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Nocturnal Culture Night 2013


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Last rays of warm sun break through the tree crowns, from which leaves already fall to the ground creating a colorful mosaic. A sign that autumn is approaching, along with which the summer festival season is coming to an end. One of the last events of the festival time is Nocturnal Culture Night, taking place in Kulturpark in the town of Deutzen. The intimate, very calm atmosphere that rules the place, surrounded by mother nature, makes this event unique. No one’s in a hurry, two music stages plus a third one for accompanying events, tiny stalls tempting with specialties and delicacies, numerous nooks hidden somewhere between the alleys, simply speaking, full chill out. With exactly that attitude we packed for a long route towards NCN.

Opening the festival was Thouxsense, a band from Lipzig. Gentlemen came out pretty well, playing a mix of electronic pop with rock, interesting in their set of instruments was a violin.
Inauguration of the main stage belonged to the Seelennacht band. Both musically and visually they resembled Blutengel very much, and whether it’s good or bad, I’ll leave it to you. Without going crazy, after all, but not that bad. ;)

A moment of break and onstage appeared a band that, for me, won all competitions that day, I was absolutely speechless! The cause of this were musicians from Torul. They come from Slovenia and electro-pop is the genre in which their sounds flow. Melodic lines are very catchy, hence memorable, and in a positive sense. Their greatest asset is the vocalist, his voice crushing, doing such electrifying impression that all the way through the evening I had it in my memory. Studio records do not fully reflect the power and lightness with which Jan Jenko sings. If someone was not impressed by songs like "Try" or "In whole" then the cover of Tears for Fears’ "Mad World" had to invoke emotions, if only negative, but it was impossible to pass by indifferently. Fantastic show!

We're moving towards the small stage where a blow of stronger and faster electronic beats awaits us. Noisuf-X did not let anyone stand in one place, the crowd went wild jumping, shouting to the beat. You could feel the hunger for dynamic, fast music, the set pretty well living up to all expectations.

The sun slowly started setting over the park, which meant that Rotersand would soon appear on the main stage. This time the German project performed incomplete, as a duo. The sets they played, combining electronic music with future pop, trance and vocals, fitting into the whole, attracted a large crowd under the stage. Rascal, the charismatic singer, kept contact with the audience right from the beginning, making sure he had them in his grasp. Likeable concert, good sound system, which was being turned up with each concert on the main stage. ;)

While on the mall stage guys from Tyske Ludder started playing, I went a few steps away, deeper into the park to see Forced to Mode. The band records their songs, but today their set list consisted of the biggest hits from Depeche Mode. There were, among others, "Enjoy the Silence", "Walking In My Shoes". They were well away from the original, however, the singer in his stage image resembled Dave very much.

In the evening Kulturpark is even more charming. The alleys were lit with lights wrapped around the benches, trees cut to form a corridor. One just wanted to sit on one of the benches in between the trees and enjoy the moment, brilliance of the place, the music coming from the distance. The more since, for the beginning of September, it was a very warm evening.
Headliner for Friday evening was a well known and much appreciated Diary of Dreams. Like at this year's Amphi, the audience filled to the brim the whole space under the stage of the amphitheater. The concert was very professional, actually there was no drawbacks beyond the lack of a keyboard player. A surprise for the fans was, recently rarely played live, "False Affection False Creation" from the first album of the band. There were encores, although the last "Traumtänzer" was performed in a shorter version.

A fast jump to the small stage, where Elena Alice Fossi was already warming up her voice with her solo project Alice Neve Fox. Very enjoyable concert for a good night, classical instruments and Elena with vocals in a different arrangement than the usually Kirlian Camera version. An interesting variety but, personally, I like her standard version better. Out of interest I’ll add that among the songs played that evening was, also earlier performed by Torul, cover of "Mad World".

As it turned out Alice Neve Fox’s concert was not the last on the park stage (called cultural), there was also one special event prepared. Originating from the United Kingdom, neo-folk project 6Comm & Freya Aswynn. Before the show the musicians asked the audience to stay completely silent during the concert. What was the show? A collection of sung poetry from various sources to the accompaniment that sounded like meant to call out the ghosts from the woods. Sometimes even resembling mantra, who knows, maybe some ghosts actually crawled out and were lurking in the bushes? In any case, we had absolutely enough for one day.

Saturday greeted us with wonderful weather. Tight program was rich in attractions, first concert, which kept me under the stage longer than for the first two pieces, of Spanish Terrolokaust. Nice dose of energy, clean electronic thud. Perfect to liven up a bit.

On the main stage unfailing Lord of the Lost are getting ready to play. I was not surprised when suddenly by the barriers, which were set right under the stage, quite a large crowd of listeners materialized. Similarly as at M'era Luna, the musicians gave their all, the audience only demanding more! Great show, that was graced additionally by Erk of Hocico who performed "Marching into Sunset" together with the band.

