Live Music Hall, Cologne, Germany 16th June 2026
Breaking Benjamin - “UK / Europe Tour 2026” - Special Guest: Return To Dust
Hard rock veterans BREAKING BENJAMIN have released their anthemic new track ‘Awaken’, the first single from the band in five years. In order to shore up this life sign, the band has also embarked on a combined festival and club tour through the summer in Europe. The crowds at their recent appearance at Rock Am Ring / Rock Im Park underscored the appetite from their starved fan base, so it came to no surprise that ticket holders were queuing for hundreds of meters outside the sold-out Live Music Hall to witness the band’s return to European concert halls.
Return To Dust
Taking the stage first was the Los Angeles-based quartet RETURN TO DUST, tasked with warming up the crowd before headliners BREAKING BENJAMIN were scheduled to blow the roof off the venue. Formed in 2022 by childhood friends Matty Bielawski and Graham Stanush after moving from a small town in Texas to California, RETURN TO DUST has quickly captured the industry’s attention under the guidance of producer Jim Kaufman.
Their self-titled debut album, ‘Return to Dust’, dropped in 2024, followed by their 2025 EP ‘Speak Like the Dead’, which helped solidify their rising position in the modern rock landscape. Musically, the band heavily channels the dark, brooding energy of 1990s Seattle, listing ALICE IN CHAINS and SOUNDGARDEN as major inspirations alongside alternative acts like JANE’S ADDICTION. https://www.returntodust.com
Music & Performance
During yesterday’s performance, that lineage was on full display. The band delivers a sound best described as classic Hard Rock heavily laced with sludge metal influences, churning out thick, down-tuned grooves that immediately got the crowd moving. A clear highlight of their musicianship was the vocal dynamic, featuring beautifully executed duet melody lines shared between guitarist Matty Bielawski and bass player Graham Stanush, echoing the haunting vocal harmonies of their grunge heroes.
The band also proved they do not take themselves too seriously, winning over the heated room with an unexpected, heavy-hitting cover of OUTKAST’s ‘Hey Ya’. It was a nice injection of energy that turned a classic Pop-Rap anthem into a sing-along. The only downside to their otherwise stellar opening set came from the soundboard. Sebastian Gonzalez’s lead guitar work was clearly ultra effect-laden, pulsing with textured delays and modulations that promised an immersive sonic layer.
Unfortunately, it was mixed way too low in volume, leaving his intricate work buried beneath the rhythm section rather than cutting cleanly through the venue’s acoustics. That was addressed during the set, so RETURN TO DUST proved they have the stage presence and the catalogue to command large crowds, leaving the Live Music Hall properly primed for BREAKING BENJAMIN, although this was no match to CHEVELLE, which will join BREAKING BENJAMIN later on this tour.
Breaking Benjamin
Commonly dubbed by fans as the grandfathers of “Divorced Dad Rock”, BREAKING BENJAMIN hold a legendary status in the post-grunge and alternative metal scenes. Formed in 1999 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, by frontman Benjamin Burnley, the band has spent over two decades mastering a signature sound characterized by crunching, drop-tuned guitar riffs, swelling cinematic choruses, and Burnley’s remarkable vocal contrast between soaring melodies and aggressive growls, mainly delivered by bass player Aaron Bruch.
Their impressive discography includes multi-platinum milestones like the 2004 breakout album ‘We Are Not Alone’ and 2006’s ‘Phobia’, which cemented their place in Rock history. Despite their massive global footprint, their appearances across the Atlantic have been exceptionally rare due to Burnley’s notorious aversion to flying, making their appearance in Europe a truly historic event for the German rock faithful. http://www.breakingbenjamin.com
Music & Performance
On Tuesday, June 16th, that rare mystique translated into an overwhelming turnout. Given that this was only the third time in Germany for BREAKING BENJAMIN in their entire twenty-seven-year career, it was remarkable how many people came to witness their set, selling out the Live Music Hall. When the band struck their first chords, the sonic payoff was immediate. Armed with an expanded line-up, the three guitars on stage created a massive sound wall that completely enveloped the crowd, delivering the crushing weight of their studio recordings with flawless precision.
If there was any flaw in the performance, it was that the longer breaks between the songs killed the vibe a little, occasionally draining the high-octane momentum that the club crowd thrives on. The highlight of the set, however, came from its sheer human vulnerability in Ben’s interaction with the crowd. Between songs, the singer confessed to the audience that he is “a little bit of a nervous cat” when it comes to travel. He openly shared that because he fears flying, he had to take a ship to get to Europe. That vulnerability bled into his introduction of their latest material.
Ben mentioned to the crowd that he was deeply concerned that not enough people would know the new song to help him sing along. He then introduced the new track, ‘Something Wicked’. As the opening bars hit, it turns out his concerns were completely unfounded. The Cologne Crowd erupted, screaming the lyrics back with a ferocity that matched their oldest anthems. And Ben must be the most likeable, courteous singer ever. During the set when he addressed the audience suffering in the scorching heat inside the hall, he said that if he had any ice water, he would pour it over them in a genuinely caring way.
And he marvelled the stamina of the crowd, saying everyone was looking so healthy, and he attributed the fact that no one had collapsed in the heat yet to the good food and the absence of strange chemicals here in Europe. For a band that has to literally cross oceans by boat to see their European fans, the overwhelming reception proved that the distance has not diminished their impact one bit.
Setlist
01. I Will Not Bow
02. Until the End
03. Evil Angel
04. Crawl
05. Red Cold River
06. Blow Me Away
07. Follow
08. Angels Fall
09. You
10. So Cold
11. Polyamorous
12. Dear Agony
13. Something Wicked
14. Breath
15. Awaken
16. Failure
17. Dance With the Devil
18. The Diary of Jane
Pictures by Christian Beyermann
