First Impressions in Hamburg

Entrance:
When I woke up at home at 10:00 and scrolled through Instagram stories, I saw that people had already been camping since 4:50. Considering that the temperatures were quite below freezing point, it’s needless to say that I was astonished. So instead of subconsciously hurrying for a chance at the first row, I was grateful for this knowledge and accepted my fate, walked my dogs, and opted to arrive whenever convenient.

Once arrived at around 13:00, I counted up to 50 people present and guessed that a spot within the first three rows seemed realistic. Many people around me were serial visitors of the tour, and I couldn’t help but wonder how different the constellation of front rows would be if everyone got only one shot at those spots per tour to allow other, unique attendees a chance. What kickstarted this train of thought was overhearing someone in front of me, comforting their friends that they were “normal” for not queuing since the night – a hilarious judgment, in my opinion. Either way, it’s a first-world problem to think about such privileges, so I kept standing in line for the next 5 hours at about 2 °C before I was joined by my girlfriend shortly before doors.

Lo and behold, doors time was upon us, and my impatience was rising. The queuing situation at Barclays Arena was fairly simple from my point of view, since I could only see the one for general admission. Additionally, there was no golden circle category. After running late for about 20 minutes, I was surprised when the actual entry started, since it went so incredibly smooth. Ticket scan at the outside gate, passing security with only a visual check, and then another ticket scan before entering the concert room itself.

Place/seat and view:
Fast walking straight to the dead center in front of the stage, I found myself at approximately the third row. As further waiting progressed, people went to the toilet or got drinks, leaving empty spots, and when they returned, these holes were usually half-filled with someone else’s friend who had gone away just earlier. All of this movement eventually pushed us further back, while I still kept my spot anchored to the middle of the stage, and with no tall people in front of me!

Opener:
Aesthetic Perfection shouldn’t be a stranger to anyone following the Lindemann and Till Lindemann tours, as they’ve been repeatedly one of the opening bands at Till’s solo ventures since 2020.

This was my 15th time seeing them since 2012, and the 5th time as support act for Lindemann / Till Lindemann.

They delivered as usual, but I prefer seeing them when they’re playing their own shows. The key difference is that singer Daniel Graves is keen on hyping up the crowd and trying to win attendees as future fans, which is not a bad thing, but you can see how much more at ease the band is in front of their core audience.

After reading another review on this blog just earlier, I learned that they have a few rotation songs in their setlist, which made me feel grateful to finally have witnessed Summer Goth, a song that wasn’t played in 2023 as opening band. Another fun thing in their set was during a small technical hiccup when, I think, the backing track randomly dropped out. It’s obviously more fun for the observers than for the band itself, but it’s the most decisive showcase for musicians knowing how to cope with such in front of thousands of witnesses. Aesthetic Perfection proved they were able to bring the beat one way or another. Let’s just hope for a better sound next time, since it sounded quite muddy from my position, but that’s a common issue for an opening act.

Band:
Since I stood dead center, I wasn’t really able to focus on the other musicians, and instead followed mostly Till. He also just happened to capture us with his look straight in the eye right after he descended from the stairs at the beginning. I had not watched full show recordings of the tour, so it was my first time seeing the new production and hearing the newly added songs in a live setting. In hindsight, it was visually quite overwhelming, especially from near the front. I wish I could’ve focused on more aspects, but alas, one has only two eyes to turn.

Music:
Like many other fans, I was surprised by the decision not to debut Meine Welt fully live, which is instead used as a tape intro only. Fat works wonderfully as a first song, though! And so do both new additions: Und die Engel singen, and Prostitution are heavy hitters like Sport frei and Ich hasse Kinder.

But there’s a small caveat: those songs are way too similar in terms of soundscape, energy and pace to me, which is hardly surprising if you know that Sky van Hoff has written all four tracks. Maybe those could be turned into a medley in the future?

Speaking of, I finally got to witness the whole Übers Meer into Knebel 2nd part extravaganza and can’t help but think that a more seamless transition or switch would be way more entertaining. It’s entirely possible that my mind was trying to imagine such after reading initial reports from Leipzig, and was slightly disappointed to see the Knebel portion being more standalone instead.

The same goes for the Fish On break for the horse colonoscopy, which felt musically a bit empty or monotonous, where I could see some more contrasting music to underscore Doctor Danny’s work fitting better – maybe some accordion akin to the music video’s end?

I digress into wishful thinking, but in terms of setlists, I’d actually really like to see all kinds of exotic traits, whether it’d be a full electronic portion that could include Alle Tage ist kein Sonntag / Weinen sollst du, Till the End and Lollipop in some way or just more melodic songs like Yukon or That’s My Heart.

Back to reality: The actual setlist was solid, and I enjoyed it from start to finish, and it already included a new melodic addition: Übers Meer, which is a great choice!

Also, the lasers are an awesome addition as well. After wondering how those dark curves on the laser in some photos happen, I eventually saw the solution on my girlfriend’s phone screen during the recording: the shutter speed.

Favorite moment:
My favorite moments were the three key stunts of Till Lindemann’s shows: water, cakes, and fish.

