The beginning of August in the festivals' calendar belongs to M'era Luna, this year's edition confirmed its status as one of the most important events of the year. Fantastic organization and being prepared for any eventuality, these are the trademarks of the organizers. Starting from better and better exchange of tickets for wristbands, preparing the camping site with parking, a wealthy gastronomic zone, ending with a friendly crew and security service which are always ready to help.
Fixed points of the program are disco and fire-show before the main days of the event, they are taking place in the so-called pagan village, which is somehow a separate mini-festival at the festival. Has its own tiny stage where bards, musicians and others entertain their guests to the late night. You cannot miss the delicious food served there, nose led by smells, excited salivary glands, the toughest will fall against those delicacies straight from the fire. And this is only the beginning of curiosities of this magical patch of the festival.

Let's back to the present, before entering the hall to the disc, you might want to go further on the backs of hanger, where you can admire in the light of the moon, the main square at main stage. Moment of reflection, passed, along the way you could see a beautiful metal sculpture, which perhaps were made from a million small parts ;) and back to the party! Do not wait for us, we'll see you in the morning under the stage.
In relation to other events M'era Luna concerts start quite early, first ones begin between the 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. thence the large joy of the  first band, Aeverium that inaugurated the first day. As they were excitedly announced, like a whip shout out the Saturday concerts and accompanying events. The tension began to grow when gentlemen from Switzerland appeared. The Beauty of Gemina, no matter where they play, at festival or their own concert, they always play whole-heartedly for public, plus Michael`s melodious voice, that can't be missed. After that, immediately to the hanger, to the second stage to catch the band Rabia Sorda. As well as the main project, they constitute a certain brand, they always play very irrepressibly, delighting the audience who demand more!

Trying to see and hear as much as possible, I spent most of the day on chase from scene to scene, such a chase gave me a shake blended from various music styles and genres. Starting from the German Lacrimas Profundere, slightly melancholic gothic rock, but don't let sad style of playing fool you, they have serious kick, strong guitar is not bad!, I started my own little marathon. Literally as in children's poems, from flower to flower, I jumped at concerts, landed through: Solitary Experiments, Stahlmann, ASP, Das Ich, Paradise Lost, Leather Strip, Subway to Sally, DAF, Marilyn Manson and Combichrist. Of course it was impossible to be at every concert from beginning to the end, mainly because of overlapping hours of performances in the line-up. All the bands have risen to the challenge, taking the crowd to their electronic, synth-pop or heavier more instrumental beats.

There were no major technical issues, ypu should only skilfully find a good vantage point, it's not a surprise that over time, more people came and came, plus always remember about fluid replacement. The flagship elements of the concerts in many cases came to the fore like Gabi from DAF who pour with the water on himself. As for the DAF I wish everyone such a power at their mature age, you can think that veterans of the scene will just come, play their songs and ride on their legend status. Maybe it works with other bands, but not in this case, a volcano of energy that caused  pogo, right in the middle of the crowd gathered in front of the scene which surprised some of the participants ;). They haven't made recently any new album, so that's why set list was centered around the biggest hits of the project including the "Mussolini" and "Tanz mit mir".

If not the significant differences in the repertoire, I would invite on one stage, Paradise Lost an Subway to Sally, both bands, had to play at the time when the sun was "burning" the stage. Before the final "Say Just Words" it was clear that everyone was tired, but it did not stop the public in further cheer. To quote Nick Holmes: "f*cking sun", gave us a hard time, but everything for the fans.

Time for a moment that many had been waiting for, the curtains fell, the first sounds of borrowed from Mozart, "Requiem" accompanied the start of the show by Marilyn Manson. Before the concert I asked myself some questions that the next 90 minutes were going to explain. I'll split the performance into two categories; visual and audio. As for the first, actually everything went well. The change of the arrangement of scene that was referring to the style of the album or music video, in the case of the songs from the "Antichrist". Gadgets, lights, if concerts would began a little bit later the effects like light or smoke would be more spectacular. The second, audio part, had some serious issues. Unfortunately, Manson's vocal is not the same as before, especially when we expected powerful bass tones or some kick from the throat ;), in studio such inconvenience can be fixed but in live performance, that's much bigger challenge.  Of course nothing can replace  hearing  "Rock is Dead", "The Dope Show" or "No Reflection" live, but it was more sentimental, lacked power in his voice, voice that was able to cause goose-bumps. Let's focus on the pros, great contact  with the audience, set list was full of hits, including beloved covers of "Sweet Dreams" and "Personal Jesus", which gave a little sense of compensation for something that Marilyn will not manage. Summing up, it was worth to stand there in the crowd and be there on a concert of the band that caused a lot of smaller and  larger storms and a lot of smiles not only among hardcore fans.

