Bad Godesberg as a Blues Capital? Well okay, maybe it’s not up there with Chicago – but we do have Bill Baum with his shop and his Bluesbenders of course. We Have Folk Club custodian John Harrison, and we also have an ex-Bad Godesbergian Blueser in Richard Bargel. The latter made his second appearance here in recent times last wekend, playing an intimate house concert in Friesdorferstrasse at the request of Eliane LaGrange. As a Bad Godesberg Blueser myself, I couldn’t miss out of course…

In 2026, Ruf Records’ popular Blues Caravan live revue is going on the road for the 20^th time, with a date at Bonn’s Harmonie on 27th January. The list of artists who have been a part of the Caravan’s history and appeared on the Harmonie stage includes many of today’s most celebrated blues musicians: Ana Popovic, Samantha Fish, Aynsley Lister and Joanne Shaw Taylor, to name just a few.

This year will see appearances by Laura Chavez, Matthew Curry and Elise Frank.

In keeping with the BC formula 2026 offers the combination of experience, big emotion and youthful exuberance. So let’s introduce the ‘Class of 2026’…

More news is continuing to come in regarding the Kunst!Rasen 2026 season. A welcome new addition to next year’s list of shows is Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds on 25 August.

There are also a number of popular returns including Brings (3 July), Zaz (15 July), Wincent Weiss (17 July) and Amy MacDonald (19 August). German star Roland Kaiser is sure to pull in a big crowd on 15 August, and although the crowd is likely to be more negligible, an appearance by Brit Rockers Marillion (remember ‘Kayleigh’?) on 5 July should be interesting.

So, I was chatting to Richard Münchhoff after his appearance as drummer at Unter der Zeder a few weeks back with Yassmo and the Soulfisticated People. He mentioned a new project – A Rock band with Richard on guitar. One of the best young jazz drummers around shredding guitar licks? I was intrigued. Saturday saw the band – Munchy Bunch – on only it’s second live outing at the RPZ in Bad Godesberg. Has Richard gone from being the next Billy Cobham to the next Richie Blackmore? Read on…

Here is an update showing some of the concerts coming Bonn’s way in the coming months – including the first bookings for next Year’s Kunstrasen Season. Marillion could be interesting. It’s been 40 years since the classic ‘Misplaced Childhood’ album with megahit ‘Kayleigh’ and Fish has long since gone but surviving this long means they will be worth a listen. I also remember enjoying an Amy MacDonald at Museumsplatz in 2009 (she was last here in 2017). Normally the legendary Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice is almost invisible at the back of stadium stages, so don’t miss him ‘up close’ at Bonn Harmonie. Danny Bryant is looking like a new man these days and if you don’t believe me buy a ticket for his Harmonie show. All this and Quo frontman Francis Rossi too, not to mention a treat for Folk fans with a rare appearance here of Iain Matthews… For more details check out KUNSTRASEN BONN and HARMONIE BONN

For me, the first signs that Summer is drawing to an end are not the days getting shorter, nor the cooler temperatures. The real sign for all concert goers is that the open-air seasons all begin coming to an end. It’s a sudden change too. The last fortnight saw the finish in 2025 of Kunst!Rasen’s top-drawer season and also the finish of Unter der Zeder’s ‘Klein aber fein’ offerings. Saturday it was Stadtgarten that switched on it’s lights and speakers one last time for this year with the appearance of two very talented young ladies – Ukraine’s Laura Marti and France’s Yzoula.

Jazztube is back! Friday saw the opening round of this year’s competition that culminates in the top three voted bands appearing at Pantheon Bonn in October. There’s a long wsay to go yet of course, but already the ‘chalk & cheese’ problem is happening. How can you choose between the melancholic Cuban sound of Cuarteto Pasatiempo (Hauptbahnhof), the soft atmospheric soundcarpet of KNUD (Uni/Markt) and the aggressive attack of Jazzrock presented by Phalanx (Heussallee/Museumsmeile)?.

I wonder how many of the listeners actually make the rounds to all three stations, especially with the unreliability of the trams. But if you only find one group, and find yourself staying for all three sets by them, that’s fine too. Jazz is after all for relaxing and not tram hopping!

With a musical fireworks display after a brilliant concert in front of over 6,000 people by Kasalla a successful concert season at KUNST!RASEN has now come to a close. the KUNST!RASEN team led by Katrin Wurm has now dismantled everything, which is no easy feat. A good 90 trucks are needed to transport everything away, with the stage and sound barrier alone requiring over 20 truckloads.