Day 2 of the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg continued right where it ended the day prior: sunny and full of happy vibes.
Climbing the last steps of the metro station St. Pauli, one could already hear Soffie perform on the Fritz Kola stage nearby. The German singer rose to fame via TikTok where she uploaded her anti-fascist song, ‘Für immer Frühling’, which then carried the anti-right wing protests all over Germany earlier this year. Now she is able to go on a headline tour performing in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and thus will soon visit Hamburg again.
Just like the previous day, some skateboard action was going on right next to the Fritz Kola stage. Anyone could borrow a board, and the coach from Skateboard Academy was there to help whoever needed it. It was a great coincidence that this whole week was filled with sun, perfect for skating, even though the festival takes place in the most rainy city in Germany.
At 4 PM, Dutch band Sarah Julia played a 30-minute set at Molotow Club. The band built around the sisters Sarah and Julia played in Hamburg just one week earlier supporting Paris Paloma’s Europe tour. The set list today contained songs such as ‘Amsterdam’, ‘Black Box’ and ‘Cairngorms’. For many of the songs, the sisters explained the meanings behind them. ‘Black Box’ for example refers to the countless times they watched plane investigation series when they were younger, and ‘Cairngorms’ is the name of the national park where they used to go hiking with their dad. ‘Cairngorms’ was also the last song of this set, but in the evening Sarah Julia was playing another show at the Imperial Theater.
45 minutes after Sarah Julia’s set at Molotow Club ended, German singer Jolle took the stage at the N-Joy Reeperbus. Everyone performing there this day is part of the ARD New Music Hotlist that highlights emerging musicians, Jolle being one of them.
The young independent artist dressed in all green managed to fit a great number of songs into her short set. One of them is called ‘Zu Nice’ and is a love song, which she admitted is a bit unusual for her. The set was wrapped up with ’Wir gehen rein’, a song about partying. The audience clearly enjoyed both the bass-based set and the gentle sun on their faces.
Next up at this venue was Philine Sonny. This German artist sings in English and recently opened for German legend Casper at his iconic concert in Bielefeld. Maybe because of that, her audience is a little bigger compared to the crowd sizes before. After a few slower songs on guitar, Philine Sonny spoke up against violence towards women and emphasized that men should finally speak up as well. The song to end this set was called ‘Berlin’.
As mentioned before, a lot of artists at the festival perform more than one set, and so today was the second day that fans could see Andrew Cushin play, this time at Headcrash. The club was well-filled and the fans sang along to every song. ‘Catch Me If You Can’ was one of the first songs to be played and the set went on with bangers such as ‘It’s Coming Round Again’ and ‘Waiting For The Rain’. Cushin’s songs can feel very happy but can also be taken with a slightly melancholic approach, definitely having the potential for some tears to be shed in the audience.
Speaking of melancholic and nostalgic music, the kings and queens of this are, at least in Germany, the band Juli. Their album Es ist Juli, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, has shaped several generations and you simply can’t imagine the German music scene without it.
Tonight, Juli played an 80-minute set at the infamous Große Freiheit 36, starting right off with one of their most iconic songs ‘November’. The crowd went wild and instantly made it clear that this was going to be an evening to remember. During the show, singer Eva Briegel interacted a lot with the audience as well as explained the motivations behind her songs. Before ‘Wolke’, she recalled her experience of growing up in a small town and how she always felt like she had to leave and go somewhere where there is more going on. However, only after leaving she realised that the only place where she feels truly right is her hometown.
After the newer ‘Wolke’, a highly anticipated song was next – namely ‘Geile Zeit’. Even 20 years after its release, it is still a giant hit and the audience sang along at the top of their lungs. The remaining setlist was a mix of old and new songs, featuring another song that every German knows the words for: ‘Perfekte Welle’. At 10.30 PM the set ended on a calmer note with ‘Regen und Meer’.
One of the latest acts of this day was Mothica, who started the show at 10.45 PM at Molotow Club. One of her first songs was ’buzzkill’ off her 2021 EP forever fifteen. Next up was a cover of Bring Me The Horizon’s masterpiece ‘Can You Feel My Heart’ which had everyone in the room singing along.
Mothica had some dedicated fans in the crowd and a beautiful fan project took place for her song ‘forever fifteen’, which is very personal to her and to a lot of her fans as well. Countless flashlights were now illuminating the club, creating a peaceful atmosphere. The last song of the evening then created a completely different atmosphere again, but the crowd was still digging it. Mothica performed a cover of Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star’, energising the whole room one last time tonight. After the show, Mothica stayed outside of the club so that fans could talk to her, take pictures and also grab some merch.
The festival ended here for Melomaniacs, but fans could look forward to two more days filled with amazing artists to enjoy. Check out all photos from day 2 here!
