The Hottest Newcomers: Reeperbahn Festival 2025

Sofie Royer

At Docks, Sofie Royer proved why she's one of the most exciting alt-pop voices to watch. Starting behind the keyboard, she soon shifted into unexpected territory. Pulling out a violin and switching seamlessly into French for her song "Paris is burning". One minute, she was joking lightly with the audience, and the next, she delivered violin lines that cut straight through the venue's noise.

What stood out most was her versatility: Royer doesn't just perform songs, she stages them, making each track feel like a carefully crafted scene. It was art-pop at its finest, and a reminder that she's not easily defined.

FRISO

For FRISO, 2025 marks his first year going fully solo, and his Reeperbahn set proved just how much weight that carries. Opening with "geek," he started his intimate set with synth-driven sounds, warming up the crowd. He built a moody yet poppy soundscape around themes of sadness and introspection. Between tracks like "Ampullen", "Swimming Circles" and "Serpentinen" he kept moving around the stage, switching between the synth-keyboard and the microphone stand. The result? A melancholic yet magnetic performance that pulled everyone into Friso's crowd.

Alessi Rose

When Alessi Rose hit the stage, the energy flipped in an instant. Fans were still rushing into the venue, while screaming "omg!" at the look of her on stage. It felt like a global star had just walked in, and in many ways, it was exactly like that. From the first notes of her song "eat me alive", it was obvious that Alessi Rose wasn't just another newcomer on the lineup. Her stage presence was simply incredible, making it hard to keep the eyes off her. Her vocals were strikingly stable even while she danced across the stage in her dotted micro shorts and pumps. All that while playfully engaging with the crowd. During "Stella" and "Take It or Leave It", the room felt united in a chorus that turned the venue into a pop temple.
What truly set her apart, though, was her relationship with her fans. She noticed the smallest details. Like a group in the front row wearing merch from her latest tour, "Voyeur". She acknowledged them directly, creating an intimacy that made even a packed room feel personal.
With powerful vocals, undeniable stage charisma, and an instinct for creating a personal space between her and her fans, Alessi Rose didn't just prove she has popstar potential, but already is one.

Magda

Inside Kaiser Keller, Magda built an atmosphere that felt like being wrapped in cotton on a rainy Hamburg afternoon. With just piano and cello behind her, she opened with "Pflaster". She carried the room through a set that was both fragile and theatrical. Her acting background shone through; every gesture, every pause felt deliberate, giving songs like "Zwei Versager" (unreleased) and "Brich mich" a dramatic edge that was hard to look away from.
She leaned into themes of queer intimacy and longing, most movingly in "Zeig mir", which celebrated queer love. The mixed-age crowd, from young fans to middle-aged couples, stood quietly, drawn into her world. By the end, it was clear: Magda doesn't just perform songs, she stages emotions, and invites you to inhabit them with her. It all felt like stepping into a fairytale.

Ivo Martin

For Ivo Martin, Große Freiheit was the stage of a first: his debut at Reeperbahn Festival. He opened with a tight, drum-driven intro before sliding into "Nicht Allein", immediately setting a mood of warmth and connection. His voice carried a sense of sincerity, cutting through the venue with an almost conversational honesty. Between songs, he loosened the vibe with humor, and his song "wie schön es war" got the crowd dancing a little bit.
What made the set stand out was its balance. Songs like "Mensch" showcased his introspective, lyrical side, while others pulsed with energy that made people sway. Even as a newcomer on this stage, he radiated the presence of someone who belongs there. With his latest release still fresh and a growing fanbase behind him, Ivo Martin's first Reeperbahn appearance felt less like an introduction and more like the start of a much bigger story.

Nell Mescal

Nell Mescal's set at Nochtspeicher was one of the most intimate and emotional moments we've witnessed. Stripped back to just her guitar and her bandmate Charlie, she turned the stage into something resembling a late-night living room session. Opening with "Warm Body", her voice cut through the room with a vulnerability that immediately drew everyone closer. Creating such a personal space that one fan in the first row broke into tears, only to be embraced by another. It was a small but powerful reminder of the community that music is building.
Nell Mescal shared new material too, previewing the unreleased "See you again", a song about returning again and again to a place you promised yourself you wouldn't go back to. She introduced it with a mix of honesty and self-deprecation, laughing softly before admitting it was written about one of her own toxic loops. She also announced the single officially during the set, giving the crowd the feeling of witnessing a milestone.
Throughout her set, he balanced fragility and strength. What stood out most was her ability to hold the room in absolute silence. No spectacle, no theatrics, just her words and melodies. It was a set that didn't need volume or production to resonate. For many in the audience, it felt less like discovering a newcomer and more like witnessing the rise of a voice destined to travel far beyond the Reeperbahn Festival stages.