Immergut Festival 2026 Day 3

On Saturday, day 3, I was feeling a bit more alive than I had the day before. I made it to the first musical act of the day, Peki Momés, who played a chill, smooth brand of Turkish pop psychedelia. I thought of Khruangbin but with a different language and a few cultural touchstones swapped out. I wasn’t blown away, but it made for great listening while lying on a blanket.

[Peki Momés.]

The next band was La Sécurité from Montreal. I loved what I’d heard in advance, and on stage it was even better. They played off-kilter, fun, ecstatic art punk. The drums and vocals were both strong, I liked the synth touches and the fuzz bass, and I loved that the two guitarists twisted around each other and the other instruments but rarely played chords. I thoroughly enjoyed their set from start to finish. I managed to snag a setlist and then went to the merch booth to buy their album, which they graciously signed for me.

[La Sécurité.]

I caught some of Dressed Like Boys on the Birkenhain stage while I was getting food and visiting the merch booth. They sounded too tame and soft for my taste, so I didn’t stick around. I returned soon enough for quickly, quickly, but they also failed to impress me. They were just three dudes sitting down with a drum machine. They had no passion and nothing to help them stand out. The singer/keyboardist drove most of the sound, including covering the bass parts, but his voice was mellow and plain and the lyrics were generic. The two guitarists played restrained background parts, with the exception of one decent solo that briefly got my hopes up. In the right mood, they might’ve been chill and pleasant, but as it was, it was bland and boring. I left early.

[quickly, quickly.]

I took a break and came back for Brockhoff. They played very mainstream pop rock with a hint of Americana. They had some drive, and I could almost groove to it, but the lyrics were really bad and the vocal style was all breathy pop cliché. When she spoke of her love of Hannah Montana and rom-com stereotypes, I knew it was my time to leave.

Next up was Sprints, who finally offered some relief. Their garage punk was full of fuzz bass, great riffs, and political rage. The drummer and second guitarist were both excellent, and together they kept up a feverous pace. They played a cover of Le Tigre’s “Deceptacon” that was quite a thrill. Their penultimate song changed the mood and started slow and acoustic with spindly lead guitar, with something like a Bauhaus vibe. They slowly built it up and sped it up and it ended up as another thrasher, but with all the tension released, it went even harder than the rest. Naturally, there was plenty of moshing and circle running.

[Sprints.]

After an hour of dancing to Sprints, I was feeling psyched but losing steam. I decided I still had energy for Jehnny Beth, erstwhile singer of Savages, who I’ve been sorely missing. She appeared with her longtime collaborator and partner Johnny Hostile on guitar as well as a bassist and a drummer. I’d wondered how she would translate the intense electronic industrial sound of her solo albums to the stage, but they pulled it off without much in the way of backing tracks. They were really hard, heavy, and aggressive. It might’ve been too much if I hadn’t been in the right mood, but I was well-primed, again got a great spot at the front, and was just barely able to keep up. Instrumentally I didn’t find the set as compelling or complex as I’d hoped, but it still rocked. It was more focused on noise and pulsing, seething rhythm. I’m trying not to be disappointed that she didn’t play any Savages songs, but I can understand if she wants to establish herself as a solo artist independent of that band. That said, she covered “In Heaven”, the deranged classic from the Eraserhead soundtrack, notably covered by The Pixies (but also Bauhaus and plenty of others), as well as Björk’s “Army of Me”. That idiosyncratic bassline was immediately recognizable! She ran into the crowd and sang atop them at some point, and did some push-ups (in heels!) during the titular song and invited a woman from the crowd up to the stage to do some as well. First time I’ve seen that. She also explained that “Reality” is about growing up queer and not understanding it. Relatable.

[Jehnny Beth.]

I was thoroughly beat by that point, and it was two in the morning. I caught a bit of Valentino Vivace on my way out, and I liked their sweet Italian disco pop, but it was too thin and insubstantial. It was pleasant to hear drifting through the trees while brushing my teeth and admiring the full moon, though.

Scores:
Peki Momés: B
La Sécurité: A+
quickly, quickly: D+
Brockhoff: C-
Sprints: A
Jehnny Beth: B+

P.S.: A big thank you to my festival crew!

P.P.S.: Here are the setlists for the best three shows of the day. I got the printed sheets from the stage for all three.

