It’s obvious that Pentecostal holidays in Leipzig are celebrated quite differently than in rest of the world, because for twenty years now, the blackened whordes have come en-masse in a Gothic pilgrimage to celebrate their culture, their music and their bond. For twenty years now, this city, with its apt historical architecture and warm, inviting people, has extended its arm and graciously brought the pilgrims under its wing to provide a hospitable welcome and a wonderous setting for this popular festival.

Beginning in 1992, attracting a mere two thousand visitors, the Wave Gotik Treffen has steadily grown in size with each occasion and now pulls in more than twenty thousand people as if it had always been so. This year’s event is particularly auspicious in that it is the twentieth anniversary of WGT, which led the organiser’s to give us an extended five days of alternative eccentricity to celebrate, get a little wild and top up the memory banks.

It’s Friday night at the Werk2 and it’s another WGT venue that has had its fair share of famous artists over the last twenty years. Starting off with Prager Handgriff, these old-school EBM veterans mix and match the old with the new, but fail to kick off the Friday night as would be expected. Wrought with trouble onstage, Dance Or Die played to such high expectation that if anything other than solid perfection happened, they would suffer the consequences. As it was, they did…their sound was merely dribbling out of the speakers to be washed away on the baited, angered breath of the expectant crowd. It would truly contend for position in a ‘What would unfairly make for the world’s worst set due to technical difficulty on stage’ competition. With these problems plaguing most artists, you imagine it must be frustrating for the band, but take a little look around and you see who it’s really frustrating. Poor choice of hardware, poor workmanship, poorly trained sound tech/backstage staff, blame can be placed at anyone’s door, but fault isn’t what’s needed to be found here, just an answer, as its very much limiting the levels of enjoyment for favorite tunes such as ‘Psychoburbia’ and so the crowd has to make the most of what should have rightfully been a great set. At the least, everyone’s knows that.

Back to the Agra for one of the most iconic electronic acts in the scene, Covenant. As Joakim is taking a break from the live touring; singer Eskil Simonsson, Daniel Myer and live support Daniel Jonasson (from Dupont) comprise this evenings line-up. The performance in the Agra is as near to perfection that this act can muster, with newer tracks from current album ‘Modern Ruin’ sliding into place perfectly alongside the rest of their back catalogue in tonight’s set. Not a soul misses the set, all eyes forward and desperately hungry for the awesome sound permeating the room, it almost seems not enough to sate the appetites, even considering, or maybe perhaps, that this was one of, if not the best show of the weekend.

There’s a solid midnight highlight in the form of Deine Lakaien. Alexander Veljanov and Ernst Horn supported by the reliable live musicians Ivonne Fechner and B.Deutung presenting their new hits like ‘Blue Heart’ and ‘Gone’ beside a truckload of the oldies seamlessly. Post encore ‘Colour Ize’ and the fabulous ‘Reincarnation’ brings their evening’s performance to an impressive end.