These Will Be the Days We Dream About | Concert Review
Artist: Alex Spencer
Tour: These Will Be The Days - European Tour
Date: September 2, 2026
Venue: Helios 37
City: Cologne (Köln), Germany
Some nights are difficult to describe because there is simply too much to put into words.
This was one of them.
Looking back, it feels almost as though the concert started long before Alex Spencer even stepped onto the stage. It started the day before, on September 1st, when Alex surprised fans with a pop-up show in front of Cologne Cathedral. A few songs, a meet and greet, people gathering around him, laughing, talking and trying to take in the fact that this spontaneous little moment was actually happening.
There was something incredibly special about it. Maybe it was the setting, maybe it was the spontaneity, or maybe it was simply the way Alex made everyone feel welcome. Whatever it was, the atmosphere was full of warmth and excitement, and somehow it made the anticipation for the following night even stronger.
Then came September 2nd.
At 7 p.m., the doors of Helios finally opened.
After waiting, talking, laughing and watching the time slowly pass, there was suddenly no more almost. We were inside. The night we had been waiting for was finally happening.
The anticipation was everywhere.
You could hear it in people's voices, see it in their faces and feel it in the way everyone kept looking towards the stage. People were meeting friends, some of them for the first time, others after months of waiting to see Alex again. Outside the venue, Alex's mum was even interviewing fans before the show, which somehow made the whole evening feel even more personal. It wasn't just a concert where an artist arrived, performed and left again. It felt like everyone involved was genuinely part of something together.
Inside, there was beautifully designed merch waiting for fans, perfectly matching the new era, and slowly the room began to fill.
The support act got the evening started, and the energy in Helios immediately began to rise. They covered, among other songs, a Louis Tomlinson track as well as a One Direction song, and the reaction was incredible. The entire room seemed to come alive at once, people singing together, laughing and dancing, the voices getting louder with every familiar lyric.
And all the while, there was this feeling in the back of everyone's mind:
Alex is next.
Then the lights went out.
And suddenly, everything became real.
The room erupted.
Alex walked onto the stage, and the first song of the night was “Where Do We Go From Here.”
But before the song really began, there was something waiting for everyone in the audience.
YOU ARE LOVED
Everyone had received a small piece of paper with those words written on it, and when you looked around the room and saw them everywhere, it was almost overwhelming. Hundreds of people holding up the same message, each person carrying their own story, their own struggles, their own reasons for needing to hear those three words.
You are loved.
It was such a simple message, but somehow, in that moment, it felt enormous. And then Alex started singing.
From the very first song, the room was incredibly loud. People knew the lyrics, people sang their hearts out, and the energy never seemed to disappear.
But what made it even more emotional was watching Alex react to it. He seemed genuinely speechless.
There were moments when he simply stood there, looking out into the crowd, taking everything in. His eyes were shining, almost as if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. Every time the audience became louder, you could see another little smile, another moment of disbelief, another glimpse of how much this actually meant to him. And honestly, it was impossible not to feel emotional watching that. Because we knew how much had happened since April.
Back then, Alex had stood on a Cologne stage as support for Louis Tomlinson. And now, only a few months later, he was standing on his own stage, with an entire room singing his songs back to him.
This time, Cologne wasn't simply listening.
Cologne was singing for him.
And he heard every single voice.
Having recently had the chance to interview Alex and, more recently, photograph him backstage for Frontline, seeing him standing there in front of hundreds of people felt particularly special. We had seen the person behind the music, and now we were watching those songs become something much bigger than a recording. They belonged to everyone in that room.
The band were incredible throughout the night, bringing so much energy to the songs while still leaving space for the emotional moments. They, too, felt wonderfully grounded and genuine, and there was this warmth between everyone on stage that made the whole concert feel incredibly natural.
Nothing felt forced.
Nothing felt distant.
It felt like Alex was sharing his music with friends.
And the audience felt like one big group of friends, too.
Then came one of the moments I will probably remember for a very long time.
The band left the stage.
The noise slowly faded.
The room became quiet.
And for a moment, it felt like there were no hundreds of people anymore. It was just Alex standing there, and everyone else listening. He began talking about “Masks”, one of his most emotional and vulnerable songs, and you could immediately feel the atmosphere change. After all the dancing, screaming and laughter, there was suddenly a completely different kind of silence — the kind where everyone is afraid to interrupt because they know something important is about to happen.
Alex opened up
He talked about the song, and then he sang it. And it felt like he was opening his heart right there in front of us. There was something incredibly raw about hearing “Masks” live. It wasn't just another song in the setlist. It felt like a moment of honesty, like Alex was allowing everyone to see behind the things we hide from the world. And the audience understood.
They sang with him.
They cried with him.
People who had never met before were suddenly holding each other in their arms. Strangers were hugging strangers, wiping tears from each other's faces, standing together as the song became more emotional with every line. Some people tried to hold back their tears. Others didn't even try. And nobody cared. There was no embarrassment. No awkwardness. Just people feeling something together.
For those few minutes, everyone seemed to understand each other without saying a word. You could look around the room and see people crying while still singing every word, holding onto the person next to them, as if they were saying, I've got you. And that might have been the most beautiful thing about the entire evening. Alex had opened his heart, and the audience responded by opening theirs. It was one of those rare concert moments where you stop thinking about where you are, what time it is or what is waiting for you outside.
