Preview UNHEILIG - Saarbrücken 2012

Written by Kai Bimber Friday, 13 July 2012 09:05

Messe, Saarbrücken, Germany
10th August 2012
Unheilig & Support: Staubkind, Andreas Bourani

UNHEILIG - no other band with roots in the dark scene ever managed to create such a controversy and split their members into two such feuding fractions than the project of "Der Graf". First a phenomenon only present on "dark" events, the band played itself into hearts and minds of the scene, soon gaining enough fans and influence to play on the largest events, such as Amphi Festival, Zillo Festival or WGT.

This changed in 2010: Several performances in TV and promotion by RTL2 placed the album ‘Große Freiheit’ high in the charts, and the band started to appear in more and more TV and radio shows that had nothing to do with dark music at all... especially criticized, for example, were performances at ZDF Fernsehgarten and in the show of Carmen Nebel... soon protests of the "old fans" got loud (not to say "a shitstorm commenced") that the band sold their very soul for profit and the chance for success to become popular with the broad masses, ostracizing the newer songs like ‘Geboren um zu leben’ as "Schlager-Gothic". In short, the former fan base was about to break away. Others, still supporting UNHEILIG, meanwhile brought arguments that the music style did not change much at all and that their reputation had just become so good that "normal" people had become aware of the band, not begrudging their new success. "Der Graf" also remarked his confusion why so many older fans turned their backs on him.

The situation somewhat escalated when the band AND ONE stopped the tour together with UNHEILIG, commenting their decision with the fact that they could no longer identify with this tour and what it stood for... however, sky seemed (and seems) to be the limit for UNHEILIG, as their popularity all over Germany is unbroken and still growing. In 2012, the sale of the new album ‘Lichter der Stadt’ started, and it rocketed right up to place 1 in the charts - and it´s this CD which "Der Graf" is now presenting to all his fans, new and old, in a tour throughout all Germany in chosen locations. Everybody who ever visited one of the performances of the band knows what this means: sweat-inducing stage-action until the bald head steams, hard rock-attacks like ‘Unter Feuer’ as well as slow and gentle sounds, carried by the deep and calm voice of "Der Graf".

Art or commerce? Sellout or development? This is what everybody should figure out for himself on this tour. The band can be seen:

13.07.2012 Leipzig Völkerschlacht-Denkmal
14.07.2012 Nürnberg Zeppelinfeld Nürnberg
15.07.2012 Locarno Moon & Stars Festival
20.07.2012 Stuttgart Cannstatter Wasen
21.07.2012 Köln Rhein-Energie-Stadion
27.07.2012 Hannover EXPO Plaza
28.07.2012 Rostock IGA Park
04.08.2012 Zwickau Flugplatz
05.08.2012 Passau Messeplatz
10.08.2012 Saarbrücken Messe
11.08.2012 Hemer Sauerlandpark Hemer
18.08.2012 Weilburg Festplatz
24.08.2012 Graz Messe
25.08.2012 Linz TipsArena
26.08.2012 Wien Stadthalle
01.09.2012 Berlin Kindl-Bühne Wuhlheide
02.09.2012 Berlin Kindl-Bühne Wuhlheide

PS: The family-friendly band offers free entrance for children between six and ten years - for more information, please see http://artists.universal-music.de/udd/_artists/unheilig/_kids

Additional Concert Info for Saarbrücken
Doors Open: 16 PM
Starts: 17 PM
Ticket Fee: 40.30 EUR (seat: 76.30 EUR) + Pre-Selling Fees
Tickets available online at EMSO and EVENTIM