Amphi 2013
This will have to be a very hurried write-up, as upon returning to England I'm swamped again with college work and other duties. But I can report that my visit to Cologne for the Amphi festival was a good one and that, despite having a small child with me, the festival was a big success.
The city itself felt a little odd for me; I suppose I am far more used to German cities belonging to the former East and there is still a noticeable cultural divide. We got a few funny looks there for the way we were dressed; I'm more used to the residents of Leipzig not batting an eyelid at a yearly invasion of gothic-types, but of course Amphi is ring-fenced in a single location and not spread all over the city like WGT is. English seemed to be a bit less widely spoken there as well, which surprised me a bit, although it provided a great opportunity to practice my rusty Deutsche, so that was fine by me. The city is very beautiful, with its skyline dominated by the twin spires of the Cathedral and numerous bridges over the Rheine. We did rather love the Lindt chocolate museum too!
We saw (in approximate order):
Grendel
De/Vision
VNV Nation
[X]-RX
Icon of Coil
Diary of Dreams
Die Form
Fields of the Nephilim
Peter Heppner
Admittedly for some of the (outdoor) acts above, we were forced to hide underneath a bush for some of the set in order to avoid sunburn! Shade was in short supply until mid evening.
They had the best gift shop ever!
Grendel
Diary of Dreams
The heat got a bit much for him.
Icon of Coil
The little beach by the river front (also part of the festival area!)
VNV Nation
Prost!!
stevek
And, of course, my video
Would I do it again? Absolutely!
The city itself felt a little odd for me; I suppose I am far more used to German cities belonging to the former East and there is still a noticeable cultural divide. We got a few funny looks there for the way we were dressed; I'm more used to the residents of Leipzig not batting an eyelid at a yearly invasion of gothic-types, but of course Amphi is ring-fenced in a single location and not spread all over the city like WGT is. English seemed to be a bit less widely spoken there as well, which surprised me a bit, although it provided a great opportunity to practice my rusty Deutsche, so that was fine by me. The city is very beautiful, with its skyline dominated by the twin spires of the Cathedral and numerous bridges over the Rheine. We did rather love the Lindt chocolate museum too!
We saw (in approximate order):
Grendel
De/Vision
VNV Nation
[X]-RX
Icon of Coil
Diary of Dreams
Die Form
Fields of the Nephilim
Peter Heppner
Admittedly for some of the (outdoor) acts above, we were forced to hide underneath a bush for some of the set in order to avoid sunburn! Shade was in short supply until mid evening.
They had the best gift shop ever!
Grendel
Diary of Dreams
The heat got a bit much for him.
Icon of Coil
The little beach by the river front (also part of the festival area!)
VNV Nation
Prost!!
stevek
Click to viewAnd, of course, my video
Would I do it again? Absolutely!