Schlossgrabenfest - Darmstadt 2009 (Days 3 & 4)

Since 1999, the Schlossgrabenfest, the biggest festival in the federal state of Hessen, has transformed the inner city of Darmstadt into a boiling pot. The festival has become a well-attended event which attracted more than 400,000 visitors this year. Besides enjoying the free admission and the culinary delicacies, many people were looking forward to the musical line-up taking place on four stages and coming up with artists such as EXTRABREIT, DONOTS, LUXUSLAERM or MAX MUTZKE. http://www.schlossgrabenfest.de/

The Berlin based band RADIOPILOT has become successful in fast motion. Founded in 2005 under the name KIMONO, they won the John Lennon Talent Award in 2006. One year later, Lukas Pizon (vocals, guitar), Christoph Hengelhaupt (drums), Rafael Triebel (guitar), Benjamin Steinke (bass) and Florian Buettner (keys) signed a record contract with Sony / BMG Columbia. In August 2008, the guys released their first album `Leben passiert´. The young musicians were supported by the producer Olaf Opal who had already worked with artists such as JULI, LIQUIDO and SPORTFREUNDE STILLER. RADIOPILOT went on tour with the popular German bands JULI and ICH + ICH. Thus, the formation was able to attract a loyal following. Since 29th May 2009, the recent single `Immer wenn wir träumen´ has been available for download and will be in stores on 12th June. http://www.radiopilot.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/radiopilot



Music & Performance
It was 20 minutes past 5pm when the five chequered shirts wearing guys went on stage. When they started to present all in all 12 guitar-driven Rock songs, the glare of the sun made them screw up their eyes. A gathering of supporters and a promotion team cheered for them. By and by, the RADIOPILOT music attracted an acceptable number of people who listened to the amusing and intelligent lyrics. The Rock soundscape was enriched by the keyboards that added some Pop style to the catchy melodies. I liked the recent single `Immer wenn wir träumen´ - which is a smooth ballad - in particular. Without further ado and as an homage to the hosts, the front man Lukas changed the title of `Tokyo: Berlin´ into `Tokyo: Darmstadt´.



The singer mentioned that the band was very impressed by a vegetable garden they had found while they were walking around in a park. That confession raised a laugh, as anybody didn´t know what place he was talking about. To sum up: A likeable band coming up with an agreeable sound guarantees a good performance. Well done!

Setlist
01. Intro
02. Fahrrad
03. Tokyo: Berlin
04. Von wegen
05. Du und ich in Stereo
06. Sing doch
07. Immer wenn wir traeumen
08. Foto von dir
09. Indi Hit
10. Schmetterling
11. Monster
12. OK

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light:  - (daylight)
Total: 8 / 10




Aloha From Hell

The members of the Aschaffenburg based student band ALOHA FROM HELL were shot to fame at a very young age. In 2007, they won the BRAVO Band Newcomer contest. In the course of that, they performed at the popular BRAVO Supershow in 2008 and the prize “Bayerischer Löwe” was awarded to the five young musicians. The career of ALOHA FROM HELL started in 2006, when Vivien “Vivi” Bauernschmidt (vocals), Moritz “Moo” Keith (guitar), Felix “Feli” Keith (drums), Andreas “Andy” Gerhard (guitar) and Max Forman (bass) formed the band. At that time, Vivi and Feli were only 12 years old. According to the band´s statement, its style can be regarded as “Melodic Evil Rock”. In summer 2008, the formation released the debut single `Don´t gimme that´ which was followed by the second single `Walk away´ in November of the same year. The debut long-player `No more Days to waste´ has been available since January 2009. http://www.alohafromhell.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/bandalohafromhell



Music & Performance
Shortly before it was time for ALOHA FROM HELL, I had noticed some nearly hysterical teenagers who screamed the musicians´ names at the top of their lungs. Though I didn´t do that way, I was curious about the appearance for some reasons. Firstly, the band members live near my hometown. Secondly, the local press published many articles about the formation. On that evening, I wanted to get an own idea of the band. After ALOHA FROM HELL had started the 50-minutes set, I was surprised due to the really young faces, although I had known that the band members are mainly school-age children. Nevertheless, they were old hands at performing and playing the instruments. The pretty lead singer and front girl Vivi was an eye-catcher while she was striking some rock star poses. Her clear and melodic voice reminded me strongly of the vocals of AVRIL LAVIGNE. The whole sound can be compared to AVRIL LAVIGNE and - in parts - ALOHA FROM HELL sounded like its idol formation DIE HAPPY.