For like most of the audience, they heard or know about those, but when a stunt like the water during Blut is anticipated and then isn’t executed, there’s a fun insecurity roaming around. People don’t know whether to keep themselves covered or not, if it may still rain down on them during the chorus instead, or if they’re truly safe. While the cakes were flying in Hamburg, the fish were not real, despite fiercely convinced people getting placebo olfactory senses. The sense of relief around me was absurd, and I loved every second of it.

Total experience:
I lowkey wish I had stood a bit further back, simply to take the full production in. But at the same time, I’m a sucker for front row interactions, so there goes my dilemma. Maybe I can redeem it at TillFest, since it runs on two consecutive days.
I had a great time in Hamburg as everything went smoothly and as I expected!

After the show, the audience was greeted with fresh snowfall, making up for the missing rainfall in the arena. Shuttle buses struggled on their way to the train station, as a friend told me, but that was the only inconvenience I came across that evening.

Stephen Boyle

Entrance:
Hamburg was cold and the wind that whipped round the arena did not help with that. The queues around the stadium were quite long when I arrived and I had to find my way to ‘Will Call’ to get my ticket and wrist band. When I found where I had to go, the doors were opening and people were starting to filter in. However, there was a delay for the people around Will Call due to the venue not having the guest list immediately to hand. This was soon alleviated and we filtered into the venue.

Place/seat and view:
This was my first time in the Barclays Arena, and it didn’t disappoint. The venue itself is good and there was plenty of space to move around and everything was well signposted. I took my position on the floor, to the right of the stage, in front of Emily, to get the best shots I could. The floor was full but I was not pushed or shoved, which was a nice change from many shows I have been to in the past, and I was able to see all of the show from my position. Although Emily and Brynn were slightly obscured by the large speaker stack on the floor at that side of the stage.

Opener:
Aesthetic Perfection opened the show and did not disappoint. As always this band delivered a fantastic performance. This was my first time seeing them as the four piece, and they were absolutely brilliant. Highlights of this band for me were S E X, Into the Void and Gods and Gold. These are my three favourite songs of theirs and hearing them live was just amazing.

Band:
This was the first show I could get to on this tour and it was really clear the band have gelled well. The interactions on stage were very good with plenty of linking up between Emily Ruvidich, Danny Lohner and Kristin Kaminski. Till seemed to be enjoying every minute as he strode from side to side, climbing onto the floor speakers to sing down into the crowd at the sides.

The overall feel of the band was very good. Having seen them in the 2023 European tour and watched plenty of footage from the festivals in 2025, plus avidly watching every incarnation of the band over the last few years, I have to say, that this line up seems to be the best for interactions and overall performance. Seeing Brynn Route contort herself round the pole and her keyboards, and at one point, climbing it to the very top before sliding down to land in the splits was something else. Several of the ladies in the audience around me visibly winced at that.

I manged to avoid being hit with the cake this time. Unlike last time, in Stockholm, where Emily spotted me, grinned then launched it at me and I got covered. This time, she saw me and walked towards my area of the crowd, but veered off and launched at the middle instead, was the closest I came to being caked again.

Music:
For me, there isn’t a song that I don’t like. There are some I like better than others, but overall, I like everything. What made this set list great for me was that it had plenty of my favourite songs in. It was fantastic to hear some of the new stuff played live.

There was only one issue during the entire show, and that was at the start, during Aesthetic Perfections set, the drop speakers on the right went out. Only briefly, but no vocals were heard for a good 20 seconds. The issue was remedied quickly, however, during Till’s set, the issue reappeared. Again, it was remedied quickly and was only one moment, but this did put a small dent in the evening.

I have to say though, being a hobby guitarist and a bit of a guitar nerd. Emily’s guitar tone was totally epic. I so want those settings for my guitar and amp. On the heavier songs, she was coming across loud, clear and very heavy. During Ich hasse Kinder, she showed how versatile she is by going from a nice heavy tone to a beautiful clean tone for the breakdown and she also seemed to be in her element during Praise Abort, being raised up high above the crowd on the platform at the front of the stage, where she tossed guitar picks into the crowd and tore into the song with that absolutely incredible tone.

Favorite moment:
Seeing Emily play live is always a favourite moment for me (I may be a bit biased), and the whole show was certainly memorable. The new songs are great and the whole show has a much ‘bigger’ feel to it. From Joe Letz‘s insane looking drum kit, to the drums and the keyboards going up on platforms, the dancers, the costumes and the hilarious nuns at the start for Fat, made this one of the best shows I have been to in 2025 (again, I may be biased). My only regret is I am unable to get to any more in Europe on this run.

Total experience:
This was my first, and unfortunately only time I am able to see them on this tour so my total experience is based solely on the one show. For me, I always love seeing the band live. My highlights are always watching Emily play. (I know, biased), but this time, the entire feel was enhanced. They all played together so well, the performance and look was so polished and raw all at the same time. The show gave me all the highs and emotions I have come to expect from Till. The only down point, was the sound dropping out briefly on the right of the stage. All in all, another amazing show from my favourite band.

9/10