La Sécurité:
01. Le Kick
02. Detour
03. Power Snoozer
04. Bingo
05. Waiting for Kenny
06. Deny
07. Trixie
08. Anyway
09. Hot Topic
10. Try Again
11. Dis-Moi
12. Suspens
13. Snack City

Sprints:
01. Descartes
02. Feast
03. Beg
04. Literary Mind
05. How Does the Story Go?
06. Shadow of Doubt
07. Something’s Gonna Happen
08. Heavy
09. Cathedral
10. Up and Comer
11. Pieces
12. Need
13. Deceptacon [Le Tigre cover]
14. Desire
15. Little Fix

Jehnny Beth:
01. Broken Rib
02. High Resolution Sadness
03. I Still Believe
04. No Good for People
05. Innocence
06. In Heaven (Lady in the Radiator Song) [David Lynch/Peter Ivers cover]
07. Push-Ups
08. Reality
09. Stop Me Now
10. Army of Me [Björk cover]
11. Out of My Reach
12. Obsession
13. How Could You
14. I’m the Man
15. I See Your Pain

[Karla Chubb of Sprints with the audience.]

Immergut Festival 2026 Day 2

After a good start on the first day, I slept in late and went to the store for more food and drinks. I wasn’t feeling the talks or the first band (Future Franz), but I was excited for RIP Magic and they did not disappoint. They only have five songs out, but their mix of sampled and synthesized sounds and their hypnotic energy had me curious. Their set was incredibly loud and the mix was dominated by their synths. Their bassist played with thick fuzz and lots of chords, but his parts were mere texture under the heavy low end of the synths. The drummer even seemed bored, which was understandable since they also played with programmed beats that had more complex rhythmic layers. Despite that, I admired their lack of guitar. The whole thing was intense and propulsive. I was fully carried away by it. I later realized the singer is also the keyboardist of Sorry, who played the next day.

[RIP Magic.]

I was feeling charged up by that point and stuck around for Kapa Tult even though I found their recordings somewhat half-baked. I kept thinking I was about ready to leave in search of food or friends, but every song won me over and left me wanting more. They played a fun mix of punky indie pop á la Die Braut haut ins Auge or Ideal, and the lyrics were clever, relatable tales of modernity and relationships, even if they were a bit straight for my taste. I liked the Moe Tucker-style drums and that the drummer got to sing lead on one song. This may have been the first time I’ve seen a band composed of three people I read as women and one man, and the man played bass!

[Kapa Tult.]

The weather forecast had predicted a warm and sunny day, but it started to get overcast, windy, and ultimately rainy, which dampened my mood. I checked out Ebbb but found them contentless and boring. They were dancey but too pop. There was no style, no depth.

There was also a change in schedule announced around then, as Mine dropped out due to sudden sickness. Hence, Kabeaushé played earlier and once we realized it, we rushed to the Zeltbühne to catch his set. It was just the singer, a drummer, and a lot of prerecorded tracks. The drummer was great, and Kabeaushé himself was fully charged up, but the intensity was overwhelming. If his set had been at the originally scheduled time after midnight, I might’ve been better prepared for that level of energy, but as it was, I just couldn’t get into it. The lack of live instrumentation also left me wanting some more variety. I couldn’t hang.

I was also interested in Fuffifufzich and particularly Chloe Slater, but the rain had really picked up and I just wasn’t in the mood to venture back out. Of course, the rain stopped once I’d given up, and I caught a bit of Slater while I was brushing my teeth. She closed her set with a cover of Wheatus’ “Teenage Dirtbag”. Kind of a weird choice, right? I have to admit I do like the song, but I think that’s just because it got stuck in some corner of my adolescent brain. I once saw Wheatus back in 2005 because my freshman year college roommate’s band was opening for them at the Creepy Crawl in St. Louis. Too bad I wasn’t writing reviews back then. I don’t think it was a good one. Anyway…

Scores:
RIP Magic: A
Kapa Tult: B+
Ebbb: D
Kabeaushé: C-

Immergut Festival 2026 Day 1

I had such a good time at Immergut last year that I knew I wanted to come back this year. This time I came better prepared and with an even larger crew.

After arriving early-ish on Thursday and setting up the campsite, I made it to the first show of the festival: Snuggle on the Birkenhain stage. They played a very chill sort of slowcore shoegaze, a bit in the vein of Slowdive or Low. The lack of a bassist struck me as odd at first, but then I realized the drummer had pads for the bass parts and other samples, and I was impressed by how well he held it all down. I liked the guitars and the vocals were fine, but they were just plain too mellow. I like that vibe but I wanted a little more energy.

