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Wave Gotik Treffen 2007 Special Update! Noisescape TV's video travelogue of WGT 2007 is now online! View it here. Noisescape TV's Guide to WGT To say that Wave Gotik Treffen is the premiere goth/industrial festival in the world is a bit reductive. It is, in fact, many things: a four-day extravaganza of music, parties, and social activities, an opportunity to see 200+ bands, a literal invasion of black on the east German city of Leipzig. For all its generous upsides, the downside of attending WGT is that it requires a bit more planning than pretty much any other festival you could choose. To that end, I've put together the following bits of advice for the novice Treffener. 1. It helps to befriend other English-speaking people who've been to the festival before (they can help you find stuff). There's a mailing list, Americans in Leipzig, where you can meet other people going to the festival. The Sadgoth guide also has a lot of good information for English-speakers. 2. The venues are all over the city, and figuring how to get from one to the other can be tricky. One thing I strongly suggest is budgeting a certain amount of money for cab fare. The trams, while reliable, can sometimes get overloaded and/or not come on time. 3. If you get lost, when in doubt, follow whatever group of people dressed in black you can see. They often know where they are going, even if you don't. If it turns out they don't know where they are going either, at least you have a great opportunity to meet new friends. 4. Beer is frequently cheaper than water. Water almost always comes in the carbonated variety. You don't have to tip your waitress at restraunts but you frequently do need to tip in public restrooms. Don't complain; just roll with it. 5. If you're from the US, you'll find you can drink in many places that are totally illegal to drink at in America, such as, for example, the park, the sidewalk, the tram, and even, yes, the backseat of a moving vehicle. Enjoy it while it lasts. 6. Lastly, the single biggest advice I can offer anyone: your feet will hurt. A LOT. I recommend wearing comfortable shoes. And drinking heavily. Absolute Body Control What a fanstastic reunion show for one of the greatest, yet least recognized, founding acts of Belgian EBM. 
Angels & Agony I wasn't crazy about Angels & Agony the first time I saw them, but I have to say this show was definitely better. Plus, I'd just remarked to my husband that I was finally ready to see Psyche live, when Darren Huss jumped on-stage to sing a track with A&A (see the last picture). Evidentally angels don't lie sleeping. 
Cassandra Complex It was nice to see Rodney back in the saddle, so to speak. Prior to this I'd see him a lot at audio conventions like NAMM in LA where friends and I would sneak up behind him and start singing his songs under our breaths just to see what would happen. That was fun, but this was probably better. 
Dismantled Surprisingly better than the last time I saw them, and well received by the late Monday Kohlrabizirkus crowd. 
Dive What can I say about Dirk Ivens that hasn't already been said? He is still an A+ act live, even without a single piece of music gear. 
Fixmer/McCarthy The man, the myth, the McCarthy. Still. 
Grendel So this was one of those shows where i was like, "hey, how come nobody told me a bunch of my friends are in this band?" Possibly my favorite Grendel show ever, if only because the crowd went totally nuts and started fistfights and shit! That's the proper way to see Grendel. Also, there was deathkey. 
Heimataerde Chainmail. Armor. Shields. Cloaks. Palisades. Vampire fangs. The holy grail. Behold: the undead knights templar of EBM. 
Heimstatt Yipotash Very pleased with this show.. but very disappointed they didn't wear their sombreros. Why have they forsaken me? 
Kiew Quite possibly my favorite Kiew show to date as well. 
Orange Sector This was one of those shows where I was more happy to just be able to say that I've seen it more than anything. Sure, it was fun, and trying to avoid being killed by the sweaty shirtless EBM men was entertaining, but Orange Sector live is kind of a one-trick pony. But, it was still pretty cool to see "Kalt wie Stahl" live. 
Pre.Emptive Strike 01 This was entertaining. 
The Retrosic Given how hyped this "world premiere" show was, I ended up being a little disappointed. Sure, they had Borg-looking flag-wavers, dancing military chicks, and at one point, a live suspension show, but it sort of felt like the band was throwing everything they could think of at a wall and seeing what stuck (or didn't suck). All in all, I found the show to be watchable, but not exceptional. 
Rotersand I liked Rotersand when I saw them at WGT in 2004, so I pretty much expected to like this show. However, it exceeded my expectations. I think Rotersand has really come together live in the last year or so. SITD made a guest appearance at one point (see the last picture). Also, Rasc still reminds me vaguely of a dancing Jean-Luc Picard. 
Soman Still not crazy about the chick vocals, but the show was still fun. 
Tamtrum Missing from this photo set: the part where the dude on the right took his pants off and ran around the stage naked. 
This Morn' Omina This was totally the sound of Belgians going tribal on my ass. 
Unterart It had been raining all morning, and seeing a show in an outdoor theater is no fun in the rain. However, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and the band played on. Not crazy about the singer, though. I did really like one song... of course, it was the one without vocals. 
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