Ladies Night

A quick impression of ‘Mädelsabend’ at the Stadtgarten. Following mindless vandalism of the stage supports the night before it was good to get back to the positive side of music here down by the Alten Zoll and tonight it was ‘Ladies Night’ with 21 year old Milene from Bonn who has shared stages with such German Rock luminaries as Udo Lindenberg and Klaus Doldinger (Tatort’s famous theme). Nosoyo are a duo from Berlin with Indie-Pop/Electro-Folk sounds and an album that has already been streamed 6 million times on Spotify and great things are already expected from Solingen’s Psychedelic Folk-Rocker Susan Köcher.

Milene

Three totally different styles on offer then and a pity that, due to constant rain for the whole night and day previously, the lawn that attracts probably a third of the audience normally, was soggy, muddy and deserted (The Green Juice Festival up the road in Beuel had it worse, having to cancel the whole first night because it was impossible for bands to unload their gear in the mud). Good music though will ‘out’ and by mid-set of opener Milene there was a healthy sized audience to enjoy a very professional and confident set by the young lady who already seems a veteran. She was, says her website, writing her first song at seven years old, won an Udo Lindenberg music prize in 2010, and I last saw her in 2014 singing covers of Joplin and Amy Winehouse at Kunstgarten. I Particularly liked ‘Vögel Flug’ inspired by the documentary films on Edward Earl Johnson. Milene, still young but sounding better with every visit to Bonn.

Nosoyo

I really enjoyed the set by Nosoyo. Not just because the songs were in english, but for once all those thousands of Spotify clicks were for a duo with more than a little talent. A cover of Rihanna’s ‘Love on the Brain’ was enjoyable but they had some excellent Pop/Folk material of their own and hopefully we will see them more often here in Bonn.

Suzan Köcher

Suzan Köcher is in that sphere of music that I find somewhat confusing. Anything with ‘Psychedelic’ in it’s name seems to me to be 1960’s and past tense so to speak. I had the same feeling at Rockaue about the band Blues Pills. Still, no denying that such a young band and singer really do deliver a heartfelt and excellent sound that does indeed nudge the memory cells towards a time of experimental Rock and Folk.

All in all an excellent and diverse evening that showed there is plenty of upcoming talent in various genres of music from the ladies. Three bands, three sets, and three very different but enjoyable ways to spend the time open air with good music. Shame about the rain earlier leading to a low crowd count, but another excellent evening of new young music at Stadtgarten.