Latest Blog Roll

Archive in Bern - 10 November 2023

The UK's Archive are never less than amazing, but there was something in the air on this evening at the sold-out Bierhübeli in Bern that was extra special, elevating their music onto another plane altogether. Archive are a collective that have been going for nearly 30 years, simultaneously well-known (to discerning music fans) and unknown (to the mainstream).

 

 

Freya Ridings and Passenger at the Baloise Session - 24 October 2023

«Tell A Story» was the theme of this Baloise Session evening featuring Freya Ridings and Passenger. Both artists more than lived up to that title, entertaining the audience with poignant and funny stories. Ridings is an English singer-songwriter who started writing music when she was 11.

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.

Basel's venues for art, theatre and more!

In addition to music and clubbing, we've also come up with a list of venues that feature art, theatre and more.

Basel's venues for music and clubbing!

New to Basel? Wondering where to go and what to do? The English Show has had the (not very) arduous task of scoping out Basel's cultural life – and we've come up with a list of venues which feature live music (from classical to jazz to pop/rock) and club sounds. We've also added some venues further afield – in Zurich, for example.