The Harmonie stage looks strangely bare considering five musicians have set up on it. There’s only a single Fender Telecaster propped up in front of a battered speaker cabinet for Henrik Freischlader himself. Over on the merchandise stall, there is no sign of t-shirts, back-catalogue cd’s or signature Stetson caps. Just two cardboard boxes – one with the new release as cd and the other with its vinyl counterpart. Travelling Light could be the Tour motto.
A reminder that two always popular musicians are coming to the Harmonie in Bonn very soon.
Both Henrik Freischlader (23 Oct) and Layla Zoe (30 Oct) will be bringing new music to Bonn next week. Henrik’s ‘Hands on the Puzzle’ sees the Man at his songwriting best and with a welcome return to the Old School Blues. Layla’s ‘Gemini’ is a stunning double set that is firmly on my shortlist for album of the year. My advice in both cases – don’t miss!
Ticket details HERE
Yes, that energetic youngster jumping with his Les Paul on the 3songsbonn logo top left of the website really is Jason Barwick. It comes from an iconic Rockpalast Cologne gig in 2009. Joe Bonamassa pulled the plug on TV crews, and as a result upcoming Grimsby band The Brew got their whole set broadcast. The rest, as they say, is history. The boy has grown to a man and the hair to over his shoulders, but the energy level has remained constantly at a scale of ten from ten as Tuesday’s gig at The Harmonie proved.
Humility isn’t a word you would choose to use for anyone describing their tour as ‘Blues Giants’. For Tuesday’s Harmonie visitors it was very much a case of ‘put up or shut up’ as they say. In the event it was very much the former as past visitors Mike Zito and Albert Castiglia brought with them one of the strongest, bluesiest, bands to grace the stage in recent years. A spoonful of Blues at it’s electric best in fact.
It can be expensive to watch coverbands. Take yesterdays appearance at the Harmonie by Physical Graffiti. Great show at the end of which it occurred to me that the only Led Zeppelin I have ever owned was Zep 3, Graffiti itself and the under-rated In through the out door – all on black vinyl and now either getting dusty on a shelf back in Portsmouth or (more likely) jettisoned from my life forever to make space for an extra cd cabinet. One evening of Andrew Elt and co and I’m thinking there are a lot of CD’s I need to buy very soon…
Sardinas/Zoe/Baum = Great Music in Bonn
Music with passion is guaranteed at Bonn Harmonie this week: Tuesday (4 Nov) sees Powerhouse electric slide guitar supremo Eric Sardinas in Endenich. Florida born Sardinas is one of the best resonator guitar players in the world. Wednesday (5 Nov) is ‘Ladies Night’ with Canada’s ‘Darling of the Blues’ Layla Zoe tearing up the Harmonie stage with the help of her Bonn guitarist Jan Laacks and support from Bonn’s own legendary Bluesmen Baums Bluesbenders. Great music guaranteed at both shows – don’t miss!
Click Here for More details and ticket info
Gabby Young looked set to find a career in opera until Jeff Buckley, Jazz and Thyroid Cancer made appearances in her life. Buckley brought her a pop music perspective, the jazz a fresh approach to the pop, and the Thyroid Cancer an urgency to put her talents to good use.
The combined result can be heard on Gabby’s latest CD ‘One Foot in Front Of The Other’ and even more so in her live shows where brave souls have had to invent a category for her uncategorizable sound – ‘Circus Swing’ is what they came up with. Judge for yourself on Wednesday (9 April) when she and her band the ‘Other Animals’ are at Bonn Harmonie. 3Songs asked Gabby about her music and lifestyle – If I say that the girl has a gardening blog, a designer range called appropriately ‘Gabberdashery’, a fashion blog, not to forget a hand in making unique album covers and videos, then forgive me if the interview seems incomplete. There’s a lot more than inventive pop music to this talented lady from Bath.
Four days, eight bands, and no expectations. What expectations can you have for names like ‘Navel’, ‘The Chuck Norris Experiment’, ‘Flowerpornoes‘ and certainly not least ‘And you will know us by the trail of Dead’? You have no choice but to go into the sweaty cauldron that is Harmonie on Rockpalast Crossroads nights with both eyes and both ears open. Let’s head down to the bar now, grab a cool lager and a spot near the stage before the cameras start rolling.
