That’s how it was at the “80er live” festival in Hamburg!

Neon Lights Over the Volkspark—When Hamburg Was “Forever Young” Again

So now it’s Hamburg’s turn, too. And no, this wasn’t some dimly lit over-40s party amid plastic palm trees, Prosecco, and “Do you remember?” For one summer day, the Volksparkstadion became what was probably the city’s biggest disco. More than 40,000 people came to celebrate with the heroes of a decade that suddenly feels surprisingly relevant again. Sandra, Gazebo, Nik Kershaw, Camouflage, Kim Wilde, Alphaville, Cutting Crew, Samantha Fox, Starship, Boy George, and Holly Johnson —names whose songs are still alive today. The ’80s are no longer just about shoulder pads, Walkmans, eyeliner, and wild hairstyles that, in retrospect, probably violated various safety regulations. Synth-pop met new wave, electronic coldness met big emotions, disco met rock, and New Romantic met the last remnants of punk attitude. Much of what sounds like a given today in dark wave, synth-pop, or electronic pop still carries that DNA—the fingerprints of those years. The music of the ’80s wasn’t just a cult phenomenon. It is a cult phenomenon.

A festival featuring these songs was therefore less a question of “if” than of “where” and “when.” Hamburg now had its answer: Volksparkstadion, July 18, 2026. The concept is tailored to the attention span of a generation that, in theory, shouldn’t even be the target audience today: no two-hour shows, no filler, no hour-long set dedicated to the new album while everyone waits for the old hit. Short sets. Hit. Exit. Next act.

Peter Illmann hosts the evening in true style, and the role of host could hardly have been cast more perfectly. As a host of “Formel Eins,” he is himself a part of the history of this music. Not as some retro gimmick tacked on after the fact, but as someone who was right in the thick of that madness back then. While the stage is being set up between acts, a DJ keeps the stadium energized with more ’80s classics. There’s practically no downtime, and even the set changes had some bass.

Sandra – Maria Is Back

Sandra opens with “(I’ll Never Be) Maria Magdalena.” It takes just a few seconds—and the stadium is transported back to the sound of 1985. “Secret Land” showcases the more mysterious side of her sound, while “Everlasting Love” brings glossy pop to the stadium. “Johnny Wanna Live,” “I Need Love,” and “Heaven Can Wait” continue the journey through her success story. The set closes with “In the Heat of the Night”—darker, more sensual, and exactly that blend of pop and nocturnal melancholy that still works decades later. Not a bad start to a journey through time that isn’t really meant to be one at all.

Gazebo – Italo Disco with a Story of Its Own

With “Lunatic,” Gazebo instantly fills the Volkspark with Italian neon lights. Next comes “Dolce Vita,” the hit made famous by Ryan Paris, whose lyrics were written by Gazebo —aka Paul Mazzolini —himself. With “Tarzan Boy,” he revisits another Italo-classic, before “I Like Chopin” unveils that melancholic side of the genre where the dance floor and heartbreak have always coexisted surprisingly peacefully. “Masterpiece” brings this brief excursion into an era when electronic pop music still sounded like the future to a close.

Nik Kershaw – Four Songs, Four Hits

Nik Kershaw kicks things off with “Wide Boy,” but by the time he gets to “The Riddle,” the stadium is totally into it.

“Wouldn’t It Be Good” is one of those songs where the first few bars are enough to bring back entire chapters of your life. Melancholy, pop, and that quintessentially British ’80s sound are still wonderfully, if slightly off-kilter, woven together in it. “Wouldn’t It Be Good” blends melancholy, pop, and British ’80s elegance, while “I Won’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” finally delivers that big, bright sing-along moment.

Camouflage – Suddenly, Everything Goes Black

With “Camouflage,” the journey takes us straight to that musical corner where many Orkus! readers feel right at home. “The Great Commandment” needs no introduction, even in 2026. That stoic electronic pulse, the catchy melody, Marcus Meyn’s voice—there it is again, that distinctive German take on synth-pop that never wanted to be merely a copy of its British role models. “Suspicious Love” slows things down a bit before “Love Is a Shield” hits that point where underground clubs and mainstream parties suddenly share the same musical memory.

Kim Wilde – Not a Second in a Museum

Kim Wilde still possesses that blend of coolness and British rock edge that never let her pop songs become completely polished. “Never Trust a Stranger” opens with a darker undertone, while “You Came” immediately gets the stadium going. With “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” an old Supremes song is thoroughly reimagined in ’80s style. Of course, it all ends with “Kids in America.” Even after more than four decades, the song still takes off as if no one had ever told it how old it is. Please don’t tell it yet.

