Paul and a few others recently asked me when I was going to write about the upcoming Festival Kinetik, and I am happy to oblige. For those of you who haven’t heard about Festival Kinetik, it’s a new electro/industrial/noise festival that is replacing the C.O.M.A. Festival which ran from 2004 until 2007. It will take place in Montreal, Canada from May 15th to the 17th and will feature dozens of bands and DJs from North America and across Europe, including 5 from Germany. They are Funker Vogt, Kiew, Noisuf-X, Feindflug, and Xotox. Also worth noting, this will be the first North American appearance by the latter 2 bands.

Tickets and other info for attendees
Tickets to the festival are available in the Kinetik Store at various prices depending on what the package includes. The festival website also has lots of information for anyone who might be travelling from a distance about hotels, places to eat, and lots of other stuff about the city of Montreal.

Listen to the bands of Festival Kinetik
ArtOfFact has a 2CD compilation that has music by most of the bands that will be performing at the festival (plus a few extras) called Festival Kinetik Volume 1. While this is a great mix for fans to pick up, it’s also a terrific sampler for anyone who wants to learn more about the festival’s bands before making the decision whether to go or not. You can actually listen to every song from the compilation right there on the website. Just click on a track name and then look to the left side of the screen and click the play button. If you like it, the 2CD compilation is just 12.99 CAD to purchase.

Are you going?
Is anyone planning to go to Festival Kinetik? Leave a comment if you plan on attending, or if you just have something to say about one of the bands.

There are lots of German bands touring North America in 2008. Most of them are just coming to the United States, but a few are heading further North to Canada as well.

We made this page so it’s easy for you to find all the bands, their dates and venues in one place. The list is in chronological order according to the band’s first concert date. It’s easier to see them this way than in a normal calendar or alphabetical order.

Jeans Team

Read the article here for details and links

January 04 - San Francisco, CA - Loaded
January 05 - Los Angeles, CA - The COG
January 10 - New York, NY - Grasslands
January 11 - Montreal, QBC - Zoo Bizarre
January 13 - Toronto, ONT - Drake Hotel
January 15 - Detroit, MI - Scrummage
January 16 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
January 18 - New York, NY - Ruff Club

De/Vision

Read the article here for details and links

February 06 - Philadelphia, PA - Shampoo
February 07 - Passiac, NJ - The Loop Lounge
February 09 - Austin, TX - Elysium
February 10 - Tucson, AZ - Asylum
February 13 - Los Angeles, CA - Safari Sam’s
February 14 - San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge
February 16 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
February 17 - Portland, OR - Sabala’s at Mt. Tabor
February 19 - Salt Lake City, UT - Club Vegas
February 21 - Minneapolis, MN - Ground Zero

And One

Read the article here for details and links
Read our concert review here

February 14 - Washington, DC - Club Five
February 16 - Philadelphia, PA - Shampoo (Dracula’s Ball)
February 17 - New York, NY - The Madison
February 19 - San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge
February 21 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
February 24 - Los Angeles, CA - Crash Mansion
February 26 - Denver, CO - Oriental Theatre
February 28 - San Antonio, TX - White Rabbit

Seabound - Alliance Tour

Read the article here for details and links

March 12 - Philadelphia, PA - Shampoo
March 13 - Washington, DC - Rock and Roll Hotel
March 14 - New Haven, CT - Blacksun Festival
March 15 - New York, NY - The Madison
March 16 - Rochester, NY - Water Street
March 18 - Pittsburgh, PA - Pegasus
March 19 - Detroit, MI - Lune
March 20 - Chicago, IL - Darkroom
March 22 - Austin, TX - Elysium
March 24 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada
March 26 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
March 27 - Portland, OR - Mt. Tabor
March 29 - San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge
March 30 - Los Angeles, CA - Safari Sam’s

Doro Pesch

Read the article here for details and links

March 21 - West Springfield, VA - Jaxx
March 22 - Poughkeepsie, NY - The Chance
March 23 - New York, NY - Highline Ballroom
March 25 - Toronto, ON - The Funhaus
March 26 - Cleveland, OH - Peabody’s
March 28 - Detroit, MI - I-Rock
March 29 - Mokena, IL - The Pearl Room
March 30 - St. Paul, MN - Station 4
April 01 - Milwaukee, WI - Vnuk’s Lounge
April 04 - Seattle, WA - Studio Seven
April 05 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theatre
April 07 - San Marcos, CA - Jumping Turtle
April 08 - West Hollywood, CA - Whisky a Go-Go
April 09 - Tempe, AZ - The Clubhouse
April 11 - Houston, TX - Scout Bar
April 12 - Ft. Worth, TX - Ridglea Theater
April 13 - San Antonio, TX - White Rabbit
April 15 - St. Petersburg, FL - The State Theater
April 16 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL - Culture Room
April 18 - Nashville, TN - The Muse

