On the third day of Reeperbahn, the first act we visited was the Austrian band Glazed Curtains. While the venue they played at, Nochtwache, was not so full when their set started at 13:30, it filled up more as they continued playing. As soon as their set ended, Teenage Dads began their performance at the Molotow. Their 30-minute set was part of a showcase of Australian music. The show was filled with crowd interactions, and halfway through, lead singer Jordan Finley spoke his best German: “Ich bin Teenage Dad”. The band left the stage under loud applause from the audience as soon as their time was up.
Palestinian-Swiss artist Jamila had already played a set on the second day of Reeperbahn, but played another one on the third day at Spielbude XL. These were her first gigs outside of Switzerland. It was then time for a short break from music to attend the presentation of the International Music Journalism (IMJ) Award. There were winners across different formats, such as text, audio, and multimedia. Matilda Jelitto, introduced by the moderators as someone who is known for taking a deep dive into artists, as well as discussing important topics such as feminism, won the award for German Music Journalist of the Year.
At 19:00, American band The Dark.FM played a set at the Bahnhof Pauli on their first small tour through Germany. Ten minutes after their set had come to an end, Chloe Slater took to the stage of Uebel & Gefährlich. Her fans had been anticipating her set for quite a while and were visibly excited when she walked out. In the crowd, she spotted someone wearing her merch, gave them a shout-out, to which the fan said that they had gotten a bunch of compliments on it. All the people in attendance were dancing, vibing along, and simply enjoying the music. At the beginning of her set, Slater had unfolded a Palestinian flag to show her support and bring awareness to the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Before singing her last song, she stated that “I just want to say, free Palestine!”.
Back at the Spielbude XL, Swiss artist and winner of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, Nemo, played an outdoor show. The area in front of the stage was completely full as a sea of people showed up to watch them perform. Their third song of the night was the single ‘Hocus Pocus’, and this was the first time that Nemo ever performed this song live. The song had been released at midnight that same day. Joining Nemo on stage was a DJ named Hairy, who was dressed up in a pink, hairy costume and wore sunglasses. Before singing the song ‘I rarely understand my thoughts’, Nemo stated that they find it “really hard to sing”, which is why they sat down on the DJ’s table. This created a beautiful, more intimate moment.
Later at night, Austrian artist Bac played a show at the Kaiserkeller. People were clapping and singing along throughout his entire set. When he asked “Habt ihr noch Kraft, Hamburg?” (transl. “Do you still have strength, Hamburg?”), loud cheers could be heard. A friend of his, who played the keys during the set, was also invited to sing a song of his own. Five minutes after Bac’s set had ended, Jude York began his set at the Imperial Theater. Playing at a theater truly matched the artist’s vibe as he theatrically walked down the stairs that were part of the show’s backdrop. As his band and he played the first song, the audience clapped and cheered. A few songs later, his mom took to the stage so they could sing a song together, which was incredibly wholesome. Mere moments later, drummer Thomas Reinholz got up from behind his kit to switch places with York. Both of them showed off their ‘skills’. Although the theater was seated, several people did stand up throughout the set to dance along. The crowd was truly attentive to the music and to what happened on stage.
The third day of the festival ended with the band Kraftklub. Throughout the day, the band had played a surprise tour throughout Hamburg’s many music venues. Most of these sets had been only fifteen minutes long. The only ones that were not were the show at the Docks that we attended, and the final show of the night at Gruenspan. The band had never made any announcement on their social media; they had only hung up posters on the streets. As Kraftklub is obviously a well-known name, they gathered huge crowds for each set. Already during the third song they played at the Docks, a moshpit started. On this surprise through, they also debuted the new song ‘Unsterblich sein’, a collaboration with German singer Domiziana, who joined them on stage. They performed the song twice: first, a slower version with people’s phone lights being swayed in the air and lighting up the room, and then a faster version. In between the mini-shows and at the shows themselves, Kraftklub filmed the song’s music video, which is out now. Check out the full gallery of day 3 here!
