I can scarcely believe it, but the T-shirts don’t lie. Ruf Records’ Blues Caravan has been travelling round the globe since 2005. Tonight it was the turn once again of Bonn Harmonie to host Thomas Ruf and his stars for the evening: Laura Chavez, Elise Frank and Matthew Curry.
Continue readingA big shout-out to Richard Münchhoff. The talented young local drummer proves to be equally talented on vocals and guitar for the first ever single release by his band Munchy Bunch titled ‘Never Gonna Stop’. Fans of the Foo Fighters will love this this one with its urgent, high adrenalin attack. a promising start indeed for the local lads.
“Raw, energetic, and straight in your face” is how Munchy Bunch describe their sound, and with ‘Never Gonna Stop’ they deliver on all three fronts – need I say more?
Check out the video below, and you can take MB with you wherever you go via Spotify and co very soon by pre-saving HERE
In case you’re not a geographer, Wiki describes Pangea Ultima as “a hypothesized future supercontinent, expected to form in approximately 250 million years as tectonic plate movements, specifically the subduction of the Atlantic Ocean floor, cause the Americas, Africa, and Eurasia to collide into one landmass”. The German Jazzband of the same name melts together continental musical forms rather than continental plates. Bandleader José Díaz de León even joked that we might have noticed this happening – It certainly made for a bit of a whirlwind of music at times on this, the opening night of Dottendorfer Jazznacht 2026.
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Review by Richard Limbert – 16.01.2026
A Rolling Stones cover tribute band can only exist with a real Mick Jagger. And the band Sticky Fingers, which has been around for almost 50 years, proved that at the Harmonie in Bonn. The hall was packed on Friday evening. Naturally, with one of the country’s longest-running Rolling Stones tribute bands performing, there was a fair amount of gray hair in the audience. But by no means only gray hair. Above all, there were genuine music fans. The front row was filled with people of all ages wearing band t-shirts. There were plenty of Rolling Stones logos, but also Black Sabbath, Suzi Quatro, and others. It was clear: this evening was for true rock fans.
We’re now at the end of 2025 and, once again I’ve brought my index finger down on my camera shutter a good many times. Favourite pictures are not always about image quality, They’re also about capturing the moment (yes I stole that observation from Cartier-Bresson!). Here are some of my favourite images from the year, and why…
Larkin Poe – It’s not often you get the chance to see musicians like the Lovell sisters so up close and personal, and the Xperion in Cologne (formerly part of Saturn on Hansaring) only seated maybe 100 people. I still don’t know why they played the gig – but I’m grateful!
Warren Haynes with Bonnie Raitt – It’s also not often that you get to photograph Warren Haynes and Bonnie Raitt sharing a guitar solo. Shame there weren’t more people to capture a magical evening at Kunst!Rasen.
Billy Idol – He may not be a new kid on the block, but Billy got this Summers Kunstrasen season off to a flyer and I love this shot of him by the K!R logo.
Julian Sas – I saw Julian supporting Lynyrd Skynyrd at Kunstrasen, but to get the real Sas magic you have to visit Bonn Harmonie at year’s end. Here he is in a typical ‘take no prisoners’ pose about to step right out of the picture frame.
Gun Barrel – Rock music has its local heroes, and one of them is undoubtedly this band. I just love the attitude and sweat oozing from every pore of each of the guys in this shot. Hard rock like it should be played – Loud, proud, and in your face!
The Troublenotes – But you don’t have to be playing heavy metal to have a crazy time onstage. Bennet Cerven and Florian Eisenschmidt prove it here. Also my favourite t-shirt slogan of 2025 ‘Violins Not Violence’ comes from them. Hopefully a return visit to Bonn soon after this lively Stadtgarten show.
Laura Marti – I usually avoid politics at concerts but a pregnant Croatian singer proudly waving her Country’s flag at Stadtgarten was a reminder that behind those daily statistics are real people who just wanted to lead normal lives but got caught up in a War.