[Snuggle.]

My wish was granted with the next act, Ellis D. As a five-piece with two guitars, keyboard, bass, and drums, they had plenty of capacity to turn it up and get the crowd going. They started playing fairly heavy psychedelic rock, somewhere between punk and post-punk. In particular, the singer’s androgynous, wild, ebullient energy reminded me of The Cramps. It turns out that he also drums with Fat Dog, who performed last year (although I unfortunately missed them). Their set gradually involved more extended jams including multiple keyboard noise solos. The singer jumped into the crowd three times. I appreciated that they were going hard, but I started to feel a bit repetition. It seemed like every song had a fakeout break that went just long enough for people to start clapping before the band struck it back up. And the second guitarist made quite a contradiction with his stony lack of expression.

[Ellis D.]

They were followed by Gelée, a Pet Shop Boys/Erasure-style synthpop duo in which a man played keyboards and ran the drum machine while a woman sang and danced. Confusingly, their Bandcamp page shows three people, but I only saw the two. I liked the idea, and while the instrumentation and vocals were fairly good, I found the execution rather cheesy. The bad lyrics drove me off. I needed a bit of a break anyway.

[Gelée.]

I came back before long to see Heidi Curtis. What I’d heard before gave me big Neko Case vibes, and while her voice was quite strong and indeed reminiscent of Case, the music was mostly stereotypical pop. Although she hails from northern England, the band sounded like Americana. I liked that the bassist played some keyboard, and then that Curtis moved to the keys herself for a couple songs, including a cover of Patti Smith’s “Because the Night”. I like that song, but I’m continually surprised by how well Germans, even ones younger than me, seem to know and love it too. I got bored not long after that, though. The music was just too predictable.

[Heidi Curtis.]

I was originally going to skip Waving the Guns, but my crew was enthusiastic so I joined them. I’m glad I did. I often struggle to get into Deutschrap (too many cis white guys trying to act hard) but I appreciated the unrepentantly leftist lyrics. I mean, I almost felt like the singer’s requests for FLINTA* moshpits were a little over the top. The beats were solid and I loved the live drums. The three performers were a great match for each other and the whole set worked great in that environment. They brought Martha, the singer of Gelée, up on stage to sing with them as well, which was an excellent addition. I enjoyed myself quite a bit more than I’d expected.

I caught a bit of Die Höchste Eisenbahn immediately afterwards as they were on the way to the camping area anyway. They had a bunch of interesting-looking keyboards on stage, but weren’t making a lot of use of them. Their indie pop was too clean and plain for my taste. I left early and called it a night.

[Die Höchste Eisenbahn.]

Scores:
Snuggle: B-
Ellis D: B+
Gelée: C-
Heidi Curtis: C+
Waving the Guns: A-
Die Höchste Eisenbahn: C-

Bone Caster - Romance the Serpent (2026)

Friend of the blog Brad Schumacher is back with a new project and a new album. After three albums of noise and post-industrial as Night Grinder and numerous contributions to a variety of other projects (including The Man and the Scientist and Low Forest), he is now Bone Caster. Romance the Serpent comes out on May 15, accompanied by custom video game levels for Wizordum that align with the music. He’s hosting a play-through on the day of release at 6:00pm MST here.

The new album explores dungeon synth, much in the vein of his recent collaborative projects Journey to the Ruin of Xilmys by Dweller and Carapace by Keepers of Kozamir (both 2024), but that’s just the start. The primary instrument is synthesizer, but there is plenty of guitar riffing, drum machine, and fuzz bass. The production is detailed and enveloping, in which each song is a new level, leading the listener into new worlds of torments and treasures.

Opener “Bioluminescent Butterfly” suitably begins with inviting introductory music, but the path soon leads into darker hellscapes. “A Tremulous Draught” has some Night Grinder-style noise, and “Cognitive Drift” recalls the anguished throes of The Cure’s The Top (1984) or the spookier corners of Siouxsie & the Banshees. “The Warlock” starts with pastoral fingerpicked guitar from Jim Fitzpatrick (Cup Collector, Falsetto Boy), but then goes metal.

For most of the album, Brad’s vocals are heavily treated and transformed into a goblinesque growl, recalling Skinny Puppy. Near the end, in “Tower to the Moon” and “Smoke and Mud”, the vocals start to clear (and Josh King (Low Forest, Joshua and the Ruins) joins the fray), as our troubled narrator reaches closer to relief and resolution. The closing “Epilogue: Moss-covered Stone” returns to the ethereal peace of the opening moments.

