THE FLOATING BEAR Special Guests: FORGOTTEN BIRDS

The Floating Bear—time and again, people try to describe the music of this rock band, which is as four-piece as it is stubborn; comparisons like “late Pink Floyd playing early Strokes with the sound of XTC” or “West Coast rock vibe meets British mod attitude” are somehow accurate and, of course, completely off the mark. The Floating Bear is the fusion—as unlikely as it is logical—of two duos, each of which has played for decades in numerous bands, some of them world-famous in Hamburg, and which, since May 2025, have been conjuring up songs full of unbridled enthusiasm and urgent pain with two guitars, bass, and drums, have been conjuring up songs brimming with unbridled enthusiasm and urgent pain: explorations of breadth and depth in the form of rock songs bathed in golden light and featuring jagged instrumentation. In March 2026, The Floating Bear recorded their first album with Gregor Hennig at Studio Nord, which is currently undergoing its final polish by Chris von Rautenkranz. It’s going to be absolutely glorious. And live, these four gentlemen are, in any case, a laid-back burst of energy wrapped in shimmering sound—the perfect kick to get you started on that long-overdue face tattoo. Joining them as very special guests are the Forgotten Birds—aka Judy Willms and Jan Gazarra—who have previously opened for The Whitest Boy Alive and enchanted the Dockville Festival with their hypnotic, psychedelic-infused country-folk. Word on the street is that the Birds have a few new songs in their set, so hopefully the follow-up to their highly acclaimed album “Sahara” (https://forgottenbirds.bandcamp.com/album/forgotten-birds-sahara) will finally be released soon. Until then, their intense, fun, and passionate sets will help us pass the time. ©Photo: Simone Scardovelli