DOOMSDAY

I had dreamed of visiting Germany for seven years or more. I heard Skinny Puppy may re-unite for another live appearance in Germany. I knew if it did happen, it would be the ultimate reason to travel to Europe. I thought it would be so pleasing to see the band I love most, perform in front of countless German fans, and fans from all over the world.

I knew I could find a way to go to the show. Travis and I had received our passports last year to encourage us to take a trip to Europe.

We expected the festival to be at the Junge Garde in Dresden, but as everyone knows, there was such an overwhelming response that it was moved to a new festival area. The Orkus Doomsday Festival was held at Ostragehege in Dresden, Germany.

Travis and I left on August Fourteenth. It was our first international flight, and chose to take it straight to Amsterdam. One of the best surprises was that both cEvin and Ogre, plus some of their good friends were on the same flight as us.

There were so many different areas we experienced in Amsterdam. We stayed at a hotel in the Red-light District. We were entertained by all the architecture and the cafes. The best places we visited were some coffee houses like Grey Area, Dampkring, The Green House, and Dreadrock. The Pancake Bakery was the best place to eat. I could hear motorcycles revving up everywhere in Amsterdam. There were more cats in Amsterdam than any other place we were in Europe. After seeing Amsterdam for two days we took a train to Berlin.

On August seventeenth we experienced our first music store in Germany called, "Saturn". You better believe we picked up some serious music including the new DKAY.COM. The store had an organized Independent music section and good selection. We saw many of our favorite bands and new bands we had heard about. It was all available to us for less than it is in the USA, almost half the price.

Two days later we took the train from Berlin to Dresden. The air in Germany felt very pure. The whole German experience was really impressive, laid back and organized. Dresden is a large city with people enjoying life everywhere. Dresden was having their own Staatfest the same weekend which was held in the heart of the city. Later, we saw people dressed up in costumes with cool make-up, walking on stilts. There were crazy bungie jumpers and hang-gliders in the air.

There were all kinds of ornate hand-crafted items for sale. There were furs and hides which were warrior-like pieces. The booths were very nicely arranged, but the vendors only accepted cash, which we were trying to hang onto.

The city looked even better than it did in pictures on some of the web sites I had visited. It gave me a very old historical gothic impression. Everyone in the city seemed to be carefree and enjoying themselves. The first person we saw familiar to us was cEvin. He said the magic words, "Welcome to Dresden". We found it difficult getting through the thick crowds, due to heavy luggage and the huge city festival in the streets.

We were always amazed and overwhelmed during this first trip to Europe by what stood before us, and by the beautiful weather we were having. The sky was so blue, sometimes a very vibrant blue and just as beautiful looking as the sky is in California. The clouds were always present creating an atmosphere on their own.

We finally got to the Westin Bellevue Hotel. It was August nineteenth, the first day of the show. We were pleasantly surprised that the hotel was as luxurious as we were ensured it would be. The next morning, with the windows open, we could hear opera music across the river from the famous opera house. Right around the corner and down the street, was where the festival was held. We were able to walk to the venue in about thirty minutes from the hotel. It was held near this interesting looking building called the, "Tabakkontor Yenidze ehemalige Zigarettenfabrik".

It was all such a new experience to me. I wanted to eat somewhere else that was not a part of the festival. At music festivals in America the food is often unacceptable, things end up expensive and sick tasting. We ate weird sandwiches with prosciutto ham in it before the festival at a small diner nearby. We saw cool people walking on the way to the festival all dressed up and anticipating the big event. Once we got near the designated area we noticed the walk up to where we could get tickets, or for the guest lists. There were cool people everywhere. Everyone had something I liked about them. It was such a sweet gathering of eclectic people.

When we arrived we were introduced to Mario Seelig. We were on the VIP list, but not on the Backstage list. Mario from In Move was so cool. We spoke to him a few times throughout the festival.

It was the best festival I have ever been to. The whole festival was an open-air (outdoor) festival. The bands and the crowd had out done any Lollapalooza.

One guy in the audience really stood out from the awesome crowd. He had long black hair with white make-up on his face, which was very nicely done. He wore a black cape on the first day and night. He had piercings with chains going from his nose to his ears. He was distinguished with superior style. He attended the festival all dressed up the second night, too.

I saw quite a few women with red hair, and many woman with cool dark black hair. There weren't nearly as many blondes as there are in California. About three gothic women wore a really cool hanging jewel pieces on their foreheads. So many people wore long skirts, as did I. Some had fish nets on, or ornate black nylons with short skirts. There were even a few mohawks. Many of the woman had tattoos. Everyone smoked cigarettes.