News
April 2022: A new party has been planned and the website has undergone major changes. We are using a new technology that is more simple, more robust, has lower maintenance costs and is more flexible as well. Thus we can give individual pages a customised look, if we like. And we have more control. You know we love control. We already used these new paths to improve our SEO results. Why you ask. Well ehrm, because even if we prefer ancient ways, it seems some people do use modern technologies when they want to find out about the bunker rituals and its healing effects.
October 2021: 20 months without a single party. Well that was unpleasant. We have been stuck in this bunker, only making occasional raiding sorties to scavenge new music. But the time has come to say goodbye to dancing all alone in your living room; now comes the time to dance alone on a crowded dancefloor. If you are afraid your body has forgotten how to dance or do the social interaction thing, sure, be afraid, we are as well. So be patient with one another, the important things is that we try, and live a bit again. Our resident dj’s have been unfrozen from their cryonic vats and are aggressively trying to pump up the beat. I say we let them. Large amounts of gothic, industrial, wave and elektro have been accumulating in their collections, ready to burst out and give your ears the soothing joy of music once more. You won’t be able to resist dancing. Literally, we have spells for that. And in case you have any questions, here is a FAQ
- Is this party legal? - Yes
- Do I need a covid-safe ticket? - Yes
- Do I have to wear a facemask? - Only If you want to
- Can I come when I have symptoms related to Covid-19? - No, you absolutely can’t. Get well soon and we see you at the next party
- Can I come if I came into contact with an infected person anywhere in the last two weeks? - No, of course not. Thoughts and prayers but you’ll have to sit this one out
- Is this for real? - Yes
- Do I have to socially distance? - Goths have been socially distancing since the birth of time, but strictly speaking: no
- How am I supposed to be social after almost two years of isolation? - You are not, just like the rest of us, it’ll be awkward and that’s just fine
- What if my dancing is off because I forgot how my flesh prison operates? - Nobody will care
- Is this actually happening or have I died and gone to the other place? - According to most definitions of what is real and what is not, all borders between the other place and the waking world have faded. We have lived in hell since 2016, conformists are just somehow coping with this
- I would like to party again. - That’s not a question.
May 2020: Love will keep us 1,5 metres apart again.. :(
Februari 2020: This is it people; Bunkerleute has aged for twenty years and that means a big celebration with lots and lots more of what you have been used to for the past 20 solar rotations: room to dance, awesome dj's, drinks, friends, atmosphere, the music your heart deserves and something else entirely from what this city is accustomed to. For the occasion we open a second dance floor. And.. we have invited 4 guest dj's from all corners of this ungoverned kingdom: The Black Wave, Mat Zwart, Drexl & Orphea will join our two residents The Darker Angel & CatacombKitten.
October 2019: The veil between worlds is thin and our evocation efforts have not been in vain. The Cabal is very happy (and just a little bit frightened) to announce two new events. It is believed Bunkerleute will then sheds its black scales, rise from its long and deep slumber under the earth and regrow its many many slimy tentacles to slowly devour the city. It wants you to enter its innards and hear the miracle music of its many many bacteria, viruses and other delightful creatures that live in its inner world. It's all about the inside for Bunkerleute; the exterior is temporary. Goth however is eternal. The sounds resounding in its belly strangely resemble the best, newest and darkest of Gothic, Electro, Wave, Industrial and Neofolk. Dust off your robes, we say, prepare for two starless nights and mark the events in your agenda. Or check the All Knowing Tree. The dates have been carved into Its trunk.
June 2019: The Bunkerleute is currently at the various summer festivals, and will probably come back with a suitcase full of new Gothic, Wave, Electro, Industrial and Neofolk records to please you with. And at our next party, we will tell stories of short but wonderful nights. We will share drinks and dance together. It is that simple and sometimes that is all we need. Until then, my friends.
