We have been attending Wave-Gotik-Treffen, in Leipzig, since 2019 – minus the pandemic years – and 2026 is no exception.
As usual, Wave-Gotik-Treffen will be captured through the lens of Gustavo Hochman this year supported by image editor Milena Katzman.
Wave-Gotik-Treffen is the world’s largest gothic festival. It also includes Punk, Rivethead, Romanticism, Steampunk, Victoriana and other alternative and subcultures.
words: António Carvalho (edited by Raquel Pinheiro) photos: António Carvalho & Telma Mota
A Noite do Cometa (The Night of the Comet Night) was a collective and multidisciplinary event planned by Rui Garcia some time ago. It aims to be an immersive underground culture experience, with bodies and minds present and stimulated.
The chosen location, like the format, is unconventional, belonging to a coworking space that was adapted for the purpose, where a somewhat mysterious corridor preceded the main chamber. Several stylized artistic and visual installations accompanied the entire night.
The musical part was continuous, with DJ sets by A Boy Named Sue and Rodas alternating with concerts. The first performance on stage was by Gabci, author of an energetic one-woman show. Her well-trained voice, sometimes pop, sometimes in riot girl mode, is laid on a set of danceable rhythms and electronic melodies and atmospheres, filling the room along with her strong presence.
The concert ended with Inner Void, a duet with Cunhal Caveira.
Bulha, the band that includes organizer Rui Garcia, took to the stage shortly after the announced time. The pure energy of rock, guaranteed by the trinity of drums, bass, and guitar, is combined with a strong social and political message delivered by the two vocalists, who complement each other in register (between singing and declamation) and in posture, between the confrontation of Pedro Vasco Oliveira and the theatricality of Paulo Carmona. It was impossible to remain indifferent to this performance.
The last band was Baleia Baleia Baleia, already well known for their concerts, a dimension where they truly shine. The appeal is constant, whether through the verbal incitement of Manuel Molarinho, who moves among humor, love, and a lef-wing stance, or through the danceable punk imprinted by Ricardo Cabral’s drums and Molarinho’s distorted bass.
The result is a commotion in the audience, complete with mosh pit, mass chants, and an apotheotic ending with the band descending into the crowd and chanting “We can shout: let it pass!”, from Exorcismo.
The success of this event proves that, where there’s a will, there’s room and an audience for other ways of showcasing what’s happening in Porto’s underground culture. We look forward to the next edition.
There’s a photo gallery of A Noite do Cometa on our Instagram.
words: António Carvalho (edited by Raquel Pinheiro) photos: Vítor Neves
Rita Braga says that, despite living in Porto since 2011, she doesn’t play often in her adopted city. She has traveled physically and musically to many corners of the world, but her latest album, Fado Tropical which she presented live at Rádio Clube de Agramonte is her first album entirely sung in Portuguese.
In the small spaces between songs, Rita explained its concept to the audience. She went back to the history and origins of fado, drew inspiration from research and literature dedicated to this theme (mainly A triste Canção do Sul), and brought many songs from that era (late 19th and early 20th centuries) back to the present day and to her peculiar style. The exotic mix of old melodies with instruments foreign to traditional fado (Rita’s inseparable ukulele, and Rui Rodrigues on the marimba, percussion, electronics, and the banjo) is harmonious, continuing to prove that fado is a permeable language.
The projected images reflect this coexistence of eras, alternating between photos, posters, and period articles with black and white portraits of Rita, as well as her stage pose (that of old fado singers) and attire. Her high-pitched, fresh, and somewhat unpretentious voice, without the mannerisms and virtuosity often associated with fado, revives songs performed by Ercília Costa, Maria Alice, and Hermínia Silva in the 1920s and 1930s, where it is clear that several themes remain very relevant today.
A version of the classic Chão de Estrelas was also heard, accompanied by an old recording of Armandinho’s guitar, establishing a link between fado and its possible Brazilian origins.
At the end, Rita presented us with one of the original songs from the album, based on a poem by Catarina Santiago Costa. Special mention should also be made of the other musician on stage, Rui Rodrigues (or “Pacheco III,” as Rita nicknamed him, as a reference to Hermínia Silva’s guitarist).
there’s a short reel and a photo gallery of the concert on our Instagram.
My radio show Amazing Songs & Other Delights #96 – The We’re Still In Spring edition is broadcasted Monday 18th and 25th May, 3-4pm (London time) on Yé Yé Radio: yeyeradio.com to (or on the app).
There’s seventeen songs of different genres and time periods. By new bands and longs established ones. Some of the songs aren’t an obvious Spring choice, but they make sense to me in springtime.
The programme goes from a Spring song for children, The Kiboomers – Ladybugs Fly, to fado with Rita Braga’s tropical interpretation of Amália Rodrigues and Don Byas’ Rua do Capelão.
There’s space for indie songs, Again and Again and Again by Silly Boy Blue, Sun It Rises by Fleet Floxes, Stranger Baby by Gifthorse or Whole Again by Saint Sappho. Along Schubert’s Frühlingsglaube sung by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, and Test Department with the South Wales Striking Miners Choir singing Take Me Home.
The heavy weights contingent includes Taylor Swift, The Beatles, The Avett Brothers, and The Kinks.
And that’s not all.
Tracklist: 01: The Kiboomers – Ladybugs Fly 02: Taylor Swift – invisible string 03: The Kind Hills – Dance, Dance, Dance 04: Silly Boy Blue – Again and Again and Again 05: Saint Etienne – Who Do You Think You Are 06: Belle & Sebastian – Seeing Other People 07: The Beach Boys – Spring Vacation 08: Fleet Floxes – Sun It Rises 09: Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau sings Schubert’s Frühlingsglaube, D. 686 10: Gifthorse – Stranger Baby 11: The Beatles – Octopus Garden (Remastered 2009) 12: Dean & Britta – Eyes In My Smoke 13: The Avett Brothers – A Fathers First Spring 14: Saint Sappho – Whole Again 15: Test Department with the South Wales Striking Miners Choir – Take Me Home 16: The Kinks – Sunny Afternoon 17: Rita Braga – Rua do Capelão
Men Often Keep Returning to Places That No Longer Make Sense to Other People, my new post at The Listening Room HQ my men’s practice and The Polymat sister site – speaks of workshops, garages, allotments, and other familiar places that continue giving men rhythm, continuity, competence, and human anchoring long after practical or financial logic begins to fade. It can be read on The Listening Room HQ site.
Noite do Cometa is a unique event Saturday 16, stretching to the early hours of Sunday 17, at a special space with concerts by Gabci, Baleia Baleia Baleia and Bulha the band of our very own Paulo Carmona, and DJ sets by A Boy Named Sue and Rodas at OPO’LAB, Porto (Rua D. João IV 643), doors 9pm. Tickets: €16.50 Euros + taxes (online at Shotgun)
Schedule: 9pm: Doors/DJs 9:45pm: Gabci 10:30pm: Bulha 11:30pm: Baleia Baleia Baleia 00:30am: DJ a Boy Named Sue | Rodas 2:30am: The Comet Passed By