Parcels, Mitsubishi Electric Halle, Düsseldorf

25.09.2025

With their new Album “LOVED” fresh out of the press, Parcels kicked off their tour with this show. The concert was not sold out, and so I was lucky to grab tickets off of Ticket Swap for less than the official price of 60€.

Supporting Act: Zimmer90

Stuttgart based Zimmer90 started off the evening with a 45 minute set that set the vibe for the rest of the night: the three piece on the keys, drums and bass plays a funk-infused, electronic indie pop mixture with soft, English lyrics topping it off.

This is not the first time I’ve seen them live: I went to a show of theirs in 2023 during the Cologne Music Week, and back then I thought: wow, they really lean in on the Parcels vibe. Like, maybe a little too much. But hey, they were young and were starting to play their first tour with no album released, so good for them to have a large band paving the way, and maybe once they find their groove, they’ll start to develop their own personal style. They clearly have the talent! Forward two years, probably a huge dream coming true for the young guys from Stuttgart: opening for arguably their biggest musical influence must be an amazing experience for any musician. But I was a little disappointed in seeing they have not really developed their style in any surprising way. All of their songs sounded very much like Parcels, but not as good. Which is totally alright by itself, just maybe not at a Parcels show. Instead of listening to a blander version of what I paid to see, I usually look forward to being surprised by a supporting act that maybe I wouldn’t have gone to see otherwise. But to each their own I guess, many people enjoyed Zimmer90 and they did a good job warming up the crowd.

The Main Act

Having seen Parcels in 2019 and 2023, I had high expectations, especially after their surprising cold open in Berlin in 2023, which was one of the most memorable show openers I have seen to this day. The venue got dark and a video of them jamming, sitting closely together, was shown on a large, wide screen above the stage. Despite the very cinematic look of it, it turned out to be filmed live, back stage! This set the scene for the rest of the show: they were joined on stage with a 3 camera set up that played a central role in the live show. A mixture of personal close-ups, and well thought out shots of the whole band, the most surprising and original aspect of the show was the overlayed B-roll, which was filmed live. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this before, but still, when I saw footage of the band’s keyboard player, Louie Swain, developing analogue photos in a dark room, my instant reaction was that would be absolutely insane if this were live, followed by me curiously turning my head to the side of the stage, looking for the improbable and actually seeing the guy in a set up dark room, developing photos. Absolute madness, and while some may criticize this as gimmicky, you just have to give them credit for bringing a mobile dark room to their tour.

But while there was more live B-roll that I could talk about, let’s not forget this was a concert: they opened with songs from their new album, Tobeloved and and Ifyoucall before playing the first crowd favorite, overnight. This also preprared us for the rest of the show, which was filled with new tracks. And even though I hadn’t had a chance to listen to their new album yet, I really loved their decision to place their known songs in the second row. It’s always a bold move by any artist to play a lot of new material when you have a lot of old favorites you know the audience came for, but it worked out really well. It’s difficult to place the vibe of the show without also talking about the direction they take on the new record, but let me try: after having seen Parcels leaning more heavily into different influences over the years, such as 70s funk, the Berlin electronic music scene, and sort of softer, more vocal oriented soft rock, they faced the challenge of tying it all together into one live show. And in my opinion, they truly pulled it off big time. One moment, you find yourself dancing to instrumental-heavy, rhythmically impossible funk, and suddenly they start what one could arguably dub the Superbowl Half Time Show era of Parcels: a big stadium rock sound filled with shredding guitars and drum solos. Not something I expected, but definitely something I loved. And everything was rounded off by the personal, intimate atmosphere they are known to create during their live shows: seeing them sitting closely together during some of the more quiet tracks, or just watching each other while part of the band takes a small break for a song or two makes you feel like you’re not watching some rock stars far removed from the world they are surrounded by, but just a couple dudes that just love making music together, something I really hope they are able to preserve as they continue to make a name for themselves.

The Vibe

I think the atmosphere they create – not just with their live shows, but with their music in general – has a positive impact to the vibe at their shows. I found all of the interactions I had with strangers at and around the concert venue to be really positive, and so I think it’s really worth pointing this out: someone offering me coins for the parking meter at the venue, someone offering me directions to the show when I looked lost at the train station, just pure kindness wherever you looked, and I think this is by no means accidental!

Verdict

I was on the fence about getting tickets until the day before the show: I had seen them twice already and the price was quite high, but in the end I’m really happy I went, because they just know how to keep surprising even long time fans with new musical directions and on stage performances, something only a truly great band can achieve. See you next time, Parcels!