cecile grabbed a spot right by the side of the stage .... nobody else had grabbed it because it was right next to the speakers! So Rob and I stood to the side of the speakers and caught glances of the band through gaps in the speakers and instruments.
Not what I'd usually listen to but I liked what I heard online, felt like a cross between Leonard Cohen and Sieben. Chilled out neofolk with classical instruments. We caught most of the set but decided to leave before the rush, as it was such a late finish.
As is traditional, the night finished off at the Moritzbastei. I'm always in two minds about this night - on one hand good to be sitting with a group of friends, on the other I want to circulate more and catch people that I may not see for another year - but then there is risk of losing seat!
We stayed until around 4.30 am after having a bit of a dance and a walk around the venue, heading back to hotel as the sun was rising, over for another year!
Tuesday we had a 2pm coach to catch, which gave us enough time to have a decent lunch - went to the nearby Leo's Brasserie, which was cheap, hearty, friendly staff and lots of sheltered outdoor seating. Good to know for next year!
Went to Pinguin Eis for a final icecream, then back to hotel to pick up luggage and struggle over to the coach station.
We had allowed 3 hours spare for our flight home but were a bit alarmed to discover that the motorway was closed due to an incident, resulting in a 90 minute delay to our journey. However, it was a comfortable journey and the coach was taking us direct to the airport - arriving in more than enough time given Tegel airport is so tiny! Had a smooth journey home and was out of Heathrow T5 within 15 minutes of landing! I love that airport.
The final gallery of pics for this trip can be seen here
Went for brunch at the Moritzbastei, meeting with Steve K and soon joined by the Garsides, so it ended up being quite a leisurely affair. Our initial plan was to go to the Agra for shopping, to Volkspalast for the first couple of electro bands, back up to Viking Village for Heimataerde and then either stay there all evening or back down to Volkspalast for more electronic weirdness.
However as breakfast took longer than we'd thought, we realised we didn't have much time to go to the Agra, so instead jumped off the tram at the Panometer to see their installation on the Titanic. These are installations created by the artist Yadegar Asisi and we'd previously been to his Amazonia one, which was a delightful chilled out break from the mayhem of the festival. This installation was a little darker, reflecting on the destruction of the passenger ship Titanic.
It started with an exhibition on the growth of industry and how man was creating bigger and more powerful structures, then ending up in the main installation which consisted of a 360 degree panorama of the Titanic under the sea, which you viewed from different aspects via a scaffold tower in the centre, accompanied by an atmospheric soundscape and changing lighting.
reconstruction of the hight of the Titanic .... gulp!
Surprisingly we were in there for two hours and before we knew it, was time to head to the Volkspalast for the first band, Sarin.
Got to the venue to find it hadn't opened yet .... an hour later we were still waiting outside, the whole day apparently delayed by the headliner (Blixa Bargeld) soundcheck. We were finally let in and Sarin were still setting up, so by the time he finally started, we could only stay for half the set and couldn't see the next band at all.
I was pretty torn about leaving as I absolutely loved the music, upbeat Berlin-style techno. I knew however that he'd be playing at Infest later in the year, so reluctantly left to dash up to the Viking Village for Heimataerde.
They were worth the trip though. Despite no longer having their medieval instrumentalist and becoming overall more rocky, they were fantastically entertaining and we danced the entire set.
Cecile and Simon were going to finish the day at Volkspalast for Blixa Bargeld, so we decided to go with them. The schedule was still overrunning greatly, so it meant we managed to catch Author & Punisher - an artist I've seen before but never ceases to impress, with his custom made noise machines. Unrelenting and loud, in some places reminiscent of Nine Inch Nail's artier stuff, in other places a tad doomy.
next up, in the adjacent venue, was another dark doomy act - Trepaneringsritualen. A very hairy man with a sack on his head, creating similar sounds to A&P but without the instruments. Some tracks were pretty cool but mostly it was a little dull compared to A&P
we left part way through the set as we realised the other room would be filling up for Blixa Bargeld - and we were correct! Cecile grabbed a spot right by the side of the stage .... nobody else had grabbed it because it was right next to the speakers! So Rob and I stood to the side of the speakers and caught glances of the band through gaps in the speakers and instruments.
Not what I'd usually listen to but I liked what I heard online, felt like a cross between Leonard Cohen and Sieben. Chilled out neofolk with classical instruments. We caught most of the set but decided to leave before the rush, as it was such a late finish.
As is traditional, the night finished off at the Moritzbastei. I'm always in two minds about this night - on one hand good to be sitting with a group of friends, on the other I want to circulate more and catch people that I may not see for another year - but then there is risk of losing seat!
We stayed until around 4.30 am after having a bit of a dance and a walk around the venue, heading back to hotel as the sun was rising, over for another year!
Tuesday we had a 2pm coach to catch, which gave us enough time to have a decent lunch - went to the nearby Leo's Brasserie, which was cheap, hearty, friendly staff and lots of sheltered outdoor seating. Good to know for next year!
Went to Pinguin Eis for a final icecream, then back to hotel to pick up luggage and struggle over to the coach station.
We had allowed 3 hours spare for our flight home but were a bit alarmed to discover that the motorway was closed due to an incident, resulting in a 90 minute delay to our journey. However, it was a comfortable journey and the coach was taking us direct to the airport - arriving in more than enough time given Tegel airport is so tiny! Had a smooth journey home and was out of Heathrow T5 within 15 minutes of landing! I love that airport.
The final gallery of pics for this trip can be seen here