Sunshine and a party spirit. What more could the organizers of Kunst!Rasen, now in its 14th year, ask for?
The sunny weather came from Mother Nature and the sunny music from Carneval/Rockband Brings.
A quick introduction for readers not familiar with the local music scene:
Brings is a German band formed in 1990, best known for performing most of their songs in Kölsch, the local dialect of Cologne, and for becoming a fixture of that city’s carnival and party music scene. While the band is closely tied to Cologne, two of its members actually hail from Bonn: guitarist Harry Alfter, one of the band’s founders, was born here in 1964, and drummer Christian Blüm — son of former German labor minister Norbert Blüm — was also born in Bonn. Despite these Bonn roots, the band’s identity, lyrics, and cultural following remain firmly centered on Cologne, making Brings a nice example of how the Rhineland’s two neighboring cities are woven together even in its music scene.
It might well have been a full house by the time confetti cannons signaled the start of this years concert season. An hour before show-start there was more room than usual at Kunst!Rasen though. Perhaps this was a sign of the challenge faced by those who normally arrive by car, bus and train. The long rows of bicycles chained up outside the venue suggested that two wheels rule currently where getting to the venue is concerned (although finding your bike again after the show might well also require some time and patience – I can see people putting coloured ribbons on them in future like luggage on an airport carousel). Certainly the City’s transport woes are likely to create a challenge for concert-goers over the coming weeks.
Come 7:15 pm when the confetti cannons roar I have my camera trained on the extra walkway front of stage to get some pics of Peter Brings under the confetti as the band launch into “Et jeilste Land”. Instead a man appears out of the paper strips wearing day-glo green trousers and a pink baseball cap. I learn later that he is ‘Dennis aus Hürth’ (52 year old Martin Klempnow) an alternative comedian, actor and moderator – the first of many surprise guests of the evening. If his job was to get the audience in a party mood for the band then it wasn’t really necessary. It’s always a magic moment when the main band steps onto a stage anyway.
By the time the opening three songs were over the front of stage area was absolutely jam-packed. I decide therefore to get a more rounded view of the show from further back on the Kunstrasen field. The sound was still excellent further back. I wish I could say the same about the view. With the sun low in the sky and pointed in the audience direction, it was hard to make out the figures on the actual stage at all. Whilst the bright screens showed Peter and Stephan Brings were actually there, the stage lights were largely innefectual for an hour or so against the sunlight. Still, the tartan-clad fans at the back were happily dancing along and enjoying the music with the help of a Kölsch or two.
The music, particularly in that first hour or so, was largely of the Köln Karneval type. They had a humourous shout out to the children’s literary legend Pippi Langstrümpf and introduced some surprise guests – The Bonn Uniklinik Choir for ‘Die Liebe Gewinnt’ and ‘Hallelujah’. Later Travesty Artist Julie Voyage, sparkling in a green sequinned dress, sang ‘Nur nicht aus Liebe Weinen’. It was good to hear a homage to Cologne icon Willy Millowitsch sung by the band’s trumpeter Michael Kuhl but I’ve seen Brings often enough in the past to know they are actually a first-rate rockband and gradually that crept into the proceedings, most noticably after guitarist Harry Alfter took over the microphone to talk about the evening. This is a party in celebration of 35 years of the Band after all and Bonn has played its part in the band’s formation. Alfter remembered at age 16 playing a concert at Bonn’s Jazz Galerie along with drummer Christian Blüm. Both have seen the City’s ground-roots musical landscape change since then – in particular the problems with sound-levels. Alfter points out that even in the ’80’s The band Schroeder Roadshow was singing about Bonn’s affinity for silence “Bonn bei Nacht – wer hat dieses Stadt so ausgedacht?!”
Bonn should be proud to rock. Harry Alfter brings out a black Gibson SG once played by AC/DC’s Angus Young he says (Brings supported the band in Hannover in 2001) and smiles as he says that Young allowed him to tweak the lyrics of an AC/DC anthem to read “Heimweg nach Köln”. It’s the signal for some serious hardrock that carries over into an equally heavy bass solo by Stephan Brings. By the time ‘Jeck Yeah!’ with it’s Muppets fired video has run it’s course the band is rolling into overdrive for the last part of a show that never lost pace between those opening confetti cannons and the final notes of ‘Superjeilezick’ and ‘Heimjon’.