Therefore, the ALOHA FROM HELL songs aren´t that innovative, but I have to admit that the youngsters did a very good job and offered a kick-ass performance. Particularly, I liked the jolly cover version of the CYNDI LAUPER song `Girls just wanna have Fun´ as well as the catchy `Don´t gimme that´ and the emotional ballad `Walk away´. As I hadn´t known the album versions when I watched the concert on last Saturday, I listened to the long-player at home some days ago. In my opinion, ALOHA FROM HELL is a good live act, as the pieces sound much better live on stage. When the band had finished its appearance, it turned out to be a likeable and friendly formation that found the time to take pictures with all the impatiently waiting fans and the band members also had to sign many teenage bodies.

Setlist
01. Intro
02. Can you hear me Boys
03. How come you are the one
04. I´ll smash your Mind
05. Girls just wanna have Fun
06. Walk away
07. Wake me up
08. So what´s going on
09. Don´t gimme that
10. My Love you are
11. No more Days to waste
12. You
13. Catch me if you can
14. Fear of tomorrow

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 7.9 / 10




Max Mutzke

The 28-years-old Soul singer MAX MUTZKE became famous after he had won the casting show “SSDSGPS” which took place within the scope of the well-known German TV show “TV Total”. The moderator Stefan Raab wrote the winner´s song `Can´t wait until tonight´ that reached the pole position of the German single charts in 2004. In the same year, MAX MUTZKE represented Germany by taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest in Istanbul and finished eighth. In 2005, his debut album `Max Mutzke´ was released. One year later, he supported the singer KATIE MELUA on her tour. His long-players `...Aus dem Bauch´ (2007) and `Black Forest´ (2008) entered the German album charts again. Since January 2009, MAX MUTZKE´s recent single `Marie´ has turned out to be a hit and has been played many times on the radio. http://www.maxmutzke.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/maxmutzke



Music & Performance
Supported by the experienced band consisting of Justin Balk (guitar), Lennart A. Salomon (SONO, guitar), Philip Morton Andernach (bass), Martin Hornung (keyboards) and Heiko Franz (drums), MAX MUTZKE was the headliner act of the Schlossgrabenfest´s third day. The singer admitted that the event had been the largest open-air concert he had ever performed at. And that was obvious, as MAX MUTZKE seemed to be very shy and nervous while he was singing the first song `St. Petersburg´. Later on, he was more outgoing and relaxed. Possibly, he needed some time to be warmed up. The audience didn´t bother about that, as the listeners waved their arms and enjoyed the actually great Soul vocals.



MAX MUTZKE intonated many pieces of his recent album `Black Forest´, for example `Me & Lorraine´. All in all, he had been on stage for 90 minutes and I would have brought a setlist if it hadn´t been impossible due to MAX MUTZKE´s staff. In my opinion, the best moment of the show was the performance of his greatest hit `Can´t wait until tonight´, as all the people, who gathered on the Karolinenplatz, sang along. It was a nice experience and I even got goose bumps, though it wasn´t the music I usually prefer. A colourful light show illuminated the beautiful castle and contributed to the concert night´s atmosphere. To sum up, I watched a nice concert of a very talented singer.

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 6
Sound: 9
Light: 9
Total: 7.3 / 10




Sunday, 31st May 2009

Extrabreit

I was looking forward to the appearance of two bands that should perform on the Entega-stage on the last day of the festival. One of them was the New German Wave legend EXTRABREIT that was the headliner act on Sunday. There shouldn´t be any German thirty-something who don´t know the EXTRABREIT anthems `Flieger, grueß mir die Sonne´, `Hart wie Marmelade´ or `Polizisten´. Arising from the Punk scene of their hometown Hagen, Stefan “Kleinkrieg” Klein (guitar) and Kay “Kai Havaii” Schlasse (vocals) formed EXTRABREIT in 1978. In 1980, the band released the debut album `Ihre größten Erfolge´ that contained 13 cheeky songs with partly socio-critical lyrics. The pieces attracted a big following that loved the Punk attitude and the guitar-driven sound the band provided.



