One of the best bands that I have come across in recent times is Robert Jon & The Wreck out of South California. My review from their March 2023 concert was a glowing one (along with support from Bywater Call, one of the best concerts I’ve attended in recent years for sure).
The good news is that Robert Jon and co are down for a show in Bonn again on 3rd November TICKETS HERE
If November seems a long way off, here is a video of the band’s latest single to help brifge the gap.
What better theme to kick off a New Year in our currently war-torn and uncertain World than ‘Hope’? From unrequited lover to pigeon racer – hope comes in myriad shapes and forms as our evening was to prove. In fact, the very first thing to hope for at Dotty’s for Folk Club #142 was refreshments. Bar owner Roland was on holiday, but the charming Natalie came to our rescue with a refrigerator full of drinks and the equally charming Detlef once more stepped up to the mark admirably with baskets of snack food. The evening can begin!
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For the first time in five years, ZZ Top will be back in Germany! The performances here, including Bonn Kunst!Rasen on 05.07.2024 will also be a live premiere for Elwood Francis who was formerly the band’s guitar technician for decades but has now replaced Dusty Hill, who passed away in July 2021, and forms the rhythm section with drummer Frank Beard. For their concert program, the bearded trio can choose from numerous hits and classics such as “Gimme All Your Lovin’ “, “Got Me Under Pressure”, “Tush”, “Legs”, “Sharp Dressed Man”, “La Grange”, “Rough Boy” or “Cheap Sunglasses” in the 55th year of their career. There could also be samples from ZZ Top’s first studio album with new song material since 2012, which guitarist/vocalist Billy Gibbons has already announced in recent interviews. Tickets for an evening of virtuoso, down-to-earth blues, boogie and rock from this legendary act are available in advance.
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I don’t know where you were on Saturday evening, but I was attending my first ever Bluegrass Concert. You are, as they say, never to old to learn something new. In this case I was actually learning something quite old. A style of music that goes back, as we shall find out later, to the 1940’s. None of the nine musicians playing in the two bands at Trinkpavillon this evening would have been alive when it was discovered I hasten to add – but clearly the members of Bluegrass Guerilla and The Villwock Brothers have taken Bluegrass Music to their hearts, and by evening’s end I had another musical rabbit hole to go down and lots of new songs and bands to discover.
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For the UK’s best-known music magazine ‘Classic Rock Magazine’, Danny Bryant is a “National Blues Treasure“, a title that the exceptional guitarist has earned through hard work and tireless touring. Only 42 years old, Bryant has made a name for himself on the European blues scene for almost two decades, playing over 2500 club and festival gigs for his many fans, and is regarded in the industry as one of the best of the best.
His new studio album “Rise” was recorded earlier this year at Chapel Studios, UK and produced by Grammy winner Ian Dowling (Adele and others). Stylistically, Danny Bryant remains true to himself and offers an exciting mix of blues, rock and singer-songwriter, but has opted for a slightly more modern sound in the production, which makes the Brit sound fresher than ever. “My label and I agreed that everyone wanted a more heavily produced, more layered sounding record without compromising my sound,” explains Danny Bryant.
To hear Danny’s sound on a live stage you only need to make a visit to Bonn Harmonie on Wednesday. Even better, the first person to email 3songsbonn@gmx.de and tell me who produced the new Danny Bryant album ‘Rise’ will be on the guestlist for free entry with a companion! Please title the email ‘Danny Bryant Competition’ and may the best live music fan win!
If you miss out on the competition tickets are available HERE
He’s young, Italian, good-looking, with a great voice and a charismatic presence. Christian Meringolo. All this perfection is hard to take for the lesser, non-Italian, mortal males amongst us. He even handles somewhat exasperating audience requests from thin air with consummate ease. “Can you sing Happy Birthday as you promised to?” asks one lady mid-concert, “Because we have to leave in a minute!”. “So you want me to sing something for you so you can leave and don’t have to listen anymore?” is Christian’s winking reply. Of course he obliges.
You think it can’t get more challenging? “Could you sing a Kölsch song?” Christian is relieved as he knows a couple. Then comes the sting – “A Christmas Kölsch song?”. Aha! I thought. That’s stumped him finally. But of course, he is not only a good-looking Italian etc, he knows a suitable song from Bläck Föös. Joking aside – Christian is always a pleasure to see and hear on a stage. Whether with a full electric band, solo, or as today in a duet form with drummer Timur Tiglu also braving the cold. Songs in English, German, Italian, and Kölsch. What more could you want? I bet someone in the audience would think of something… Nice one Christian (and Timur) and thank you KuKug eV for arranging this evening.
Still to come Unter der Zeder:
09.12.2023 – Gospelchoir ‘Sounding Joy’ 4pm – 7pm with Sounding Brass from 6pm
16.12.2023 – Kleines Theater Allstars Advents Konzert 4pm – 7pm
All concerts free entry but please put money in the hat!
My only encounter with the late Shane MacGowan was not of the close kind. It was 2012, after The Pogues had played Tanzbrunnen in Cologne and I had arranged an interview with Pogues accordion player James Fearnley who had just published a book on the Band. To quote Fearnley in the interview “I rang Shane up to tell him that I was finally writing a book about us and that I would probably be on the unstinting side, he said: ‘I don’t give a fuck about that.’“. The atmosphere backstage was not, you won’t be surprised to hear, particularly cosy. The doorman had told all the fans who asked for autographs outside that Shane had already gone back to the hotel – those astute enough to point out they could plainly see his reflection in the mirror inside were answered with a tired “Do I have eyes in the back of my head?” Until the next fan asked and got the same answer.
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