An anniversary that can be seen – and can be heard -: For the tenth time, the Lollapalooza Berlin Stars from all over the world brought the Olympic Paark stages. 60,000 visitors: inside a day, from constant rain to permanent sun, from Tikok newcomers to pop legends.
Between Ashnikko and Timberlake, Raye and J-Hope, The Last Dinner Party and Gracie Abrams, it shows: Berlin dances-regardless of whether in mud or in sunlight.
Day 1 -Sex, synths & grinding in the hair
Rain jacket on it, glitter on it: At the festival start, Berlin danced in the drizzle as if nobody had heard of the weather forecast. Headliners such as Justin Timberlake, Ashnikko and Gracie Abrams provided emotions, ecstasy – and an escape into musical parallel worlds.
Ashnikko – sexy, shrill, bizarre (5:20 p.m., Telekom Mainstage)
Ashnikko takes the stage in a torn newspaper costume-a mix of fashion-fail and performance art. Your fans? Colorful hair, glitter on the face, pure tiktok vibes. “I See A Few Baddies, I See A Full Beat,” she calls – while the rain almost bridles her outfit. Doesn’t matter. The crowd Johlt, especially when the red top bra flashes under her costume. Her two dancers show a lot of skin, the camera zooms on Ashnikkos Popo, dads in the crowd look an embarrassed touched away – her minor daughters are thrilled.
The US artist became known during Corona-with viral tikoks and her debut album “Demidevil” (2021). Your show: sexually charged, empowering, a bit of gaga, a bit anime – and definitely not for the faint of heart.
The Last Dinner Party – Fee with Faust (6:10 p.m., Mainstage South)
Abigail Morris, Lead singer of the British rock band, wears an eleventic lace dress, scrambles over the rain wet stage and jumps into the audience. Her voice: crystal clear, almost opera -like – and then political. In the middle of the set she calls for donations for Palestine.
Five women, one sound: Queen meets Florence + The Machine – and Berlin loves it. The band was celebrated in 2023 as the “best new hope of rock music” – rightly so, as this appearance proves.
Gracie Abrams – heartache with loop (8:10 p.m., Mainstage South)
In the floor-length black dress, hair back strictly, Gracie Abrams looks like a black and white film. Her songs – sensitive, fragile – meet the heart. In the crowd: girls with grinding in the hair, her trademark. And celebrities: Sunday headliner J-Hope sings from the sidelines in the ditch in front of the stage.
Abrams, daughter of star director JJ Abrams, is the new melancholy pop star of the gen Z. Her album “The Secret of Us” (2024) was created, among others. With Taylor Swift – and you can hear that.
Justin Timberlake – The man that everyone has been waiting for (9:15 p.m., Telekom Mainstage)
Hours before, it is clear: Nobody wants to miss anything here. When Timberlake starts with “Mirrors”, the festival site is packed – from the front to the last french fries. For 90 minutes he delivers a set that looks like a best-of of his career: “Sexyback”, “Cry Me a River”, “Rock Your Body”, “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” -Each song a collective flashback, each dance break proof of its stage routine. The rain? Completely irrelevant.
Timberlake is in rain jacket with his band The Tennessee Kids On stage, dances, sings, laughs – everything on point.
Goosebumps: A fan from South Africa holds up a sign, 6000 miles traveled. Timberlake signs it – in the middle of the set. The crowd is resting. His appearance is not just a headliner-he is the emotional climax of a day that leaves Berlin gossip and happy.
Day 2 – sun gloss and superstars
The sun crashes into the Olympic Park as if she wanted to make up yesterday. After the gray festival start, Berlin is shown in gold. 60,000 people, no clouds in sight-instead sunscreen, glitter dust and a line-up that leaves nothing to be desired. Day two of the Lollapalooza – and it gets hot. In the truest sense.
Benson Boone – Gymnastics and Big Voice (5:40 p.m., Telekom Main Stage)
He starts at the piano – to jump down spectacularly on the first chorus. Benson Boone, just 23, is a mixture of country pop boy and stage acrobat. In red muscle shirt and with arms shiny with sweat, he whirls over the stage as if it were his living room.
His songs? Large 6/8 ballads, hymn, stirring. You want to sway, scream, make it up. When he lifts the microphone and a call-and-response à la Freddie Mercury voice, the penny falls: this type has it. Voice, charisma, rampsau factor-everything there.
Raye – Soulqueen without shoes (6:45 p.m., Main Stage South)
Barefoot, with old Hollywood waves in the hair and band in Tuxedos, Raye takes the stage. Her background singers also wear black suits. Between her songs she speaks openly about personal crises, addiction, heartache – and yet she laughs, flirting with the audience, asks charmingly about the singles in the crowd. Then she plays “Worth it.” – her only hopeful song, as she says.
“My 21st Century Blues” is called her debut – it sounds like a mixture of soul, jazz, pop and pure force on stage. Your voice? Blows the worries out of your head.
J-Hope-K-Pop in perfection (8:15 p.m., Telekom Main Stage)
For him it was dab. Already in the night before, fans with ceilings were in front of the entrance, armed with water, hope and posters. As a J-Hope, 31, BTS star and solo king, entering the stage, dams break.
1.5 hours of K-pop choreography at Champions League level: dozens of dancers, flashing lights, an open shirt that flutters in the wind. He dances, raps, smiles – and brings the crowd collective to freak out.
It’s not just a concert. It is ecstasy. Art. Culture. A world that is completely about him for this moment. J-Hope makes Berlin a global pop scene-and it feels magical.