Prophetic Overture • Krachmucker reads "Reading King Diamond" - Mosaic - Vrîmuot - Thurnin - Neun Welten - Crone (acoustic show) - Zwischenlichten

It seems like the Thursday becomes more and more a regular festival day :) On the meadow nearby the cave event pavilions and a wonderfully decorated small stage invited bands and fans for an evening full of acoustic performances, with a huge amount of free beer sponsored by Prophecy Productions ;) Dubbed Prophetic Overture, the Thursday saw even six bands performing, plus a reading afterwards. At this number of bands, I was sure the shows would take place inside the cave. But, nope, I was wrong.

:: pics :: ZWISCHENLICHTEN ::

In league with the setting sun :: ZWISCHENLICHTEN :: (an old and regional German word for twilight) opened the festival. It’s the project of Nico Schwappacher and Martin Falkenstein, who set Franconian and Thuringian tales and poems to music, to revive the old myths and conjure the old ghosts of those regions. I find it remarkable with which meticulousness both protagonists trawl libraries and archives for all kind of stories in this matter. With success, as they dug out long forgotten texts and writers.
Except for Sturm auf dem Berg and Leidgeboren, all tracks came from the debut album Dämmerschwellen, soon to be released via Prophecy Productions, and now on pre-sale. The mentioned two exceptions are tracks planned to be released any time on the sophomore. Both tracks are based lyrically on Christian Sümmerer (1874-1931), a Franconian regional writer, his used texts were never released before.

Band: Nico Schwappacher, Martin Falkenstein
Setlist: Sturm auf dem Berg, Zwischenlichten, Die Glockenblume, Herbstfeuer, Duldsamkeit, Leidgeboren, Heimat, Winterstille

:: pics :: CRONE ::

After the split up of Secrets Of The Moon (and the rather disappointing farewell show at Party San Open Air), :: CRONE :: now ranks first in the life of singer and guitarist Phil Jonas. Just one week ago, the band has released its sophomore Gotta Light?, which is as awesome as the debut is, and was here presented live and semi-acoustic.
With the sun gone, temperatures dropped under 10°C and the musicians had to rub their cold fingers properly to be able to play. Well, the fans rubbed their fingers too and the first bonfires were lit. It was a wonderful atmosphere and performance and I can’t wait to hear the new record in full :)

Band: Kevin Olasz (git), Phil Jonas (vox, git), Christian Schmidt (keys), Kirsten Schuhmann (vox)
Setlist: Waiting For Ghosts, Icon, Quicksand, This Is War, Dead Man III – Perceiving Angels, Abyss Road, Mother Crone, Gemini

:: pics :: NEUN WELTEN ::

Next up was :: NEUN WELTEN ::, a band I didn’t hear from for a very long time, although its violinist, Aline Deinert, was often to see as live musician for Empyrium or The Vision Bleak. Her own band was on hold for quite some time and it took them nine years for their 2018 release, The Sea I’m Diving In. This album is kind of a turning point as the band boosted its line-up with a regular drummer and bass player and developed towards a rather Post Rock-tinged direction.
Interestingly, Aline Deinert wasn’t present this day but showed up the other days with above mentioned bands. For tonight's performance drummer Michael switched over to the keys and Aline was kind of replaced by cellist David.
NEUN WELTEN played a new song, Night & Day, which was specially composed for last year's anniversary edition and premiered on Thursday. I missed the Thursday last year, so I didn't know. For tonight’s show the song was re-arranged.
Meanwhile cold and moisture took its toll. Various probs with the technics appeared and people rather crowded around the fires than in front of stage. The band stood strong and faced the cold with bravery, playing another wonderful show.

Band: Meinolf Müller (vox, git), David Zaubitzer (git, cello), Giacomo Astorri (bass), Michael (drums, synth, git, vox)
Setlist: Cursed, The Dying Swan, Nebelland, Heidenacht, Night & Day, Valg, Svartalfheim, Frosthauch, Spellbound

I tried hard but eventually gave in. It was too cold - I wasn’t properly dressed for those temperatures under a starlit sky. And it went near 0°C during the night. My heart goes out to everyone camping on the meadow that night ♥ Mulled wine would have helped a lot… which was only served Saturday evening…

Story & Pics © Dajana & Dajana Winkel • Photography