Then swiftly, to have the best visibility, I went to a fashion show. The catwalk was occupied by models dressed by Eve Couture brand. Show with reserve, at ease, models were natural, you could see that they had fun during the show. Especially, since it was not a simple walk there and back, but each of them had their own little show, all ending with a joint performance. Going back to the key issue; clothes, of course, in climate, with an emphasis on everyday wardrobe. Very feminine and girly, versatile styles, interesting combination of colors, textures and materials. For fans of panther, dots and bows - a real treat! I’ll add that everything was handmade and in limited quantities.

For the second time at this year’s NCN we had the opportunity to listen to Adrian Hates and  Gauna:A. They played to the audience songs from their side project named .com/kill. It could seem to you that it’s another Diary of Dreams, but you couldn’t be more wrong. Lots of electronics, moreover, for the sake of a live performance their keyboards and vocals were supported by electronic drums. An interesting concert and alternative to DOD.

As I mentioned in the beginning, Kulturpark hides a lot of interesting things, so I decided to visit them all, I wandered into the pagan village, rich in attractions. Knife throwing, archery, health potions, leather goods and ever-present flatbreads, whatever you want. Probably the most popular stand was the one with wines. Varying from the classic grape wine to all kind of inventions like rose, plum - a miracle - honey or nuts.

In the meantime on both stages: Frozen Plasma, Versus i Diorama played.
I even managed to make it for the latter and listened to the second half. They gathered a very large audience, that almost celebrated the concert. I'm not a particular fan, but I have to admit that they played very well.

Another star on the main stage and for me the most important one of the day was the Hocico duet. It was the first time I saw them live, so my impatience reached its extreme when the stage was being prepared. Erk is a well shaken volcano of energy, all the while running, raging, screaming. A veritable frenzy in the company of the play of light, microphone stand built from skulls, heavy lyrics and strong beats. I recommend wholeheartedly.

The concerts that closed the Saturday at NCN were Haujobb on small stage and Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub on the main. And as I did check out first, the other I omitted with full awareness.

A lovely touch at the end of the evening was the Spiritual Front concert. Charming vocals, melancholy plus neo-folk with rock music elements. A perfect end to the day, the temperature began to drop noticeably, so I went back to the tent, however, the sound was so good that, warming up under the sleeping bag, I could still hear and enjoy the Italian singing.

The Sunday I began with rock with Unzucht band. As for a relatively early hour, the audience was really numerous. Performance very successful and, like at M'era Luna, too short;)
On the main stage the concert of Bloody Dead & Sexy quintet has already begun. Deathrock with punk vocals that was warmly received by the audience, with pleasure I listened to the sinister, dirty guitar riffs. Concert was promoting the recently released album "Bad Ambient", but there still where classics like "Bloody Rose".

Next, Heimataerde performed, it seemed to be intriguing. Medieval stage setting, historical costumes, from a distance even quite reliable. The music was largely electronic, accompanied by guitars and some strange instruments, let’s say that "from the period". The audience, quite numerously gathered, was having lots of fun, I couldn’t find it in me to enjoy. Although Medieval climates are not alien to me, after hearing the first two songs I had enough and made my escape in the direction of the small stage.

The good mood came back fast thanks to the guys from Aesthetic Perfection. Shortly, it can be called a repeat of Castle Party, only on a smaller scale in terms of the stage size. Daniel, of course, in his black-and-white styling, Tim on drums and Elliot with keys, they all were in a frenzy, at least as much as the audience under the stage, in the end we managed to persuade the band to do an encore.

After a short break Erk Aicrag came onto the stage for the second time, with Rabia Sorda project. Mix of electro, ebm spiced up with Mexican influences and the well-known vocals, sometimes changing into a scream, it could not fail. With time during the concert the crowd gathered under the stage was growing. Musicians certainly enjoyed it, I had to evacuate because, in a fit of emotion and getting into the right mood, the crowd was becoming more aggressive (of course, without exaggeration, it was no Polish pogo), but I had no intention to fly along with them.

Along with Camouflage show we reach the end of the festival. From "We Are Lovers" up to the final hit, "The Great Commandment", the band charmed the audience, most numerously gathered in the amphitheater. To such extent that the timidly falling rain became an unimportant detail.

After the concert all the organizers, the festival staff gathered on the stage for a group photo and to thank for the great festival. Compared to other, bigger festivals this one in the small Deutzen comes out just lovely, it is different, why? It’s best to find the answer for this question by visiting the festival. I strongly recommend!
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Translator: kantellis
Add date: 2013-12-07 / Live reports


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