Who would have thought it? According to the festival crew, around 3000 visitors, and I feel like the number of attendees at RESIST TO EXIST 2013 has doubled compared to the previous year. Wow, what a party for the 10th anniversary! I think no one expected such a turnout and support, and even though there were immense delays at the entrance on Friday, we shouldn't hold that against them. The festival is largely supported by many volunteers, and everyone did their best to contribute to the success of the festival. They still lack experience at this scale, but one learns from mistakes, and I hope everything works out with the new site and that RESIST TO EXIST 2014 will be even cooler and attract even more visitors.
Because the lineup combined with a diverse supporting program was really top-notch this year. I'm really glad we managed to get there on Friday despite a car breakdown. Unfortunately, I didn't catch much from the bands on Friday since we were traveling for 3 hours from Beelitz by bus and S-Bahn. However, when we arrived, the site was packed, and I at least got to see the last three Friday bands, THE RESTARTS, DÖDELHAIE, and ZAUNPFAHL, all of whom delivered a fantastic performance. It's incredible how many people were in front of the stage, and I found the atmosphere was amazing with all the bands. However, I was more busy chatting since I met a lot of people, and my phone kept ringing because my companions couldn't find me anymore. Well, it took ages for the people to get to the campsite since they didn't have advance tickets. Totally exhausted, having been up since 6 AM from Bavaria, I finally earned my first beer at 10 PM and then wobbled over to the solo stand of the lovely people from KIRCHE VON UNTEN BERLIN. By the way, the KVU folks were also very engaged at the festival; without the girls and guys, there would surely have been gaps everywhere. The KVU always comes with a large team of volunteers to the festival, even though they themselves currently need help the most. Due to gentrification, the KVU is threatened with demolition. Otherwise, I met many nice people again on the first day, and all in all, it was a very sympathetic, colorful festival audience, without any assholes. I immediately felt at home in Berlin again. Actually, I wanted to go to bed early that night, but forget it, I had way too much to talk about and ended up in a sociable round with Steff (ALARMSIGNAL), Toni (PIRATENPAPST), Micha (JOHNNIE ROOK), and Maddin (PRO KONTRA). Alarmsignal has been around several times, and I think the band is a must at this festival, but the other three bands would also be a tip to keep in mind for Resist 2014 ;-) And then there were all the people from the band INITIATIVE KANTHOLZ, the nice girls and guys you meet here every year, who just come down from the north to help at Resist. A really strong crew that I would also love to hear live. In any case, the night from Friday to Saturday went by really quickly, and it was already bright when I crawled into the tent (my husband had already been sleeping at the table for 4 hours, so he also had to be awakened from the sleep of the righteous).
Finally in the tent, the sleep of death was only short-lived. I think we slept for about 2 hours before we woke up after our buddy Seeschmie yelled across the entire campsite because he couldn't find his pants. He must have thrown them to the neighbors in his hatred of the textile industry during the night; at some point during the day, he found them there again :p So, Saturday started at 8 AM, first trying to reach the auto repair shop, which gave us good news that we could pick up the Dorks bus on Sunday and that there was only a small problem with the coolant pump. Day saved, time for a shot of peppermint. In the morning, new news regarding "Observation": ALWIN RICHTER (ALWIN PHOTOGRAPHY - he takes great pictures too) showed me his festival camera. 24 hours live stream of all your mischief on the festival grounds :p I like that, because everyone enjoys a bit of Stasi now and then^^ Around noon, it was time to continue with music, starting the day with KLARTEXT from Eberswalde. I really think it's great that RESIST gives newcomer bands a chance to play at the festival through their band contests and offers everyone the opportunity to qualify for a performance. Please keep it up! And Saturday was to be a fun day. Of course, I didn't catch all the bands today either because I was once again non-stop talking. But what I saw was all top-notch, like the performances by SCHLEPPHODEN, RASTA KNAST, or TELEKOMA. There was a huge party during NORDWAND's performance, great atmosphere as always in front of and on stage, including a guest appearance by Toni (PIRATENPAPST) in the ultimate category of gay outfit :p Apparently, he hadn't had enough stage air yet, and so it happened that we then stormed the stage together with BERLINER WEISSE and started singing the song "Schwul, lesbisch, hetero". Of course, I also dressed up to match the theme visually. Luckily, I had my "Keep your pussy clean" panties against the right-wingers with me, designed by punk designer Donald from PUNKS'n BANTERS ;-) Yes, my goodness, that must have been a sight for you hahaha. It was definitely a lot of fun. But BERLINER WEISSE were also one of the best bands of the festival for me, and don't come at me with a discussion; you know exactly why. I'll just say this much: I didn't keep count of how many times they clearly expressed their anti-fascist stance on stage; for me, they are really decent guys who also make good music. The conclusion of the musical evening was also really awesome: C.O.R couldn't perform for personal reasons, but the bands PURGEN, WHAT WE FEEL, and FAHNENFLUCHT hit even harder. Afterwards, I was definitely ready for bed, and all the lights went out. Besides the really great lineup at Resist, I must also recommend the varied supporting program, which included a cinema and a lively discussion on the tedious topic of "Gray Zone".
Unfortunately, I didn't catch much band-wise on the 3rd day. On Sunday morning, I woke up a bit soaked in the tent; it must have rained in a bit during the night. Feeling totally sick, quite battered, and after a few coffees, we unfortunately had to start our journey home. We had to pick up our car, another 2-3 hours of train and S-Bahn travel, and somehow get back to fucking Bavariahttps://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=580826528627514. But it's all worth it for a great festival organized by the scene for the scene. What more could you want? I would have liked to stay longer, having met so many nice people (again) - but I'll be back in 2014. Let's see if I have THE DORKS with me then; you'll see ;-) I can only advise everyone else to support this festival, and if you haven't been there yet, definitely go or apply with your band because it's worth it, folks!
Here are a few video impressions from this year's Resist to Exist!!!
ALARMSIGNAL - BRENNENDE BARRIKADEN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je3-Sk7xRGI
PURGEN - KRISTALL NACHT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GooE9mkNXLA
And something to amuse you ;-)
BERLINER WEISSE FEAT. Toni Piratenpapst and Lizal Dork
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=580826528627514
For more, come by next year!!!
For all further current information about Resist to Exist, just go here:
http://resisttoexist.de/
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http://www.facebook.com/resisttoexist