- First appearance by this exceptional artist in Germany after seven-year hiatus
- Electronic Beats will charm Cologne for five days
- Secret gig by British electronic soul duo Honne
- Tickets for the festival, from May 18-22, on www.electronicbeats.net
Telekom Electronic Beats is bringing a true pop icon to Cologne: Grace Jones will open the five-day festival, which is organized by Deutsche Telekom, on May 18, with a performance at E-Werk. The concert will kick off a series of events that will color the bustling city on the Rhine "magenta". From May 18-22, music, art, fashion, tech and food will connect locations in virtually every corner of the city – including Ehrenfeld, Mülheim, the Belgian Quarter and the city center – in a single, one-of-a-kind event.
"Grace Jones has an instinct for combining music, fashion and her impulsive lifestyle to create a single, trend-setting, living work of art. She is the perfect artist for our international music program and the new festival concept," says Ralf Lülsdorf, International Music Marketing Deutsche Telekom.
Legendary stage shows
The Jamaican artist gave her last concert in Germany seven years ago. With her roots in the post-Disco era, she was already a star attraction of the eccentric New York night life in the 1980s. Her stage shows are legendary and were far ahead of their time. The mix of minimalism, expressionism, opera and avant-garde that she brings to the stage in her one-woman shows has thrilled audiences all over the world.
Grace Jones will join the illustrious artists that Telekom Electronic Beats has presented in Germany in recent years, including Donna Summer, the Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode.
Secret gig by Honne
The British avant-garde electro soul duo Honne will also play at the festival in Cologne. Electronic Beats is presenting the band as a secret gig. What makes it unique: the date and location of the show will remain top secret until just before it starts. Fans should keep a close eye on www.electronicbeats.net and the social media channels.
Matt Edwards is also featured in the festival lineup. The British artist, better known as Radio Slave, will play a gig on May 20 in the "Heinz Gaul" club.
Cologne to turn "magenta" for five days
"Telekom Electronic Beats has served as our lifestyle program for contemporary and electronic music for 15 years now. It embodies the lifestyle of the young, urban, international community in Europe. The music becomes a link and vehicle for other lifestyle topics," explains Ralf Lülsdorf. "With the new festival concept, we are creating even stronger ties between the worlds of art, fashion, tech and food with music, which also reflects the general trend in urban lifestyle. We take our audience on a musical journey with us and create unique moments that can be experienced and shared together. In Deutsche Telekom's best network, of course."
With this in mind, the Telekom Electronic Beats Festival will present numerous lifestyle events from the areas of food, fashion, tech and art in addition to more music highlights like Mø, Woman, Chilly Gonzales and Kerry Chandler. This includes native sessions, for example, in which artists such as Kerri Chandler provide a glimpse into their work in interactive workshops. Local designers, DJs, galleries and stores will also get Cologne moving: virtual reality showcases, podium debates in young "in" shops, street food markets and audio workshops will also be on offer. Tickets and the full schedule are available under www.electronicbeats.net/event.
About Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies with more than 156 million mobile customers, 29 million fixed-network lines and around 18 million broadband lines (as of December 31, 2015). The Group provides fixed-network/broadband, mobile communications, Internet and Internet-based TV products and services for consumers, and ICT solutions for business customers and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in more than 50 countries and has around 225,200 employees worldwide. The Group generated revenues of 69.2 billion euros in the 2015 financial year – around 64 percent of it outside Germany.
About Telekom Electronic Beats
Since 2000, Deutsche Telekom has set the standard for international music & lifestyle content marketing with Electronic Beats, its international music marketing program. Electronic Beats is active in all Deutsche Telekom markets worldwide and embodies the youthful avant-garde lifestyle and feel of digital natives and urban early adopters of the 18-34 age group. The website Electronicbeats.net offers deep-rooted quality journalism; EB.TV and EB.Radio bring their followers in-depth interviews, exclusively compiled DJ mixes, concert footage and live streams of pioneers, stars and newcomers in the electronic music scene. Electronic Beats live events throughout Europe complement these offerings with unforgettable music experiences. Electronic Beats serves as a platform for innovative Deutsche Telekom products and services.