Everything else disappeared. The problems of everyday life disappeared. The worries disappeared.
For a little while, there was nothing except the music and the people around you. And somehow, Helios felt safe.
It felt like home
Not because of the building itself, but because of the atmosphere Alex and his audience had created together.
A place where you could cry.
A place where you could scream.
A place where you could dance.
A place where you could put down whatever you had been carrying for the day and simply exist.
Later in the evening, another lyric seemed to perfectly capture what the night had become.
“Right here, right now, these will be the days that we dream about.”
From “These Will Be the Days,” the line suddenly felt like more than just a lyric.
Because standing there in that room, surrounded by people singing, laughing, crying and holding onto each other, it was difficult not to realize that this was exactly the kind of moment we would think about later.
We would remember the lights going down.
We would remember the first scream when Alex appeared.
We would remember the paper saying You Are Loved.
We would remember how loudly everyone sang.
We would remember Alex standing on stage looking almost speechless, his eyes shining as he tried to take it all in.
We would remember Masks.
The tears.
The hugs.
The strangers who became a little less strange.
The feeling of forgetting everything outside those four walls.
And we would remember how it felt to be there.
Right here.
Right now.
These really were the days we dream about.
The entire evening carried that feeling.
From the first notes to the final songs, the atmosphere never stopped being electric. There was screaming and dancing and laughter, but there was also so much tenderness. Alex's songs created space for both. You could go from jumping and singing at the top of your lungs to standing completely still because a lyric suddenly hit somewhere deeper than you expected.
That is what makes his music so special live.
The songs don't simply sound bigger on stage.
They feel bigger.
They become shared experiences.
A song that might have once been something you listened to alone through headphones suddenly becomes something hundreds of people know by heart. Something you sing together. Something that becomes attached to a specific night, a specific person standing next to you, a specific emotion. And Alex seemed to understand exactly what was happening.
There were so many moments where he looked out at the crowd as if he was trying to memorize it.
His eyes were shining
He looked genuinely overwhelmed by the love coming back at him.
And every time the audience got louder, he seemed a little more speechless.
It was beautiful to watch.
Because you could tell that this wasn't something he took for granted. After supporting Louis in Cologne in April, returning in September and seeing this many people show up for his own music must have felt surreal. And perhaps that is why the night felt so emotional for everyone.
We weren't just watching an artist perform.
We were watching someone experience a moment that meant everything to him.
And we were experiencing it with him. By the time the final notes faded and the lights came back on, it felt almost strange to suddenly remember the outside world again.
The night was over
The room that had felt like a little universe of its own was slowly emptying. People were leaving Helios, some still singing, some talking excitedly about their favourite moments, some wiping away the last tears. And yet, nobody really seemed ready to let go of the feeling. Maybe because we all knew we had just experienced something that couldn't be recreated exactly the same way again.
That particular crowd.
That particular night.
That particular version of Alex.
Those particular songs.
Those particular people standing beside us.
It was ours
And perhaps that is the greatest gift a concert can give you. Not just music.
A memory.
A feeling you can return to when life gets difficult.
A reminder that somewhere, sometime, you stood in a room full of strangers and felt completely understood.
FULLY GALLERY BELOW ⤵
Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) Taken by: Mary Thelen (2026) These Will Be The Days - Album Cover
Alex Spencer's return to Cologne wasn't simply another concert.
It was a celebration of how far he has come, a showcase of his new EP, and, most importantly, a reminder of what music can do when an artist is willing to be vulnerable and an audience is willing to listen with their whole hearts.
For one night, everyone in Helios left their problems outside.
For one night, strangers held each other.
For one night, hundreds of voices became one.
And for one night, it really did feel like home.
Right here, right now — these will be the days that we dream about.
About the Artist
Alex Spencer is currently a rising British singer-songwriter known for his heartfelt lyrics, soulful vocals, and honest storytelling.
He was born in Barcelona but grew up in the UK Blending indie-pop melodies with deeply personal songwriting, he has quickly established himself as one of the UK's most promising young artists. His music explores themes of growing up, self-discovery, love, and resilience, creating an authentic connection with listeners. Following the release of his fourth EP and after impressing audiences as the support act for Louis Tomlinson, Alex Spencer continues to prove that he is an artist with both remarkable talent and a bright future ahead.
Alex’s recent singles — “All of This Will Be Gone”, “Farewell To Forever”, and “These Will Be The Days” — meld coming‑of‑age lyricism with urgent, guitar‑forward arrangements, balancing intimate, confessional storytelling with anthemic live energy; they point directly to the emotional honesty and melodic growth on his new EP.
Musically, Alex draws on Manchester’s indie lineage and contemporary melodic storytellers, balancing the swagger of Arctic Monkeys and Sam Fender with the vulnerability of modern singer‑songwriters. His busking roots give his performances an immediacy and crowd‑first sensibility, while time on larger stages has sharpened his arrangement and showcraft. Expect honest, anthemic songs that sit comfortably between stadium-ready hooks and acoustic confessionals.
About the Photographer
Mary Thelen is a photographer and writer based near Cologne, Germany. Music has always been a big part of her life. She love capturing the atmosphere of concerts through her images the energy, emotions, lights, and those special moments that stay with you long after the music ends. For her, photography is about preserving those feelings. Because with a picture, you always have something to look back on and remember the beautiful moments, the music, and how it felt to be there.
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