Tip: Click for an audio preview!
Toten Hosen in the Stadium, Crypta in the Basement: The Hottest Concert Week of the Summer in NRW
NRW is boiling over this week: more than 50 shows between the Rhine and the Ruhr, from the sold-out arena to the sweaty basement club. Die Toten Hosen play their hometown twice, Brazilian death metal storms the Ratinger Hof, and three festivals throw their summer party all at once. Here are the highlights.
The Big Hitters of the Week
Monday already hits hard: metalcore pioneers Converge tear down Cologne's Essigfabrik – with British noise force Heriot in tow, whose mathy, brutal hardcore has been flattening half of Europe lately. If you like chaos, this is your night.
On Wednesday the intimate Ratinger Hof in Düsseldorf turns into a battlefield: Crypta, the Brazilian all-female unit led by ex-Nervosa bassist Fernanda Lira, brings death/thrash of the merciless kind. An absolute powerhouse – and a real gift to catch in a club this size.
And then the story of the week: Die Toten Hosen play their home Merkur Spiel-Arena twice, on July 3 and 4 – with none other than Rise Against and buzzsaw punks Bad Nerves opening. Düsseldorf punk history, two nights running, in front of a hometown crowd. It doesn't get bigger.
Underground Gems and Local Heroes
Away from the big halls, the Pott glows just as hot. At Oberhausen's Druckluft, doom locals Wasteland Haze serve up thick, tonne-heavy riff fog – a real hidden tip on Friday. The next day, NRW metal veteran Motorjesus takes over Aachen's metal day, while at the Krachgarten in Wesel, Wuppertal blues wizard Henrik Freischlader already sets the strings ablaze on Thursday.
Meanwhile at Essen's Don't Panic, crossover veterans D.R.I. celebrate pure hardcore-thrash on Wednesday – fast, short, brutal, exactly as it should be.
From Ska-Punk to Prog – A Bit of Everything
The rest of the week is a grab bag: Ho99o9 blow up the borders between punk, hip-hop and industrial at Düsseldorf's Zakk on Monday. Bad Nerves deliver their own headline show at Essen's Zeche Carl on Tuesday. The sisters of The Warning fill Münster's Skaters Palace with modern hard rock on Wednesday, Jaya The Cat bring reggae-punk to Dortmund's Junkyard on Friday, and Kraftklub rock Mönchengladbach (Fri) and Bielefeld (Sat).
The finale turns legendary: on Sunday two punk institutions collide at Cologne's E-Werk – Sex Pistols feat. Frank Carter and The Damned. Prefer something calmer? Marillion play open air on Bonn's Kunst!Rasen the same evening.
Three Festivals in One Weekend
And then there are the festivals: right on the doorstep, Castle Rock celebrates its very last edition after 26 years at Schloss Broich in Mülheim – Saturday with gothic-metal flagship Lord of the Lost and Crematory, Friday with Tanzwut and Nachtblut. No dark-music fan should miss this farewell. Bigger (and farther away): Rockharz in Ballenstedt and Ieperfest in Belgium's Ieper.
Don't Miss a Thing with KRACH!
Over 50 shows in seven days – from the arena to the basement club, this week has it all. Grab the KRACH app, follow your bands, and never miss a hitter again. See you in the pit! 🤘