April 2018: As nature slowly but steadily awakens from its cold slumber, so does Bunkerleute renew itself in a splendid new location. This will be our first party at Musicafé, one of the best equipped clubs in the city. It is located right in the city center and we are thrilled to call it our new home. You can expect the full family of dark genres at this party: gothic, wave, industrial, elektro, neofolk and its twisted inbreed children, adopted family and strange pets. Yes even the weird one that we don't talk about. We'll play the old veteran music that has proven its worth, shiny new music that deserves your attention; our only purpose is to get your body dancing and think OMG WHAT IS THIS I LOVE THIS. It's that simple.
Our resident dj's The Darker Angel and CatacombKitten will be responsible for getting your mortal flesh body on the dancefloor. That's another thing: there is a dancefloor, well defined; no more lingering people with drinks who do nothing but talk in the middle of the dancefloor. THEIR REIGN IS OVER. BEHOLD THE ERA OF THE DANCEFLOOR IT IS GLORIOUS!
And finally this is how you get there: Musicafé, Muntstraat 5, Leuven.
Februari 2018: And our new home is ... MUSICAFÉ! Contrary to what the name suggests IT IS NOT A CAFÉ! It is one of Leuven's BEST EQUIPED CLUBS! The quality of the sound and light installation is amazing, there is a nice big dance floor, little cozy corners, an antechamber so you don't need to go outside to chitchat. It's clean and big and we'll give it a goth vibe, don't worry. We are very excited, we'll make it work. The next event event will be announced next week but for the people here, we can already reveal it will be on 7 April 2018.
January 2018: we have composed and evaluated a whole bunch of options to decide upon our new venue. There is now a short-list of 3-4 venues. We will carefully consider each of these options, where atmosphere and general comfort (safety, tidiness, available drinks, toilets, smoking options, location, etc ..) are key criteria. Because we want you to feel at home, bunkerleute is not about us, bunkerleute is about you. We can't thank you enough for another wonderful year, we hope to see you again in the new venue and of course all of our best wishes for 2018.
December 2017: Yes, the horrible rumours are true. Our club venue for the past five years will be destroyed in the early days of 2018. Although this fills us with great sadness, we will, no, we must throw one last farewell party to the place we have been calling home for so long. So why is the place being torn down? We would like to tell you that the pure evil we summon with our dancing and chanting has hexed the entire neighbourhood, leaving the normal people with only one option: destroy everything but the truth is far sadder. A ruthless capitalist has bought the entire block and will be putting something new, shiny and obviously utterly boring in its stead. What Leuven needed was some more gentrification, apparently. But we will persist. While Leuven grows more upper-class, dull, expensive, normal, bland and grey; we will double our efforts to offer something off the beaten track, utterly black and exciting. Fuck all this nonsense.
We have prepared all kinds of special things for this edition, to make sure it will be a night to remember. First: this will be a mixed party with all the genres you can expect from a classic Bunkerleute. After the musical madness of last party, we bring you everything from gothic, electro, industrial, neofolk, wave and everything in between. Expect some classic club hits, undiscovered jewels and shiny new exciting music. A bit for everyone and then some. Second, TWO PARTIES FOR THE PRICE OF ONE, meaning that whomever goes to this party, can go to the Bunkerleute party after that FOR FREE. We just don’t want to make the transition alone so we weave together the last part of this phase with the beginning of the next cycle by inviting everyone who said goodbye with us to the next party to begin a new era, together. Finally we offer a toast to express our gratitude for everything the venue gave to us, and took from us.
April 2017: Another great edition of the top 100 is now well beyond us, the list will be put into our archives one of these days. The team has also been working on the agenda for the remainder of the 2017. And we also take the opportunity to let you know that the profits of our parties - if there is a profit that is - are put onto the saving accounts of our Gods Of Entrance, to try and keep them happy, you know what happens otherwise, because yes the rumours are true. Gods do grow more hungry during the night, remember that when you think ‘Gods don’t eat me, why would a god come up to me and eat me, nah what a silly idea’. Still if the savings account does contain enough money and the Gods are in a good mood, they will donate some budget to organise a concert.
