Terminus festival in Calgary

There’s something beautifully perverse about flying halfway across the world to spend some days in a dark room full of black-clad strangers while the summer sun glares outside, confused and ignored. But that’s the magic of Terminus Festival, Calgary’s annual communion of industrial misfits, synth disciples and goths who refuse to melt.

The venue of choice is Dickens in downtown Calgary, a dive bar with just enough grime to make it feel authentic, but not enough to make you question your life choices. It’s a place that smells like spilled beer, dusty amps, and a thousand stories whispered over decades of too-loud music. In other words: perfect.

Wulfband at Terminus festival.

This was the 6th edition of the annual Terminus festival, named Terminus Impact, with a very nice lineup featuring exactly not the kind of electronic music that sells out stadiums or gets remixed into online trends. I enjoyed gigs by Cubanate, 3Teeth, Glass Apple Bonsai (with guest appearance by Hello Moth) and Wulfband. Other bands I saw were Actors, Drab Majesty, The Gothsicles, Ludovico Technique and other beautiful creatures.

The original plans were that PIG would be last band of the third day, but those plans didn’t work out for various reasons so a temporary band was formed for the night. It consisted of Nicklaus Schandelmaier (En Esch, former singer of KMFDM), Günter Schulz (ex-guitar in KMFDM) and two local talents. It turned out to be surprisingly fun and the ending with classic song Godlike was truly godlike.

En Esch, KMFDM and more.

There’s a strange comfort in the community here. No pretense, no velvet ropes, no VIP lounges. Just rough boots, black clothes and a shared love for electronic distortion. It’s a sweaty, euphoric mess of goth kings, music wizards and quiet loners dancing like no one’s watching — because no one is, and that’s the point.

In addition to their impressive range of craft beers, Dickens also did a collaboration with local brewery Wild Rose Brewery. With some input from the headlining bands, the brewery produced a limited-edition set of beers with only one cask each. These unique brews were 3Teeth’s “3Teeth Triple Bite”, The Birthday Massacre’s “Crimson Birthday Wish” and PIG’s “Bloody Fog”.

Calgary and Bow River as seen from Prince’s Island.

And then there’s Calgary itself. Despite being placed in the middle of nowhere on the edge of the Canadian prairies, Calgary is an unexpected gem with a lot to offer. As I walked across the bridge over Bow River, I realized just how compact the city center is. The tall skyscrapers including Calgary Tower on one side of the river is in big contrast to the lush greenery of Prince’s Island on the other side.

We make our way past a horde of geese before arriving at the cosy River Cafe. Got a table near the river and ordered flatbread with cheddar and apricot, rounding off with goat cheese caramel chocolate and Ontario pecans. No wonder that Calgary was ranked alongside Zürich as the third most livable city in the world.

Enjoying a sunny day in downtown Calgary.

Big thanks to Chris Hewitt and everyone else involved in arranging this great festival.