Do you remember the first time you met someone cool? Like, proper effortless cool. The type of person that just has it. Well, if you haven’t, go see Rosalie Cunningham live and you’ll know what I mean.
The Duchess of rock and roll (yes, I made that title up) owned Lido on a cold Berlin night on 20 March 2026.
As soon as she took the stage, we could all tell she meant business. Because rock stars have a way of being on stage that immediately oozes class and elegance. I’m not keen on comparisons, but I’ve only seen that kind of effortless control once before, with Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age.
Rosalie and her band opened with To Shoot Another Day, the title track of her latest album. The record leans into what she has called “spy-chedelic rock”, which makes sense the second you hear it. It has the drama of old cinema, the strange turns of late sixties psychedelia, a bit of Bond-theme swagger and enough theatrical detail to make the whole thing feel like it should come with opening credits. Talking about the title track, Rosalie put it better than anyone could:
“I can do whatever the fuck I like, it’s my album.”
Fair enough. That’s probably the most accurate album note you can write.
Live, though, those songs came out with teeth. The set moved beyond the latest album too, reaching back into the Purson days with Wool and Tempest and the Tide around this run of shows, while Return of the Ellington gave the newer material a swaggering, cinematic edge. By then, the whole thing felt less like a polished album presentation and more like a very elegant rock and roll spell being properly unleashed.
To your possible question, her band members are also cool as fuck.
Claudia Gonzalez Diaz on bass and Rosco Wilson on guitar were not messing around. Claudia threw so much energy into the room with her red-headed power that, the bass was literally on fire. I can’t resist a good pun.
Rosco brought the seventies lead-rock charisma and delivered some tasty riffs I wouldn’t dare try to play myself. Aaron Bolli-Thompson added Hammond and piano like the secret glue behind all the drama, while drummer Raph Mura kept the whole thing moving forward.
So, why the Duchess of rock and roll?
Maybe it’s because I’ve never met real royalty before, but it’s the only way I can describe that kind of coolness you’re born with. Some people learn stage presence. Some people have it.
Rosalie Cunningham will be playing shows this summer, buy tickets here and go see her.
Perhaps it’ll make you a bit cooler yourself.
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