This will be my last one for a while, as I don't have any more lives planned till early July (but who knows)... This time it's a double feature, so I'll try to keep it relatively short, lol.
Soft Vein / Nuovo Testamento @ 2026/05/20
[image: pcbeDdg.jpeg]
Once again I'm back on the mighty A38 ship, this time the gig's on the rooftop terrace so there's a nice breeze. Opener Soft Vein is a one-man project, guy was playing in a sort of minimalistic coldwave style, with occasional ethereal guitar leads and lots of synth manipulation and some loop pedal (?) action. Pleasant enough, but doesn't really get the blood pumping. However, main act Nuovo Testamento really fired up the party with their infectiously catchy Italo-disco influenced synthpop (funny to think they started out as a darkwave band). The keyboardist and the drummer (who was pounding away on electronic drums, a rare sight!) gave it their all, as well as the hella cute vocalist gal who didn't stop moving while still delivering her melodies flawlessly. It was the perfect (pre)summer atmosphere.
Crow Black Dream / Synthetic Destiny / Nulladik Változat / Fetish Section @ 2026/05/24
[image: s9xkCO7.jpeg]
I'm back in my hometown, baby! And what better way to finish off the spring than a riverside open-air mini festival for goths and alternative types? The live is on a big ol' houseboat that was converted to a live venue a few years back. Not quite the A38, but it fits the chill lowkey vibe of the city excellently, and provides a neat opportunity for smallish artists to play live.
I think I've seen Crow Black Dream more than any other band in the past year or two, so I won't get into it much, they were solid as always, although the vibrant sunshine didn't do their brand of cold goth tunes any favors, haha.
Next up was Synthetic Destiny, an EBM-tinged dark synthpop trio with a captivating performance by the singer. By this time more and more people were getting into the groove in the audience too, elevating the mood.
As the sun was setting, it was time for Nulladik Változat to hit the stage, and they played wonderfully. They're one of the big names of the Hungarian dark/alternative underground, truckin' along since the early '90s. Extremely professional and still very down-to-earth, these old geezers brought some of their finest nostalgic post-punky numbers. Ecstatic dancing and swaying all around in the pit.
Finally, I caught local heroes Fetish Section, been a long time coming (somehow I'd never seen them live before). It was the highlight of the evening, actually kind of scary how great they were. Imagine a very "fuck off" punk attitude combined with the tightest rhythm section and just enough synth color to put the "post-" into their "punk". Literally from the first second, the better half of the crowd was going crazy, present company included. Such a joy, I hope to see them in the future many more times. There was still one more band to go, but it was getting chilly on the river, I was exhausted, and I saw them live not that long ago, so I went on home to collapse into bed. What a night!
