Pop-Kultur Festival Berlin, August 27, 2026: From Dreamy Pop to Heavy Bass
- Anne
- 13 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Our second day at Pop-Kultur Festival brings us from dreamy pop and jazz-infused sounds to heavy bass, wild performances and new connections at Festsaal Kreuzberg.
After our first night at Pop-Kultur Festival in silent green, August 27 brought a completely different atmosphere at Festsaal Kreuzberg. The walk through the trees towards the venue already felt like a transition. The noise of the city seemed to disappear, replaced by a quieter, more communal atmosphere. Inside, people were sitting and standing, talking and waiting for the next set. It was full, but comfortable, with a noticeably mixed-age audience.
Inside, the atmosphere was relaxed and welcoming. People were sitting, standing, talking and waiting for the next performance. The venue was full, but never felt overcrowded. The audience was mixed in age and there was a sense of people coming together rather than simply arriving for a concert.
Our evening started with Maryam.fyi.
Her warm, clear voice carried through the room while emotional pop songs created a dreamy atmosphere. The music invited people to listen, but it never demanded complete silence. There was still room to talk, move around and settle into the evening. After the intensity of some of the performances we had experienced at silent green the night before, this felt almost like a moment of vacation.
Toshín changed the energy completely
With saxophone, drums, bass, guitar and keyboard, the performance had a strong big-band feeling, combining jazz with rap and almost spoken-word passages. The band sounded extremely well rehearsed, but the performance never felt rigid. Toshín’s powerful voice and stage presence matched the musicians around them, and the audience responded immediately. People danced. That feeling of moving between performances continued throughout the evening. You could leave one set, walk through the venue and find another world waiting somewhere else. Pop-Kultur does something interesting with its spaces: there is rarely the feeling that there is only one place where the festival is happening.
Blake Harley
Blake Harley brought the sound further towards indie pop-rock. The bassist appeared wearing a mask, while dark synthesizers and a strong bass gave the set a heavier edge. The vocals were powerful and the songs were immediately accessible. It was relaxed, but still made people move.
Then came Painting
The difference was physical. The bass was so heavy that you could feel it in your stomach. The room was well filled and people were dancing, but the performance itself was just as important as the music. Costumes, robotic movements and unexpected changes made the set feel deliberately unpredictable. The saxophone fitted strangely well into the mixture of sounds, while the drums kept everything moving forward. Genres seemed to collide rather than sit neatly next to one another. It felt like the evening was getting wilder with every set.
Inga Bari
Inga Bari took that energy into a more electronic direction. The performance began with hard synthesizer sounds that felt metallic, modern and almost otherworldly. The bass was heavy and the rhythm remained at the center, with long stretches built around repeating musical ideas. People continued to dance and talk, but the music never disappeared into the background.
More Than the Music
Between the performances, we also stopped by the Label Market. It was relatively small, but that made it feel surprisingly personal. Instead of simply walking past dozens of booths, there was time to actually talk to people, ask questions and discover what different labels were working on. For an independent music publication, this was one of the most interesting parts of the day. Festivals can easily become a sequence of stages and schedules, but the conversations around the music are often where connections actually begin. And connections are clearly part of what Pop-Kultur creates.
A Different Side of Pop-Kultur
The contrast with August 26 could hardly have been stronger. Our first night at silent green was dominated by experimental performances, visual installations and sound worlds that often made the audience stop and simply listen. At Festsaal Kreuzberg, the experience felt more intimate and immediately social. People danced. They talked. They moved between performances. They discovered artists together. Yet there was still a clear connection between the two nights. Both showed how far a live music festival can move beyond the traditional concert format. On August 26, sound and visuals sometimes became inseparable. On August 27, the energy came more directly from the artists, the audience and the spaces between them. For us, that contrast was one of the most interesting things about spending two days at Pop-Kultur. The festival does not seem to have one particular sound or atmosphere. It gives very different artists and audiences room to exist next to each other. And on this second night, that journey took us from dreamy pop to jazz, indie rock and increasingly heavy electronic sounds. By the end of the evening, the pattern was almost impossible to miss: It kept getting wilder.
And Tonight, It Continues
After a night of dreamy pop, jazz-infused sounds, heavy bass and unexpected performances at Festsaal Kreuzberg, Pop-Kultur continues today, August 28, at the Kulturbrauerei with another full day of music, performances, talks and encounters.
This is only a selection of Friday’s program, with many more concerts, performances and events taking place throughout the day.
5:00 p.m. – SENU
6:30 p.m. – Claim the Spot: Skateboarding, öffentlicher Raum und Empowerment (Talk)
7:00 p.m. – RIA BOSS × WAX THE RICH
7:20 p.m. – A Body Like a Home
8:00 p.m. – GRENZKONTROLLE
8:20 p.m. – An Experiment On A Bird In the Air Pump
9:00 p.m. – Sassy 009, SAMRATTAMA and Toxe
9:30 p.m. – Layla Boe
10:30 p.m. – Painting
11:00 p.m. – Jassin
11:00 p.m. – Sorvina
11:40 p.m. – Automatic
Yesterday took us from the dreamy pop of Maryam.fyi through jazz, indie pop-rock and increasingly wild performances at Festsaal Kreuzberg, with a stop at the Label Market along the way.
Today, we’ll be back at Pop-Kultur to see what the festival brings next.
INDIENOXZINE is independent and reader-supported. Your support helps us keep discovering and documenting independent music.
Want to discover more from Berlin’s music scene? Explore our Scene Reflections: Berlin, Artist Features and Three Track Week for more music, artists and stories from the city.
Comments