Popfest 2025 at Vienna's Karlsplatz Kicks Off with Christina Stürmer and Rain

Water has played a central role at the Popfest at Vienna's Karlsplatz since 2010. The main stage, the lake stage, is located in the water basin in front of the Karlskirche. On the opening night, among others, Sodl and Mietze Conte performed, as well as an artist one wouldn't really expect there: Christina Stürmer. Additionally, the water came from above as rain.

Christina Stürmer played hits from her Unplugged tour at Popfest 2025 at Karlsplatz

Although it could have been worse. Just before the start of the free festival, which is fundamentally understood as an underground showcase of the local music scene and traditionally takes place at various locations around Karlsplatz, it was pouring rain. But Christina Stürmer and the weather god are apparently besties. Shortly before her - slightly delayed, because the stage still had to be wiped somewhat dry - performance, the rain suddenly stopped. For the time being.

That the now 43-year-old Upper Austrian, who set out from the ORF casting show "Starmania" in the early 2000s to become Austria's biggest female pop star, would be the opener at the Popfest, might have seemed like an idiosyncratic joke by this year's curatorial duo Verifiziert and Paul Buschnegg (Pauls Jets) at first glance. "I am very happy to surprise you," Stürmer said accordingly and emphasized more than once that she was very pleased with the invitation. Because actually, the lineup of the Karlsplatz bash is traditionally geared towards alternative to niche. However, the organizers wanted to "break genre and bubble conventions" this year, as they stated in advance.

Mainstream and underground side by side at Popfest 2025 at Vienna's Karlsplatz

No shyness, then, about getting up close with the so-called mainstream. Meanwhile, the curators, both born in the mid-1990s and "fans since we were kids," also paid homage to a - yes, indeed - icon of female pop made in Austria. Christina Stürmer has long since emancipated herself from her "Starmania" roots, is her own boss with the label she founded, "Ich lebe Records," and in the summer of 2023 became the first artist in the German-speaking world to be invited for an "MTV Unplugged" concert.

She then offered a compressed acoustic set to the Karlsplatz, which was at least packed in front of the stage. Included were: "Seite an Seite," created during the great refugee movement in 2015, "Ich kriege nie genug vom Leben" in salsa sound, the early heartbreak anthem "Scherbenmeer," her very first hit "Ich lebe," and the encore "Engel fliegen einsam" - performed as a duet with newcomer Oska, who will perform on the last day of the Popfest at the Karlskirche on Sunday. "I think we chased away the bad weather," the cheerful singer said at the end of her generation-bridging performance. She said it, left - and the rain returned a minute later with watering can-like intensity.

Popfest 2025: Sodl Between Violin and Guitar

Weather-wise, it was anything but ideal for Sodl. But the musician from the Salzkammergut region kept the audience engaged with her powerful mix of folk-grunge-punk while maintaining a fairy-like appearance - hair down to her backside, microphone stands adorned with plastic plants, candles on the floor. Last year, Anja Sodnikar, as the rising star is actually called, played at the Popfest - albeit in a very limited Vienna Museum venue. Since then, the Upper Austrian has released her acclaimed debut album "Sheepman" and this year secured the FM4 Award at the Amadeus. Enough reason for a return with her band on the big stage. Sodl sang, cheered, and screamed to smooth violin sounds or crashing guitars her songs like "Mary, the Anarchist" or "I Am A Woman," which was a delight.

Also for the second time in a row, Lino Camilo graced the crowd afterward. The masses had thinned out significantly, but an still impressive core defied the wetness. There was an act to see and hear that, at least on stage, refused a clear gender assignment and moved in its own sound universe. The compositions, which are fundamentally very disparate, interspersed with sound snippets, melody fragments, and various distortions, became significantly more accessible in the live version and were more band than studio experiment. Lino Camilo had to contend less with the rain, which actually stopped sustainably towards the end of the set, than with the stage technology.

Club Sounds with Flute at Popfest 2025 at Vienna's Karlsplatz

At the end of the open-air part on day 1, it was time to swap rubber boots for dancing shoes. Mietze Conte, one of the many alter egos of the versatile producer Matthias Oldofredi aka Filou, is always good for a surprise. "We didn't know what we were getting: a DJ set or a whole orchestra," it was said in the introduction. It turned out to be a multi-member band including a flutist, blasting finely playful club tracks into the night. In dampened clothing, a bit of grooving against the almost autumnal chill was the order of the hour at this time. In total, 15,000 visitors were counted on the first evening.

The Popfest invites exploration of the Austrian music landscape until Sunday on and around Karlsplatz. Besides the lake stage, where Lovehead will play feminist indie rock, the black-humored Grantscherben of Kreisky will celebrate their 20th stage anniversary, and Crack Ignaz and LGoony will perform a joint rap set, the Vienna Museum, the TU, Club U, and traditionally on Sunday, the Karlskirche are again venues of the free festival. The range in the small venues spans from Karl Stirner's zither sounds to singer-songwriter pop by Oska, who supported the Coldplay shows at the Happel Stadium. Film evenings, panel discussions, and "Popkultouren" with pop local historian Geri Hollerer complement the colorful program.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.