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At the end of the M'era Luna 2023 - day 1 report, I wrote: "Till tomorrow, then!" but - under the circumstances - today is that "tomorrow", six days later. Hopefully, "better late than never" is still worth something, at least in this case.
A new day and the first performing one at the M'era Luna festival proved much better. We spent most of the morning and deep in the afternoon at the press area. Since we were tight on time, we only partially attended the Rave The Reqviem and Megaherz's gigs, so it's not much to report here.
We were supposed to run an interview with Girls Under Glass, but we overlooked each other - sadly stupid - namely, we were all in the press tent, not even that big. We would blame logistics, but that was us also, so... The interview will still come - eventually - for we arranged it for some other time. Then, to me, the best part of the day: Diary Of Dreams, seven tracks, one better than another: starting with "Viva La Bestia", then "Epicon", "The Secret", "Endless Nights", "Undividable", "The Fatalist", and finishing with "Traumtänzer".
The sound was fantastic, as was the Diary Of Dreams' performance: an ideal combination of melancholy and punch. It was a pity, though, the gig being in the middle of the day, under the blazing sun. Well, I didn't find the M'era Luna's gig schedule quite well-chosen anyway, especially with gigs overlapping. That precisely was the case with Girls Under Glass; as much as we wanted to hear and see them live, it wasn't possible since they performed on the club stage at the same time as Diary Of Dreams and then L'Âme immortelle on the main stage. 
L'Âme immortelle, the Austrian gothic/darkwave/electro duo, also offered seven tracks: starting and finishing with tracks from its 2022s album, In tiefem Fall: "Dem Abgrund entgegen", "Still", and "Angst" in between. Then there were: "5 Jahre" (Gezeiten, 2004), "Es tut mir Leid" (Namenlos, 2008), and two "oldtimers", "Life Will Never Be The Same Again" (Lieder die wie Wunden bluten, 1997), and "Bitterkeit" (...In einer Zukunft aus Tränen und Stahl, 1998). Sonja Kraushofer and Thomas Rainer delivered what was expected: an intimate performance full of emotions, filtrations and gentle touches. Almost as if there was no one there but them: she with her heavenly passionate vocals and him on the darker side of the sound.
Joachim Witt, a German rock musician and actor, was next on the main stage. Once guitarist/singer in the 1970s krautrock band Duesenberg, although with an impressive opus, was almost new to me - I only encountered his music some weeks ago and was fascinated - mainly by his velvety voice. Then, attending his live performance, I also got fascinated by his energetic stage presence (namely, he's 74 years old); you can tell he's an actor, too - with all his gestures and facial expressions. And we got to meet his original 1998's jacket, as he pointed out. For those who are familiar with his music, here is his M'era Luna setlist: "Das geht tief", "Treibjagd", "Ohne dich", "Kopfschwul", "Herr der Berge", "Die Flut (with Peter Heppner)", "Dämon", "Schwör mir", and "Goldener Reiter". As for me, I most enjoyed "Herr der Berge". Then, I don't know if it was "Dämon" playing when I turned and noticed Jyrki 69 from The 69 Eyes. We had an interview arranged at 19.15, but it was hardly 19.00. So we passed the last two songs and marched off to the press tent. It was a pleasant experience meeting him and talking to him, although with sunglasses on ;). You'll surely enjoy reading the interview, which you may expect in about two weeks. 
We had to miss Project Pitchfork and In Extremo to eat something and rest a bit, but Tomaz caught up few songs by Solar Fake performing on the club stage. Then we meet up with Gothminister's Bjørn Alexander Brem and some of his bandmates. We got invited to the after-party in the hangar at midnight, where Bjørn was to DJ, but first, the last gig of the day: VV. While the audience seemed to enjoy VV's performance, I failed. It's just that HIM's music has never been to my taste, and VV's music is pretty much the same, only a little less pop-ish. VV alternately played its and HIM's tracks, all 15 of them: "Echolocate Your Love", "Poison Girl", "The Foreverlost", "Right Here In My Arms", "Run Away From The Sun", "Buried Alive By Love", "Heartful Of Ghosts", "Join Me In Death", "Neon Noir", "The Kiss Of Dawn", "Loveletting", "Rip Out The Wings Of A Butterfly", "Salute The Sanguine", "The Funeral Of Hearts", and "Saturnine Saturnalia". 
When it was over, we went to the after-party. For some reason, not everyone could enter, though it was pretty crowded with people dancing on techno/witch-house (yes, again). Bjørn should have already started DJ-ing but had some technical issues. Once solved, the sky opened for us but closed for most others. The dance was off for about an hour/until Bjørn was off with his good chosen music. The party continued with "anti-music" and dance, and we went to the camp. Fortunately, I'm good at sleeping. Stay tuned for one more of M'era Luna's reports. Till then (and always), have fun! Jerneja
Report by Jerneja
Photos by Tomaz
Links: Diary Of Dreams, L'Âme immortelle, Joachim Witt, VV.
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