HURRICANE 2023: On Stage

Automatic translation. Improvements are constantly being worked on.

16-18.06.2023, Scheeßel, Eichenring

The sister festivals Hurricane and Southside have been a fixed institution in Germany’s festival landscape for years. Located in the middle of June, one has to fight with summer thunderstorms, which occur more often at this time of year, – but this year it remained dry and very warm, except for a short but heavy rain shower, which provided cooling and “dust binding” on Saturday.

Friday started very dusty and traditional with the “Hurricane Swim Team”, before there was a proper dust battle with the Donots afterwards. Headliners of the day were Peter Fox, for whom the stage was very full – at least they got a dance group and some fans to support them – and then there was the grand finale with Billy Talent . Singer Benjamin was at a loss for words several times that day. While it is not the first time that Billy Talent played at the Hurricane, nevertheless the whole band was very emotional: “Thank you for giving a shit about this band”, Benjamin was happy and wanted to honor us at the end of the gig with a song they never played before. While everyone was still puzzling over what might be coming, it became clear from the first notes of “Red Flag” that this was just a joke.

New day, new dust – at least until Madsen‘s performance, where the sky opened its floodgates and cooled down the 78,000 fans. Before that, there was a real gem to marvel at on the blue stage: Chvrches transported those present into a dream world. Singer Lauren Mayberry sang her way into the hearts with her crystal clear voice – pure goosebumps! After getting dry again and it was dusk, the finale was celebrated with Muse. Here there was not only something for the ears, but also something for the eyes: A great light show, garnished with pyro effects and posing protagonists, who used the specially for their appearance built bridge – what more could you want? So the second day ended with fireworks, because also Casper, who closed the bag on the River Stage, didn’t miss the chance to close the evening fiery.

Day three – finale! There was no sign of yesterday’s cooling down on Sunday: temperatures around 28 degrees (82,4 °F) ensured a lot of sweat in front of the stages. Still, that didn’t stop anyone from celebrating. Unfortunately, the timing for Placebo was a bit off. A good half of the gig overlapped with the day’s headliner Die Ärzte, so a leaving was clearly noticeable. It’s a pity, because the otherwise so taciturn band was visibly in a good mood and even dropped the one or other announcement. Now let’s move on to Die Ärzte. Today the three proved again why there is only one God, namely BelaFarinRod. From rolling la-ola wave to flashlight sea to the fourth band member Vincent – there was again everything that the fan heart desires. Much too fast the festival was over again and we are already looking forward to the next Hurricane, which will take place from 21-23 June 2024.