2008-03-01 - Bunkernacht!

More of a clubnight or gig then a mini-festival as there was only 3 bands, but god was it awesome!

First out was one of my favorite finds of Maschinenfest Spherical Disrupted which is really nice Dark Ambient witch builds up to "almost" powernoise but with a really really nice atmospheric touch.

Then we had Nullvektor something I was a bit so-so to as I recalled it as a-bit-to-much-break-core but it was one of the best gigs ever! Really nice and hard dancy stuff with some nice (!!!) break-core moments to spice things up a bit.

And finally 5F-X and we all know it by now...and then... they started from the back and did half the "show" in the audience what a wonderfully cool idea! And as always nice hard and dancy with a hilarious show!

And after 5F-X they did a pretty OK- noise dancefloor which I really enjoyed! 

2008-02-29 - High Voltage Festival 2008

A really really nice mini-festival in Hanau Germany.
The lineup for High Voltage Festival 2008 was as follows (and since there was no playlist I don't recall the order)

• Störsend
  Had not heard before, but awesome new find.
• Monolith
  Unsure of the order here (but this one or possibly PAL) was not so good.
  
• P.A.L.
  Ok, but not to spectacular.
  
• SHNARPH!
  Awesome insane noisy stuff (and the "front man" was really insane)
  
• Noisuf-X
  AWESOME DANCY NOISE!
  
• Winterkälte
  A bit slow I thought, especially after Noisuf-X but all in all it's winterkälte :)

All in all I rather liked it, an ok venue (the prices were a tad high if you ask me 2.5€ for a glass of water) and there was (as always waaaay to much smoke).

And the best band of the night was: Noisuf-X
Best newcomer was: Störsend

2007-10-16 - Maschinenfest 2007 [3/3]

Last day (as always: *sob*) was also quite nice. I spent the day sleaping and then had some dinner with the "crazy camera dudes" (who was neither crazy nor had the camera dudes with them). Then I arrived a tad late for the show and was blown away by some nice noise instead of the usual dark ambient. Was almost a bit of a let-down when the second band was more dark ambient:y then the first, but from that the night just got better and better.

The best show: Drumcorps
The best noise: S.K.E.T. (but this *was* close)
The best dance: S.K.E.T. (but I love sket :)

The bands of the night was:

• EVA|3
  Awesome noisy-idm:ish stuff
  
• Spherical Distortion
  A bit more soft and dark ambienty
• Dj hidden
  not that good, so we went for dinner.
• Dazzling Malicius
  So-so
• S.K.E.T.
  *LOVE* *LOVE*
• Ambassador 21
  Just what I needed after sket, more dancy noise
• Drumcorps
  Pretty cool IDM
• Vromb
  More dancy stuff (my feet hurt)
• Ah Cama-Sotz
  The end...

2007-10-16 - Maschinenfest 2007 [2/3]

Second day, awesomeness. Spent the day walking around Düsseldorf (yes, I know it is stupid to walk when your feet are tired but hey, I am stupid). The day again started with some dark ambient but a much more upbeat one and slightly more "IDM:ish" and as suaully went on to some really awesome noise. II pretty much spent the day dancing through and there was a lot less (that I noticed) of the moshing crowds.

The best Show: 5F-X (but that was a given)
The Best Noise: YpiY (not really sure here, a lot of nice bands)
The best dancing: Sonar (god it was amazing!)

The bandsof the night was:

• Ahnst Anders
  Dark ambienty stuff (pretty ok)
  
• Detrius
  Dont really remember but if I recall correctly it was nice noisy stuff
  
• Keef Baker
  Pretty nice noisy stuff
  
• 100 Blumen
  Pretty cool that they got a lot of flowers
  
• Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio
  Some "dark wave"/gothic stuff but quite nice
• YpiY
  Awesome noise
  
• config sys
  More really nice noise
  
• 5f-x
  The show is the best there is (some new "stuff")
• sonar
  Dance Dance dance!
  

2007-10-16 - Maschinenfest 2007 [1/3]

First day of maschinenfest and god was it awesome!
The venue is not as good as Forms of Hands venue but still pretty ok. A lot of stands selling mainly CDs and t-shirts (too bad they did not have more "stuff") and a half-decent bar (by far better then FoH). Then we also had the dance floor as well where the music was (apparently they had DJs in the shopping-district something I did not really notice).

The day started with some soft dark ambient (Skin Cage) and then gradually increased the pace towards the amazing synapscape gig. A lot of nice noise and a lot of noise people and as always there was a lot of new bands.

The two biggest problems was 1, the "moshing" and I don't really mind moshing when it is done "properly" but these guys were mainly throwing themselves into the dancing crowd around the "mosh pit" instead of moshing in the pit. This annoyed both me and most people around me but fortunately they only did it for Twinle and CBIHL) and 2, the two rows of "photographers" that always stood betwwn the crowd and the stage. It sort of ruins the mood to stare into a bunch of cameras instead of the band.

The best show: Catholic Boys in Heavy Leather (CBIHL)
The best noise: Scape.edx
The best dancing: Synapscape

The bands of the night was:

• Skincage
  So-so dark ambient, a bit boring if you ask me
  
• Ab Ovo
• Detune X
• Scap.edx
  Awesome noisy stuff (I bought the CD right after)
  
• Grayhound
  Seen them before, and nice noisy stuff
  
• This Morn Omina
  Some "dark wave:ish" stuff, too bad the "analog" stuff was tuned so low so you could not hear it.
  
• Twinkle
  Awesome French noise (and what a cool body paint)
  
• Catholic Boys in Heavy Leather (CBIHL)
  Funny noisy stuff
  
• Synapscape
  Awesome noisy stuff
  

2007-09-08 - A pretty ok Friday :)

Kentor (The company I work for) had a conference for my Team (Oracle) and where we went to "Härringe Slott" (Härring Castle) and had some study sessions as well as an awesome dinner with "entertainment" in the form of a Theater Group (Spegel Teatern) that performed a play "with us". I have to say the idea was amazing and the result really entertaining and fun.

After that I (instead of boozing off) went to TMPL and listened to Mergel Kratzer, Severe Illusion and Rupesh Cartel. I have to say that Rupesh Cartle (that I am now sure I missed at Infest) really really sucked. But Mergel Kratzer was pretty good (when the sound system worked) and Severe Illusion are also OK but I have seen them before.

Then I went home and spent all of Saturday sleeping :)

2007-09-07 - Dark Tranquillity, Blofly and Sonic Syndicate

Dark Tranquillity, Blofly and Sonic Syndicate! Blofly was pretty good albeit on the softer side. Sonic Syndicate was awesome and a bit more "metalcore" then DT. And pretty much as expected DT was *amazing* always wanted to see them and it was worth the wait.

The album starts off with a few odd snapps from "Flemingsbergsfestivalen" some strange "festival" they had near my house the other day. as well as a drumming kit for kids someone left in the hallway outside my apartment and then we Dark Tranquillity.

The strange thing was that I did not know there were any warmup acts at all when I got there so was a bit surprised when I found out it was two of them :)