The Fairmount filled up early, mostly black-clad goth and darkwave fans settling in for a surprisingly stacked Monday lineup. Rosa Anschütz opened with a minimal, electronic set built around her voice, clear, distant, and a bit ghostly. The beats were steady and restrained; it felt like a slow, steady way of setting the mood rather than a traditional hype opener.
Buzz Kull came on and immediately broke that calm. His tracks leaned harder into darkwave and EBM, with heavier bass and sharper rhythms, and he barely stopped moving the whole time. He darted around the stage, dancing in a way that encouraged people to loosen up and move too. Within a few songs, you could see small clusters of people dancing to his music.
Cold Cave followed with a more polished, controlled set: tight lights, smoke, and big, synth-heavy songs that landed fast. They kept the pace up, moving quickly from track to track so the energy never really dropped. The hooks were straightforward and easy to latch onto, which meant even people who weren’t familiar with the catalog could lock in quickly. By the end of their set, the room felt fully warmed up and ready for the headliners.
Clan of Xymox took over like a band that’s done this for decades, but they didn’t coast on nostalgia. The guitars were soaked in reverb, the synths sat right in the middle of everything, and the drums kept the songs pushing forward enough that the floor turned into a loose, low-key dance pit. Ronny Moorings spent a lot of time at the front of the stage, talking just enough between songs to keep things personal and repeatedly trying out bits of French. Albeit imperfect, his attempts landed well, and each one received a louder response from the crowd. The set was paced smartly, older songs and newer ones blended together, slower tracks never dragged, and the energy stayed consistent from front to back. By the end, it felt less like a museum piece and more like a band that still knows exactly how to hold a room.
Review & photos – Rei Kong
