Celebrating 20 years of Tokio Hotel in Tilburg

It’s been 20 years since the release of “Durch Den Monsun” which blew up the career of the German band Tokio Hotel. This year is all about celebrating that success, which is why they are currently on tour. On March 25th it was turn for Poppodium 013 in Tilburg to show up and throw a big party. Fans were very excited about the band coming back and sold out the show months in advance.

Malou Lovis was on stage first, ready to warm up the crowd. Music wise it might not be what you expect as the support act of Tokio Hotel, but their backstory is what brought her on this tour. Twin brothers Tom and Bill Kaulitz were judges on the 13th season of The Voice of Germany and had Lovis on their team. Lovis ended up winning the season and stayed in contact with the brothers afterwards. Now she was standing on the big stage, in front of the huge curtain that was hiding the staging for Tokio Hotel. With her she brought bassist Pia Niepmann and guitarist Daniel “Herbert” Pflumm.

The crowd was happily participating along with all the songs and seemed to enjoy her set. For “Step by Step” the crowd lit up with a sea of phone lights, followed by everyone clapping along during “Heart Runs Riot.” The last song of her 25 minute set was “You Made Me,” which she said she wrote for her grandmother. The crowd put on their flashlights once more and Lovis was taking in every second of the experience.

During the wait between sets the playlist went all over the place, giving everyone in the crowd something they could enjoy. From Paramore’s “Hard Times” to Lola Young’s “Messy.” This also gave a moment to look around the crowd and see how this venue was filled with the brim. From teens accompanied by their parents to elderly people, men and women, all of them came for one thing: to see their favorite band, whether it’s a current obsession or from 15 years ago. The band were just teens when they started, so a big group of people in the crowd probably grew up alongside them.

The stage lit up with the curtain still in front of it, adding to the excitement. They started playing “Miss It (At All)” and halfway through the song the curtain dropped, which resulted in loud screams all throughout the venue. The now revealed scene was a lot to take in, with huge led screens covering the back wall and Bill Kaulitz on a rising pillar in the back. He was wearing a red and black glitter suit and huge wings that looked very heavy. Fortunately for him he got to take them off after the song and was left with some feather shoulder pieces with long fringe hanging from it. Drummer Gustav Schäfer was on a platform in the middle of the stage, with guitarist Tom Kaulitz and bassist Georg Listing on their own platforms on either side of him. For “The Heart Get No Sleep” Bill walked down to the front, where he had a fan blowing wind in his direction.

After a quick outfit change Bill came back on stage in a head to toe pink outfit, including both feathers and glitter. Accompanied by a huge pink hat and fuzzy pink guitar the band started playing “Love Who Loves You Back.” For the next few songs the hat was put away, showing off his amazing hair again. Both Kaulitz brothers have hair a girl would dream of and we are only a bit jealous. During any talking breaks the band had, the fans put up their signs in hopes to get noticed. One very lucky fan got Bill’s attention and he made her a drawing for her next tattoo. There were signs asking for drumsticks and guitar picks, which Bill all read out and then joked how no one ever wants anything from him while he has a thong to offer.

After another outfit change it was time to take a step back and get two acoustic songs. Tom sat down center stage with an acoustic guitar and was soon joined by Bill who now walked out looking like a goth bride with a crowd and veil and of course still plenty of glitters. First up was “Just a Moment” where halfway through the song Malou Lovis walked back on stage to join them for the rest of the song. Next up was “In Your Shadow (I Can Shine)” and Bill also sat down back to back with his twin brother. The bottom of the stage was covered by fog and the part of the stage they were sitting on started turning in circles.

The setlist was filled to the brim with 22 songs, almost filling two hours of a show. While the band has plenty original songs to play, they did play several covers including “Careless Whisper” (originally by George Michael) and Disney’s “Colors of the Wind.” Their genre-defying songs make it impossible not to dance along to, with their electro-pop and rock influences. As the last song before the encore they played “White Lies”, which was another song everyone was dancing to. Near the end of the song gold confetti flew through the venue, creating a magical atmosphere.

The encore was filled with two more songs: “Durch Den Monsun” and “Great Day.” While the English version, “Monsoon,” got them more popular with the crowd outside of Germany, they played the original German version. Fans did not seem to have a problem with that and happily sang along the German lyrics, even singing a whole chorus acapella while the band gave them the spotlight.

A Tokio Hotel show is a big party to be at while this tour only has a few shows left, they already announced a tour for 2026, where they will be playing even bigger venues. Tickets can be found here and are well worth your money if you want to spend a great night out, reliving your younger years and dancing along to their current songs.