As I mentioned before, many concerts had overlapping hours, that's why when you stand close to stage at MM show you could hear the beginning of the penultimate concert of the first day, the real eruption of energy - Combichrist. After the closing track "The Beautiful People" people moved towards the hangar, from which came the sounds of some serious blow ;).  It was not a surprise that getting inside will be a challenge, seriously, those who wouldn't get inside could watch performance outdoor on big screen with good sound system.  The guys showed that they can seriously "punch the scene", but this time along with the big plush, pink unicorn ;) Loud, hard, louder! The audience went wild listening to  favorite tracks and those from last album, "We Love You". "What the fuck is wrong with you?" - from that moment the atmosphere was overclocked to the maximum until the final "Fuck that shit". Then they were throwing some treasures to the crowd like drum sticks or guitar pick, the luckiest could left this absolute musical wilderness with extra loot. Personally, I was already too tired, so I headed slowly toward the tent, but there was one more show that was the culmination of the day, Within Temptation. I'm not a big fun of them, so without a sense of loss I marched to the point. Anyway, a huge plus for the band for a great performance and also for the fireworks as icing on the cake after the last track - "Ice Queen". If someone felt it was not enough or had some energy reserves, after party awaited in the hanger with several DJs at once or the cosy option, connect to the party  at the campsite, many tents to choose ;).

Beyond the typical music attractions, there are many other ones on the festival and I decided to spend some time on them during the second day. Starting from the commercial area, which had almost everything what gothic or rock fan can desire, just a matter of hitting the right place. From shoes, skirts, shirts to the CD's, vinyls and ending at the mascots, books and sculptures. This year a fashion show was also organized, but this time with a greater momentum. Unfortunately, in order to take pictures, a special permit was needed and that was granted only to selected press. Another popular attraction is the writers' readings and meetings with authors, of course all in German.What is understandable, but taking into consideration how many people came from abroad, it would be nice to arrange a meeting with the translator.

On the way to the concert hangar, I met a cheerful crew and their dragon procession, as it later turned out, they were the same artists who displayed near the shops their amazing metal sculptures including a statue of Spider-Man and the devil right from hell. A possibility of sending a postcard at the festival was a nice touch, and everything could be done easily and practically without service. Just select a postcard, write, pay a symbolic euro and hand it to the service. It works, recipient has received a letter - I checked that personally! Concerts at the main stage continued, It was nice to see pleased crowds who were wandering from scene to scene. In this way I landed at Hocico concert. Erk's energy was affecting the audience, that was pure pleasure. No matter how many times you've seen them live, it's always a successful event, as well at this year's WGT, Mexican were accompanied by Mariachi.

Meanwhile, on the main stage, Deine Lakaien were playing, they also performed at last year's M'era Luna, but in the acoustic version. This time, in the full squad, accompanied by drums. They played the songs that are well known to the audience, and also at the end two songs from the new album "Crystal Palace".
Medieval atmosphere ruled the second day of the festival, after the show by Heimataerde, a few concerts later, fans had the pleasure to attend a concert of the German In Extremo. As for the Heimataerde, it's an attempt to combine dark electro with EBM, using the medieval instruments, sounds inspired by this era. After the exuberant performance, the musicians invited their fans to a meeting in the pagan village. I'll add that their original image is their hallmark - clothes that refers to the style of Templar Knights, frolic around the stage in all of thiese costumes is already a big challenge. The second announced heroes of the medieval conquests were In Extremo. Berliners are on the scene for over 20 years and they are not resting on laurels, over 1,5 million records sold. They started the show with a huge bang and even bigger at the end, highlighting that with a small fire show. It was not a surprise that the audience who was reaching to the horizon, was very pleased of this explosive and lively concert.

The headliner in the hangar was the performance of well-known gentlemen from Covenant. Absolutely beautiful, melodious Eskil's voice acts as a balm for the soul, the atmosphere, which they make with music creates something so unique, that it is hard to hand it without getting emotionally involved. Especially if you are a fan, so in the objective way; the concert was balanced combination of newer compositions from the last album "Leaving Babylon" with flagship hits. Especially the end of the concert was a tip of the hat to the audience, in sequence: "Der Leiermann", "Last Dance", "Call the Ships to Port" and the encore "Dead Stars" Thank You!
With undisguised joy I walked slowly towards the exit, and then straight to the tent, tomorrow morning we will be coming back to reality. One more glance at the main stage, where the concert of the main star of the festival, And One had already begun. Gathered more admirers under the stage than the medieval rebellions, and thunderous applause and squeals were a proof of the satisfaction. So, what more could you want?

The next festival over! This weekend had just begun and now I need to organize coming back, accoruding to the adage, "all good things come to an end", but why so quickly?:)

Other articles:

• Castle Party 2018 - 2018-07-25 (Live reports)
• M'era Luna 2016 - 2016-10-13 (Live reports)
• M'era Luna 2015 - 2015-09-25 (Live reports)
• Castle Party 2015 - 2015-07-26 (Live reports)
• 3rd Out of Line Weekender - 2014-08-28 (Live reports)
• Castle Party 2014 - 2014-07-24 (Live reports)
• Leaether Strip – Æscapism - 2014-06-03 (Music reviews)
• Nocturnal Culture Night 2013 - 2013-12-07 (Live reports)
• Gothic meets Klassik 2013 - 2013-11-21 (Live reports)
• Amphi Festival 2013 - 2013-10-02 (Live reports)

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