Following her excellent part in the 2022 Unter der Zeder season alongside Markus Schinkel, I was keen to catch this show. Daria Assmus showed on that evening what a fine jazz voice she had. Today, on a hot and sticky evening outside the Kleines Theater in Bad Godesberg, she showed a similar ability to take on funk/soul music of the ’60’s, not to mention a couple of brave forays into the 1980s via Prince. You have to have either a sense of adventure or of madness to even attempt ‘Purple Rain’. Whichever it was, Daria and The Groove Foundation managed the challenge with aplomb.

“We’re likely to start resembling melted Gummibärchen in the heat tonight” warned Daria Assmus with a wink and a smile as she took the stage. The band likes to get audiences onto the dancefloor for their shows, so initially, a third of the space was therefore kept clear of seating. It quickly became clear though that everyone arriving wanted a seat (and a cold drink) so that plan went out the window by the show’s start at 7:30 pm.

Formed in 2019 by the band members at the Musikhochschule in Arnheim, the Groove Foundation’s first-ever gig was as support band for the legendary Tom Jones. They were booed onto the stage by an audience clearly expecting the Welsh icon. The audience reception tonight was, not surprisingly for a local girl like Daria, very much more positive. It’s plain to see and hear that the whole band loves playing this music and that enthusiasm very quickly has everyone in their seats smiling and, if not dancing, at least regularly clapping along to the familiar titles. If you’re playing Soul then you have to play Aretha of course, and Daria’s take of ‘Natural Woman’ early in the set leaves us in no doubt it will be a great musical evening.

Bill Withers gets a mention too, not ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ as Daria nervously points out. She goes instead for a lesser-known Withers gem ‘Kissing My Love’. If you’re an excellent female vocalist like the one we have onstage tonight then another icon not to be ignored is of course Etta James. This time around it is THE song from Etta. I’ve heard many a version of ‘Rather Go Blind’ over the years. From the original, through vocal powerhouses like Layla Zoe and local Scottish guitar legends like Big George. Daria gives it her best shot and it’s a good one at that. The band is tight all night and I especially loved the Sax and trumpet solos from Marius Trapp and Julius Erdmann respectively. There’s even an original song penned by Daria and guitarist Marco Silvestri called ‘Honey and Lime’ that stands up well alongside all the classics going down this evening.

By evening’s end the music is still great and the band are clearly fearless and warmed up. How else can you be when you play ‘Purple Rain’? All that was lacking was Prince’s iconic Cloud guitar. Breathtaking stuff indeed, and for the price of less than a dozen Taylor Swift tickets. Apropos entrance tickets, it was good to see a far smaller contingent of ‘picnickers’ enjoying the show for free behind the fence. These concerts are not paid for by Bonn City Council. KuKuG (Kunst & Kultur Bad Godesberg) is the organizer every year, and is made up of volunteers. The money at the gate is the lifeblood of ‘Unter der Zeder’.

So please do go along to one or more of the remaining concerts. For the quality of music on offer it really is a bargain! Below is the remaining programme for 2024: