VNV Nation - Front Line Assembly - Diary Of Dreams - The Beauty Of Gemina - Diorama - The Other - Torul - Slave Republic - Orange Sector - Terrolokaust

Kissed awake by the sun I hit the road down to Gelsenkirchen under changing clouds and a handful of raindrops. No traffic, no jams let me arrive relaxed and in best mood I step down the stairs into the Amphitheater. The arena is still quite empty but most of the writing and photographing colleagues are already there for entertaining chats.

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When the clock strikes 10 it’s up to the Spanish-German trio :: TERROLOKAUST :: to enter the stage. With a brute blend of Industrial and Electro the guys get the first fans into motion, enticing the ones shopping upstairs to join in and waking up the ones on the camping ground nearby. And TERROLOKAUST excellently succeeded doing so, presenting most of the songs from their sophomore Spit The Poison Out. ;) Yes, this one fun! Great wake-up call!
Setlist: Intro, Pointless, No Control, Scars That Never Heal, Reversing In Circle, The Way It Must Be, Falling Away From Me

Next up is :: ORANGE SECTOR :: from Hanover, celebrating old school EBM. Ok, their idols are clear: Nitzer Ebb and DAF, but add an own note. With my first beer in hands I swing my heaps and enjoy the show, while ORANGE SECTOR go on heating up the audience ;)
Setlist: John Kills, Alles dreht sich im Kreis, Krieg und Frieden, Endzeit, Der Maschinist, Dynamit, I Hate You, Geile Zeit, Für immer, Kalt wie Stahl

:: SLAVE REPUBLIC :: is the first band I know and really like. It’s synth-Pop as its best. Not too soft and shallow, with pounding beats. Songs came in equal parts from Quest For Love and Electric One. It’s said that the guys work on new material with Daniel Myer, who appeared on stage as live musician behind knobs, keys and drums. I’m much looking forward.
Setlist: Walking Ghost, Primärreiz, Promises & Broken Hearts, Number Three, The Driver, Less Of Me

I remember the singer of :: TORUL :: as a guest at last year’s edition of BLACKFIELD FESTIVAL. This year they were invited to play and they absolutely wowed me. I was… blown away. Hardly back home I raided online stores for mpg’s *laughs*. This Slovenian band was totally unknown to me. To describe them… is difficult. TORUL does not fit in any drawer, what makes them actually more interesting ;) Let me say it’s a mix of Electro, Indie Rock, Dub and synth-Pop. Something like that anyway. There are more influences to hear out, but for that I have to deal closer with them. It’s a peculiar but fascinating blend of styles and genres. I also like the voice of singer Torul and the dark atmosphere. TORUL is definitely my personal surprise and discovery of BLACKFIELD FESTIVAL 2014.
Setlist: The Sun, Lonely N, The Fall, Waterproof Theme, Show Me Your City, Try, In Whole, Still Here, Wake Up

When :: THE OTHER :: entered the stage they made immediately clear that they are the first band with a real drumkit on stage. Yes, they are right. Musically the genre completely changed towards Horrorpunk. Well, the sound wasn’t heavier now, but earthier and more organic. You know, Rock-like ;) I have to admit I don’t know what’s going on in the camp of THE OTHER. I quite lost sight of them during the last years. But it was great to see them playing live again, much more to photograph them ;)

My personal fave and highlight of this festival days is - as expected - :: DIORAMA ::. And for the first time the Amphitheater is really packed and crowded. Again we got an extremely clear, powerful and transparent sound to enjoy a great best-of set, starting with Erase Me and a brilliant singer likewise aggressive as emotional. Really cute how Torben Wendt tried to look grumpy ;) Also DIORAMA work on new material, but no further information is given. Stunning show!
Setlist: Erase Me, Synthesize Me, The Scale, When We Meet Again In Hell, Exit The Grey

I didn’t know what to expect from a :: THE BEAUTY OF GEMINA :: show. It could have been a boring one, but it was not. Much more we got quite a rocking Gothic show much in the veins of British legends. Frontman Michael Sele is surely pretty eye-catching and charismatic; much more I loved his beautiful guitar that revealed skulls with changing lights. THE BEAUTY OF GEMINA have released a new album in February, Ghost Prayers, they presented live here. But also older tracks did not fall short.
Setlist: Intro, Run Run Run, All Those Days, This Time, Last Night Home, Goth DJ, Dark Rain, Mariannah, Rumours, Seven-Day Wonder, One Million Stars

Slave Republic got Daniel Myer, :: DIARY OF DREAMS :: got Torben Wendt ;) DIARY OF DREAMS actually replace Suicide Commando, who had to cancel their festival appearance due to the singer’s injuries. I wasn’t mad about it, because I could not see DIARY OF DREAMS on their Elegies In Darkness tour in spring. It was not such a phenomenal show as the Bochum show (as I got told – seemingly their best ever), but I at least could witness how the new songs turn out live on stage.
Setlist: Malum, Kindrom, O’ Brother Sleep, A Dark Embrace, Haus der Stille, Daemon, StummKult, King Of Nowhere, Dogs Of War, Lebenslang, Undevidable

The Amphitheater remains packed to adore one of the founder of the EBM genre :: FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY ::. I was much looking forward too and the Canadians did not disappoint and emerges to be another highlight of this festival day. Bill Leeb jumps and dances with closed eyes over the stage and seemingly doesn’t realize the frenetic fans (but I’m sure he does). But then, as already mentioned, it gets noticeable that many fans leave the arena to watch the World Cup game (Germany – Ghana) in the party tent.

As time flies the second festival day comes to an end. :: VNV NATION :: headline for the third time the BLACKFIELD FESTIVAL and their popularity is overwhelming, I ungrudgingly acknowledge. Singer Ron Harris took the chance and made his charming comments on the world cup and gave proof of his German language abilities ;) And VNV NATION truly got the fans partying, all hell was let loose. What I found disappointing was the light show as there was hardly any. Ok, it’s midsummer night but even then you can’t expect the sun shining on stage at 9:30pm. Between the songs the stage even remained in darkness. No lights at all. For a headliner I expect much more in this matter. Another downer was the singing of Ronan Harris. I don’t know if he caught himself a cold or something… but he often fell into a terrible bawling, could not strike the right note or hold it. Well, most people didn’t notice or didn’t care. Fans were frenetically singing along and dancing into the night...
Setlist: Retaliate, Sentinel, Chrome, Space & Time, Primary, Illusion, Everything, In Defiance, Fearless, Legion, Homeward, Honour, Farthest Star, Resolution, Control // Nova, Perpetual

story & pics © Dajana & Dajana Winkel • Photography