Tokio Hotel Thrills Fans at Eventim Apollo

EVENTIM APOLLO, LONDON, 24TH MARCH

WORDS AND IMAGES ALAN BRYCE

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IMAGE ALAN BRYCE

Tokio Hotel has been a force on the German and European music scene for over two decades. They released their first album, ‘Schrei,’ in 2005, a full German-language album that reached the No. 1 spot on the German and Austrian music charts. The second German-language album, ‘Zimmer 483,’ followed in 2007, before their first English release, ‘Scream,’ a compilation of translated songs from the first two albums. This release opened them up to a wider audience within the European and American markets, as well as the rest of the world. Four more albums followed, bringing us to their latest release, ‘2001,’ released in 2022. ‘2001’ is a nod to the band’s formation year and their success since.

Currently on a European tour, the band released the new single ‘Hands Up,’ an energetic, upbeat pop song, to coincide with this run of European shows. The tour kicked off in Germany and navigated through Europe, making a stop here in London for one night only at the Hammersmith Apollo before heading to the mainland for a handful of shows, ending in Helsinki on April 1st. The London show came with a venue upgrade from the original o2 Kentish Town venue, which was never going to be big enough for the crowd or stage performance.

The set opened with ‘Miss It (At All),’ a 2025 release, before launching into ‘Darkside of the Sun’ and ‘The Heart Get No Sleep.’ This was followed by an energetic and relentless assault of their back catalogue, including the new single ‘Hands Up,’ which had the audience with their hands in the air throughout. Each song had its own spectacular light show, pyrotechnics, and occasional costume changes by lead singer Bill. The mirrored podiums and video and lyric walls behind the stage made the experience immersive. I can’t imagine how this would have ever fit in the Kentish Town venue.

Around the halfway mark, the band gave the audience a minute to breathe by performing two acoustic numbers. They brought on support act Malou Lovis, an incredible singer in her own right, to join them for the first song. The pairing of Bill and Malou worked beautifully. After the breather, they launched back in with the 2006 song ‘Rette Mich,’ an obvious fan favourite. This part of the set included a mix of their own hits as well as some covers from artists like George Michael and Nina Chuba. The performance levels remained high, and the crowd loved the interaction throughout.

The set ended with the 2021 release ‘White Lies’ from the ‘2001’ album. It started slow but built into an anthemic dance song, pleasing the crowd and getting the whole venue dancing along. After leaving the stage, the band returned for the encore, consisting of ‘Monsoon,’ the lead single from the ‘Scream’ album, and closing the show with another fan favourite, ‘Great Day’ from the 2014 ‘Kings of Suburbia’ album. I can see why they needed a venue upgrade; this was pretty much a sold-out show at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith. During this run of shows, the band announced a series of arena shows for late 2026. So far, only Europe has been announced, including a show at the OVO Arena in Wembley.

Overall, I fully understand why this band has been around for the best part of 25 years. The musicianship within the band is fantastic. The mix of pop/rock is very entertaining, and as a frontman and showman, Bill is absolute class. He wears the title well and has the wardrobe to match! Tokio Hotel is an exciting band, innovative, and has adapted well over the years to find their niche and target audience successfully. I really look forward to what they do next; I expect an album release in time for those arena shows, and I’m here for it.

SET LIST

1/ Miss It (At All)

2/ Darkside of the Sun

3/ The Heart Get No Sleep

4/ Girl Got a Gun

5/ Love Who Loves You Back

6/ Hands Up

7/ Feel It All

8/ Home

9/ Easy

Acoustic

10/ Just a Moment

(with Malou Lovis)

11/ In Your Shadow (I Can Shine)

Set 2:

12/ Rette mich

13/ Fahr mit mir (4x4)

(Kraftklub cover)

14/ Fata Morgana

(Nina Chuba cover)

15/ World Behind My Wall

16/ Spring nicht

17/ Careless Whisper

(George Michael cover)

18/ What If

19/ Colors of the Wind

(Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz cover)

20/ White Lies

Encore:

21/ Monsoon

22/ Great Day