The Haunt Return to Cologne as Headliners at a Sold-Out MTC
Last time the alternative band The Haunt played at MTC in Cologne, it was as support for Palaye Royale. Now, a few years later, the sibling duo of Maxamillion ‘Max’ and Anastasia Grace Haunt returned as headliners and sold out the club, with Himalayas as support.
The Welsh band Himalayas started their set with the track ‘Cave Paintings’ from their 2025 album ‘BAD STAR’. Playing popular songs such as ‘Thank God I’m Not You’, the quartet quickly had the crowd dancing and sweating. Nearly every song on their setlist sparked a mosh pit. The Haunt’s Anastasia even joined the group on stage for their song ‘What If…?’. Toward the end of the set, vocalist and rhythm guitarist Joe Williams moved his performance into the middle of the pit for their final track of the night, ‘From Hell to Here’, which also featured a snippet of Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise.
After a short break, during which the band carried their stage equipment outside through a parted crowd (MTC really isn’t that big of a place, even though it somehow fits an astounding number of people), The Haunt finally took the stage. ‘Bad Omen’, from their recent album ‘New Addiction’, was the perfect opener, their energy flowing seamlessly into the crowd and back again. Both Max and Anastasia Haunt brought their all to the stage (along with their mascot and plush bunny, Pebbles), their vocals matching and building on top of each other. Anastasia showed both softness and gritty power on tracks such as ‘Little Like Hell’ and their new song ‘Nervous Wreck’. It may well have been my favourite performance of the night.
Touring members Joey Castro on drums and Deffo Not Jacob on bass matched that passion on every beat. With ‘Dead 2 Me’, the band walked the line between something almost delicate in both sound and vocals and a punky vivaciousness. Their songs, though emotionally fraught or even angry at times, were clearly meant to make you move. Even the people staying close to the walls could feel the waves of moving feet and moshing bodies.
After playing fan favourite ‘Cigarettes & Feelings’, the song that helped them gain traction in 2019, The Haunt moved on to their latest release, ‘Ghost’. The catchy, pop-punk-leaning track carries surprisingly deep lyrics. “Our souls are tied together and that’s still what hurts the most, ’cause all that’s left of you here is your ghost”, sang Anastasia, with Max taking over on the harsher lines. Followed immediately by their last album’s title track ‘New Addiction’, the performance showed just how well the sibling duo complement each other both emotionally and musically. I honestly would have loved to put the line “My lipstick stain is in your veins” in my ICQ status if it had been released when I was an emo teen (no, really, what a line!).
They finished the set before the encore with the heartbreaking ‘Wish You Stayed’, its electronic beats rounding out the pop-rock sound and tearjerker lyrics.
After the crowd shouted “ONE MORE SONG!” a few times, The Haunt returned to play ‘Masochistic Lovers’, a song they made together with emo/metalcore band Escape the Fate. It was the perfect ending to a great night. I left with new additions to my ever-growing favourites playlist, and a fervent excitement for what the future holds for The Haunt.
