Nemo plays first festival after ESC victory on the Gurten in Bern

There was hardly any room in front of the stage when Nemo appeared in front of the audience with a five-piece band. This was despite the fact that they were playing at the same time as Berlin rapper Pashanim, who was filling the tent stage a few hundred meters away.

Nemo's sound was brilliant and the Gurtengangers contributed a quirky backing vocal. Tears of joy were already flowing in the front row before the anthem "The Code".

It was Nemo's third Gurten appearance. The last time the talented musician performed on Bern's local mountain was in 2017. Back then, Nemo primarily sang and rapped dialect earworms such as "Ke Bock" and "Himalaya", which were not neglected this year either. However, English lyrics now complemented the program. Sometimes it was poppier, sometimes punkier, and there was even room for a techno interlude in the set. The mix of genres was also reflected in Nemo's clothing, halfway through the set the suit was replaced by a tulle dress.

Nemo turned down the main stage

With "The Code", Nemo became the first openly non-binary person to win the Eurovision Song Contest in May - and thus became an international star virtually overnight.

As a result, the Gurten organizers offered Nemo and his team a larger stage, as reported by "BärnToday". According to the report, a slot on the main stage became available at short notice due to the cancellation of the band Bomba Estéreo. But Nemo turned it down. Gurten spokeswoman Lena Fischer told the Bern news portal that the smaller Waldbühne stage was also chosen because of the performance time.

The four-day Gurten Festival runs until Saturday. The organization is expecting up to 80,000 visitors at this year's 41st edition. The headliners include Bernese cult band Patent Ochsner and Canadian pop great Nelly Furtado. Dutchman Joost Klein, another ESC star, also performed alongside Nemo.