A youth band still exists

Bilderbuch, Nils Keppel

„20 Jahre Bilderbuch, 10 Jahre Schick Schock, 1x Wiener Stadthalle“ promoted by Barracuda Music, pres. by FM4 & Spoon Agency at Wiener Stadthalle D, Austria 20250424

Back in 2005, a band played at a gym. Just like many others did or do, when they start playing live. But unlike many, this one continued its path, that brought it to Wiener Stadthalle two decades later.

There were rumors before, that founding member AF90 will play as support. Instead, Nils Keppel enters the stage with his gloomy Alternative Indie Pop, almost Post Punky as Joy Division. This dark mood is present in his music videos as well. Live, the light intensely changes from left to right, as he sings about fears and party. 

That despite the darkness, the music is something to dance to, they demonstrate before playing some more quiet notes. After this pretty energetic opener, sounds of Lady Gaga to Black Sabbath shorten the break until Bilderbuch come up. They not only celebrate their 20th anniversary, but also ten years of their break-through album „Schick Schock“. 

Recently, they headlined festivals like Picture On, Rock im Dorf or Szene Openair and their show at Schönbrunn is legendary. Tonight, they open their first concert at Stadthalle with a couple of songs from „Softpower“, starting with the title track. On big video walls, they screen the live cameras and visuals like a slotmachine or a cottage for „Bungalow“. 

Singer Maurice Ernst tells, that there are days when they want to quit but they don’t give up as there is no ‚easy way out‘, as they claim in an extended version of „Aber Airbags“. Then their super-hit „Maschin“ and „Schick Schock“ follow. Towards the end, they play „Baba“ and „Willkommen im Dschungel“ including the band introduction. 

With multi-neck guitar, keys and percussion and the already mentioned video walls, Bilderbuch serve a huge live production. It is impressive, what they achieved in twenty years and hopefully, their career will go on like this.