Alphaville – forever young, damn it

Alphaville open with “Big in Japan”—and honestly, at this point, one might as well just remain silent. Some synthesizer lines have long been part of our cultural lexicon. “Carry Your Flag” briefly breaks with the pure ’80s aesthetic before “Sounds Like a Melody” leads us right back into that grand, romantic world of synth-pop. Marian Gold still has that voice that can sound at once exaggerated, vulnerable, and theatrical. The set closes with “Forever Young.” You can mock nostalgia until your eyeliner runs. But when tens of thousands of people of all ages sing this chorus together, things get more complicated. For some, it’s youth. For others, it’s a song that came out decades before they were born and yet has long been part of their own story.

Cutting Crew – Death Comes Last

Cutting Crew kick things off with “One for the Mockingbird,” followed by “The One I Love / Play With Fire” and “I’ve Been in Love Before.” A guitar solo in between gives the crowd a more rock-oriented vibe. Of course, everyone is waiting for “(I Just) Died in Your Arms.” It takes just a few seconds, and the stadium knows the rest. It’s one of those choruses that needs no translation, explanation, or nostalgic refresher. You know it. Period.

Samantha Fox – a little naughtier

Samantha Fox brings more directness and a sassy ’80s attitude to the stage. “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Me Now” opens with a high-energy performance, while “I Only Wanna Be With You” keeps the pop factor high. “I Surrender (To the Spirit of the Night)” takes on a more nocturnal vibe, while “Do Ya Do Ya (Wanna Please Me)” is more in-your-face. The set closes with “Touch Me (I Want Your Body).” The song wasn’t exactly subtle back then either. It was never meant to be—its purpose was simply to drag people onto the dance floor.

Starship – America Is Building This City

With “Starship,” there’s a distinctly more American flavor. “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” immediately unfolds that epic, cinematic scale that 1980s pop so unabashedly mastered: big melodies, grand gestures, and no fear of showing emotion. “Sara” switches to ballad mode, and “Jane” then brings more rock into the mix. The set closes with “We Built This City”—a song critics are free to argue about, while the rest of the stadium simply sings along.

Boy George—everyone knows that colorful voice

Boy George isn’t just another ’80s star on stage—he’s one of the most influential figures of the decade. As the lead singer and unmistakable voice of Culture Club, he blended pop, soul, reggae, New Romantic, and a visual extravagance that caused far more social friction in the early ’80s than we may even realize today. “Church of the Poison Mind / I’m Your Man” opens playfully, followed by “Time (Clock of the Heart)” with its elegant soul-pop. For “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” in a mellow reggae version, hardly anything more is needed than that voice. No musical showmanship required. No big drama. The song glides through the stadium and brings an almost strange calm to this packed evening for a few minutes. “Karma Chameleon” reliably shatters that calm once again. Suddenly, the Volkspark is singing along to one of the most famous choruses of the entire ’80s. Color, pop, camp, and collective memory— Boy George needs just a few minutes to pull it all off.

Holly Johnson – Relax. Here Comes the End.

And yet there’s still one missing: Holly Johnson. The singer, the face, and above all, that unmistakable voice of Frankie Goes to Hollywood. A band that, with just a few singles, left behind enough explosive energy to permanently reshape pop history—in the very best sense of the word. They were loud, sexually charged, political, megalomaniacal, and—thanks in part to Trevor Horn’s production—so over-the-top at times that even some of today’s studio productions seem surprisingly tame by comparison. “Welcome to the Pleasuredome” kicks off the final chapter of the evening. The title alone exudes megalomania, and that’s exactly what Frankie Goes to Hollywood thrived on: sex, politics, provocation, bombast, and the dance floor. Never think small. Even decades after the Cold War, “Two Tribes” doesn’t sound harmless. This track was built on nuclear fear, danceability, and Trevor Horn’s megalomania—a bizarre mix that still works today. Next up is “Relax.” What more is there to say about it? … The Volkspark is dancing. And somewhere in the crowd, even the hardest-core metalhead must have long since betrayed his neutrality with the tip of his boot. Actually, “Relax” would be a perfect final song. But Holly Johnson has one more up his sleeve: “The Power of Love.” And suddenly, it’s no longer just a stadium full of people listening to old hits. For a few minutes, a whole slice of personal history hangs over the stands. “The Power of Love” becomes the epic finale to an absolutely amazing festival day. You couldn’t have ended this evening any better.

Conclusion – The past looks different

Of course, “Die 80er live”thrives on nostalgia. Anything else would be nonsense. But nostalgia alone doesn’t get tens of thousands of people of all ages to dance for hours on end. The key is the songs. Many of them have outlived their era because they were never confined solely to it. Synthpop, new wave, Italo disco, rock, soul, pop—musically, the ’80s were far less one-dimensional than their most garish clichés suggest. For the black scene in particular, there’s an astonishingly direct lineage stretching from that decade right into the present. It’s 2026—and a hell of a lot of these songs are still alive and well. For a few hours, Hamburg had its biggest disco. Filled with neon lights, colorful clothes, memories, wild hairstyles, old heroes, young fans—and melodies that clearly have no intention of fading away anytime soon. Hamburg can look forward to a repeat in 2027!

Text & Photos: Thomas Friedel Fuhrmann