Wow!  What a veritable smorgasbord of an end to this year’s Stadtgarten Season.  Punk, Blues, Flute fuelled rhythms and progressive Jazzrock.  And all for FREE!

Let’s make a start then with Friday’s musical offerings. Electric Blues from Baum’s Bluesbenders and Punk music from Eddy Edge.  It was Punk that kickstarted the proceedings. Nothing is quite what it seems here though.  Punk? Eddie is not one to go pogoing around the stage.  For one thing, he’s blind, and for another, his music, at least initially, is restrained as he sings, and strums an acoustic guitar, accompanied at various times by young ladies who join in on the vocals.  There is more of the Frank Turner than the Johnny Rotten about him. He is also a Welshman, singing in German, and has a very popular song online at present titled ‘Wir sind die Slytherins’ – yes, Eddy is also a huge fan of Harry Potter.

If that’s not too confusing, a large part of the set sees Eddy take on basic guitar duties to be replaced on vocals by Ivy, who is a man, and whose demeanor screams ‘Punk!’ even before he steps onto the stage. It turns out that there are still further surprises about Eddy and The Snapes.  For one thing, it’s Eddy’s Birthday (and there’s time for a quick bass driven “Happy Birthday to me!”) but there is a reason for the good-sized turn-out of youngsters in the audience.  The Snapes have officially broken up and this is their last ever gig.

So yes, for the second half of the evening’s set there is something of a band inclusive dynamic centered around band and their fans.  Things get frantic, bass solos get louder, and, when the said Slytherin song rolls around, brooms are waved around frantically onstage (and if no-one actually got airborne it wasn’t for the lack of trying).  It was never like this with Sid, Nancy and Johnny R. 

There was, naturally enough for Punk, a fair bit of politics in the air.  ‘Nazi’s out!’ thankfully has replaced ‘Tories out’.  And when in my day I was told that Sheena was a punk rocker, in 2024 I’m being told that ‘Lucy is a zombie from outer space’ and it’s disclosed that ‘Melanie is a Nazi!’.  All I can say is that, whilst Sheena is probably now safely a mother of three living in suburbia, I would advise to be wary of both Lucy and Melanie. 

Truth be told. It seems that Punk in 2024 is more about expending energy than promoting anarchy.  Perhaps that was always what Punk was all about at its core.  Maybe it was once upon a time about the lifestyle, but even the Pistols sold their souls for an establishment record deal.  All that said, Eddy Edge and The Snapes worked hard, played hard, and despite the Punk epithet seemed to support my views all in all, especially the view that the best music is enjoyed by band and audience together.  Have I become a punk? Or has punk become me?  I enjoyed them anyways. 

You certainly can’t fault Bill Baum for variety.  Last seen kicking off the evening at KunstRasen for ZZTop and now bringing his high energy blues show onto a stage vacated only fifteen minutes ago by a punk band.  I commended Bill’s drummer Francis Hozapfel for allowing his equipment to be used by punks only to discover he and the band’s drummer know each other well.  No worries about throwing cymbals into the audience or throwing up on the foot pedal.   Punk is seemingly not what it was, thankfully for Francis Holzapfel.

What can I say about Baum’s Bluesbenders that I haven’t already said at least three times?  The best electric blues combo in Bonn?  One of the best Blues harp players in the business (Uwe Placke) and a set-list that is as dependable in content as it is in dance, clap your hands and get lost in the groove fun.  I’m not sure you should believe Bill’s tales of picking cotton on the plantation with Uwe from ‘can ’til can’t’ (Daybreak to Darkness) but we all know Bill is a born salesman as the success of his music shop shows. 

For the record then, a stonkingly stellar guitar solo on ‘Parttime Lover’, a Humongous harp soloing on ‘I’ve had my Fun’ and a cool canter through ‘Caledonia‘.  There, I found something new to say…

I did especially like Bill’s shot at ‘I Can’t be Satisfied’.  Not an easy one for Bill Vocally but he sunk tonally to the occasion with a rasp that can only be gained by picking cotton in mid-winter without a scarf on.

A great evening of music that was, if stylistically poles apart, unified by one thing – High energy.  From the young, and the not-so-young.  Music for the soul – just choose which style fits you best and wear it with pride.