On Saturday, December 20th, it was time for the second edition of Flash Forward’s ‘Jahresabschlusskonzert’, with which they planned to close out the year in style. Just like last year, the event took place at Essen’s Weststadthalle, and it was completely sold out. To make the show extra special, three supports had been added to the line-up: German bands HIMITZU and Lost in Hollywood, and the English Mallory Knox.
Doors to the venue opened a little after 18:00, and the fans slowly but surely trickled in to fill the room before the first act of the night would take to the stage at 19:00. As the intro started playing over the speakers, HIMITZU’s four members walked on stage: lead singer Marisa Weiß, bassist and synth player Amy Conley, guitarist Olcay Soydan, and drummer Louis Wippich. They opened their set with ‘LITTLE GIRL’ and ‘GASOLINE’, after which Weiß stated that she was unfortunately feeling ill tonight. Regardless, she took center stage during most of the songs, while also giving Conley and Soydan time to shine during some short solos. Weiß’s make-up was simply adorable, with a little heart painted in between her eyebrows, and together with the flowers all along the mic stands, the look and feel of the set were truly elevated. It was clear, however, that she was having a hard time fighting through her illness. While she sounded great, she got quite emotional as she told the audience how much she had been looking forward to tonight’s show. It had been a dream come true for the band to play here tonight, and for it not to be as perfect as planned was difficult. The crowd definitely felt the need to cheer her up, and they gave the band all their energy as they clapped during ‘HOLY WATER’ and jumped during ‘OVERDOZED’. HIMITZU ended their set tonight with their most political song, ‘HUM4N 3RROR’. Before ending on that banger, Weiß shouted something along the lines of “fuck nazis, fuck fascists”, which led to loud cheers from the audience.
The crowd only got to take a breather for about fifteen minutes before it was time for Lost in Hollywood to take to the stage. The German metalcore band consists of lead singer Amon Garrasi, guitarist Timo Dymala, bassist Julian Utz, and drummer Samuel Minio. The stage was barely lit as they opened with ‘Pretty Skin’. It became immediately clear that several fans were in attendance, as the people in the front row were wearing merchandise and loudly singing along. This made Garrasi visibly even happier as he ran around the stage. During ‘Obsessed’, a small mosh pit opened for the first time tonight. The band continued with the newest single, ‘Like a River’, motioning for the crowd to jump along to the rhythm, and ‘The Fire’, during which Garassi went down to the barricade to sing with the fans. Despite most of their songs tonight being very high-energy, Lost in Hollywood also made time for an emotional moment. As they played the personal song ‘20-nine’, they asked the audience to hold up their phone lights. The biggest fans could be seen crying as Garassi sang the heartbreaking lyrics. As soon as the final note was over, however, the pace was picked right back up when the mosh pit reopened for ‘Midnight’. The band ended their set with ‘The Beauty of Death’, but not before Garrasi taught those not familiar with their music the lyrics to its chorus, which goes “I will remember you”.
Another fifteen-minute break took place before it was time for tonight’s third band. While setting up the stage, Mallory Knox’s drummer, Dave Rawling, entertained the crowd by going wild as Chappell Roan’s ‘Pink Pony Club’ played over the speakers. As soon as he’d started, he didn’t stop, making sure the crowd even enjoyed this portion of the night. At 20:35, the entire band was ready to start the show. Besides Rawling, who took to the stage first, Mallory Knox consists of lead singer Mikey Chapman, guitarist James Gillett and Joe Savins (who was not present tonight), and bassist Sam Douglas. Mallory Knox opened with ‘Ghost in the Mirror’ and ‘Beggars’. During the latter, the first crowdsurfer of the night was lifted into the air. As Mallory Knox hails from Cambridge, England, they obviously addressed the crowd in their native language, but Chapman attempted to sprinkle in some German by saying “danke schön!” (transl. “thank you so much!”). It’s been about ten years since the band got to tour Germany, so it was lovely for them to be playing here again. They mixed their newer songs with “old school” ones like ‘Wake Up’ and ‘Shout at the Moon’, during which the audience excitedly waved along. They then went “from one of our oldest”, ‘Oceans’, “to one of our newest”, ‘Sugar’. Before playing the final two songs on the set tonight, they told the fans they’d be at the merch after Flash Forward would finish their set. “Wear your Christmas hats, and we’ll say ho ho ho and stuff,” said Chapman, which led to loud laughter. “Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, this song’s called ‘Lighthouse’,” is how Chapman ended the night before, of course, playing the aforementioned song.
