Bands and venues have come and gone over the last 30 years, so Baum’s Bluesbenders would deserve praise for even just being around still. The fact that they are not just still around but have just released their first official CD and had the organizers of Unter der Zeder scrambling to find additional chairs for the huge stream of keen spectators shows them to be a band not just still existing, but still making great music.
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Kunstrasen Bonn – 9 July 2026
The ‘Nutty Boys’ have now grown up it’s true (Suggs is now 65 after all) but Sax player Lee Thompson still finds time to fly paper planes into the crowd and Suggs himself rejoices in the politics of novelty UK Candidate Count Binface. There is a brief attempt to play the experienced advocate of good sense when Suggs warns young audience members to “get an education” and “Don’t become troublemakers like him!” at which point he waggles an accusing finger at Thompson, who has just retrieved his tambourine from the photopit after a failed attempt to throw it over a mike stand several feet away. They may not be nutty boys anymore, but Madness still know how to have fun, and the 3,700 strong audience at Bonn Kunstrasen are with them all the way – many wearing red fezzes in anticipation of ‘Nightboat to Cairo’.
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There are clearly a lot of Italians in the audience so you might have been forgiven for thinking you were opposite the Tiber in Rome or the Arno in Florence on this sunny evening. But no, this is Bonn Germany down by the Rhine. Lorenzo Cherubini aka Jovanotti has just brought huge applause by joining Jack Savoretti on the Kunstrasen stage to sing ‘Lo Che non Vivo’. Jack sings ‘You don’t have to say you love me’, but don’t worry, it’s not chaos, the Dusty Springfield (and Elvis) hit was based on Pino Donaggio’s 1960’s hit. It’s wonderful to see both men clearly so happy in the moment. As Savoretti went on to say on Facebook: “‘They’ say never meet your heroes… but ‘they’ never met Lorenzojova!”
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Bad Godesberg’s Unter der Zeder started its 7th Season on Monday and a marvellous start it was too. Perfect weather saw top german drummer Willy Ketzer (to be heard almost everyday on tv via the ‘Tatort’ theme) bring some very special musical friends together under the famous cedar tree near Kleines Theatre. Keyboarder extraordinaire Marcus Schinkel will be no stranger to local music fans of course and the percussion skills of Papa Samory Seck are also well known. Add the calming bass of Jens Foltynowicz and you have a dynamic backing for sure. The solo skills of trumpeter Terrance Ngassar and strong vocals from American singer Deborah Woodson were the icing on the cake.
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Sunshine and a party spirit. What more could the organizers of Kunst!Rasen, now in its 14th year, ask for?
The sunny weather came from Mother Nature and the sunny music from Carneval/Rockband Brings.
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June 2026 has been a busy month for Gaz & Ash aka Midnight Fyre even by their own standards I would guess. Two Birthdays, one CD launch and marriage. Musically though they’ve been married a while now, as anyone who has been lucky enough to catch the duo performing will testify I’m sure. Their debut release is named Butterfly Moon after their former band name, and released under their new name Midnight Fyre. It’s based unpretentiously on the songs as presented in their live shows, with no grand musical embellishments. The result being a belter of a disc for lovers of thoughtful lyrics and unbridled musical joy – both of which are in abundance here.
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Summer is back on the Rhine, and so is the KUNST!RASEN. Every year since 2012 the open-air site in Bonn-Gronau, right on the riverbank near the Posttower, turns into one of the region’s biggest stages — and the 2026 season is no different, stacked with names spanning pop, rock, schlager, and everything in between.
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On Friday I caught a concert that reminded me why live jazz still has the power to surprise: David Helbock’s Random/Control, featuring vocalist Fola Dada, At the Dottendorfer Jazznacht in Bonn.
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