February 2017: YES it's been quite a while since we last did a top 100, but finally the time is upon us all again to hunt down the DJ's, stop their baby-eating reign of terror, chain them, put them in a cage and tell them what to do. What music to expect? We can't and won't answer that, you're the master of ceremony for the night. Need inspiration? We have digitally archived the last 5 editions. The ones before that are unavailable.. well, they are stored in the cellars of Bunkerleute HQ, on paper. But ever since that 'accident' in 2006 with you know who and seen it still wants revenge and has probably spawned offspring by now because we can hear it grawl and scream and cry at night, we don't go there anymore.
top 100 - 2014
top 100 - 2013
top 100 - 2011
top 100 - 2010
top 100 - 2009
January 2016: We got one year older.. and so did you.. but this definitely doesn't show on the danCe floor, not At all. Once more we can look back with a smile aT what has been and look forward to what will Come. BecAuse yes, our agenda is up To date for the first half of 2016.
Also, we start to notiCe thAt for the pasT Couple of yeArs our parTies start to get Cozy more eArly Than they used to baCk in the old dAys. We have no idea why This is, probably beCause you Are awesome, and we hope you will conTinue to be so!
Finally, we welCome Amongst our midsT a new DJ, CatacombKitten. Half girl, half witch-demon, we have no idea how it all happened really.
And when we asked her what music she would play, all we got was insane laughter, a vague sense of restlessness
and the feeling, that suddenly life seems, in spite of everything,
