Country to Country Berlin Review

​When Brett Young closed out C2C Berlin on 8th March 2020, no one would’ve thought it would be four years till the festival would return to Berlin. This weekend, country music finally returned to Berlin’s Verti Music Hall, at the cities Mercedes Benz Plaza, with a host of day time stages around various venues in the Plaza and the main event in Verti with headliners Old Dominion and Brad Paisley.

​The festival in Berlin is spread across 6 venues, all within metres of each other. the venues range from sit down style bar/ restaurants - home to the Alex Stage and Star FM Stage; the rooftop stage in Bar 260 with breathtaking views from the terrace of The Spree and the Berlin Wall below; the Pindeck Stage, the only all standing stage, was to the side of the local bowling alley; and the Sound of Nashville Stage set inside one of the screens in the UCI Luxe cinema - comfy leather seats included! While the main stage and spotlight stage was inside the 4,000 capacity Verti Music Hall. The Star FM Stage, inside Redo XXL was certainly a favourite of ours as it was a large open room with plenty of space to either sit at tables or stand to the side - the 2kg schnitzel for 50 Euros and 3 litre beer towers for 24 Euros were a welcome bonus too! All six venues were big enough to accommodate the crowd and you could move between them easily and didn't have to spend too long waiting to get in either - the only venue with a slight queue was for the rooftop stage and that was mainly due to it only being accessible via one lift to the seventh floor.

​The festival stages offered nonstop entertainment from 1030 on both Saturday and Sunday morning, with each venue hosting up to seven sets right through till an hour before events kicked off on the main stage. While some artists were located in Berlin for the entirety of the weekend, others split their time between Berlin and Rotterdam, which offered plenty of options to see different artists over the two days or catch multiple sets.

​Inside the arena, festival goers had the choice of stalls standing as well as upper tier seating. Both nights saw 5 acts on the main stage - Stephen Wilson Jr, Drake Milligan, Jackson Dean, Lauren Alaina and Old Dominion on Saturday; with Introducing Nashville, Colbie Caillat, Randall King, Alana Springsteen and Brad Paisley on Sunday - with a further four between each set on the Spotlight Stage - Lakeview, Drayton Farley, Dylan Schneider and Alexander Kay on Saturday; Mason Ramsey, Carter Faith, Wyatt Flores and Restless Road on Sunday - which in Berlin is located just to the right of the main stage.
 
All the main stage acts proved to be huge hits with the German crowds, with Stephen Wilson Jr kicking things off on the Saturday, and it was an opportunity to see him play with a full band as we had only previously seen him play with using a loop pedal and steel guitar player. If the crowd didn’t know Holler by Stephen before this set they certainly did after as the extended rendition and the light show of a headline act closed the set out with a bang. Drake Milligan proved a hit with the crowds in London last year and it was just the same for him as he stepped onto the main stage in Berlin too and continues to build a strong European fan base. The Berlin and Rotterdam crowds were treated to a set from Jackson Dean – who won’t be at the C2C shows in the UK – before Lauren Alaina and Old Dominion closed out the night. Lauren proved she is a headliner in waiting, while Old Dominion brought the show we’ve known they can since their early shows in the UK in front of just a few hundred people.

​Sunday’s main stage started at a slower pace after Saturday’s full throttle artists, with Conner Smith, Karley Scott Collins and Lauren Watkins performing in an acoustic round. All three will certainly be back with their own main stage act for sure in the future, while the highlight of this was the more unique opportunity to have the artist who currently has a number one in America in the form of Conner’s Creek Will Rise. Elsewhere on the night Colbie Caillat returned to Germany for the first time since releasing music in the country genre and treated the crowd to a mixture of her extensive back catalogue and also some songs from her most recent album. Randall King, like Jackson, is another artist who was only playing the shows on the continent this year, and after his set you could only think how much of an excellent addition he would have been to the stellar lineup in the UK this weekend. Alana Springsteen was certainly one of the highlights of the main stage across the weekend and will be an act not to miss when she performs the after party this weekend. Brad Paisley closed out this years festival and you could tell the crowd wasn’t wanting the set to end as they sang song after song.

​Berlin has already announced that their 2025 weekend will be three days from the 7th-9th March and we will be back and you should certainly join us for Germanys biggest weekend of country music. Flying in couldn’t be easier with direct flights to Berlin and then a 30 minute €4 train right to within a five minute walk of the venue; plenty of hotel options within minutes; bars, cafes and restaurants and plenty; and not to mention the history of the city on your doorstep.
 
See you in 2025 Berlin.