I couldn’t help thinking that the recent appearance by Sunny Skies at the end of the ‘Beethoven Countdown Day’seemed rather like a camouflaged way to slip Rock music past the ‘Lärm-Motzkis’. A glorious and welcome return to the sunny Summer days happily passed in that very square for the missed by many ‘Bonn Summer’ evenings that seem a century ago now. But should we really need such subterfuge anyway? 3songs is a bit biased I know, but here’s my analysis…
The 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth won’t be until 2020 but the countdown celebrations have already begun.
Thanks to the initiative ‘Bürger für Beethoven’, Saturday saw an enjoyable mix of music and musicians finding new ways to present the music of Bonn’s favourite son ranging from a five piece string quartet cleverly named BEAThoven through American pianist Thomas Wise playing Beethoven’s ‘Waldstein’ sonate Op 53, Blues from Beethoven Orchestra musicians (Sue & the Operators), Flamenco guitar from Spanish musician Ismael Alcalde to a 5 string violin looping performance including ‘Ode to Joy’ from Alexander Meyen (eat your heart out looping King Ed Sheeran).
Ismael Alcalde
The evening was topped off by a performance by Sunny Skies fired as always with the vocals of Babsi Nitsche, guitar of Martin Behr and this time joined by guest singer Alex Kaiser. Memories of the past Bonn Summer festival in the square (though why was the stage pointed towards the Guildhall this time?) Whatever, Bringing life into Bonn centre after the shops close with great music. Rock ‘n’ Roll over Beethoven indeed!
A banner at the stage rear is emblazoned with skull, crossbones and the legend ‘Rock n Roll is a Hard Life’. Zucchero Fornaciari has come a long way from the rural family roots of a small village in northern Italy to play on the Kunst!Rasen stage in Bonn this evening. He’s long since evolved from village kid to Italian musical legend. He was awarded the Italian Order of Merit in 2016 and has long been unofficially known as ‘The Father of Italian Blues’. In three decades he’s sold over 60 million records as well as sharing stages and recording time with a large and impressive smattering of music legends: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Brian May, Miles Davis, Ray Charles, B. B. King, Sting, Bono, Paul Young, Peter Gabriel, Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli… but – if you’re English or American you possibly won’t have heard his name at all, simply because he doesn’t generally sing in English. Sad but true, and if you have heard the name Zucchero it’s most likely because of his 1990 hit ‘Senza una donna’ (Without a Woman) sung with Paul Young. That English language connection again.
1977’s Oxygène has sold an estimated 12 million copies, the best-selling French record of all time and he’s been listed three times in The Guinness Book of Records for largest outdoor concert crowd including 3.5 million for the 850th Birthday of Moscow in 1997. Tonight’s show at Kunst!Rasen must seem like a ‘House Concert’ in comparison. Jean-Michel Jarre however is still ‘up’ for almost two hours of music in Bonn and the overcast skies that I usually dread at open air events are actually welcome in view of the expected spectacular light show – as long as the cloudy heavens don’t open with a torrent of rain that is.
Lovers of nostalgia have made the Rheinbach Classics into one of the areas favourite events. This years Classics (14-16 July) actually kicks off with a classic of my youth.
‘Cum on Feel The Noize’ with Slade. Sadly there is no Noddy Holder or Jim Lea in the line-up anymore, but still worth attention with ‘Superyob’ Dave Hill on guitar and original drummer Don Powell is in the publicity pics too. Add the ever popular AC-DC tribute band Dirty Deeds 79 into the cost of a ticket and it should be an enjoyable and loud evening of value for money Pop/Rock.
Saturday and Sunday are the Classics proper with old-timer cars, nostalgia market a petticoat contest (?!) and 25 hours of live music.
CLASSIC ROCKNIGHT DETAILS HERE
RHEINBACH CLASSICS PROGRAMME HERE
Last tickets for Jean-Michel Jarre available at all known ticket selling points in town as well as at the concert venue.
There’s no such thing as the wrong weather, only the wrong clothing. For festival organizers though there is a wrong weather – thunderstorms. Someone up above though has a soft spot for the yearly Rockaue Festival down at Bonn Rheinau. Three Festivals, each one in sunshine. Not that there’s time to watch the weather with 29 bands on three stages to hear. Get a festival programme as soon as possible and start planning how to get from A to B and back to A again before the band at C is plugging in. I had my timetable mapped out in good time: Danko Jones, Kyle Gass and Blues Pills were must sees. In Extremo were one for the photo gallery if not necessarily my ears and who knows – I might just discover a new band…
They say you never get anything for nothing but the yearly Klassik!Picknick at Kunstrasen must be as close as you can get. 90 minutes worth of the best in classical music from the orchestra where one of Germany’s best composers was at home. But why do they never seem to play any Beethoven? Not that I’m complaining. We did get a double helping of Edward Elgar’s ‘Pomp & Circumstance’. Oh, and no rain. God is a Classics fan too!
