It’s a Saturday evening and Berlin is brimming with possibilities to enjoy one of the first mild evenings of the year. One of the events taking place tonight, March 21st, is Clueso’s concert at Uber Arena. The German singer, songwriter, rapper and producer has long acquired legend status within the national music scene and so it comes as no surprise that his show has been sold out for a long time. Among the 17k people in the audience a few celebrities can also be spotted.
Opening the evening, LOTTE and her guitarist step on stage at 7:15pm. With just the two of them, their performance is set out to be on the calmer side which fits well with the songs LOTTE plays today. LOTTE is a regular guest at Clueso concerts and they share a deep friendship, which is why Clueso had invited her once again this time.
During her set, LOTTE performs the two singles ‘Jenny’ and ‘wenn du tanzen willst’ from her upcoming album, as well as her hit ‘Auf das, was da noch kommt’, among others. For the first two songs, the small section of the stage in front of Clueso’s giant curtain, where LOTTE and her guitarist are playing, is only dimly lit which creates a very intimate atmosphere. From the third song on, a white-blue lighting sets a different mood and the orbs of light projected onto the backdrop match perfectly with LOTTE’s sparkly disco-coloured dress.
After roughly 30 minutes, this first part of the evening is already done. On September 25th LOTTE will be playing her own show in Berlin as part of her ‘Wenn du tanzen willst Tour 2026’.
At 8:05pm, Clueso quietly enters the stage. He starts off his set with the beloved and fairly old fan-favourite ‘Chicago’. The giant curtain that has ‘Deja-Vu’ written on it, which is both the name of the album as well as the tour, is still hiding most of the stage. As the song gets more upbeat towards the end, the curtain gets released and reveals a huge stage full of different instruments and multiple touring band members. Shortly after, ‘Chicago’ ends with the first round of confetti of this evening.
Clueso can be very energetic and is truly making use of the size of the stage. The 46-year-old is running around from left to right and back and forth between all of his band members, clearly having a lot of fun. On the back end of the stage there is a big LED screen set up which shows live moments from all around the arena.
Having a career spanning decades of music and hits from early on, Clueso is able to play some of his most famous songs ‘Neuanfang’ and ‘Keinen Zentimeter’ right within the first five songs. For a second he seems a bit caught off guard by the 17k audience singing along every word, creating goosebumps all around, but he quickly overcomes this and relishes the moment. From then on, he basically becomes one with the crowd and the show starts to feel like a big family gathering.
Not just the old songs are well-known, but also the ones off Clueso’s newest album Deja-Vu which has been out since late February. For the title track, Clueso leaves the last few chords for the fans to sing on their own and they ace the assignment. Next up is ‘Minimum’, another song off the new album. It’s more upbeat than the previous emotional ones and gets the party going. Clueso screams “Berlin, ich brauche euer Maximum für diesen Song!“ (“Berlin, I need your maximum for this song!“) and the crowd delivers. Throughout the song, Clueso’s saxophonist plays an astonishing solo and the song ends with another round of confetti.
Suddenly Clueso can’t be found on stage anymore. After a short while, he appears up in the seated section in the auditorium where he performs two of his oldest songs tonight, ‘Fanpost’ and ‘Herz Boom Boom’ from 2004. Overall, Clueso truly enjoys getting close with his fans as he also shows during one of his most famous songs ‘Gewinner’, later in the show. After ‘Herz Boom Boom’, Clueso runs back to the main stage and performs a medley of songs such as ‘Freidrehen’, ’37 Grad im Paradies’, ‘Heimatstadt’ or ‘Leider Berlin’. After ‘Leider Berlin’, the third round of confetti goes off.
A few songs later, it’s time for another highlight of the show. Clueso tells the story of how he became friends with Udo Lindenberg – one of the most well-known Germans and legendary icon from Hamburg. The song ‘Cello’ and their joint performance of it at MTV unplugged can be seen as a national treasure. Clueso recalls sitting on a rooftop with Udo at 4am and talking about another German singer called Elif. Shortly after, Clueso welcomes Elif on stage to sing ‘Cello’ with him. Elif isn’t the only guest he welcomes on stage tonight. During ‘Wenn du liebst’, LOTTE joins him for an electrifying performance and for ‘Zusammen’, his tour manager joins to do the rap part!
This next part of the concert especially feels like a giant party. Happiness and joy are all around. ‘Tanzen’, ‘Zusammen’ and ‘Achterbahn’ make sure everyone is moving and having the time of their lives without much time to rest in between. During ‘Zusammen’, Clueso changes the lyrics from ‘Zusammen so wie Mann und Frau’ (‘Together just like man and woman’) to ‘Zusammen so wie Frau und Frau’ (‘Together just like woman and woman’) and the LED screen shows the BiPoc Trans Pride Flag on full size to underline the statement. The crowd reacts with loud cheering and applause.
The last two songs, however, are a bit calmer and nostalgic. The LED screen clearly documents Clueso being a bit emotional as he thanks the crowd for enabling him to do what he loves most – music. ‘Barfuß über Glas’ is the song to end this beautiful evening. Clueso thanks the audience one last time and reveals he is coming back to Berlin to play another open air show at Waldbühne on September 4 2027. Tickets for that show will be available from next Tuesday on.
