Dana Fuchs proved at Bonn Harmonie on Wednesday that she still possesses one of the most compelling voices in blues-rock today — a raw, soulful powerhouse whose music draws on gospel, soul, and Southern rock in equal measure. Back in the day, it must have been both a blessing and a curse to have been compared favourably with Janis Joplin, but over the past two decades she has continued to deepen her craft and expand her reach, both in the studio and on stage. The result is not Janis, it’s 100% Dana, and she doubled down on her own identity in typical style before an audience clearly glad to see her back in Bonn again.
We’re mid-way through the set at Bonn Harmonie. Danny Bryant lets his guitar hang down loose from his shoulder as he steps up to the microphone and introduces the song ‘Tougher Now’. “Two years ago I stopped drinking. I nearly died”, he says. Then he pulls the guitar back up to his chest and begins a song that came out of those dark days – ‘Tougher Now’. We are seeing a leaner a happier and indeed a tougher Danny Bryant from the last time I saw him here at Bonn Harmonie in 2019, and, as many a musician has found before him, the music hasn’t suffered or creativity dried up. Songs played from the new disc ‘Nothing Left Behind’ stand up against everything that went before.
We’re now at the end of 2025 and, once again I’ve brought my index finger down on my camera shutter a good many times. Favourite pictures are not always about image quality, They’re also about capturing the moment (yes I stole that observation from Cartier-Bresson!). Here are some of my favourite images from the year, and why…
Larkin Poe – It’s not often you get the chance to see musicians like the Lovell sisters so up close and personal, and the Xperion in Cologne (formerly part of Saturn on Hansaring) only seated maybe 100 people. I still don’t know why they played the gig – but I’m grateful!
Warren Haynes with Bonnie Raitt – It’s also not often that you get to photograph Warren Haynes and Bonnie Raitt sharing a guitar solo. Shame there weren’t more people to capture a magical evening at Kunst!Rasen.
Billy Idol – He may not be a new kid on the block, but Billy got this Summers Kunstrasen season off to a flyer and I love this shot of him by the K!R logo.
Julian Sas – I saw Julian supporting Lynyrd Skynyrd at Kunstrasen, but to get the real Sas magic you have to visit Bonn Harmonie at year’s end. Here he is in a typical ‘take no prisoners’ pose about to step right out of the picture frame.
Gun Barrel – Rock music has its local heroes, and one of them is undoubtedly this band. I just love the attitude and sweat oozing from every pore of each of the guys in this shot. Hard rock like it should be played – Loud, proud, and in your face!
The Troublenotes – But you don’t have to be playing heavy metal to have a crazy time onstage. Bennet Cerven and Florian Eisenschmidt prove it here. Also my favourite t-shirt slogan of 2025 ‘Violins Not Violence’ comes from them. Hopefully a return visit to Bonn soon after this lively Stadtgarten show.
Laura Marti – I usually avoid politics at concerts but a pregnant Croatian singer proudly waving her Country’s flag at Stadtgarten was a reminder that behind those daily statistics are real people who just wanted to lead normal lives but got caught up in a War.
Hans-Joachim Over (HaJo) – Since several of my favourite images were captured at Stadtgarten it seems only fair to give HaJo the spotlight, which is exactly what he gets, albeit briefly, introducing the acts at Bonn’s favourite free open-air venue each year. Deservedly so too. I didn’t realise Bonn had a Rock & Pop Beauftragte until a couple of years ago, but now I know, and I’m glad!
Alma Naidu – No it’s not an out-take from ‘Close Encounters’, this is Bonn’s hottest Jazz venue the Dottendorfer Jazznacht. The lady on piano left of shot is mesmerizing from even this distance. Note: The venue isn’t as big as it looks here, so get there early!
Richard Thompson – In this case ‘capturing the moment’ meant capturing a moment that I treasure. Finally getting to not just hear but interview one of my all-time musical heroes at the Harmonie!
Well, that’s my short photo-trip for this year. I hope you enjoyed it and look forward to seeing you all again – both those on and those off the stages again in 2026!
What can you expect? To quote Yassmo’s website on Yassmo and the Soulfisticated People: “An evening full of energy and passion! From emotional soulful ballads to exhilarating pumping Motown beats – it’s all included, everything that touches the skin and gets into the legs. The band brings the music of the soul ancestors into a fresh, modern context – and Yassmo’s own compositions create a unique sound that honours tradition while simultaneously forging new paths”.
That does actually pretty well cover what we experienced Unter der Zeder. But, as the saying famously notes – “the devil is in the detail!”
The local newspaper describes the Bröckemännchen Prize as an award for Hartnäckigkeit. What exactly is ‘Hartnäckigkeit? It’s a mixture of tenacity, stubbornness and obstinacy. I’ve known Ernst-Ludwig Hartz now for around 15 years, and all descriptions fit the man perfectly, and in the best possible sense. Hartz is Bonn’s premier concert promoter and, along with Martin Nötzel, responsible for putting Bonn on the map for major music stars at both Museumsplatz and now Kunstrasen. BAP frontman Wolfgang Niedecken was on hand to present a laudatio before the award in the Kunstrasen VIP lounge presented by Bonner Media-Club chairman Andreas Archut.
Up until now anyway, there has only ever been one musical superstar from Bonn. Outside of Ludwig von B though there have been a few stars of a more local folk-pop variety, and two of them were shining at Konrad Beircher’s home, Katharinenhof, this week. Cynthia Nickschas re-located away from here not so long ago whilst Götz Widmann headed for Berlin in 2008. Both have their musical roots here though, and it was a pleasure to hear them, both individually and collectively, in what really is a unique setting.
In my review of Alma Naidu‘s excellent concert in Dottendorf from 2023 I was sure that her next release would take the lady from Munich away from small intimate concerts. For that reason we were lucky indeed that her sophomore album ‘Redefine’ has taken a while to be released. It meant that we got a second chance to hear this very talented young singer-songwriter/pianist in a small, intimate atmosphere, with the added bonus sound of birds chirping outside the hall between songs.
So here he was, onstage for the first time in Bonn. Richard Thompson. Described by comedian/musician Billy Connolly affectionately as “The Man who kicked British Folk Music’s A*s!”, and the man listed #19 in a ‘Rolling Stone’ poll for ‘Greatest Guitarist of all Time’. But if you visited Bonn Harmonie on Wednesday expecting something musically akin to ‘Johnny Rotten meets Jimi Hendrix’ then you would have been disappointed. These descriptions came based on Thompsons duels in the early ‘70’s when he was duking it out with Dave Swarbrick’s lightning-speed fiddle solos. Tonight’s show had not a Stratocaster or fiddle in sight. It relied purely on an acoustic guitar, and a songbook spanning sixty years. And it was spellbinding…