less bleak, just h̵̸̵̨̲̞̰̣̞̞̺̤͔́ͅa̤̱͕̻͖͇̙̝͓̠̬͇̘͚̗̕ͅţ̵̰̘̙̮̣̥̗̖̱ ҉͈̮̳͓́͜i͏̬̲̣̞ͅͅs̡̫̻̼͇̻̩̤͓͖͙̟͓̙͍͕̀̀͠ͅ ́͜͠҉̰̖͖̳͍͚̥̞̻͖̻̤͎̬͇͠t̵͍͈̜͎͉̩̺̳͘ͅr͏̡̧͈̭̜̦͚̩͕̺̟̙̩̦̪͖u̶̖̯̻̥̣̻̺̼͉͇͔͘͠e̶̬̘̙̺̠̼͙͕̟̝̕͠ͅ ̷҉̢̙͈̹̯͚͖͉̞͎̙̱̞͜ͅͅb̶̨̯̮̻͍̫̯́͢u̸̧̫͙͓̭̘͓̫͕̱̖̭̹̘̯͔͖t͘͜҉̢̼͓̼͇͉̼ ̷͕̫̗̙̺̭̜̦͍͍̪͉̲̣̰̜̙͢ẃ̢̢̺͎̤̬͈͎͚͉͓̝͟͠h҉͝͏̢̳̠̬̪̯̭̲͉̰̖̮̪̝͉̬̞ͅͅy̵͈̮̯̗͈̯̰͇̖̥̣̙̱͚̬͕̫̗͞͡ ̧҉̧̱̭̭̠͙̥͓ͅͅa̶̧͕̯̖̼̼͖̭̣̯͖̯r̸̡͏̴̧̯͔̳̤͚͓̲̭͇̱̥̹̞̪é͈̗͍͙͢͠ ̵̸̧̛͔͓͕͍̘̦̗̫̻̣͍͉͚͖̩̕y̷̪̹̥̜̰͖̣̪̠̮͖̥͕͕̤̫͓̱̺̕͠o̢̰͕͍̜̤̭͉̭͎̙̞͘͟ų̶̷̛̫͚̬͖͜ ̶̘̗̭̺̖̝̗̘̕͜ś͓͓͕̤̙̮̤̙͉͚͉̞̩̗͘͞ơ͏̢̦͙͕͙͓̹͎̦̦͉͕̩̯̗̺̳͝ ̦͖̮̼̤͎̘͕͈̖̰̦̖͈̯̀͠͞c̵̴̝̰̮̮̪͔̱̣͠r͏̗̯̱̦̥͇̦͞ù̸̧̨̯̻̲̭̖̟̹͈̮͈̥̫̦͖͕͠ͅè̸̛͢͏͙̮̤̝͍̞̬̫ḻ̷̡̨̰̰͖͍̖͝ͅ?̸̡̹̝͉̮͚̹̟̼͔̝̮̼̝͔͉́́͡ ̧̖̖̩͔͕̻̬̤̪̺̩͈̼͉̳̞ͅj̸̡̧͈͕͎̜̯̞͉͙̫u҉̴̸̝̹͓͕̰̀s̵̤̘̲̘̠̮̝͕̺̠̼̜̙͇͠ṱ̷̷͙̣̮̹̰̲͎̭͚̞̳̣͉͈ͅͅ ̴̧̤̤̭̪̞͓͜ͅs̷̵̠̣͕̭t̴͕̱͇͍̞̕͡o͕̘͉̣͝͡͠p̵͓̗̮͈̠̰̪̱̱̩͓͔̠͍̥̝͙͜͟͝ͅͅ ̶̴̨̦̰̥̤͔͓̱̮͕͉̯̗̰̙̬̰͈͓͟p̷̸͕͇͕̩̥̖̬͙̼̼̜͓̣͘͝͠l̨̛̞̱͙͈̘̫̗̹̘͕̟̹̕e҉̴̢̖͙̫̘̻͙͖̱̩͕͚̠̟̦̩á̺͇͙̭̖̲̥̭͔̘͍͡s̨̲̙̩̟͍̪̞̥̩͈̟̣̱̪̤͢é͉͉̹͍̤͎͚͎̘̬̺̖̦̞̭̙̜́͟͢͠ͅ,̷͍̮͖̙̮̞̟̹̼̝́̕͟͠ ̴̡̞̟͙̤͔͔̭̖̞́͟͠
ş̭͚̗̪̠͉̟͇̜̘͙̯̟͍̱͍̙̠̕t̵̗͖̪̘̜̩̺͓̝͙̰̖͔̙̕͢͜o̵̡̹̖̭̲͕̼͔͢p͎̳̭͚̼͈͍͕̹͘ ̵̧̡͇͈̠̗͖̩̫̭͉̜̱͟͟f̶̧͇̰̩̰̪̮̭̦̠͎̼̀́ͅo̵̧̧͙̪̟̭͓̟͙͙͙r̨̥̗͙̩̬̦͙͚͔̪̹̟̗̫̲͖͔̘͟͡ ͏̧̛̲̭̲̘͙͙͎̦̤̳̙̣̜͉͈͢g̴̨̛͏̢̭͕̬̣͙͈̳̯̙͚̳̯̞̞̬ọ̡͓̘̩̭̤̰͓͚̞̲͔̖̹̖̯̥̬͎͟d̨̠̯͓̝s̷͚͍͎̞̺̩͍̬͍͖̮̥̖̱͕͠͡ͅ ͠҉҉̬̘̰̹͙̝̱͘s̷̵̮̹̺̲̝̖̙̖͔̪̙̲̝̩̣̖̼ͅͅa̴̵̡̢̛̭͇͔̖̮̺̙͎͖̖̜̜͈k͙̝͓̕͠è̡̞͍̤̤͔ͅͅͅ ̴̧̱̠̮̝̜̫͇̻̞s̵̨͍͈̩̻̣h̴̼̙̞̮̗̻͇͔̜͔͎̝͕̳̫͔̳̗̟͜o͏̷̞͔̞̱̯͇̥̘͟͡w̴̵̡͖̭͖̣̯̬̣͘͟ ̸̨̛̰̲̖͉͍̬͚̼s̨̕͜͏̳̗͉͙̮͉̪̖̟̞͍̪̞̲̤̲͝o̡̻̠͍̝̣̺̤̖̗͜ͅm̷̷͍͎̦͢ȩ̷̷̸͕̹̻͖̪̠̟̥̹̠̮͈̕ ̨̧҉̞̘͈̙̗̬̖m̶̷̠͇̪̻̙̱̘͙̦̟̟̫̙̮̬͎̺̻͝ͅe͙̦͎̤̮̟̥̖̣̭̤̥͉̺̕͞r̛҉̢̼̲̱͚̙͇͔͓̖͍͜c̗͍͓̥͟͡ͅy̵̴̮̣̠̖̭͙̩̬͞͝͡ ̷̧͇̟̖͠Į̲̺̼̙̹̯̖̬̲̬̳̮́͢ ̶͓͍̜͈͓́̕ͅh̸͚̫̳̭͉̠̼͉͙̖͓̩͍͘͟ͅͅh͏̛̯̬̩͎͖͉͉͖̥̜̟̰͍̼͎̺͇̩͉̕͟h̷̸̵̗̮̮̹͖̜̮̘͚̹̫̝͉̖̹͕͔̪̗͡͞ṣ̵̶̖̰͚͇̕͡͡q̸̜̜͚̟̖͇͚͖̰̲̗͙͉͢͞h̴̺̫̝͕̠̥̪̻̖̮̝̯̖̕͜͝s̢̰̦̗̩̰̬̬͉̩̫̕͟͝s̴̢̗͇̰̗̖̺̗͓̥̮̻̰̠͓̲̫͡ͅn̴̸̛̪͎̮̘͔̘͔̹̗̙̠̺̬͎̥͘ş̬̫͉͖͞ ̵͢҉̭̦͉̠͉̦̫̣͉͈͝ͅh̶̶͚̫̺̘͎͓͕͈̘̻̀̀͠h̷̡̛͔̳͔̖̰͎̰̩͢e̷̯͍̦̰͍̟̮̝͈̥̹̖ͅ ̷̸̶̤̤͚̲̜͖̠̲̝̩̟͙͔̟͍̤͝͝j̵̖̯̘̙͍̹͝ͅo͔̼̖̬͚̲͎̹̖̟̫̭͔̼̘̠͘͘p͕̗͚̙͘͞z͕͉̰̫͍̘͖̜̪͖͇͘͢ơ̴̵̙̤̙̙͝ę̸̴̳̫͉̤̖̗̮̤̭̣̕͜o҉̵̴͎͎̞̬͝p̵͚̖̘͇͓̬̀̕͡͠ę̸̠͖̲̘̜̯͕̞͉̺̕l͞҉̢̱̞̰̜̱̼̣̣͙̪̗̘͙͓̘́͢ͅ,̧̟̘̭͈̖͉̱̟̣̤͍̟̲͘ ̤̟̯̬̰̕͡h̫̪͉̼̣͙͘̕͡͠d̢̺̼͚̩͈̰̦̠͚̦̬́͠r̴̡̰͓̮ͅa͝͏̰̬̱̰̟͈͚͕͉̪͇̱̫̬̮͎̯͙͘f̪̲̙͙̼̀͜͝c̨̢͙͚͚͖͉͎̟̼͇̫̺̜̗͖͍͟ͅé̜̥̗͖̩͎̬̹́v͇̞̫̪͟͞b͠͏̘̼̳͚̙̤̙̘̙͈̺̮̻ṕ̧̹̪̼̲̲̙̥s̠͖̝͈͙̫͜͜͝͞ͅp̴̶͕̱͍͈w̶̧̰̙͍̪̟̗ͅͅs̰͇̲̦̤̮̯̫͉̘̫͘ͅͅw̧̮̳͔̻̦͍̝͚̮̞͢͝͡s̴̀͏̴̰͇̹̱̼̩͚̝̮͍̙̀ ̴̨̡̼̟̮̖̙̕͞
deranged kitten
July 2015: A moment of looking back at what was and what is coming. We hope you all enjoyed the brilliant evening with Näo and Dive. Then there was the top 100 party, is it us or does the list just gets better every year? Less good news is that we have experienced quite some hassle while moving our website to a new provider. We also grabbed the opportunity to experiment with the website's layout, giving it a new header and finding some room for our proud sponsor. The website is now almost completely back. Finally there was the emotional Hex party back in April. It was great to celebrate 16 years of Bunkerleute, but it was also at this party that DJ Normkompatibel waved farewell to his life as resident Bunkerleute DJ :-( We would like to thank him for all those wonderful sets throughout the years. At least there is also some good news as he does remain a key member of our organisation. 2015 will be finished in style with two cool parties coming up in September and December. As far as 2016 is concerned, we have some interesting plans, more details to be announced. So rest assured, bunkerleute is very much alive and kicking.
