The UK's Archive are never less than amazing, but there was something in the air on this evening at the sold-out Bierhübeli in Bern that was extra special, elevating their music onto another plane altogether. Archive are a collective that have been going for nearly 30 years, simultaneously well-known (to discerning music fans) and unknown (to the mainstream).

2023 was Gurtenfestival's 40th edition, with 67 bands performing over the course of a celebratory five days instead of the usual four. What started as a small folk music gathering in the 1970s has now become one of Switzerland's best-known festivals, with a daily count of about 20'000 people heading up a hill on the outskirts of Bern. The English Show covered two days of this year's Gurtenfestival, enjoying the range of music on offer as well as the always-stunning views of the Alps.

English singer-songwriter Sam Smith released their most recent album «Gloria» in January 2023. Taking the album on the road, Smith launched «Gloria The Tour» in April 2023, with a stop at the Hallenstadion in Zurich for a near sold-out show.

Two masters of dark and melancholy metal stopped off in Zurich on their "Twilight Burials" tour through Europe: Sweden's Katatonia and Iceland's Sólstafir. For over a quarter of a century, both bands have been releasing music in varying degrees of heaviness, traversing the subgenres of black metal, death metal, post-metal and more – and in all cases, connecting emotionally with their audiences.