English-American rock duo The Kills, formed in 2001, have released six studio albums, blending garage rock, blues, and post-punk with a stripped-down, gritty sound and an intense onstage presence. That presence was front and centre at the duo's Kaufleuten concert in Zurich. Both Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince exuded ridiculous amounts of charisma and cool.

Metal bands Bullet For My Valentine and Trivium are celebrating the 20th anniversary of two iconic albums of theirs on «The Poisoned Ascendancy Tour». They stopped at The Hall in Zurich to play both albums in full: Bullet For My Valentine performed their 2005 debut «The Poison» and Trivium ripped through their second album «Ascendancy», also released in 2005.

Maybe it was the strings of Christmas lights around Paris, but Vampire Weekend’s December 13 concert at Adidas Arena felt like a family holiday reunion – one where the cousins you haven’t seen in years show up and surprise you with their maturity, even as you fall into the comfortable rhythms of conversation you had as kids.

«This is the miserable section of the concert», says James Blunt at the beginning of his STIMMEN-Festival show, tongue firmly in cheek. He laments that he always wanted to be a rock star, but ended up sitting behind a piano and writing sad songs instead. And indeed, it's undeniable that Blunt's repertoire includes many a melancholy ballad.