It’s twelve years since Eric Sardinas last set foot on the Harmonie stage. He played such a blinder of a set then that I even bought a t-shirt. ‘Respect Tradition’ it says on the back and Sardinas doesn’t just respect tradition, he dusts it off and turns it up to 10 on a rusty looking resonator guitar that looks like it was dug up at the crossroads right after midnight. If you like your music restful and sweetly melodic, you’re in the wrong concert hall tonight my friend. If however you like it rough around the edges and neat like a strong glass of bourbon, this might just be heaven.
We’re mid-way through the set at Bonn Harmonie. Danny Bryant lets his guitar hang down loose from his shoulder as he steps up to the microphone and introduces the song ‘Tougher Now’. “Two years ago I stopped drinking. I nearly died”, he says. Then he pulls the guitar back up to his chest and begins a song that came out of those dark days – ‘Tougher Now’. We are seeing a leaner a happier and indeed a tougher Danny Bryant from the last time I saw him here at Bonn Harmonie in 2019, and, as many a musician has found before him, the music hasn’t suffered or creativity dried up. Songs played from the new disc ‘Nothing Left Behind’ stand up against everything that went before.
Just checking the bio of Joo Kraus and I am amazed to find the man in the baseball cap with seemingly boundless energy onstage is undertaking his 60th Anniversary tour this year. A perfect time to reflect on those 60 years and also a perfect subject for the very first ‘Jazzportrait’ presentation by Christian Ottens (aka Yassmo).
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.
A 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?
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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.
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!
