The 15th PRAGUE GOTHIC TREFFEN didn’t take place without being bothered by the Covid-19 pandemic, but at least it took place. Before it could go on, some bands in the lineup had to be replaced though, because due to current restrictions getting there was impossible or too complicated. Still, it turned out to be a fantastic festival once again.
FRIDAY, 28th August
The Friday evening at the “guitar stage” at Underdogs’ Ballroom started with the Czech band TEAR who presented their mix of rock and electro.
After that, I made my way to the other side of the road to the “wave stage” at the club Prostor Země to see the newcomer project LOVE MY SCIENCE from Bratislava. Brilliant electro-punk by the former keyboarder of the band HYSTERIC HELEN, and highly enterntaining – this is how it’s fun!
Back at Underdogs’ the next band was ISOLATED YOUTH from Sweden. To their high-quality postpunk sounds the room started to fill up significantly, and the temperature began to rise as well.
I couldn’t see HØRD from France at Prostor Země due to DJing between bands…
This night’s headliners were FRANK THE BAPTIST – a band that I like and respect for about 18 years already. And today’s show was not a disappointment again. WIth a slightliy changed band lineup they presented a great selection of material spanning the band history.
After the bands it was party time, you can find the setlist as well.
At 4:30 am it was slowly time to call it a night then for the first festival evening.
SATURDAY, 29th August
After a walk through Prague in search of record stores to try and find some of the Record Stroe Day releases – without any success – I went to the traditional picnic at Kinsky Garden. In spite of the occasional drizzle there were quite a lot of people using the opportunity to meet and chat.
The first concert of the day was one of my highlights then: NEMUER from the Czech Republic. THe band around Michael Zann and Katarina Pomorska immerses the audience in Old Norse mythology, on their other albums they also had Celtic and Babylonian influences. Comparing them to bands like Heilung or Dead Can Dance is not too far off the mark.
Next band was TYSKE LUDDER who are not really my cup of tea. I will probably never understand why (especially German) EBM/Industrial acts have such a love for militarisms… so I took a video and a few photos and went to the second floor to dance a bit.
The final gig of the weekend was a more than two hour show by CLAN OF XYMOX which nicely combined old and new material and was received well by the audience.
The party night on two floors with the Sanctuary.cz DJ Team and DJ De’Ath from Leeds (UK) made for a fitting end of this great festival weekend.
Conclusion
After several months without club nights or gigs this little festival felt incredibly good, despite hygiene regulations and mandatory masks. Let’s hope that this whole situation will get back to normal again soon so we can have music events as usual again – the XVI. PRAGUE GOTHIC TREFFEN on 27th and 28th August 2021 is already marked in the calendar!
Photos
Video Playlist (14 Videos):