The Young Gods open ‘We Are All XXX’ exhibition in Fribourg
The Young Gods open “We Are All XXX,” a free exhibition on the band’s history in Fribourg, Switzerland, from December 17, 2026, to January 31, 2027.
Swiss industrial rock band The Young Gods will open “We Are All XXX,” a free exhibition on the band’s history, at L’Atelier in Fribourg, Switzerland, running from December 17, 2026, to January 31, 2027. The exhibition marks 41 years since the band’s formation and is organized around three timelines: past, present and future.
Spread across four floors, “We Are All XXX” combines archival material, sound and visual installations, and new work built around the band’s history, current activity and ongoing projects. LoudHer PR, which represents the band, describes the show as “not a retrospective” but a story “still being written.” The exhibition is free of charge and takes place in Fribourg, a city the band’s representatives describe as closely linked to its history.
The exhibition is presented in partnership with Eikonlab, a vocational school for applied arts, the SMEM (Swiss Museum and Centre for Electronic Music Instruments), and the MIAM (Immersive and Artistic Machine in Motion), along with anyma. Scenography and visual communication for the show were handled by wapico.
Events around the exhibition
A series of concerts and screenings accompanies the exhibition’s opening in Fribourg:
- Three concerts at Nouveau Monde on December 15, 16 and 17, 2026, ahead of the exhibition’s opening day. Tickets are available through younggods.com.
- A film and documentary cycle at Korso Cinema, including a dedicated weekend of screenings and live shows on December 18, 19 and 20, 2026.
- A performance of Terry Riley’s “In C” by dance company Sasha Waltz & Guests at the Equilibre theatre on January 20, 2027. The show is already sold out.
The full program for the exhibition and its accompanying events will be announced at a later date.
About The Young Gods
The Young Gods formed in 1985, when Franz Treichler began composing songs from sound collages he had recorded on a four-track machine after moving to Geneva, Switzerland. The band took its name from “Young God,” a track on the Swans EP of the same title. Early member Cesare Pizzi played sampler alongside Treichler and drummer Frank Bagnoud, who left the band in 1987 and died in 2005. The band’s current lineup comprises Treichler on vocals, sampler, computer and guitar, Pizzi on sampler and computer since rejoining in 2012, and Bernard Trontin on drums and electronics since 1997.
Built around samples of treated guitar, musique concrète and classical music alongside electronica, the band’s sound mixes industrial rock, avant-rock and post-industrial elements. Treichler himself has favored the term “electronic rock music.” The band’s self-titled 1987 debut, produced with former Swans member Roli Mosimann, was named album of the year by Melody Maker. “L’eau rouge” followed on Play It Again Sam in 1989. “The Young Gods Play Kurt Weill” came out in 1991. “T.V. Sky,” the band’s first English-language album, followed in 1992. The band then signed to Interscope Records and released “Only Heaven” in 1995.
The band released “Heaven Deconstruction” in 1997. “Second Nature” followed in 2000 on the Intoxygene label; Ipecac Recordings issued it in North America in 2003. “Music for Artificial Clouds” arrived in 2004, then “Super Ready/Fragmenté” in 2007, “Knock on Wood” in 2008 and “Everybody Knows” in 2010. “Data Mirage Tangram,” mixed by Alan Moulder, followed in 2019 and was nominated for IMPALA’s European Independent Album of the Year award. The band released “Appear Disappear” in 2025.
The Young Gods performed with the Lausanne Sinfonietta at the Montreux Jazz Festival’s 2005 anniversary show, with guest vocals from Mike Patton. The band collaborated live with hip-hop duo Dälek at Eurockéennes in 2007. It scored a live performance of the 1970 documentary “Woodstock” at the 2009 Paléo Festival. In 2022, the band released “Play Terry Riley In C,” a recorded tribute to the minimalist composer now revisited on stage as part of the Fribourg exhibition’s accompanying events. The exhibition arrives as the latest chapter in a history Side-Line has followed through releases including 2019’s “Data Mirage Tangram” and 2025’s “Appear Disappear”.
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