When you do something for the first time, things rarely go according to plan. However, this only applies to a limited extent to the Munich festival Superbloom. Because the creator of the two-day event in the Olympic Park in Munich is none other than Fruzsina Szép. She has already managed well-established brands such as Sziget in Budapest and Lollapalooza in Berlin. Now she is program director at Superbloom, the first major open-air festival in the Olympic Park since 2016.
“I’ve just been on the site,” Szép said at the press conference on Sunday afternoon. “I felt the park vibrate.” She and the event team are incredibly grateful that the festival, after being postponed twice due to the corona virus, could finally take place.
There were 60 concerts on six stages, around 50,000 people are said to have been guests – reason enough for Szép to announce: “We will also do Superbloom next year.” The first weekend in September is again planned as the date. Until then, the event team would consider how to best avoid this year’s mistakes. “We listen and face the criticism,” said Szép, looking at the first day of the event.
On Saturday evening, visitors complained because they could not see the performance of Calvin Harris, one of the main acts, despite tickets. “They made the people wait in front of the standing area for ages and then referred them to the ranks,” reported a visitor on TikTok. However, the front tiers were completely overcrowded, which is why the entrances to the Olympic Stage were soon closed.
“I can totally understand that the audience is angry, I would be too,” said Szép. However, she and the event team are responsible for the safety of the visitors – and in order to be able to guarantee this, they had to stop admission on Saturday evening.
The hour and a half of rain on the first day also made it difficult to continue the program. Many acts could only start later, the show by Years
On the contrary: those who got there early enough experienced a motivated crowd in front of the Super Stage on Saturday afternoon. “I know it’s still early, Munich. But I want to see the biggest mosh pit that has ever existed,” Monk calls out to the audience. The rapper is part of the hip-hop crew BHZ from Berlin-Schöneberg. Known for tracks like “Powerade” and “Atzenmodus”, the group is currently one of the most successful German-language rap acts.
AnnenMayKantereit’s performance on the Olympic Stage on Saturday evening was quieter, but with an equally motivated audience. “Well, I’ve played a lot of concerts in my life, but I’ve never had so many lights,” said singer Henning May with a view of the sea of lights during the song “Barefoot at the Piano”. The former Cologne street music band is now a permanent guest on major German stages – and therefore also included in Superbloom.
In addition to the concerts, the festival also includes a large number of non-musical program items. Acrobats perform in eleven so-called experience areas, podcasts are recorded live, there is comedy by Kurt Krömer and Kaya Yanar as well as magic, yoga, art and lectures.
When booking, the organizers attached great importance to diversity. In addition to stars such as Megan Thee Stallion, Rita Ora and Willow, other, less well-known, international musicians will also perform – such as the Ukrainian rapper Alyona Alyona and the Hungarian singer Deva. From Germany, the chart-toppers Lea and Nina Chuba are represented, from Bavaria the Munich electro duo Umme Block and the singer-songwriter Cosma Joy.
While the line-up has a relatively large number of women overall, the headliner shows in the late evening hours are again played by men. On Saturday, the audience celebrates to Calvin Harris’ “Summer” and “One Kiss”. On Sunday, the focus is on the American rapper Macklemore, who performs hits like “And We Danced” and entertains the crowd with a dance battle between spectators. At the same time, the Belgian musician Stromae will play his last festival appearance for this summer.
The singer had been quiet for seven years before he offered a statement with an appearance on French television in January this year: When the presenter asked if music had helped him break free of the loneliness he was dealing with in sing his songs, Stromae intoned his new single “L’enfer” and talked live and in prime time about his personal hell, the depression.
The song is also part of his performance in Munich, where Stromae not only shines with an extraordinary musical performance but also with a cinematic stage show. At the end he plays his biggest hit “Alors On Danse” – and then has a surprise in store: he returns to the stage for the a cappella number “Mon Amour”. The audience, who had just been out and about singing and jumping, thanked him with tense silence.
But for the Superbloom finale, it has to bang again. The French DJ David Guetta will do that in the Olympic Stadium – including fireworks.