Hans-Joachim Over (HaJo) – Since several of my favourite images were captured at Stadtgarten it seems only fair to give HaJo the spotlight, which is exactly what he gets, albeit briefly, introducing the acts at Bonn’s favourite free open-air venue each year. Deservedly so too. I didn’t realise Bonn had a Rock & Pop Beauftragte until a couple of years ago, but now I know, and I’m glad!
Alma Naidu – No it’s not an out-take from ‘Close Encounters’, this is Bonn’s hottest Jazz venue the Dottendorfer Jazznacht. The lady on piano left of shot is mesmerizing from even this distance. Note: The venue isn’t as big as it looks here, so get there early!
Richard Thompson – In this case ‘capturing the moment’ meant capturing a moment that I treasure. Finally getting to not just hear but interview one of my all-time musical heroes at the Harmonie!
Well, that’s my short photo-trip for this year. I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to seeing you all again – both those on and those off the stages again in 2026!
Concert report from Kristof Scheller – Harmonie Bonn 22.12.2026
It tends to be the case that every time someone plays two shows in subsequent years in the Rhineland it becomes considered a ‘Tradition’. In the case of guitarist Stefan Stoppok (vocals, guitar, cajon), however, one must speak of a repeat offender: once again he was a guest at the Harmonie in Endenich, together with American musician Tess Wiley, shortly before the end of the year. The Hamburg musician with roots in the Ruhr region has been on a kind of permanent tour for decades and is certainly one of the best and most creative guitarists in Germany, stopping at nothing when it comes to plucked instruments (add ‘Thueringische Waldzitter’ to the earlier list). In addition, being joined by Tess Wiley on vocals, guitar, violin and piano gave the songs an interesting ‘Texas meets Ruhrgebiet’ air – not to mention giving Stoppok the opportunity to find yet another fresh edge for his music this time around.
With his steadfast refusal to give in to commercial hits you won’t hear Stoppok on everyday German radio. His is a loyal fan base similarly disinterested in eschewing intelligent and thoughtful lyrics in order to create a pop tune and chart success. There’s certainly no need to win over this evening’s audience – they already know him so to speak, and would disagree with his opening song lyric “Am schoensten ist es immer anderswo” (‘Schoene Gruesse’). It’s always better somewhere else? Not for these fans it isn’t! – at least for the next two hours.
Stoppok, often on the road with his rock bandmates, has chosen to do a string of intimate gigs and with Wiley is doing a short but whirlwind tour this Winter, visiting 22 cities in around a month. The programme is colourful and varied, with older hits (‘Wetterprophet’, ‘La Compostela’, ‘Aus dem Beton’) alternating with songs from newer albums (‘Lass sie rein’, ‘Mal Dein Herz an’, ‘2 Wunderschoene Augen’). Wiley also contributes two of her own songs, demonstrating a talent for powerful ballads. In this rich programme (exactly two hours including encores), Stoppok also manages to slip in a few critical political comments without turning the evening into a political song recital.
Overall, both musicians come across as delightfully authentic and relaxed. Unfortunately, even two hours seem too short for such compelling music. Fortunate then that Stoppok has started that tradition we mentioned earlier and Bonn fans can already make a note in their diary for 22 December 2026.
Whatever sort of year 2025 has been for you, 3songsbonn hopes you have a great Christmas and a happy, healthy and successful New Year packed with great music!
Kunst & Kultur Bad Godesberg (alias KuKuG) joined the Kleines Theater in Bonn to celebrate the end of their theatrical and musical year in style with a very happy santa as my picture above shows. You can make the Kleines Theater’s proprieter Frank Oppermann as happy as Santa with a donation towards the much needed theatre roof repairs – more details HERE
Santa’s wasn’t the only happy face though on an afternoon/evening with a tombola and events that offered something for everyone – from small children, to teenagers, to adults. As always, it’s been a wonderful year in Bad Godesberg for theatre and music in the Kurpark – with plans for a wonderful 2026 already well underway. Merry Christmas to all involved at Kleines Theater and KuKug.. See you in 2026!
