Access All Areas: Sylvan Esso, Wild Beasts, Asbjorn and Shura in Leipzig

All photos by Azhari Peyman.

The stained-glass windows of Leipzig‘s Täubchenthal felt wonderfully appropriate during EB Festival Leipzig—what, after all, are concerts but a form of musical worship? There was certainly plenty of holy rollin’ going on last Friday (especially from Asbjørn, but we’ll get to that in a moment) as EB’s final festival of 2014 descended upon the normally-quiet German city. As we entered the venue, local DJ Karl Blau dropped FKA twigs. We took it as a sign from above: tonight was going to be good.

.@EBnet the festival with so much bass you need to tape your gear to the stage. #jurassicpark

— shura (@weareshura) November 21, 2014

As you can tell from the above tweet, Shura’s normally restrained singer/songwriter  synthetics were given a bit of an aural makeover, courtesy of the venue’s heavy subs working their monster magic. The result lent fragile tracks like “Touch” a touch bit more rumbling power. Speaking as someone who’s seen Sunn O))) more times than I’ve had birthdays, I’m always game for a lil’ extra bass!

ELECFUCKINGTRONIC BEATS! loved every minute. @EBnet #electronicbeatsfestival pic.twitter.com/l1r3WF8dgG

— Asbjørn (@asbjornmusic) November 22, 2014

As did the crowd! One thing’s for sure: this boy knows how to work an audience. A minute on stage was all it took for the crowd to become enraptured by Asbjørn’s presence and lyrical chops, following his movements with enthusiastic dancing and wild applause. As he rolled around the stage without missing a beat, the crowd surged forward in anticipation, clearly eager to join him.

Wild Beasts were a more stoic bunch, but that didn’t lessen any of the energy coiled inside these UK boys. In fact, from the moment they took the stage to mad applause, their post-punk tinged melodies were swirling around the room and touching down inside the chests of all who were listening. Singles like “Wanderlust” were as emotional as they were powerful.

We loved talking with Sylvan Esso—two of the nicest, chillest people we’ve met at these festivals, and their stage show didn’t disappoint.  In her stacked Buffalos, vocalist Amelia Meath commanded the stage with sweeping gestures and a huge smile that beamed across the audience. A gorgeous blend of singalong anthems and intimate, dance-heavy ballads, it was the perfect end to a beautiful night.

Thanks to everyone who attended another year of Electronic Beats Festivals. We’ll see you again in 2015!