Summary 2025 - concerts/ festivals
A year is a strange kind of archive. Not a tidy timeline, but a constellation: cities you return to, venues that feel like chapters, people you bump into in the crowd as if the last decade never happened. Music does something quietly philosophical to time — it folds it. One synth line can pull an entire era into the present; one familiar beat can make the body remember before the mind even names it. And somewhere between the first winter coat and the last night train home, it becomes obvious: these weren’t “just gigs.” They were markers. Proof of life. A map of who I am when the lights go down and the world turns into sound.
So — 2025, thank you. Again: plenty of great events, concerts, and festivals.
January
HANDS Label Night (Berlin)
(too short, unfortunately — but a perfect ignition)
February
Szczecin: Her Own World + Clan of Xymox
A beautiful reminder that some shows feel like homecoming.
Empathy Fest (Leipzig 2025)
https://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/festivals/23673-live-review-empathy-fest-leipzig-2025
Empathy Test, The Foreign Resort, Emmon, DSTR, Lucy Dreams
Electrowave Ritual (Dresden 2025)
https://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/festivals/23689-live-review-electrowave-ritual-dresden-2025
NNHMN, Emmon, Die Selektion
(…and again: Emmon’s live energy is unreal.)
March
Goth’n’Burg
Ira Noctis
E-Only Festival No. 14 (Leipzig)
https://alternation.pl/e-only-festival-no.-14,id,1721,relacje.html
El Deux, Sydney Valette, Potochkine, Psyche, Black Nail Cabaret, DJ Daniel Myer & Sash, Vogon Poetry, Accessory, Rotersand, In Strict Confidence, Aesthetic Perfection, De/Vision, frequen-C / TC75, AD:keY, Zweite Jugend, No Sleep by the Machine, Leæther Strip, Cat Rapes Dog, DJs A.L.E.X & Paradroid
(Yes — I wrote this one for AlterNation.)
Vieux Crane Festival #3 (Warsaw 2025)
https://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/festivals/23751-live-review-vieux-crane-festival-3-warsaw-2025
Meta Meat, Echoberyl, Madmoizel
April
Dark Spring Festival (Berlin 2025)
https://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/festivals/23759-live-review-dark-spring-festival-berlin-2025
Agent Side Grinder, Desperate Journalist, Golden Apes, Funhouse, Bedless Bones
May / June
WGT EBM Warm-Up 2025 (Leipzig)
https://alternation.pl/wgt-ebm-warm-up-2025,id,1746,relacje.html
the_empath, Oliotronix, Capsular, Mortaja, Rendered, Oszylayter, NordarR, Buzz Kull, Kreign, Kontravoid, Absolute Body Control
(I wrote this one for AlterNation, too.)
Wave-Gotik-Treffen 2025 (Leipzig)
https://alternation.pl/wave-gotik-treffen-2025,id,1747,relacje.html
Then Comes Silence, SKYND, Nouvelle Vague, Alphaville, Kite, Absurd Minds, Spetsnaz, Lovataraxx, Darkrad, Musique Electronique, Heimstatt Yipotash, Udo
(And yes — I wrote this one for AlterNation as well.)
July
Castle Party (Bolków 2025)
https://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/festivals/23949-live-review-castle-party-bolkow-2025
Skinny, Dead Lights, Je T’aime, Agnis, Ultra Sunn, H:EXE, Anja Huwe & Mona Mur
August
Prague Gothic Treffen (Prague 2025)
https://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/festivals/24022-live-review-prague-gothic-treffen-prague-2025
September
Three Giants
Merzbow, Igor Cavalera, Eraldo Bernocchi
Audiotrauma Festival (Prague 2025)
https://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/festivals/24034-live-review-audiotrauma-festival-prague-2025
Schloss Tegal, DJ Furia, Sylvian/Niavylys, Bunkerer, Bolehlav, M.A.C. of Mad, Sonic Area, MOAAN EXIS, Statiqbloom
October
Die Krupps — 45th Anniversary Tour
Ultima Ratio Fest (5 October 2025)
IOTUNN, Equilibrium, Soen, Dark Tranquillity
XXIV Wrocław Industrial Festival (Wrocław 2025)
https://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/festivals/24110-live-review-xxiv-wroclaw-industrial-festival-wroclaw-2025-day-1
https://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/festivals/24111-live-review-xxiv-wroclaw-industrial-festival-wroclaw-2025-day-2
https://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/festivals/24115-live-review-xxiv-wroclaw-industrial-festival-wroclaw-2025-day-3
https://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/festivals/24123-live-review-xxiv-wroclaw-industrial-festival-wroclaw-2025-day-4
November / December
Fourscher Festival (Erfurt 2025)
https://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/festivals/24099-live-review-fourscher-festival-erfurt-2025
World Interrupted (Wrocław)
Diary of Dreams (Dresden 2025)
https://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/artists-a-e/24124-live-review-diary-of-dreams-dresden-2025
Her Own World + Aesthetic Perfection (Club Liverpool, my hometown)
Diorama (Leipzig 2025)
https://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/artists-a-e/24180-live-review-diorama-leipzig-2025
That’s the year in sound — and I’m grateful for every mile, every bruise, every chorus that made the world feel sharper, lighter, and more real.
More soon: photos, setlists, and the quiet details between the loud parts.
