That’s how it was with HELDMASCHINE

Automatic translation. Improvements are constantly being worked on.

October 11, 2025, Hamburg, Logo
Support: Stoneman

There are bands that no longer need much explanation – just a name, a pulse and a collective nod. Heldmaschine belong in this category. A formation that has long since cemented its own place between industrial metal, NDH hardness and futuristic stage aesthetics. A sound of cold surfaces, hard riffs, machine rhythms and clear, unencrypted energy. They play precisely. Direct. Without frills. Their shows are not concerts – they are a high-pressure space in which sound, light and body merge into a single system. But this time something was different. Instead of large halls and stages with wide open spaces, the band decided to get close to the audience. Hamburg. Logo. Close. Direct. Completely sold out. Not a centimeter of air, just people, heat, breath. A room that demands everything – and gives everything back. The decision to take this tour to smaller clubs was not only courageous, but absolutely right: you can’t play closer to the audience than this.

Anyone who breathes here belongs

Stoneman from Switzerland opened the evening – not in the usual guitar configuration, however, but with a reduced, electronically focused set, supported by a female keyboardist who filled the stage with a cool presence and precise movements. It was different than usual – no less powerful, but more synthetic, more raw, more direct. They entered the room with the “He-Man Intro”, as if the evening was being deliberately charged up – a spark of ignition. “Eiskalt”, “An die Geräte” and “Ferrari Pferd” followed in a fast, almost mechanical flow; clear beats, a rhythm like a stoic heart pressing against the walls of the club. “Liebe Liebe”, “Wahnsinn” and “Dein General” continued to build up the crowd’s body temperature, while outside more were clamoring to get in. “Goldmarie”, “Der Rote Vorhang”, “Wer ficken will” and “Mord ist Kunst” closed the set with exactly the mixture of provocation and scene attitude you’d expect from Stoneman – but here it seemed more condensed, as if drawn through a burning glass. A heater in the best sense of the word. The Hamburg audience wasn’t warm, it was ready.

Proximity, pressure, energy

Even before a note was played, there was tension in the room like a breath being held. The logo had long since become a closed structure – tight, familiar, dense and fog crept across the stage as if it had always been there. And this is exactly where Heldmaschine ‘s setlist dramaturgy began in the next step – song by song, scene by scene, image by image. No countdown, no announcement. Just the flash of LED glasses, a cold futuristic look that cut through the darkness. And then – the first bars of “Eiszeit”. Precise. Hard. Cold. But the cold was not repellent. It attracted. It opened up. It drew the crowd closer. An atmosphere like in a pressure chamber, in which every breath became part of the collective sound. “Schlag mich” followed without delay, a physical piece that was demanding right from the start – hands up, bodies close, voices aligned. “Wer einmal lügt” picked up on this pulse, biting, screwing, straightening up like a posture that you can’t put down. With “Hand in Hand”, the mood shifted to the communal – no pathos, no exaggeration. Simply closeness. Body to body, shoulder to shoulder, a choir without an announcement. “Raus” then pushed everything in front of them that was still reserved. The logo vibrated. Floor, walls, chest – everything in the same beat.

Louder than doubt, sharper than memory.

“Karl Denke” brought this moment in which show and narrative intertwine. Darkness, historical heaviness, industrial throbbing. A dark figure, not fiction – but here it became a projection of our shadows. During “Nur ein Lächeln”, René Anlauff stood at the LED microphone stand – a mixture of performer and conductor. The room was focused. No noise from outside penetrated. “Bestie” raised flags in the audience – black, heavy, waved with pride. No patriotic fervor. But a sense of belonging. With “The Machine Speaks”, an almost mathematical precision moved in. Time. Repetition. Body rhythm. The audience moved like a single organism. “Ich will dein Bestes” ended in a driving drum solo that seemed like a physical attack in the confines of the club.

The break. The silence. The return.

Then a moment of complete reduction: “Where Is My Mind?” – acoustic, Rene with guitar. It wasn’t a break, it was a breath. A reminder that there are people behind the machine. Vulnerability. Vastness. A brief glimpse out of the darkness. What came next will stay with you: “Monoton” – the band in white vests and white masks, shoulder to shoulder at an overlong keyboard, black light, red laser beams cutting upwards like a curtain. An image that is not just visible, but memorable. Sacred, cool, perfect. “Sexschuss” brought the VR glasses – future, distortion, cyberpunk aesthetics. “Sehnsucht” then hit all the deeper, warmer, more human. “Radioactive” exploded in the room when René wore the laser collar – green beams that traveled through the fog like spores. No show distance. His laser beams were in the audience, among us. After “Checkmate”, his megaphone with laser beams and his command, his gesture, only rebellion in the audience. “Webterrorist” closed the concert evening for the time being – not as an end, but as a statement.

Encore – not an end, but an afterglow

“Luxus” opened the second helping – and Heldmaschine banknotes flew over the crowd. You could have thought it was ironic if it wasn’t for the sparkle in the audience’s eyes: we know what’s real. What remains. What counts. With “®”, the self-identity manifested itself: brand, machine, attitude. “Meine Welt” finally exposed the surface – raw, loud, direct. One last collective breath before the fog finally lifted.

Why this concert in particular counts

Heldmaschine are built for bigger stages. For big shows, flames, vastness, steel. But in the Logo – this legendary, tight, honest club – the show worked even more intensely. Without distance. Without escape. There was no spectator here – only participation. The decision to stage the “Eiszeit” Tour 2025 in Hamburg in such an intimate setting was the right one. You can’t get any closer to the audience. And sometimes that’s exactly what a machine needs: body heat. Closeness. Human touch in the metal. This concert was not just a tour stop. It was a backbone moment – an evening in which a band showed who they are when you take away the big stages and put them right in front of the people. Without protection, without distance, without room for decoration. Heldmaschine worked in the logo not despite the confinement – but because of it. Because everything is real here: sweat, closeness, eye contact, pulse. Because this is where it’s decided whether what you do carries – or falls. And this evening carried. Strong. Clear. Burning.

Text & photos: Thomas Friedel Fuhrmann – sees more, not less, in the dark

Setlist Stoneman
“He-Man Intro” – “Eiskalt” – “An die Geräte” – “Ferrari Pferd” – “Liebe Liebe” – “Wahnsinn” – “Dein General” – “Goldmarie” – “Der Rote Vorhang” – “Wer ficken will” – “Murder is art”

Setlist Heldmaschine
“Eiszeit” – “Schlag mich” – “Who lies once” – “Hand in Hand” – “Raus” – “Karl Denke” – “Nur ein Lächeln” – “Bestie” – “The machine speaks” – “I Want Your Best” – “Where Is My Mind? ” – “Monotonous” – “Sex Shot” – “Longing” – “Radioactive” – “Checkmate” – “Webterrorist” — “Luxury” – “®” – “My World”