31. October 2025
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Falco in Concert (30th October 2025, Dusseldorf)

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

The Austrian pop and rap artist Falco is one of my favorites of all time. 40 years ago, he released Rock Me Amadeus. Until today, it is the only German lyrics song which topped the British as well as the US-American charts. Even though Falco died in 1998, he still feels like a very active legend in the Austrian and German language music scene. The show Falco in Concert – Live On Screen honors the legendary artist and his song. While Falco obviously cannot be on stage any more personally and thus is put on a screen, there is a live band on stage. I was absolutely curious how this concept is working out. On 30th October 2025, I had the opportunity to watch the show in Dusseldorf. Here is my concert report.

 

This posting comes with 177 major size pictures as part of the concert gallery.

 

Mitsubishi Electric Halle – About The Venue

The Mitsubishi Electric Halle is a multi-purpose venue in the Southern Dusseldorf borough of Oberbilk. Opened in 1971 it comes with a maximum capacity of 7,500 people. For seated events, the capacity is roughly 5,500. As the arena is just South of the Düsseldorf-Oberbilk stop and station, which is served by commuter rails (S-Bahn) as well as undergrounds and buses, the traffic situation is quite ideal. There is also a major (paid) parking lot in front of the venue. Falco in Concert is just the second show I feature from this place, after a show by German pop artist Sasha in May 2024.

Falco – About The Artist

Johann Hans Hölzel, known as Falco, was born on 19th February 1957 in Vienna, Austria. He grew up with his mother, Maria Hölzel, who was a close person of his life until his death. In teenage years, he started to join some bands. The most famous is likely Drahdiwaberl, the last band he joined before turning solo. Even though Falco sang in (Austrian) German almost his entire career, he has massive international reputation as well. Especially his 1985 album Falco 3, which peaked 3rd in the United States, is a global success.

Falco died in a car accident in the Dominican Republic, being hit by a speeding bus, on 6th February 1998. He had a high blood alcohol and drug concentration. Posthumous, the album Out of the Dark (Into The Light) became a Top 4 success in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In 2009, there was another studio album compiled of unreleased songs. The Spirit Never Dies topped the Austrian charts and became platinum.  The title track was marketed as third part of the Falco’s legendary Jeanny saga. Coming Home (Jeanny Part 2) is a Song of my Life. Falco is buried at the Vienna Central Cemetery, next to his mother.

 

Falco In Concert – The Artists

As said, during the show, Falco was presented on a screen, while the band is playing live. Remarkably, the band on that tour featured his original band. The most famous are likely Tobias Rabitsch (keys, band lead), Bernhard Rabitsch (trumpet, percussion) and Robert Pistracher (bass). On top of that, there were multiple Austrian singers on stage, including Roman Gregory o Edita Malovcic.

 

Falco in Concert – The Show

At 19:30, the show started with an intro featuring Out of the Dark. The show was majorly inspired by the legendary 1993 concert at the Vienna Donauinselfest. However, already with the first real opener, Verdammt wir leben noch, the show diverted from the expectation of most visitors significantly. While most of them expected that Falco is present on both, the screen and the soundtrack, throughout most of the show, the singers on stage had a significantly stronger presence. Thus, you needed some songs to get into the concept. Sometimes, it worked better, sometimes worse. One part of the show was outstanding, though: the band presented a great and authentic sound, so that especially the instrumental parts felt striking. The first highlight of the show was Dance Mephisto, where Falco samples, Georgij Makazaria and the band presented the devilish sound of the Austrian legend.

The next song was one of the highlight of the shows. The double feature of Jeanny and Coming Home was in line with the Donauinsel performance – which also meant that Jeanny was not played entirely and Coming Home just had a short presence. I would have loved to have these two legendary track in full length, obviously. The first part of the show, which featured 13 songs, took some 55 minutes. Before the intermission, though, there were two highlights. The drum solo in Männer des Westens felt to take you back to the 1990’s and for Rock Me Amadeus, Ferdinand Derek Ferdi Bolland, one of the two legendary Bolland brothers, who composed and produced the song, came on stage as a guest.

 

Second Part of the Show

After a 25 minute intermission, the show came back with Ganz Wien. A special moment of the evening was Egoist, even though there were (obviously) no live samples of the Austrian legend available. The song was performed by Hannah Kropf, alumnus of the Falco Foundation, which is supporting young artists. Her performance was fantastic (and unfortunately outside of the “first songs” rule you have as a concert photographer). Also in the second part of Falco in Concert, there were ups and downs, also depending on your personal preferences. While I struggled with that evening’s version o Vienna Calling, Dusseldorf rather felt to like it. When the Kommissar started, the majority of the crowd stood up from their seats the first time. Thereafter, Nachtflug and Helden von Heute closed the regular set, before Düsseldorf celebrated the encore with Sound of Music and Baby Blue. Excluding the intermission, the show had a duration of some 1:50 hours.

 

Falco in Concert – The Gallery

Here are 177 major size pictures of the show. They are located in the concert gallery:

 

Falco in Concert – My View

I struggled with the show in Düsseldorf. The reason was simple: expectation management. I was hoping to be able to close my eyes, being pulled back to the 1990’s and after the show telling my boss that I have to take Friday off, as I urgently have to get to Vienna that weekend. The show praised Falco and his music, but only parts of it gave a Falco experience. The screen and playback presence of the legend was much more limited than expected. The band was great and, individually, the singers did a great performance. But events like the Rock Me Amadeus musical recently played at the Ronacher Theater in Vienna might have given you a closer Falco feeling. Thus, Falco in Concert either gave you a fantastic musical night reminding of a unique artist, who was far ahead of his times. Or, to quote a female visitor close to me, you end up with This is not my Falco. The outcome will differ by visitor.

However, there is one thing this show definitely underlines, like the musical and other shows did. Falco’s songs are still alive. They are magical. And that unfortunate event in February 1998 left a huge gap in the world of music. Not only in Vienna, in Austria. Falco is deeply missed. But his music lives on. Now that his band went back on tour, it will be interesting how this heritage lives on. They definitely have the big opportunity to give us back a bit of Falco again.

 

Vienna on Flyctory.com

Here are all my postings related to Vienna in Austria:

 

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Here are all my Concert postings published in 2025:

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