Bohren & Der Club Of Gore - Entombed - The Ocean - Wolves In The Throne Room - Master Musicians Of Bukkake - Hacride - The Pattern Theory

PG.Lost - Arms & Sleepers - Monotekktoni - Der Weg Einer Freiheit - Fredy Rotten

Deutsche Bahn was surprisingly reliable and so I arrived in Berlin on time at the early morning. No chaos *rubs hands* till I arrived at the hotel (11am). I’m not kidding, but I had to wait for 5 hrs to get my hotel room (3:45pm). Seriously! So it happened that I came too late to the festival’s opening and almost missed the first show…

:: pics ::

I only got to listen to the very last song of a half hour performance by :: FREDY ROTTEN :: Seems like it was some singer/songwriter stuff, a man and his guitar with a candle next to him. Too bad, I was curious. But luckily I will get this man the next day with his main band ;)

Right after I was pilgering to the main stage, where :: THE PATTERN THEORY :: kicked off their instrumental Post Rock show. Not many words were said, as announcement, but if, then pretty humorous ;) I liked it.

Next up was the first Black Metal band known as :: DER WEG EINER EINHEIT :: entering the smoky stage. It was the very first live debut of these guys and they did an awesome job. That’s exactly that kind of Black Metal I prefer: great guitar lines and melodies, intellectual approach and clever arrangements. Great!

Light and smoke was the major problem of this first festival day and it shouldn’t be any better the next one too. From the first there was almost nothing, from the last way too much. Too bad, so you will only get some shadow-play-photos :/

Back to the main stage French cats :: HACRIDE :: were about to leave scorched stage planks. I always liked to listen to them on CD but never saw the playing live so far. Seems like I missed something special ;) Their music is for sure not too easy accessible, but leaves much of an impact live on stage without getting too tricky and complex. HACRIDE played a highly energetic and powerful show and got a likewise enthusiastic feedback ;)

Another instrumental part connected up. Berlins finest :: CHÂTEAU LAUT :: delivered music to close your eyes and to just listen to. What a contrast musically, but love this festival exactly for this… hehe. Bass player Steno could have acted a little bit more lively ;) If you are into Sonic Youth and Shellac, try them out.

OK! Now I got so totally blown away! When :: MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE :: got onto stage I already was somewhat of speechless. Haven’t seen such masquerade before ;) This 30 minutes lasting show made me to an addicted one in a twinkling of an eye. Stoked. Stunned. Hypnotized. Really. Music felt so crazy, spacy and psychedelic… it was like a revelation. Seven musicians on stage, most of them known for their other bands and projects, forming a collective, of course in the most possible craziest way. All disguised with sort of beemaster hats, except for the master himself. He looked like a… um… a demon? Hmmm… now the odd band name makes sense too ;) Two drummers cared for mesmerizing tribal-like rhythms and all of them wildly twisting and moving, while the master was solemnly striding the stage. Schism Prism/Adamantos (its intro reminded me somehow of Jarboe’s Mahakali) was the song that got me most, but also People Of The Drifting Houses had its impact on me ;) Besides, the big hall of Astra Club finally filled properly up.
MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE - a close encounter of the third kind – and for me definitely THE highlight of the entire festival!

Back to the lounge :: MONOTEKKTONI :: was kind of a harsh break to bands before. A single woman (Tonia Reeh) was twiddling her knobs creating somewhat of hammering, techno-like electronic beats, while the lady looked like a futuristic blue smurf. Nope, that wasn’t my cup of tea.

Yesssss! It was up to :: WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM :: to celebrate the next show. Last weekend I saw them for the very first time and was totally stunned. Great to see them playing live again after such a week ;) The main stage was much darker. Photos? *pfffff* But also WITTR had their problems, especially with the sound. First voice and bass were way to quiet, then one of the speakers seemed to have a slack joint and was crackling. Though… another great show!

We got more Post Rock/Trip Rock from :: ARMS & SLEEPERS :: No smoke this time, but no lights either. Only that bit the visualization on the screen dispersed. I think this was the band with the most of effect gear on stage, plus drums, guitars and a xylophone. But they made the most beautiful tunes out of it :) Awesome soundscapes with a bit of singing in between. For sure another great discovery on this festival! I really loved it. And… ARMS & SLEEPERS are currently on tours throughout Europe, so catch them if you can ;)

Now the main stage got prepared for :: THE OCEAN :: I think, together with Arms & Sleepers THE OCEAN were the musical highlight of the first festival day, regarding the size of the crowd and its response. THE OCEANS caused some laughs with their recruited string trio, because these ladies looked pretty lost when it came to the unplugged wires of their instruments ;) However, a huge screen behind not only provided some visually-atmospheric background but also some lights again. THE OCEANS played a special show tonight to celebrate the release of their new album Heliocentric (out on May 9) and besides, guitarist Robin Straps is one of the organizers of FRICTION FEST :)

Following Swedish :: PG. LOST :: seem to be very known to this scene. The foyer was very packed and crowded and I even had to fight to get a place near the stage for some photos. Again a more or less classic Post Rock ensemble with wonderful soundscapes and every now and then some unobtrusive singing.

Swedish guys the second! And finally some heavy tunes again… hehehe. It was time for :: ENTOMBED :: and I have to say I was pretty surprised how much these guys still rock! Didn’t saw them playing live for ages… but wow! Crowd has thinned out now and left enough room for the others to start headbanging ;) Much more Mr. Lars-Göran Petrov and his mates played an awesome mix of old classics from the debut Left Hand Path, and the masterpiece Wolverine Blues as well as new material from their current record Serpent Saints. Yay, yes, it was a hell of a show ;)
Setlist: Just As Sad, Serpent Saints, Out Of Hand, Revel In Flesh, To Ride Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth, I For An Eye, Stranger Aeons, The Dead The Dying And The Dying To Be Dead, Demon, Wolverine Blues, Like This With The Devil, Night Of The Vampire, Supposed To Rot // Left Hand Path

For not such a long time discovered and taken to my heart :: BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE :: finished the first day of FRICTION FEST. With a half hour of delay and pitch-black stage (except for the little spots above the micros and the glowing logo) the guys delivered a quiet set. It became late and many fans lost their enthusiasm and left. Unfortunately songs and sayings have not changed from the show in December last year. So, nothing new for me either.

Late and dead tired but some sort of happy I fell into my bed. It was a great festival day, so many new bands and music to discover *sighs*. If I had to guess I’d say around 800 people attended this show, which I think it is not too bad. Maybe more tomorrow? I mean, 30 bands for 60 Euro = 2 Euro each band, and such amazing bands at all ;) The atmosphere was very relaxed and pricing for food (max. 2 Euros) and beer (3 Euros) pretty nice. Ok, time to sleep…