Saturday at the Tanzbrunnen brought folk metal, gothic rock legends and a healthy dose of darkwave to a sold-out anniversary edition
The Amphi Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, and the Tanzbrunnen in Cologne showed exactly why it has become one of the essential fixtures of the dark scene calendar alongside WGT and M’era Luna. Two decades after its first edition, the festival sold out earlier than ever before, and the newly renovated venue — complete with brand new stage canopies — welcomed thousands of visitors across the weekend for what the organisers rightly called a “magical anniversary weekend.” Here’s how our Saturday unfolded, band by band.
Florian Grey — Opening the Festival
Florian Grey had the honour of kicking off this milestone edition, and the melodic songs that earn the project its “darkrock” label went down well with the early crowd. A gentle but confident start to a big anniversary weekend.
Harpyie — Folk & Symphonic Metal
Formed in 2011 in Bad Oeynhausen, Harpyie built their sound around a distinctive mix of folk instrumentation — hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes, flute — layered over metal bombast. Since their 2012 debut Blindflug, the band has released a steady string of albums and become festival regulars, having played the likes of Wacken Open Air and Wave-Gotik-Treffen. Their storytelling, German-language lyrics draw on history and mythology, and that theatrical, larger-than-life folk-metal energy translated well to the Amphi stage.
Belgian Intermezzo at the Beachclub
As Harpyie’s set was nearly finished , the Belgians once again headed to the Beachclub for their now-traditional gathering — the third year running. Started by Johan Depré as a quiet “protest” against the fact that so few Belgian bands make it onto the Amphi bill, despite the large number of Belgians who make the trip to Cologne, it’s since grown into a relaxed catch-up
Echoberyl — Darkwave / Coldwave / Dark Synthpop
A sober but intense atmosphere settled over the theater stage for Echoberyl. Their blend of darkwave, coldwave and dark synthpop packed the room to the rafters — one of the more understated but genuinely absorbing sets of the day.
We went to the the orbit stage with the shuttle and short walk to go on the boat
Escape With Romeo — Cologne’s Own Gothic Rock Veterans
Founded in 1989 by guitarist and singer Thomas Elbern after he left Pink Turns Blue, Escape With Romeo have been a fixture of German gothic rock ever since, built on Elbern’s love of Joy Division and The Cure. After a hiatus between 2018 and 2022, the band returned with renewed energy, and it showed — Saturday’s set confirmed them as an established name that still knows how to win over a crowd.
Twin Noir
A fun, lively presence on stage — Twin Noir brought some welcome playfulness to the afternoon.
Whispers In The Shadow (with Ashley from The Devil and the Universe)
Whispers In The Shadow are an Austrian gothic rock band formed in 1996, taking their name from H.P. Lovecraft’s story The Whisperer in Darkness. True to that inspiration, their lyrics lean heavily into occult and mystical themes — and with Ashley from The Devil and the Universe joining them on stage, this was one of the more atmospheric sets of the day.
The Exploding Boy — Swedish Post-Punk
A solid dose of Swedish post-punk to keep the darker end of the bill well represented.
Calva y Nada
Calva y Nada were active and engaging on stage, and this mystical-leaning act was clearly in good form. One small regret: a bit more visual styling from the band members would have pushed the mystique even further.
Day 2 of Amphi Festival 2026 will follow in a separate blog post and photo gallery — for now, enjoy our photos from Day 1 below.
Florian grey
Harpyie
Echoberyl
Escape With Romeo
Twin Noir
Whispers in the shadow
The exploding boy
Calva y Nada
For report on day 2 Amphi you can find on other post
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