Accessory - More Than Machinery US Tour

Read the article here for details and links

March 26 - Philadelphia, PA - Shampoo
March 27 - Washington, DC - Chief Ikes
March 29 - Newark, NJ - QXTs
March 30 - Tampa, FL - The Orpheum
April 02 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
April 03 - Chicago, IL - The Kinetic Playground
April 04 - Phoenix, AZ - Jug Heads
(see below for Accessory’s West Coast tour in June/July)

Kraftwerk

Read the article here for details and links
Here’s an older article about the Coachella Festival

April 19 - Minneapolis, MN - Myth
April 20 - Milwaukee, WI - The Eagles Ballroom
April 23 - Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium
April 26 - Indio, CA - Coachella Festival

Ellen Allien - Boogy Bytes Tour

May 01 - Seattle, WA - Chop Suey
May 02 - San Francisco, CA - Mighty
May 03 - Los Angeles, CA - Avalon
May 04 - Portland, OR - Holocene
May 05 - Toronto, ONT - The Social
May 08 - Montreal, QBC - Parking
May 09 - Quebec, QBC - Le Cercle
May 10 - New York, NY - Studio B

Feindflug, Funker Vogt, Kiew, Noisuf-X, Xotox

Read the article here for details and links

May 15-17 - Montreal, QBC - Festival Kinetik

Destroid

Read the article here for details and links

May 22 - Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory
May 23 - Austin, TX - Elysium
May 25 - Columbus, OH - Hi-5
May 28 - New York, NY - Sapony
May 29 - Washington, DC - Liv
May 30 - West Palm Beach, FL - Respectable Street
May 31 - Orlando, FL - AKA Lounge
June 03 - San Francisco, CA - Fat City
June 05 - Portland, OR - Mt. Tabor Legacy
June 06 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
June 07 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon - Daniel Myer DJ set only
June 08 - Portland, OR - The Fez Ballroom - Daniel Myer DJ set only
June 09 - Denver, CO - Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
June 13 - Los Angeles, CA - Knitting Factory - Daniel Myer DJ set only
June 14 - Phonix, AZ - Sadisco

King’s Tonic

Read the article here for details and links

May 23 - Los Angeles, CA - Doll Hut
May 24 - Anaheim, CA - Ceros
May 28 - Los Angeles, CA - Di Piazzas
May 30 - Los Angeles, CA - Fullerton Back Alley
June 06 - Las Vegas, NV - Double Down Saloon

Accessory - More Than Machinery US Tour - West Coast

Read the article here for details and links

June 22 - San Francisco, CA - Fat City
June 23 - Portland, OR - The Fez Ballroom
June 24 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
June 26 - Salt Lake City, UT - Club Vegas
June 28 - Las Vegas, NV - Vector
June 30 - Tucson, AZ - I.C.E.
July 04 - Los Angeles, CA - Das Bunker

The Scorpions

August 01 - Kelseyville, CA - Konocti Harbor
August 02 - Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheater
August 03 - Costa Mesa, CA - Pacific Amphitheater
August 05 - Tucson, AZ - AVA Amphitheater
August 08 - Minneapolis, MN - Myth
August 09 - Sparta, WI - Fort McCoy Army Base

Soman

Read the article here for details and links

August 22 - Los Angeles, CA - Das Bunker
August 23 - Madison, WI - Reverence Festival

[:SITD:]

Read the article here for details and links

September 20 - Los Angeles, CA - Das Bunker

Fictional is one of several side projects by Funker Vogt founder Gerrit Thomas. Because he is involved in so many projects, Fictional’s activity is a bit sporadic at best, but the electronic music they’ve produced is as good as any. Here’s a complete band biography, written by Joe Hunter of DeutschMusikLand.com:

Gerrit Thomas, one of the masterminds behind Funker Vogt and Ravenous, formed Fictional in the late 1990’s to create a hybrid between the two bands. The project forged high energy music similar to Funker Vogt with vocal styles of Ravenous to make a pounding, non-stop electro mix that is entirely contagious.

Zoth Ommog released Fictional’s first album, Fictitious, shortly thereafter. Comprised of ten explosive tracks, Fictional quickly became a dance floor favorite. With the exception of two tracks sung by Tim Fockenbrock (Ravenous), Blue Lights and Dream of God, Gerrit did all of the music and vocals for Fictitious. Intense synths and keyboard melodies are strung throughout the tracks with insatiable beats and poppy vocals. Blue Lights yielded to be the most popular track off of the album, and is still getting continued club play. Unfortunately, due to the demise of the Zoth Ommog label, Fictitious has become extremely rare and in high demand.

Including work on Fictitious, Gerrit has also done remixes under the name Fictional for such bands as Decoded Feedback, Leaether Strip, Melotron, Merge, and several others. Other band projects include the aforementioned Funker Vogt and Ravenous, along with Fusspils 11.
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