By José Oliveira & Rosine Alleva – Rock At Night EU Editors
We left the sweltering heat of the beach in southern Portugal to be in Basel for the traditional Baloise Session line-up presentation.
One of Europe’s most renowned indoor festivals, which we’ve been covering for two decades now, not only because of the eclectic range of music that characterises it, but also because of the elegance and Swiss know-how that Beatrice Stirnimann and her team bring to bear every year to offer the Basel public a top-quality line-up.
At a time of generational change, this 40th anniversary edition of the Baloise Session is implicitly geared towards established artists, but above all, towards the stars of tomorrow, such as Lukas Graham, Tom Gregory, JC Steward. The Irish Dermott Kennedy will close the Festival with the amazing sisters Larkin Poe.
The Festival’s headliner is usually an artist or group invited to perform over two days. This year’s headliner is Duran Duran, one of the leading bands of the eighties. There’s no doubt that nostalgic fans of the MTV generation will be out in force on 23 and 24 October.
As every year, the Baloise Session is highlighting new Swiss talents, Paula Dalla Corte will open for Duran Duran on 24 October. Moonpools will open on 21 October for Queen Of The Stone Age.
Zoë Më, the Swiss representative for the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 held in Basel, will open for Amy MacDonald. The pop band Pegasus and Dabu Fantastic will respectively play on the 25 and 28 October.
The line-up is also geared towards dance music, and these ten days will set Basel on fire once again.
Of course, as in the past, we’d love to see artists such as Eric Clapton or Joe Bonamassa again, but despite a budget considerably increased by the arrival of many new Swiss sponsors, their fees have become astronomical, forcing them to perform principally in stadiums.
The Festival was created by Matthias Müller, Steffi Werthmüller and Rico Bonometti forty years ago. For this 40th Anniversary, we would like to pay tribute to Matthias Müller, Baloise Session co-founder and president who passed away in 2016. The magic of the festival has continued ever since, with President Steffi Werthmüller, CEO Beatrice Stirnimann with their close-knit team at the helm.
We’re looking forward to this new intimate Baloise Session edition with ten concerts from 17 October to 6 November.
On October 28, Johannes Oerding will perform at the Baloise Session, replacing Max Herre and Joy Denalane, who had to cancel their participation for health reasons.
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From Belgian and Italian parents, I grew up with music, dance and big fun! I love singing since I'm a little girl, I still am, haha. When I was 14, I saw my first concert: T-Rex. Later it was FrankZappa, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Fela, Canned Heat, Little Feat, Bonnie Raitt, Earth, Wind and Fire ....
I dreamed to have a chat with each of them 😀 Before interviewing bands, I used to sing (and still do) and met lots of great musicians. I had the chance to be the support band to Joe Cocker in 2007. I love to communicate and meet people (Italian blood).
Working for magazine, a few years ago, l met José Oliveira! We were working at the same festival in Colmar. 2 people from the South with the same passion just recognized each other...and we stayed in contact since then. Here I am! Enjoying concerts, covering interviews and articles with José for Rock at Night!!
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