To make the gig, it’s not just a short jaunt for Claus Larsen; it’s about a 5,000-or-so mile venture.
But that’s not stopping him. Larsen is the founder of Leæther Strip, a Danish electro-industrial act that is one of the headliners at Absolution Fest, scheduled for Oct. 2-4 in Ybor City.
This year marks the fifth edition of the intimate-scaled goth-industrial-synthpop-centered music festival (it wasn’t held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
Co-founded in 2002 with Pete Olen, concert promoter-DJ Mark Paradise began the festival in 2018 after attending large, alternative, goth-centered music festivals in Germany. Paradise, who is also a host of the weekly alternative-music podcast Communion After Dark, told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay this year’s Absolution Fest will be larger and more diverse for those who attend.
He said the festival has gone from 18 acts to 21, featuring some of the best darkwave, synthpop, industrial and post-punk acts together in one venue.
Absolution Fest: Deep Red w/Dark Chimse/Haunt Me/Die Sexual/Ruined Conflict/Wingtips/Leatherstrip/more
Time Thu., Oct. 2, Fri., Oct. 3 and Sat., Oct. 4 2025
Location Crowbar, 1812 North 17th Street, Tampa
“Each festival is exciting because it gives like-minded people a chance to congregate and enjoy bands they would not usually see,” he said. “It also allows people to meet old and new friends.”
Along with Leæther Strip, other headliners include the four-piece Canadian post-punk group Actors, William Maybelline of the cyberpunk-centered Qual from the United Kingdom and Creux Lies, a Sacramento-based act blending 1980s-inspired gothic atmospheres with current synth padding.
Larsen’s partner and band companion, Kurt Grünewaldt Hansen, died Sept. 28, 2020, after a battle with cancer, and Larsen has carried on the act. He said he was going on a U.S. tour, contacted Paradise and got on the bill, his first Absolution Fest.
“So I start my 2025 US tour at Ab Fest. A great way to kick it off,” Larsen told CL.
Leæther Strip released the LP Fucking Perfect earlier this year and Larsen said his set will be a mix between the classic hits “mixed in with some songs I never played live before.”
“It will be a very energetic set so there will be dancing,” he said. “My shows are always a collaboration between the audience and I so lets make some energy and forget all the bullshit for a little while.”
Tickets to Absolution Fest 2025 happening at Crowbar in Ybor City Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 2-4 are still available and start at $50.
Doors each day for Absolution Fest 2025 are at 6 p.m.; first bands at 7 p.m.
All acts except for Actors, Dead Cool, Wingtips and Creux Lies are new to Absolution Fest.
Look below for the daily lineup.
Absolution Fest 2025 lineup
Thursday, Oct. 2
Actors
Alice
Cathedral Bells
House of Harm
Sculpture Club
Sleek Teeth
Soft Vein
DJ Kangal between sets
Friday, Oct. 3
Amulet
Creux Lies
Dancing Plague
Dead Cool
Dildox
Qual
Tears for the Dying
DJ Dino
Saturday, Oct. 4
Deep Red
Die Sexual
Haunt Me
L.U.S.T.
Leæther Strip
Ruined Conflict
Wingtips
DJ (unspecified)
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This article appears in Sept. 25 – Oct. 1, 2025.