Latest Blog Roll

Gurtenfestival 2023

2023 was Gurtenfestival's 40th edition, with 67 bands performing over the course of a celebratory five days instead of the usual four. What started as a small folk music gathering in the 1970s has now become one of Switzerland's best-known festivals, with a daily count of about 20'000 people heading up a hill on the outskirts of Bern. The English Show covered two days of this year's Gurtenfestival, enjoying the range of music on offer as well as the always-stunning views of the Alps.

Polyphia in Zurich - 24 May 2023

Polyphia is currently one of the hottest bands in instrumental prog rock. With Tim Henson and Scott LePage on guitar and Clay Gober and Clay Aeschliman on bass and drums, the band has been delivering technically advanced and harmonically beautiful songs since 2010. On their tour through Europe, they came to Zurich for their very first Swiss show, supported by Johan Lenox.

 

 

 

Sam Smith in Zurich - 16 May 2023

English singer-songwriter Sam Smith released their most recent album «Gloria» in January 2023. Taking the album on the road, Smith launched «Gloria The Tour» in April 2023, with a stop at the Hallenstadion in Zurich for a near sold-out show.

 

 

 

 

Bring Me The Horizon in Basel - 21 February 2023

The UK's Bring Me The Horizon came to Basel with not one, not two, but three special guests and support bands, making their «Post Human European Tour» a major event on the touring circuit. Bring Me The Horizon started out as a deathcore band in 2004 and evolved over the years to merge metalcore and post-hardcore with electronica and pop. Hugely popular, they have sold over 4 million albums and have topped the UK charts many times.

 

 

Katatonia, Solstafir and SOM in Zurich - 2 February 2023

Two masters of dark and melancholy metal stopped off in Zurich on their "Twilight Burials" tour through Europe: Sweden's Katatonia and Iceland's Sólstafir. For over a quarter of a century, both bands have been releasing music in varying degrees of heaviness, traversing the subgenres of black metal, death metal, post-metal and more – and in all cases, connecting emotionally with their audiences.

Dan Mangan in Zurich - 30 November 2022

"I wanted this album to feel like the inside crook of a familiar elbow on the nape of your neck, a comforting embrace," Dan Mangan has said about his new album "Being Somewhere". "These songs are tenderhearted and unfurl like an overdue conversation with a dear friend. They essentially lay out where we’re at, how I’m doing, and how I think I can help."

 

The Cure in Basel - 19 November 2022

No band could possibly still be this good four decades into their career, surely? Yes, they could. Formed in 1978 and with thirteen studio albums under their belt, The Cure continue to pack venues as they tour the world. Their schedule is relentless, three nights in a row, one day off, then two nights again, each concert almost three hours long – how on earth do they do it?

 

 

 

Kodaline and Gavin James at the Baloise Session - 8 November 2022

It was two halves of an Irish coin at this Baloise Session evening – one half a rousing time at a pub in Dublin, the other half a gentle sing-along around the fire. Gavin James and Kodaline hail from Dublin, all of them starting as buskers before graduating via small clubs to headliner status.

 

 

 

Editors in Lausanne - 16 October 2022

Editors just seem to get better and better. Starting out as an indie rock band in the noughties, over the years they kept adding layers of electronica and experimentation, growing stronger with each consecutive album. Their newest, "EBM", is characterised by the industrial electronica of musician and producer Benjamin John Power, a.k.a. Blanck Mass, who joined the band as a full-time member in 2022.

 

 

 

Gurtenfestival 2022

It's been three years since the last Gurtenfestival – and this year's edition was the 10th time that The English Show reported from this lovely festival on a hill on the outskirts of Bern.