Hocico - Covenant - Combichrist - Feindflug - DAF - Leæther Strip - KMFDM - Patenbrigade: Wolff

Xotox - Mind.In.A.Box - Mergel Kratzer - Cyborg Attack - She’s All That

So, let’s talk about the bands now ;) After having had a nice predrinking hour and a look around the festival area we started at the C-Hall. Mr. Honey (Welle:Erdball) was leading through the program and made me once again shaking my head ( he also leads through the Amphi Festival). This man is so terribly stiff and addressing the crowd formally. It didn’t want to suit the situation and festival at all…

:: pics ::

First new discovery was :: PATENBRIGADE: WOLFF :: a collective of known musicians. I might have heard of this name before or even a song… I don’t know. However, all the others of our little festival community wanted to see them, were even much excited and made jokes about them… that made me curious ;) Seems like this band is something special…
Oh yes, at least PATENBRIGADE: WOLFF is much entertaining ;) When the Berlin-based construction workers showed up they started pottering everywhere on stage, while a blend of electronics and pounding beats let the crowd already dance at this early time. Great stuff! I liked it.
Setlist: Stalinallee, Vorsicht! Feind hört mit, Gefahrstoffe, Popmusik für Rohrleger, Schußwechsel, Ostberliner Bauarbeiter, Abrißbude, Demokratischer Sektor

Little break, same stage and it was about to :: KMFDM :: to pick up the thread. These dudes I like and know and it makes me happy to see them more often playing live in Germany :) But why are they always playing the same setlist??? I mean, this band has like 20 records under its belt. So there should be enough material to play different sets at every show, doesn’t it? Sascha Konietzko and his wife Lucia Cifarelli anyway, had an easy job to rock the crowd and the house. Ok, fans were still far away from a mass hysteria, but hey, it’s still early in the afternoon and damn hot. Resources want to be preserved… ;)
Setlist: DIY, Bait & Switch, Tohuvabohu, Son Of A Gun, Hau Ruck, Looking For Strange, Potz Blitz, Attak/Reload, Megalomaniac, A Drug Against War

Next band lead us to the smaller C-Club experiencing a band called :: SHE’S ALL THAT :: Crazy gang in spacy overalls and rubber masks. And they have balls for ugliness. Live they get bosted by an axe-man, who isn’t less hooded ;) The entire show was pretty whacky, but cool though. I liked it a lot. SHE’S ALL THAT seem to be the punks of the electro scene. I wanna see them again, at full length :) Oh, and I just read that they have released their debut record entitled Extra Fruity Disgusting. Need to have a listen…

Back to the hall for more old school stuff. Old school EBM to be exactly ;) The one-man project known as :: LEÆTHER STRIP :: already exists since 1989. In 1992 Mr. Claus Larsen was playing live for the last time, in 2009 he came back and hit the jackpot at Amphi Festival. No prob at E-TROPOLIS FESTIVAL either. In a twinkling of an eye he mastered the audience, let the people dance as if he the master of puppets. Only thing is that he always looks lost in such huge stages, but he tries to make it up with much movement. It worked fine anyway, the crowd was rocking out as hell, seeing the entire venue dancing… Just great!
Setlist: My Shadow Is Your Home, Turmoil (Fuel For Fascism), Desert Storm, Hate Me!, Introvert, Japanese Bodies, Body Machine Body, Strap Me Down, Black Gold, Don’t Tame Your Soul

And again the club with :: CYBORG ATTACK :: on stage. Saw them last time in 2008 on the Feindflug tour and remember that I liked their harsh EBM. Since then not that much happened in the band camp. No new record, Stoerf***tor (2006) is still “up to date”. Just dusty ;) Hey guys, what’s up? But I can't shake this feeling that the Punisher also sings in a Black Metal band… ;)

:: DAF :: toured in spring but I could not see them. So I was more than happy to get the chance now again ;) Hardly that Gabi Delgado-Lopéz and Robert Görl had entered the stage they set in with Verschwende Deine Jugend and a lot of water. The pioneers of electronic body music with roots in the 70’s again managed with their classics to enthrall the audience. It was really awesome to see 3000 people dancing, waving and moving. Unfortunately Robert was like pasted behind his drum kit and most time invisible. All action and furiousness was left to Gabi, who – soaking wet as usual – was ecstasizing likewise males and females, and me of course ;)
Setlist: Gewalt (Intro), Verschwende deine Jugend, Ich und die Wirklichkeit, Der Mussolini, Ich Will, Muskel, Mein Herz Macht Bum, Algorhitmus, Rote Lippen, Liebeszimmer, Sato Sato, Alle gegen Alle, Nachtarbeit, Der Sheriff, Die Lüge, Als wärs das letzte Mal

Now we come to the next new discovery. Visually I would have put :: MERGEL KRATZER :: down to Italy. In fact they come from Sweden ;) Well, they made me smile but musically they knew how to get the crowd up and dancing. Drummer Angelica has some technical problems she pretty cool and professional solved. Uncool was that key wiz Julia had a “problem-window” on her face, sent by the notebook via beamer to the screen behind her. Someone should have told her to get it closed…
Setlist: My Freezer, Deathgame, Satisfy, Prisoner, Fuglesang, Iso, The Phuckomat, Sniper, Virus, Abducted

