The second February weekend, Tomaz and I attended our first, otherwise the seventh Gothika edition, which is primarily a gothic fair, lasting two days and (should be) offering its visitors things of goths and ethereal enthusiasts' interest.

As soon as I walked in, I thought: "Has the sun moved in?"

Even after moving to the main hall, the excessive lighting persisted. No wonder there were no vampire guests. That kind of lighting somehow clashes with the gothic style. OK, it's hard to shop in darkness, but on the other hand, each stall could have lighting on its own, like at festivals. There were probably around 40 stalls offering all sorts of stuff; only one with music and two with gothic clothes, though. But you could buy gothic souvenirs, books, jewellery, semi-precious stones, and even tea packets and crepes.

There was also one bar with drinks, while food stalls were outside. I must say I was not impressed. I expected some gothic/dark music promoters, more stalls with music and clothing, and perhaps some filigree stalls instead of too many kitsch jewellery ones. But you could inquire about your future from two fortune tellers. Not also about your aura, though, since there was no Kirlian camera, except for the band, of course. And we came mainly for the band. So, arriving on Saturday around 19.00 [CET], we missed all the afternoon events. Well, the earlier hours were reserved for the children, anyway.

Kirlian Camera's performance was scheduled for 21.00 [CET], but it was over half past nine when it appeared on the stage (we got to attend its soundcheck, though). And it was a brilliant over one-and-a-half-hour performance combining old and new (also some at the time yet unreleased) tracks.

Yeah, Kirlian Camera released its new full-length, Radio Signals For The Dying, on 23 February, which I highly recommend (HERE is the review by Tomaz).

Kirlian Camera passionately delivered (out of my memory since the setlist wasn't available and in alphabetical order): "Dead Zone In The Sky", "Edges", "K-Pax", "Kryostar", "Nightglory", "Odyssey Europa (Italian version)", and "Sky Collapse" from the older material and: "Götter geht weg", "Il Tempo Profondo", "Stella Ominis", "The Great Unknown" and "Wrong (Depeche Mode cover)" from the new full-length.

I enjoyed every single track, and "Wrong (Depeche Mode cover)", which I got to hear for the first time, sounded truly "wrong" in the best possible way, to me, even more than the original.

Thanks to Elena Alice Fossi, Angelo Bergamini, Alessandro Comerio, and Mia W. Wallace, who twice left and returned to the stage, the evening was over well spent, heavy energy charged. It would have been even better if we got warmed up by a few support bands.

And, if the beer was cheaper (6 € for a big beer, which is, in Italy, usually 80% of a big beer). Well, the following DJ set was fine, and we also ran into Diego Merletto from the Italian darkwave/synthwave act The Frozen Autumn, which celebrated its 30th-anniversary last year - with the release of a new full-length, The Shape Of Things To Come.

And on top of that, I got to hang out with my grandparents, whom I hadn't seen in a very long time. ;) Till the next gig! Regards, Jerneja

Report by Jerneja
Photos by Tomaz
Links: Kirlian Camera