For Susan O’Neill the support slot with Jamie Cullum for his concerts in Bonn, Kiel, and Berlin was a perfect way of introducing herself to German audiences; in the Bonn area especially, with a show at Blue Shell in Cologne set for 31 November.

Although it’s difficult to rate someone on an appearance like the Kunstrasen one.  As a support act, like Jack Savoretti on the very same stage recently, O’Neill was accompanied only by a keyboard player.  In her case though she did have a musical bag of tricks to extend that sound in the increasingly employed and increasingly complex looping pedal accompaniments.

Not only was Susan O’Neill able to add rhythm and percussion to her sound, but on ‘Got to Go’ for example she also mixed in a bit of trumpet and flute for additional musical texture.  Like Savoretti though, she was at her best when just accompanied by her guitar and electric piano by way of Killian Brown.

Much of the short set at Kunstrasen (just six songs) was made up of brand-new material that was very likely being road-tested for that forthcoming solo tour.  It sounded good to my ears at any rate and the closing Irish traditional ‘You Are’ showed an ability to not just handle her own material well but also deliver a convincing Irish Folk tune with due reverence and passion. Her closing flourish on the trumpet might well be seen then as a fanfare for great things to come.

O’Neill’s 2021 collaboration album with Mick Flannery was voted best Folk Album of 2021 by RTE Radio so this really is THE time when things will need to happen for the lady to reach a wider European audience, and on today’s performance, where her presence seemed to me at times rather like a Folk reincarnation of Amy Winehouse, there is much to hope for – especially when she gets to play those smaller indoor halls where her intimate friendly style will surely come into its own and a band will give the music more variation. In short, a nice support slot with the promise of excellent concerts to come for lovers of Irish Folk and Pop Music.

A quick note to those of you who enjoy sunbathing on the roof – The GA Sommergarten season is now underway again on the roof of the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn. Three concerts are due still this Summer from the General Anzeiger’s concert calender and all are worth a visit.

21 July – Soulcake: The name will give you an idea of the music but there will also be Rock and Pop classics to hear. I’m looking forward to the music, and also to seeing eleven people fit onto the GA Summer stage. Should be interesting!

11 August – The R&B Express: Again, the name gives away the style, but you will probably know the band anyway centered around vocalist Linda Meissner and sax player Kiki Schumacher. As with Soulcake though, there are sure to be some musical surprises in the set list.

18 August – Friend n Fellow: I remember seeing this duo at Bonn Harmonie some years ago and they were breathtaking. At the time a HiFi magazine was singing their praises, so expect an ear for musical perfection from vocalist Constanze Friend and Thomas Fellow. Definitely one for connosseurs of something a little different musically but top calibre.

All concerts 11.30 to 14.30 on the Bundeskunsthalle Roof. Free Entry.

More details of the shows and the possibility to book picnic baskets for them HERE

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.

I had to dig deep into the 3songsbonn archive to find Rival Sons. Finally, I located the band in a Crossroads/Rockpalast from the Harmonie in 2013 on a double bill with Hong Faux. They were considered hot rock property then, I even bought their then-new release ‘Head Down’ after the show. so how will they fare in the daylight at Kunst!Rasen, over a decade later and hot on the heels of an equally hot performance by Larkin Poe? Read on…

On an evening when a vast number of people were paying equally vast sums of money to see Taylor Swift on a first night in Gelsenkirchen there was a modest crowd of 1500 to see Larkin Poe (on a double bill with Rival Sons) rock the stage at Kunst!Rasen on a hot Summers day. Money and crowds though are not the measure of quality as the Lovell sisters from Georgia proved – and then some!