The medieval christmas market in Dortmund is truly something else. For several years now, the phantastic atmosphere of Germany’s most beautiful christmas market attracts the big names of the German medieval rock scene (as well as other artists from other genres). As a visitor, you get an exceptionnal experience both market-wise as well as concert wise.
To be honest, the line up for each weekend is one of the longest awaited revelations every year for me. Because I can be sure that there will be bangers and that there’ll be must-see shows for me. The only question remaining is usually „How many?“ This year, when FAUN were announced with a special guest, I started a weekly prayer circle that it would be TVINNA. I’ll elaborate more on that a bit further on, but in short: I kept updating the PLWM website every few weeks and actually discovered that TVINNA had suddenly joined the line up even before it was announced anywhere. So much for my anticipation to see this band.
But let’s return to the PLWM (short form of „Phantastischer Lichterweihnachtsmarkt“, which is the full name of the event) – because what is a concert review without a little venue check? The PLWM has been taking place at the Fredenbaumpark in Dortmund for quite a few years now. Originally it was organised by the same guy as the annual medieval markets called „Mittelalterliches Phantasie Spectaculum“ – MPS in short. A few years ago though, the men in charge changed. Yet, the MPS with their years of experience on how to turn the Fredenbaumpark into an atmospherical christmas market are still a partner of the PLWM up to this day.
And when I say „atmospherical christmas market“ I mean like „MOST atmospherical“. I’ve seen quite a few christmas markets in Germany and the PLWM is exceptionnal. You get the full medieval market vibes in a christmassy, fantastic atmosphere. Dragons, pirates and a steampunk village turn the park into a fantastic place full of lights and sweet scents. The market can be visited without visiting the concerts, but be warned that the entrance fee is a bit pricy these days (but it’s worth it. I swear.) Also, the whole event enfolds its true beauty in the dark, so make sure to stay until after the sun has set.
The food at the market is pricy, but there’s an amazing selection of all kinds of food and there’s also a great choice of vegetarian and vegan food. You also get a variety of hot and cold drinks and if you ever freeze, you’ll surely find a fireplace or one of the tents to warm up again. Speaking of tents, in some of the smaller tents you’ll find live music as well, as some smaller artists perform for free in those tents.
However, the big concerts cost you some extra money. And that’s worth it.
Until last year, all concerts at the PLWM were open air in an infield that was more or less at the core of the market. It was certainly special (and very practical, last year for example we were able to watch half of Korpiklaani’s show for free from the outside – until someone gifted us their VIP entrance wristbands they didn’t need, so we could get inside of the infield 😁). At the same time, both audience and bands were exposed to the sometimes very chilly December nights. That was okay if you were either in the middle of the crowd or somewhere around a fireplace, but as far as I read, especially the artists and their instruments suffered a lot fromthe cold.
So in 2023, the new concert venue is a giant tent that is in the same spot as the old infield (but, I think, a bit smaller – which gives more space to the food area and hence even more diversity in delicious food, yum!). To be honest, I was sceptic. After all, the open fires and the surrounding lights were part of the atmosphere that made concerts at the PLWM so special. But I am convinced. First of all, it IS warmer. And secondly, they projected lights onto the ceiling of the tent that looked like a starry sky? Excuse me? That’s atmosphere for sure!
Now let’s finally get to the bands. To be fair, I went there almost exclusively because of TVINNA. TVINNA started as an international project by Laura Fella (singer of FAUN), Fiona Rüggeberg (former FAUN) and Fieke van den Hurk (musician and producer) with a dramatic, dark, folk-ish sound that, to be fair, didn“t catch my attention just by listening at it on Spotify. The line-up changed a while ago though, Fiona and Fieke left and Laura was joined by her husband Rafael Fella (former Salzmann) as guitarist, Alain Ackermann on the drums and Sascha van der Meer as bassist who also contributes vocals. If you’re into Eluveitie, two of those names might ring a bell 😉 And number three is also the singer and bassist of the Dutch folk metal band Solarcycles which, if you don’t know them, MUST be checked out.
When I saw TVINNA for the first time – as the opener at the Schlossfest Merseburg on the same day when FAUN and Eluveitie performed there – I was truly surprised by their performance. The sound was nothing like I had expected when I had listened to them before on Spotify. It was heavier and hence met my taste a lot more. And it made me fall in love.
So this is why I bought tickets to see TVINNA at the PLWM. I was a bit grumpy though when I heard that another act had been added because I had hoped for a 45 minute set, but then ended up getting 30 minutes only. But those 30 minutes were more than worth the money. TVINNA shows are atmospherical per se – as atmospherical as the setting at the christmas market. Perfect match. Almost half of their setlist were new songs from their upcoming album, so we got a very good sneak peek of „Two – Wings of Ember“, which will be released in February 2024.
The show was fantastic, the music was great and I was so hyped afterwards that I basically decided to shit on everything and just buy a goddamn train ride plus tickets for their album release show in Munich. Because why not.
There were two minor downsides: Firstly, Alain Ackermann was missing due to a drumming event he attended in Switzerland and secondly, the people next to me were entitled assholes with zero manners who tried their best to ruin the experience for us. Didn’t work though.
After TVINNA, we left the front row and withdrew to the back of the tent. Why would we take anyone’s places in the front row away without being overly interested in the other two acts? We got some merch (TVINNA’s merch prices were absolutely fair – they even had a discount on one of their older t-shirts; I didn’t look at the merch prices of FAUN and as far as I could see, Eivør didn’t sell merch), some food and drink and enjoyed Eivør’s performance from the back. I was constantly stuck between amazed and annoyed to be honest. I loved a lot of the Icelandic songs, but I also found myself checking my watch during English parts. She has an amazing voice, but the type of music didn’t quite catch my heart. Yet, I wouldn’t mind seeing her live again. I just wouldn’t actively listen to her.
Similar counts for FAUN. There are songs, or parts in songs, that I love dearly. And I must say that the variety and the sheer amount of talented people in this band are amazing. After all, I’m a sucker for hurdy-gurdies, so if a band comes with a gurdy, that’s usually a good start. And the hurdy-gurdyist of FAUN surely knows how to rock this instrument. And same as with a lot of medieval instrumentalists, I just can’t handle the amount of different instruments Adaya de Baïracli Levy uses throughout a FAUN set. Like … WOW? And then she’s also a great singer?!
Still, FAUN is mostly not exactly my taste. I like folk music, but usually rather the rock/metal kind of folk. In a lot of senses, FAUN’s songs are a bit too soft for me. But after seeing them twice this year, I wouldn’t mind seeing them again. Especially not if I get TVINNA as a support 😛 And actually I have to thank them for playing Gwydion live, which is definitely my favourite FAUN song (yeah, it’s a feature with Eluveitie – it’s very obvious that they are the reason why I love this song so much, I am sorry). I didn’t expect to hear it live and just five minutes after I said exactly that, I recognised the beginning of Gwydion. Unexpected and great.
But once again, FAUN is one of those bands I wouldn’t actively listen to (except for a few songs, like Gwydion or Walpurgisnacht) and in some cases I actively skip their songs in mixtapes (there’s this feature with Santiano…) and neither would I buy tickets for any of their headline shows (… well, except if … you get what I mean.) Yet, in the setting of the PLWM, they were just another perfect match and they turned the evening overall into a very magical experience.
I have another show at the PLWM ahead of me, which will also be my last concert this year. And I’m very excited to see what the concerts will be like in a tent if we’re not talking about some magical folk bands, but rather folk … metal. And punk rock. Or whatever.