ARTmania, the first Romanian festival that has developed the concept of entwining art and entertainment, announces the final line-up for the 2018 edition. Alongside Steven Wilson, Arcane Roots, Leprous, HAKEN, Rome, Zeal & Ardor and Distorted Harmony, already confirmed for July 27 & 28, Mogwai will also join in.
For the first time in Transylvania, the Scots are coming to Romania to present their latest album, Every Country’s Sun, described by The Guardian as “the perfect music to navigate thought the eternal chaos of life”, catering to a cultured, music-lover public, willing to experiment new sounds and feelings in a live concert of the best kind.
Mogwai are one of the few survivors of the post-rock Glasgow scene, where they made themselves know during the 90s and, which, at this moment are enjoying a successful career including nine studio albums and countless tours around the world. Apart from this, the band has been known for its television and music scores, being constantly present on international soundtracks like “Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait”, “Miami Vice”, “Les Revenants” (a TV series turned video games that kept the original song, “Kids Will be Skeletons”).
The band formed by din Stuart Braithwaite (guitars, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synth, vocals), Dominic Aitchinson (bass) and Martin Bulloch (drums), was formed in 1995 Glasgow, featuring a name inspired by the creatures of the Gremlin series, though guitar player Stuart Brathwaithe says “the name has no special meaning and we wanted to come up with a better one, but, like in so many other situatios, we never came back to this”.
Mogwai’s musical influences include Fugazi, MC5, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, Pixies and The Cure, while their musical style has easily identified connections with different musical genres like shoegaze, math rock or art rock. Their debut piece, “Mogwai Young Team” was described as “ stunningly dynamic, moving effortlessly from calming sounds, of a gentle beauty to white sounds, that scratch the brain with a hammer like rhythm. (Martin Strong, The Great Indie Discography)
Passes for the ARTmania Festival 2018 are already available in Kompostor, Eventim, MyTicket, iaBilet at AmBilet networks.
ARTmania Festival is a platform dedicated to promoting all forms of artistic impression inspired by rock culture, that has been established as a regional promoter of contemporary musical projects. ARTmania means more than just concerts of international and local artists. Music is the base component that started everything, but it is just a part of the experience the festival wishes to offer Romanian and international art lovers.
As the longest rock festival in Romania and one of the traditional brands in the regional cultural scene, ARTmania has outlined its own identity through a bold concept an a special medium: the Large Square of one of the most beautiful medieval citadels in Eastern Europe – Sibiu citadel.
At the same time with the ARTmania Festival, Sibiu will also host the East European Music Conference (July 26-28, 2018), the most important conference dedicated to the Romanian musical industry. After the first edition when 400 people, guests and attendees, from the local and European cultural society, exchanged ideas and shared conclusions, the second edition continues innovating the local market of such events with an avantgarde program: Romanian Music Export. Therefore, the first entrepreneurial Romanian program will start alongside the second edition of EEMC, aiming to promote and export musical talents and will be also available for conference guests and attendees.
ARTmania Festival, supported by Kaufland, is founding member of AROC – The Romanian Association of Concert and Cultural Events Organizers, that brings together as founding members the most important Romanian promoters: Emagic, Events, Electric Castle, Summer Well, and Twin Arts among others.