While Flash Forward was supposed to start their set at 21:20, their introductory song, The Killers’ ‘Mr. Brightside” only started playing over the speakers after 21:30. “Ein wunderschöner guten Abend, liebe Familie!” said lead singer and guitarist Stefan Weigel as the band opened the night with ‘Underdogs’. He was joined by guitarist Gerrit Kühne, bassist Jakob Wolff, and drummer Tino Wilczewski. On the setlist tonight were multiple songs that have been released as collaborations with other artists. While Wiegel himself sang Conrad Ellis of The Luka State’s part in ‘ENEMY’, Kühne sang Philip Wilhelm of From Fall to Spring’s part in ‘Start a Comeback’. These collabs were followed by a cover of No Angel’s ‘Daylight in Your Eyes’, with Wiegel asking the audience to sing along if they knew the lyrics. In between the songs, Wiegel made time for some speeches. He spoke, for example, about how this was already the best show of the year and that it’s important to keep small(er) events such as this one alive. Without them, a lot of culture would unfortunately be lost, a statement that led to a lot of cheers.
Flash Forward continued with “ein Liebessong”, ‘Give Me All Your Love’, followed by ‘FYU’. The band then continued with two other new songs they had never played live before, ‘STONE COLD SOBER’ and ‘BURNING IN HELL’. As Wiegel said, both songs talk about the importance of people being there for you when you are struggling mentally, and he asked people to hold their loved ones close tonight. For the second song, Amon Garassi came back on stage to sing along, and so did Our Mirage’s lead singer Timo Bonner, as both feature on the song. After this lovely moment, the energy got picked back up. A mosh pit was formed during ‘Skyline’, with someone waving a Flash Forward flag right alongside it. Wiegel got down into the pit to play his guitar, and a fan gave him a top hat to wear, which was later replaced by someone else with a Christmas hat.
Back on stage, Flash Forward continued with ‘One Way Track’. Wiegel took a moment to say how happy he is that there are so many different people in attendance tonight and that he is glad everyone is being so fully themselves. This was followed by a cover of Cher’s ‘Believe’. Wiegel told the crowd he wanted to see “at least six” people crowdsurfing, but preferably more – and more there were. The crowdsurfers just kept coming as security attempted to get them all to safety. Fortunately for the security, the crowdsurfing didn’t continue afterwards. Instead, a conga line formed during ‘Stuck on You’, which was even more fun.
As is usual in Germany, the crowd shouted for a “Zugabe” as soon as the band had left the stage. The audience didn’t have to wait long for that encore. A microphone was placed in the middle of the crowd so that Wiegel could perform the next song there. Before playing ‘No Use’ on his acoustic guitar, he told the audience how important it is to spend the holiday season with people who are good for you, whether they are family or not. He wrote this emotional song for his mother, who has unfortunately passed away. As soon as the song was over, Wiegel wasted no time as he said that while emotions are great, one has to also be able to move on. He made it back onto the stage to play ‘Lucid Dreaming’ and ‘Bloodshot Eyes’. During the latter, Wiegel motioned for the crowd to split right down the middle, which created a wall of death. Finally, Flash Forward ended their set with ‘Dancing in the Dark’. During this song, two crew members joined the band on stage playing guitars, and Wiegel stagedived before singing the final notes of the night on top of a fan’s shoulders.
This ‘Jahresabschlusskonzert’ was truly a night one would never forget. Four amazing bands on stage played about 4 hours of amazing music. For those left interested in seeing Flash Forward and their supports, they will be playing the Weststadthalle again on December 19, 2026. Tickets are available right now through Eventim!
