News

13.02.2019
Acts

Take off with Twenty One Pilots – and many more!

Following Patent Ochsner, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Marteria & Casper, Lo & Leduc, AnnenMayKantereit, Bilderbuch, RIN, and many more we are now happy to announce the next acts for this year’s Gurtenfestival. So, look up, because we’re starting this list with TWENTY ONE PILOTS who will be landing on the Gurten during the course of their extended “Bandito Tour”. So check in at the Gurtenfestival and get ready for take-off with many high-flying stars and a stellar array of musical variety. Plenty of Gurten gems are already on board, waiting to be discovered.

Two years ago they won a Grammy, last year they conquered the charts with their “Trench” album – and this year the successful duo Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun a.k.a. TWENTY ONE PILOTS are ready for take-off as Wednesday’s headliners at the Gurtenfestival, revving up their turbines with a crazy mix of electro-pop, rock, hip-hop, and, and, and. However, the opening act on the main stage will be a woman who in the past opened for Kendrick Lamar and Snoop Dogg: COELY – a name to be remembered. The Belgian urban artiste with Congolese roots switches easily between hard rhymes and her captivating soul voice. Be there! For friends of straight-as-guitar-strings indie-rock we recommend THE SHERLOCKS from Sheffield. Two sets of brothers and a classical line-up with drums, bass, guitars, and passionate vocals. We have no doubt that the marquee will be on fire right from the onset of the festival.

Thursday will bring more Grammy air to the mountain above Bern: in 2018, MURA MASA was nominated twice for this prestigious award, and this week he finally received his Grammy for Best Remixed Recording! The very young and highly praised multi-talented music producer brings his tracks to the stage with a 100 % live feeling, promising a surprise or two at every performance. Another insider tip for Thursday is KHRUANGBIN. The name may be a tongue-twister, and the music of this trio from Texas might be an entire genre of its own. But if you’re up to the adventure you’ll be treated to something that can be described as “soul meets psychedelia with dub and world music dancing in the background”. And we’re not even mentioning the occasional Asian surf licks. Crazy.

Friday is packed with highlights. In addition to the acts that were already announced (such as Patent Ochsner, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Bilderbuch, or Sophie Hunger) we should also mention BALOJI. With his mélange of afro beats, hip-hop, and a decent dose of funk, the artist from Belgium has a unique knack for creating an exuberant party atmosphere. Friday’s opening act at the marquee will be NURA, the German rapper and actress who is also a member of the SXTN duo that, among other venues, has brought the Reithalle in Bern to a boil.

On to Saturday: CLAPTONE will don his golden mask and turn the marquee into a veritable house club. And it’s going to be a Switzerland premiere for HYUKOH: this power-pop band from Korea has never before spread their charms over here. Korea on the Gurten? Why not! Not much needs to be said about LO & LEDUC. We can already imagine what’s going to happen with those guys! Closing this year’s Gurtenfestival will be a very special act: RUDIMENTAL on the main stage! It is going to be a brilliant live performance with lots of people on the stage, including DJs and MCs and everything else. There will be liquid funk all over Bern. The collective from London will start at 11:45 p.m., making sure that the audience will leave the festival with bright eyes and smiling faces.

Switzerland is cool!
Once again, Swiss musicians will be prominently featured at the Gurtenfestival. Regardless of whether we are talking about the main stage, the marquee, or the Waldbühne: we simply like Swiss acts that know how to make the Gurten rock. YOKKO will introduce their new album on Saturday. ANNA ROSSINELLI (Wednesday) will surprise us – and win us over – with rather new sounds. VELVET TWO STRIPES will perform good, solid 1970’s style rock, and BIG ZIS, the “Grande Dame” of Swiss rap, will (finally!) be back for a performance on Saturday. And then there will be NATIV the rapper on Saturday, MANILLIO on Friday with his fine oeuvre “Plus Minus”, as well as BLACK SEA DAHU with their dreamlike songs and enchanting vocals. MNEVIS will bring indie-pop to the Gurten on Wednesday while KLAUS JOHANN GROBE will do the same with their, well, modern funky disco pop. In addition, we are pleased to announce JULDEM and MARIUS BEAR, two up-and-coming artists nominated for a Swiss Music Award 2019 in the “SRF 3 BEST TALENT” category. The four “Tickets to Rock” will be determined at the Waldbühne Live Contest in the legendary Mühle Hunziken on 2^nd March 2019.

On discovery tour in the dance tents
The complete programme of the three dance tents (Supermercado, Cosmodrome, and Soundgarden) will be announced in the next few weeks. Look forward to a well-tempered mix of current hits and hip new discoveries.

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