ASP - Bochum 2008

On Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th October, ASP had invited to an acoustic show in a little pretty church in Bochum and so we went to Bochum on Sunday evening to enjoy this show which was part of the current unplugged tour called "Dunkelromantische Herbstabende - Von Zaubererbrüdern, schwarzen Schmetterlingen und anderen Nachtgestalten" (Dark romantic autumn nights - of enchanters, black butterflies and other night figures).

Music & Performance
The church was sold out at both days and when we arrived, lots of the ASP fans were waiting outside the door. In the venue, only seats were available and the temper in the church was more like a classical concert or in a theatre. And just like in a theatre a gong announced the beginning of the show, the light was dimmed and the musicians entered the stage, followed by ASP who was bringing along a big old songbook which was put on a desk. The show was started with ‘Betteljunge’ and right from the start the audience was charmed by the charismatic performance and the bewitching ambience in the venue. In the background were installed some nice pictures of mills - fitting to the theme, on the left backside of the stage the strings Ally and Sylvia were playing were arranged, in the middle back the drums and percussions, right back Thomas with his wind instruments, on the left front sitting was Matze with his guitars, on the front right side, Tossi with his bass was placed and in the centre Asp was acting behind the desk. The musicians played their instruments in a virtuoso manner and ASP sang the songs soulfully and dedicated. The temper in the crowd was great; the people were singing along with the songs and applauded in-between. First they were sitting well at their places but during ‘Denn ich bin der Meister’, most of the people couldn't stay down anymore and again and again during the faster songs they were standing up to dance to the music.



After about 70 minutes, the show was stopped - but only for a break of 30 minutes - and after it the show went on. Outstanding for me at the second part were the songs ‘Spottlied auf die harten Wanderjahre’ when Matze changed his guitar after every verse, and ‘Werben’ with great violin parts of Ally. During the song ‘Zaubererbruder’, Tossi took over the vocal parts of Eric Fish who sang along this song at the album. After about three hours, the main set was finished with ‘Am Ende’ and ASP left the stage. Of course the crowd requested an encore and ASP came back to perform two more songs. Again they left the stage but the crowd wasn't tired and didn't want to go home, ASP performed a further encore, first ‘Und wir tanzten’ only supported by the guest musicians and after it ‘Ich will brennen’ only with Matze at guitar. At the end, all musicians came back onto stage to say goodbye. After about 3.5 hours, Asp closed the songbook and the band left the stage finally. Altogether it was a nice evening in a charming location with great musicians who know how to handle their instruments.