Romance the Serpent mystically invokes the feeling of playing D&D or an old fantasy RPG. It’s an intense ride. Take the journey yourself on May 15 at Bandcamp.

Dry Cleaning / The Tubs - Live 2026.04.07 Festsaal Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany

I went back once more to the Festsaal Kreuzberg. After being a bit uncomfortable with crowding at the sold-out Godspeed show I saw there just a few weeks ago, I was relieved to go with friends and that it wasn’t as packed. We got a great spot.

First up were The Tubs, who I knew nothing about. I’ve since read that two of the four members (plus one that has since left) once played with Joanna Gruesome, who I saw once upon a time and rather enjoyed. Unfortunately, the Tubs were less exciting and more mainstream. Instead of noise rock and punk influences, I heard a good dose of U2 and R.E.M.-style jangle rock. The Scottish drummer, Taylor Stewart, stole the show, even if most of the crowd couldn’t understand him. This might be the first time I’ve seen a drummer with more presence and humor than the rest of the band. I wanted more of his energy and less of frontman Owen Williams’ fairly standard-issue lyrics and vocals. Lead guitarist Dan Lucas and bassist Max Warren were quite adept, though.

[The Tubs.]

But the reason I was there was Dry Cleaning, who my partner and friends saw at Immergut in 2024 and became enamored with. I missed seeing them open for Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds because I didn’t want to deal with the detestable Uber Arena. Finally, I got my chance.

This was the opening night of the tour for Secret Love, which came out in January, and hence we saw the debut performance of several songs from the album. They opened with the debut performance of the new non-album single “Sliced by a Fingernail” as well. They ended up playing the entire album as well as several older songs, but it felt like they were rushing through the set to play as many songs as possible. I wish they’d slowed down and let the songs breathe a bit more. The closer of the main set, “Conversation”, was the only one where they really cut loose and let the song develop into a heavy jam, and it was awesome. That was the highlight of the show.

That isn’t to say that I didn’t appreciate Florence Shaw’s vocals. Her deadpan, ironic spoken word performances elevate these musical workouts into something more. Independently, the music would feel formless and the words would seem unhinged and contextless. Together, they form a space where you can enter into visions of modern life and get comfortable with tearing it apart. Some of the backing vocals from her bandmates made me think of Gang of Four, which certainly makes sense given the socio-political angles and the punk influence. Guitarist Tom Dowse in particular had a hardcore punk aesthetic about him, although his guitarwork was all over the place, ranging from precise, melodic lead lines to heavily-effected swells of sound. Bassist Lewis Maynard spent almost the entire show headbanging, but he had a funky percussiveness and fluidity that endeared him to me. Drummer Nick Buxton surprised me by playing a brief sax part on one song before returning to his kit. The four core members were joined by Josh Eggerton on keyboards and acoustic guitar to further expand their sound.

My other critique is a classic one: the mix could’ve been better. The last couple shows I saw at the Festsaal sounded great, so I was disappointed that the mix was poorly defined in the high end. Shaw’s vocals are what suffered most. I could only understand her vocals about a third of the time. That wasn’t an ideal balance.

But beyond that, they really deliver a punch. Some songs were a bit tame and restrained, but most were full of life and energy. I would’ve loved for them to have more space to develop and flow, but maybe they’re trying a different approach. Although if they were trying to foreground the words, the mix undercut that effort. Nonetheless, it was easy to get into step with them.

[Dry Cleaning.]

Setlist (borrowed from here):
01. Sliced by a Fingernail
02. Blood
03. Gary Ashby
04. The Cute Things
05. Secret Love (Concealed in a Drawing of a Boy)
06. Strong Feelings
07. Anna Calls From the Arctic
08. Her Hippo
09. My Soul/Half Pint
10. Cruise Ship Designer
11. Scratchcard Lanyard
12. Evil Evil Idiot
13. I Need You
14. Don’t Press Me
15. Rocks
16. Magic of Meghan
17. Joy
18. Let Me Grow and You’ll See the Fruit
19. Conversation

Encore:
20. Hit My Head All Day

Scores:
The Tubs: B-
Dry Cleaning: B+

Thanks to Alyssa and the rest of our crew!

