Planned as a worthy year-end closing, things worked out fine and granted me the pleasure I was looking for ;) NEUWERK FESTIVAL in Dusseldorf did its best, although I would have loved to visit its counterpart in Berlin and the other three shows. Well, even on Xmas one can’t get everything… *sighs*
Never mind! Stahlwerk Düsseldorf instead of the LMH in Cologne, the better choice. It is fucking cold and freezing (-7°C) and the venue’s gentlemen take it very, very easy, opening the doors a half hour later than announced, although many people visibly were waiting with thin shirts and blouses…tststs… Only the tough are good enough, look is everything ;)
Finally! Doors open and people surge into the warm space, mainly to the bar for tea and coffee or the pizza shop. Many known faces, many friends and the dreamers. Without chocolate marshmallow and somewhat battered from the previous show, but still as fresh as a daisy.

:: pics ::

Evening kicks of with Leipzig-based duo… um… live trio :: DESTROID :: delivering a first class opening show to get the Christmas-tired audience going. Mr. jack-of-all-trades Daniel Myer (Haujobb, Architect) again knows how to get things started with his new project. Straightforward Electro with leanings towards Synthie-Pop, great melodies and danceable sounds. Not too harsh (although I would have loved it *g*). Euphony and pleasure everywhere. Live the music is crispier as on the current record Loudspeaker from which they only played three songs. Well… kill me, bit I like the tracks from the debut Future Prophecies more and so I was much pleased to get these songs ;)
Setlist: Soul Asylum, Bird Of Prey, Into The Deepest Dark, Broken And Abused, Bonewhite Light, Friend Or Foe (The Betrayal), Let Me Leave (Silent)

First real surprise followed right on. Brainchild of British mastermind Oz Morsley :: KLOQ ::are somewhat like the crossover heroes of the Electro scene. Everything is allowed, from funky beats via to various electronics up to harsh EBM sequences. Everything can be found in the music. The band’s debut Move Forward already collected some dust, but the guys have been busy offering a couple of new songs tonight. Yes, I really loved KLOQs performance and it seemed I wasn’t the only one, audience slowly awoke ;) Cool stuff! No hackneyed standard shit.
Setlist: Ibiza, We Are Just Physical, You Never Know, Connecting, Move Forward, I Never Said, Push It

What then happened… is hardly to describe. First :: SOMAN :: is the one-man-project of Kolja Trelle, musically ranging between Electro and Techno. Without a doubt enthralling, captivating, stirring and spreading energies galore. That Kolja feels alone on such a huge stage… understandable. That he likes to utilize hot girls (ok, matter of taste) for some show dancing… great idea! BUT… but then these girls should be able to dance! The one on the right side was perfect in wrenching her body, but was soooo out of rhythm… she didn’t make it at any time. The other girl, on the left side, was able to dance in step but looked so deadly bored as if her show was the most turn-off ever. Sorry, but these girls were the biggest crap! Time to get me a beer…
Setlist: Almost Violent, I Cry, Dare To Live, Lost, Rushing, Exterminate Annihilate Destroy, Undone

:: ROTERSAND :: afterwards was like balm for the dance-soul. There is actually no way around this trio from the Ruhr. Every five minutes they have their hits in the top 10 (DAC). And their 15th anniversary they should have celebrated properly too. Front-giant Rasc is an absolutely nice guy and manages to heat up the ongoing lazy audience.
Setlist: Almost Violent, I Cry, Dare To Live, Lost, Rushing, Exterminate Annihilate Destroy, Undone

Ha! And then…it’s upon time for the festival’s highlight :: DIARY OF DREAMS :: What the hell got into them??? They whoop it up now? Woah… *me speechless* … “Fuck you yes!” … said Adrian Hates ;) DIARY OF DREAMS started high energetically with MenschFeind, while Adrian was going wild on stage. Tonight DIARY OF DREAMS played as a quartet: with D.N.S. in the middle behind his skins Taste was placed to the left behind his keys, while Torben Wendt (Diorama) mastered his own keys on the right. Of course also contributing guest vocals and even coming to the fore for a duet with Adrian (The Curse). Gaun:A was everywhere in between ;) Apropos… it’s time for Torben to get a pseudonym for himself when playing with DOD ;)
However… this was definitely a killer show! AND… raised (rocking) expectations for the new record, due on March 13th Fuck you, yes! Awesome ;)
Setlist: Menschfeind, Chemicals, The Plague, AmoK, Traumtänzer, Butterfly:Dance, Soulstripper, PaniK, The Curse, Kindrom

Instead of working their butts off to top the previous show as a headliner :: NITZER EBB :: took it easy. Or should I say… bored? Maybe their X-Mas dinners were still like stones in their stomachs. Maybe it was due to the likewise lazy audience? No idea… Doug McCarthy not even took his shirt off. Ok, classic hits still brought some movement to the crowd, seems like no one can resist songs such as Join In The Chant and Let Your Body Learn or Blood Money. But tonight NITZER EBB were far away from former high class performances. It was not the worst show ever, but… you know… a bit more power wouldn’t have done any harm. It’s time for a new chapter, which hopefully comes with the new album, currently set for a May 2009 release.
Setlist: Walk On, Promises, Shame, Hearts & Minds, Lightning Man, Godhead, For Fun, Never Known, Once You Say, Blood Money, Let Your Body Learn, Payroll, Murderous, Control I'm Here, Join In The Chant // Getting Closer

It was a nice evening, it was great to meet so many friends, especially when you realize that you could have met these friends at another place far away… ;) Ok, that’s another story… Lightshow was terribly bad and very photographer was swearing. The light man should be hanged from highest spreader! And the Stahlwerk has such great light installations… *sighs*
DIARY OF DREAMS’ merch made me poorer again. But hey, it’s X-Mas time and the Finland trip is in the bag ;)
As already mentioned, crowd was quite lame and lazy. The X-Mas dinners, gaining too much weight… hehe. Get some action started. To dance would have been a beginning ;)

That was 2008. The party is over! Have a great New Year’s Eve party and see ya in 2009! Cheers! :)

story & pics © Dajana