Back to the big stage. :: FEINDFLUG :: still polarize. They get loved, they get hated. Their instrumental military furiousness with the machinery of war and visualizations of the WWII is for sure not everybody’s taste. Some were deadly bored, others hypnotized by the pounding beats. Though FEINDFLUG obviously have a huge fanbase that rocked the hall.
Setlist: Jarhead, Gulag, Machtwechsel, Truppenschau, Roter Schnee, AK 47, Ersatzteil, Glaubenskrieg, Neue Sieger, Selbstsucht, Stukas im Visier

Strolling over to the club again I got the pleasure to see :: MIND IN A BOX ::, another band I never heard of before and that blew me away. Such great music… *sighs* I’d call it a blend of electronics and Art Rock. Seems like these Austrian guys have already many fans over here, many of them downright freaked out and screamed in front of stage. I in a meanwhile got me their brand new record R.E.T.R.O. (just dunno when to review all that ;)). Too bad, that they completely vanished in smoke and I only could stay there for 4 or 5 songs due to overlapping stage times.
Setlist: Remember, Amnesia, Stalkers, Fear, Certainty, Light & Dark, Questions, Whatever Mattered, Second Reality

We are getting closer to the boiling point, which got reached with :: COMBICHRIST :: Never saw the live so far but heard a lot of stories about their aggressive shows. With the first tunes of All Pain Is Gone no one overstated ;) COMBICHRIST is pure testosterone! And they crazy guys delivered a highly energetic performance. Under the lights of stroboscope and flogging electro beats they ran wild, always in move (the ones who saw them supporting Rammstein said, it was lame tonight…) Mr. Joe Letz seemed to be pissed off kicking his drums into nowhere. His equipment sponsor must be generous… At the end of the show he got the other drummer Trevor Friedrich pissed off too who paid back. At least the keyboards were not smashed. If I would have been the stage-hand I’d killed these bastards *lol* The audience was freaking out, completely, while I was watching this scenery from above. It all might be just show but it was great to see Andy LaPlegua mastering the crowd. Live definitely a highlight!
Setlist: Intro, All Pain Is Gone, Today I Woke To The Rain Of Blood, Electrohead, Without Emotions, Feed Your Anger, Get Your Body Beat, Blut Royale, F**k That Shit, Are You Connected, This Shit Will F**k You Up // What The F**k Is Wrong With You

Now it was up to :: XOTOX :: to play the last show in the club. But I was too tired and feeling bad and decided to take break, sitting upstairs in the hall, where I got some cold and fresh air.

After their great show 2 weeks ago at Blackfield Festival I was much pleased to see :: COVENANT :: again. As already mentioned, they did not fit that well into the musical concept of this festival, but who cares? ;) Beforehand moderator Honey gave his micro towards his mate Plastique to welcome the Swedes properly. Stupidly she confused the midsummer with winter solstice and made the longest day to the longest night. Little faux pas, but nothing compared to what has to come now.
Sadly, sadly the COVENANT played their worst and most embarrassing show ever. Both Eskil Simonsson and especially Joakim Montelius were so damn fucking hammered that they only staggered on stage, slurring and bawling, and ultimately toppling down without rebounding. Only Daniel Myer high above on his platform made the best of a bad job and played nice solos.
Setlist was almost the same, including two brand new songs that did not really suit the set. Nobody knows if and when the new record will be released. Watching on what happened there down on stage I assume it will still take a long time. Really a bad show, what a pity. And COVENANT got released with well-deserved catcalls.
Setlist: Intro, Stalker, 20hz, Dynamo Clock, Invisible & Silent, If I Would Give My Soul, The Men, Ritual Noise, Improvisation, Theremin, Call The Ships To Port // Der Leiermann, Babel

It’s long after midnight and an exhausting day draws to an end. Finally the headliner :: HOCICO :: enters stage and it seems that they got influenced by the aggression and lust for destruction of Combichrist putting a handful of TVs on stage. But at the end they only destroy one small one… ;) I know the Mexican guys for a long time now and am always pleased to see them live. After the little break and lots of water drinking I feel wide awake and fit again to rock the C-Hall with the rest of the crowd. Audience got surely thinned out but everybody’s still there dance and rocks as if there is no tomorrow, while sweat flows in rivers down the back. A great and worthy final for this festival!
Setlist: A Fatal Desire, Born To Be Hated, Spirals Of Time, Untold Blasphemies, Dog Eat Dog, Love Posing As A Prostitute, Bloodshed, About A Dead, Escape The Spell, Odio Bajo El Alma // Forgotten Tears, Poltergeist

Done. The first edition of E-TROPOLOS FESTIVAL is over! It was a long but great day with many awesome shows. I’m much curious who will be the bands for the next year’s instalment. Let’s see… and now… I’m still hungry like a wolf. It’s 3am and I need a kebab shop…