Februari 2014: The Bunkerleute team has been working very hard the last couple of months on the organisation of a concert. And our long time dream has become reality: Näo has agreed to come to Leuven for their first gig ever in Belgium. Bunkerleute feels extremely honoured to be able to present this brilliant band to the Belgian audience. Further more we managed to link them up with Dive, a Belgian band which we presume needs no introduction. The combination Näo + Dive + bunkerleute party should make 17 May 2014 a brilliant landmark in our long history. We have done our best to keep the ticket prices really affordable, especially given the fact that the concerts are followed by a regular bunkerleute party. So there really is no excuse for not coming.
November 2013: We really enjoyed our trip down to memory lane. It was good to see that many people were having a good time and that also more modern songs on the set list were well received by the audience! A big thanks to our visitors, guest DJ Wildhoney, the helping hands and the folks at Blauwe Kater for the nice reception. You all make Bunkerleute parties what they are. With the last party of 2013 now beyond us, we can start to concentrate on next year. The first party will be a traditional dark underground party and is planned for 22 Februari 2014. We hope to see you then!
June/July 2013: The move to Albatros is now well beyond us. The bunkerleute team enjoyed a couple of nice gothic festivals in Germany like WGT and Amphi. We discovered some nice new bands, some of which will probably make the set lists on one of our upcoming parties. Of course there was also the nice gig from Omnia at Beleuvenissen.
Some less nice news is the fact that we experienced a heavy crash on our servers. Both the original website and its backup are gone, so we will have to manually try to find and restore as much information as we can. All other information will have to be recreated.
December 2012: After 13 years, Bunkerleute says farewell to 'Albatros' and moves the location of its parties to 'De Blauwe Kater'. The reasons are plentiful: better sound, better lighting, a larger variety in drinks and a stage that allows organising concerts. Blauwe Kater is located in proximity of Albatros. More news. The party agenda for the first half of 2013 is ready. We 've also made the site 'nicer': the blog replaces the flash news, the overall look and feel has improved, there was a technical change so that we easily put several flyers on our home page and finally all of the flyers are now clickable. Don't forget to send in a top 100. We wensen jullie allemaal een prettige eindejaar en hopelijk tot in februari!
October 2012: Our site is currently in maintenance, this includes some experiments with the layout that should improve the user experience. Agenda news. The festival season is well beyond us and we hope it was as pleasant for you as it was for us. We are now working hard on the party calendar for 2013. It promises to be an exciting year as we are working on moving our parties to a new venue. More info will follow. There will unfortunately be no party on the 31st of December.
June 2012: The Bunkerleute team is taking a summer break. See after the summer or ... perhaps until Amphi, Summer Darkness or Mera Luna. We are definitely going :-)
May 2012: We hope you like the new layout of our website. All important information is up to date. We now plan to start working on our history section.
March 2012: We are working on a new layout for our website.
December 2011: the site has been updated. Some old information was removed, the links on the right hand side have been moved towards a links page. This frees up some space on the right hand side where we can put announcements and an extra flyer. Finally we also introduced the past events section and a section with detailed information about our home base, Albatros venue.