In 1926, the rural municipality of Godesberg received a very special permission by decree from the Prussian Ministry of the Interior: it could call itself Bad Godesberg! Saturday (9 Sept) was the day for celebrating in 1920’s style but Friday saw a very special concert by the ‘Bad Godesberg All-Stars (‘Godesberger Glanzlichter) that showed BG in it’s very best musical light – Marcus Schinkel, Norfired Baum, Astatine, Uwe Arenz, Johannes Kuchta… local heroes all. So what if it rained a lot . We had something they didn’t have in 1926 – plastic rain ponchos!
It was certainly an inspired decision by the organizers KuKug e.V. and co to centre these 100th Anniversary celebrations in the Konzertmuschel next to stadthalle. This charming stage is a location where music has been made for many years, before The Stadthalle itself got into a state of disrepair. It’s nice that it has at least finally got a new coat of paint too, although I rather liked the worn facade before – so much so that it was perfect for the CD cover photo I did of Ismael deBarcelona and Thomas Monnerjahn not so long ago.
Anyway, the stage and surrounding walls are now clean and graffitti free, and there are lights, not just around the stage but also around the open-air space and indeed, around the lake itself this evening. The stage is set for a wonderful evening of music started enthusiastically by the Bonner Shanty Choir and K.G. Fidele Burggrafen (The Fidelen Burggrafen also have a long history – evolved from a group of five friends who used to meet regularly before World War II into a traditional fraternity that now has seven chapters and about 300 members making it one of the largest such organizations in Bad Godesberg).
From a wonderful evening under the stars it quickly became a wonderful evening under the clouds though, and just as the ‘Glanzlichter’ band stepped onstage, a less wonderful evening weatherwise under heavy rain for everyone seated. Indeed the first sound to be heard at 7pm was that of raindrops bouncing off of plastic ponchos.
The audience had no choice other than to seek refuge under an awning along the side of the building, so Bonn’s ‘Glanzlichter’ had a rather diagonal presentation for the first hour or so. If the weather was a tragedy though, to the credit of all onstage, the music itself was a triumph. All under the watchful eye of keyboard master Marcus Schinkel of course. A man who in the course of a week can present music from Gershwin, ELP, Supertramp and Beethoven without breaking sweat. Today he’s wearing a hat that stands somewhere between Willy Wonka, the mad hatter and Noddy Holder. It also has something of a circus ringmaster about it, which, given his mediating role this evening, seems appropriate.
With Pape Seck, on percussion, Martin Szalay on bass and Julian Schinkel (son of Marcus) on drums the rhythm section was in safe hands for a spritely charge through the decades that took in the music of, amongst many others, Ella Fitzgerald, Muddy Waters, David Bowie, Miley Cyrus (‘Flowers’) and Lana Del Rey (‘Summertime Sadness’) all of these with the capable vocal chords of Astatine and Johannes Kuchta. Ella was clearly safe territory for Astatine, but Miley and Lana were new territory. No problem at all though for either Astatine or the wonderful band behind her. The same can safely be said for Johannes Kuchta whose voice was as radiant as his white suit (which played havoc with my cameras white balance on the dark stage!). I especially enjoyed his ‘Heroes’ or ‘Helden’ as the german version is titled, and for which Bowie, a keen resident of Berlin at the time of writing it, also sang.
A celebration of music in Bad Godesberg couldn’t be complete without a contribution from BG’s only music store of course, and being Norfried Baum it could only mean one thing – a deep dive into the Blues via acoustic guitar and Muddy Waters. Yes, Muddy’s Chicago Blues were electrified, but Norfried’s slot this evening came at a time historically when Leo Fender was still tinkering with a soldering iron. ‘I can’t be satisfied’? As a blues fan I definitely concur on Norbert’s set being too short, but what a wonderful evening of music it was. A reminder of how many excellent musicians there are within a stones throw of Bad Godeaberg Centre.
Such a shame that the rain emptied the area in front of the stage, but all credit to the musicians for their enthusiasm and I hope they didn’t all have stiff necks from craning round to the ‘undercover’ audience. No one onstage was ever phased by the weather or the constant change of musical styles. Not even when a guest singer joined them(as Marcus Schinkel pointed out – you never know when you will discover a talented musician by chance, so he joined the band. Please shout out if you know his name, he brought a sunny aspect to the music just when the weather needed it.
What an evening then. 100 Years celebrating the ‘Bad’ in Bad Godesberg couldn’t have got off to a better musical start.