Transchor Plänterwald 2022 @ Die Weiße Rose

This is a public service announcement that my choir, Transchor Plänterwald 2022, will be joining with another local Berlin choir, Queen Bees & the Beat, for a concert at Die Weiße Rose in Berlin (Martin-Luther-Str. 77, 10825 Berlin) on May 8! Doors open at 18:30 19:30 and the show will start at 19:30 20:15. It's pay what you can, 10€ recommended. This will be a fun one; we've got a couple surprises and this is a rarity for us to be (co-)headliners as opposed to part of another event!

Please reserve a spot here, please come covid tested, and please get in touch if you are interested in being part of the photography or awareness teams.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor / Kristof Hahn - Live 2026.03.16 Festsaal Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany

The night opened with Kristof Hahn, a solo lap-steel guitarist that also plays in Swans. His first number built slowly with layers of effects to create a heavy and engaging soundscape. That was cool and my interest was piqued. After that, most of his songs featured his gravely baritone voice, but they were also so sparse and minimal that there was hardly anything to hold on to. The most notable song was a cover of “Heartbreak Hotel” done in the style of John Cale, but his version rather suffered by comparison. Hahn was fairly reserved, but did at least address the crowd (unlike the headliners). I wish he’d done more pieces like the first one.

At this point, I find Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s staunch refusal to play by the standard rules of rock shows to be endearing. They tuned their own instruments and did not take long to start their performance. Of course, they have their own rituals, among them starting each show with their “Hope Drone”. This one was pleasant, mild, and relatively brief. It transitioned into “Sun Is a Hole Sun Is Vapors” from No Title As of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead (2024) and from there into the next two tracks from the same album. This trilogy covered quite a lot of dynamic ground and already had the band reaching tremendous heights.

When they finally paused to breathe and tune while the familiar Murray Ostril tape played, the audience was dearly enthused. “Monheim” was as great as it could be. They returned their focus to the last album, skipping only “Broken Spires at Dead Kapital”. “Pale Spectator Takes Photographs” was devastating and haunting, but it led into “Grey Rubble – Green Shoots” with its triumphal peaks led by Sophie Trudeau’s violin. “Mladic”, from the first reunion album ’Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! (2012) but originally performed on the last tour before their breakup in 2003, was incredible. I’d never seen it played live and it was such a powerful, enthralling rush of extremes. The fact that I caught a bit of misalignment in the latter half did not take anything away from the experience. It went hard.

I assumed that after a 20-minute epic that would be the end, but then I heard the “Gathering Storm” sample from “Kicking Horse on Brokenhill” (originally performed by Hazel Dickens for the Matewan soundtrack). However, it led into the beautiful guitar and glockenspiel of “Lift Yr. Skinny Fists, Like Antennas to Heaven…” and its usual successor, “Gathering Storm”. (I only now realized the guitar melody of the latter is based on the melody of the sample of Dicken.) Again, it was a masterful performance. The band led it into an extended drone, similar to how they ended the show the last time I saw them. The band manipulated their pedals to get it going and then just walked off one by one. It went on for a good while before some of the loops or feedback or whatever wound down and then someone finally turned the rest off.

I can’t say much about the slideshow because I got crowded out of my spot with a view before even the “Hope Drone” was over. I don’t know why I bother showing up early and sitting through openers that bore me just to get edged out by people who don’t care in the slightest about the needs of others around them. I protested people wedging themselves into my space on both sides such that we were in constant contact and I could not adjust my position whatsoever, but they did not care. I got overwhelmed and gave up. I found a chair, closed my eyes, and enjoyed the show in a relaxed, listen-only mode for about an hour. Then I realized some people (including some of the very ones who had squeezed me out!) were slowly departing, so I got up and found a decent spot where I could actually move freely. That was great.

In the end they played for two hours with just the two brief breaks with the samples. They have no real stage presence and just let the slides and music speak for themselves. And that it did. This was another great show, even with my interpersonal frustrations. Amazingly, I hadn’t yet seen them perform a single one of the songs they played.

Setlist:
1. Hope Drone →
2. Sun Is a Hole Sun Is Vapors →
3. Babys in a Thundercloud →
4. Raindrops Cast in Lead
5. Murray Ostril: “…They Don’t Sleep Anymore on the Beach…” [Tape] → Monheim
6. Pale Spectator Takes Photographs →
7. Grey Rubble – Green Shoots
8. Mladic
9. [sample from Kicking Horse on Brokenhill] → Lift Yr. Skinny Fists, Like Antennas to Heaven… → Gathering Storm

Scores:
Kristof Hahn: C-
Godspeed You! Black Emperor: A