The 53rd Street Gig was very special. For the first time, Deutsche Telekom delighted nearly a million onlookers during Cologne's Shrove Monday parade with a rolling music float.
The band "Kasalla" played nearly four hours of uninterrupted music on the truck. That evening, the international stars "OneRepublic" gave an exclusive concert at Cologne's Carnival Museum. The concert was recorded as a 360-degree video – a premiere of this technology.
Cologne, Shrove Monday, 9:30 a.m.: A cheerful "Kasalla" stands with Street Gigs presenter Dominik Porschen (green costume) in front of the music float.
The float served as the stage for the musicians for the next four hours. With more than 10,000 participants, over 100 floats and around 1.5 million visitors, the Shrove Monday parade in Cologne is the largest such event in Germany and one of the largest in the world.
The revelers were packed in tightly and cheered on Deutsche Telekom's music float. For Kasalla and their lead singer Bastian Campmann, it was the 240th concert and the culmination of the carnival season: "It's really great that the fans will be able to experience our concert in 360 degrees afterwards. That's something new for us, too."
The best spot for Deutsche Telekom's stage was directly in front of Cologne's famous cathedral. The company has partnered with the Cologne carnival organizational committee since 2013.
The cheers for the music float were especially loud in front of the Telekom stage. When Bastian Campmann began to sing the classic "Stadt mit K" ("A City With K" alluding to the city's German name, Köln), all the fans sang along. The show ended after four hours.
Just five-and-a-half hours later, Kasalla opened the second gig of the day at Cologne's Carnival Museum.
The quintet warmed up the audience with their songs for a half-hour. Starting at 7:30 p.m., the concert was transmitted as a 360° HD live stream in the best network.
The highlight of the evening was an appearance by "OneRepublic". The American band is one of the most successful music groups in the world. After achieving multiple platinum and gold status with their albums "Dreaming Out Loud", "Waking Up" and "Native", the band took the number one chart spot in over a hundred countries last fall with their new album "OH MY MY".
