M'era Luna 2007

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Kavok’s review of M’era Luna 2007!

M’era Luna is a Gothic/Darkwave/Industrial festival in Hildesheim, south of Hannover, Germany, and is in it’s seventh year. We flew on Thursday night and stayed in a cheap but brilliant hotel and wandered out for a few drinks in Hannover. After a hearty breakfast, we met the rest of our clan, boosting our 6 to 16. A brief shower on Thurs night did not dampen our spirits and a few drinks [!] later we fell unconscious. There was a clubnight on the Friday, but we were having too much fun drinking our 1 Euro weissbiers that were gorgeous to go! Facilities were clean and really well maintained, organisation was typically German efficient and well planned.

All the lineup is here: http://www.fkpscorpio.com/meraluna/festival_programm.asp

Everything kicked off on time on Sat morning. I’ll list the ones I saw, there were 40 acts overall so couldn’t be at both stages at once!

The Love Crave:
Goth metal with electronic elements, and oddly enough one of the bands I most wanted to see. They didn’t disappoint – despite have only 25 mins (yes, we told the organisers to give them more than their allotted time in no uncertain terms). Great selection of songs from the latest album, highlights “Angel in the Rain” and “Can you hear me?”

Lola Angst:
Stark raving mad, sat atop an enormous organ mounting flamethrowers, PVC clad ballet dancers and two pissed German guys opening beers with axes, Lola played a maniacal selection of industrial hardcore and electronics. One of the funniest acts and surprisingly pretty good musically. ‘I’m a trisexual being – I like girls, boys, and ANIMALS!’.

Jesus on Ecstasy:
Fairly unremarkable gothic rock, this group were not bad, but promised a lot more than they delivered. The singer just didn’t fit in with the rest of the band and although I’d not heard anything of theirs before, some had and said they didn’t lift themselves enough for the performance. Worth watching, but not great.

Client:
Useless. Went off and spent their set wandering the selection of good gothic shops. Was almost tempted by a large suit of blue armour but thought better of it.

Assemblage 23:
First of the big hitters, Assemblage amassed a huge crowd and delivered a blazing performance in the bright sunshine of Saturday afternoon. Industrial at its glorious best, Mutate room fans would have recognised most of the tracks. Crowd were all dancing and really engaging. Only real niggle was that the band were too far back on stage next to each other leaving the singer up the front. Otherwise a polished show.

Covenant:
Another heavyweight act, Covenant turned up in nice suits and played some very well chosen tracks that the audience just lapped up. Classics from a long career got everyone going, and the Swedes were very polite too.

Emilie Autumn:
I know Sarah really enjoyed this, but I’m sorry to say I didn’t. The sound had been rigged all wrong to distort it any further than 10m from the stage, and the amateur theatrics and make up just went to far to detract from what was pretty average musically. A tent trip to refill beer was in order….

My Dying Bride:
….And hell was I glad to be back for MDB. These guys ranged up and down their large series of albums playing the specifically best from each one, and my favourite “A kiss to remember”. I’ve never seen an hour set played so comprehensively and so gripping. Just fantastic. Star Wars fans note that the singer is a member of the secret order of the Emperor!

Tool:
Despite refusing to have Tool’s name printed on the festival shirts, Maynard was soon getting into the best selected Tool tracks, notably “Stinkfist”. It was Ozzfest 2001 (way back then…!) when I last saw them, and although Maynard had clothes on this time – a definite improvement – they turned out really well. Great show with massive lasers, effects and live screens. Really good, and got the crowd dead up for it; quite an achievement at a Goth festival!

And that was the first day. Went to the club night after with Lorna and some of the guys until 3 or so (it’s on to 4) and had a good time – decent song selection and great atmosphere. It was a bit of a cattle market though, so singles make a note; whatever’s gothic and European, you can get it easily in there.

Angels & Agony:
Good show, great music. Michael was really into these guys and said they were ace, I was new to them though really enjoyed the show. Not outstanding, but competent and really good to blast off the hangover cobwebs!

Krypteria:
Honestly, the lead singer and this band are amazing. Yes, the lyrics are a little clumsy and the arrangements simple in places, but live they were vastly better than on the LP and she managed to go extremely high, I mean really high. Wonderful range, and a good show too. Crowd were a bit flat to start with, but they soon got in the mood, so I suspect the previous night had had something to do with it again. But honestly, really very good.

Rabia Sorda:
The former Hocico frontman showed that the Mexican take on brutal industrial hammerings is the best one. Very heavy electronics, darker lyrics and more aggression than was showed than any of their genre peers, and most importantly the band really got into it and drove everyone into a frenzy of dancing and occasional violent outbursts. Just gripping, will be asking Lorna very nicely for a copy of the album soon!

The 69 Eyes:
Great fun but lacking any real talent, the band that brought you “perfect skin” and “the lost boys” were a traditional entry on the list and were worth seeing, but I’m not bothered about seeing them again.

Skinny Puppy:
Expected more from them. They put on a pretty good show, but I disagreed with the track selection and they just seemed a little flat. Drifted off to get a beer halfway through. After the other bands of the day I was in the mood for something a bit more upbeat I guess. Probably one to see at their own concert rather than a festival.

IAMX:
Only saw the second half, but seemed OK. Will give them a longer listen next time!

Anne Clark:
To the amateur observer, a woman who has been touring for 20 years and writes spoken-lyrics soft rock tracks might seem odd at a Goth festival, but curiosity prompted me to see her (and I didn’t fancy the Jesus and Mary Chain) and I’m so, so glad I did. She was brilliant, delivering a really varied selection of tracks and filling the hanger to bursting as well as getting everyone up and dancing. If I could have a DVD of her performance alone, I would get it. She was that good. Talented woman, talented band and a great way to close out the festival.

Back to the tents to meet the rest of our group. And drink, drink and drink. Gallons. And build towers of the cans and bottles. Nursed the Hangover home!

What a festival, what a weekend. Those of you who enjoy this type of music, go to M’era Luna. Those that don’t, find a European festival and go to that – there will be one that suits you. Leave the UK behind, SAVE money, and I do mean save, be adventurous, and organise it. I am glad we did, it was one of the best weekends I’ve ever had.

Thanks to all who were with us for it - lineup dependant, we’ll be back. And am looking forward to it already!