EXTRABREIT was celebrated as one of the New German Wave heroes. The band members weren´t only role models for German teenagers, they also became commercially successful. Up to now, they have released 22 long-players. Last year, EXTRABREIT celebrated its 30th anniversary. Referring to three decades of Punk rock, the band brought the box-set `Gold´ (including some bonus tracks and the most popular songs) into the stores some days ago. http://www.die-breiten.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/extrabreit

Music & Performance
They have gotten long in the tooth, but they didn´t lose their energy and the ability to offer a charismatic show. Wearing black suits, Kai Havaii (vocals), Stefan Kleinkrieg (guitar), Rolf Möller (drums), Bubi Hönig (guitar) and Lars Larsson (bass) were welcomed with a rapturous applause when they started the concert by intonating the song `110´. They ignited a firework of their greatest hits that made the thousands of people chant along. The most beautiful festival´s light show accompanied the 90-minutes show that was a pleasure to watch. There were some nice details: The still agile front man Kai Havaii put his sunglasses on while he was intonating `Andreas Baaders Sonnenbrille´. Furthermore, the singer told some facts about the songs´ history and turned out to be a good storyteller. My favourite EXTRABREIT piece, the provoking `Polizisten´, came as a bombshell due to the hypnotic guitar riff which was live on stage even better than as an album track.



The audience went wild while EXTRABREIT was starting to sing `Hart wie Marmelade´. Actually, the climax was reached when the crowd sang the chorus of `Flieger, grueß mir die Sonne´. To come to a conclusion: There was simply a special kind of magic concerning the EXTRABREIT appearance and I enjoyed it very much to listen to the sound of my early childhood days.

Setlist
01. 110
02. Andreas Baaders Sonnenbrille
03. Polizisten
04. Nichts ist für immer
05. Jeden Tag jede Nacht
06. Besatzungskind
07. Hart wie Marmelade
08. Ruhm
09. Für mich soll´s rote Rosen regnen
10. Kuess mich
11. Kleptomanie
12. Liebling
13. 3-D
14. Lottokoenig
15. Flieger, grueß mir die Sonne
---
16. Der Praesident ist tot
17. Extrabreit
18. Joachim muss haerter werden
---
19. Hurra, hurra, die Schule brennt
20. Junge, wir koennen so heiss sein

Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: 10
Total: 9.2 / 10




Boppin´ B

Founded in 1985 in Aschaffenburg, the hard-working Rockabilly band BOPPIN´ B is more on the road than at home. They created a special sound containing stylistic elements of Ska, Swing, Rock and Punk flavoured with fifties´ atmosphere. Up to now, the busy formation has released nine long-players. In 2005, they also published the DVD `Live, laut & in Farbe´ that granted an insight into the unusual show the quintet became famous for. In 2005, BOPPIN´ B supported DICK BRAVE & THE BACKBEATS (a project of the German Pop singer SASHA). After that, the band recorded a whole album of SASHA songs by transforming the pieces into Rockabilly tunes. Traditionally, the band is part of the Schlossgrabenfest line-up every year. http://www.boppinb.de/ / http://www.myspace.com/boppinb



Music & Performance
BOPPIN´ B concerts always radiate a good mood and leave a happy and exhausted crowd. Wearing old-fashioned suits that looked like originals made in the fifties, Michael Treska (lead vocals, guitar), Didi Beck (double bass), Golo Sturm (lead guitar, vocals), Frank Seefeld (saxophone, vocals) and Thomas Weiser (drums, vocals) went on stage and formed a line. Before the musicians started their wild and sometimes acrobatic show, the meanwhile heated up audience had to pass a test. BOPPIN´ B had created a kind of battle call that was proved that time again. The band members asked if the audience felt alright and the gathering had to answer with the expression “Scheißkapelle”. (For all foreign readers: “Scheißkapelle” can be translated with “shitty combo”.)



As there were many fans among the listeners, the procedure went very well and the band was satisfied and ready for the show. The performance was a must-see and is hard to describe. Using the double bass as a monkey bar, the musicians climbed the instrument every now and then. Rolling on the floor with the instruments and screaming their battle call, the guys went totally wild. Besides their own songs (which come up with very funny German and English lyrics), they also played two very special cover versions of the SASHA song `If you believe´ and the MANU CHAO hit `King of Bongo´. A very crazy, but highly recommendable gig!



Setlist
01. Scheisskapelle
02. The only Way
03. Maedcheninternat
04. Those were the Days
05. How low
06. Mercury
07. If you believe
08. Ridin on a Bullet
09. Radio Day
10. Wear my Boots
11. Bop won´t stop
12. King of Bongo

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 10
Sound: 10
Light: 9
Total: 9.1 / 10



All pictures by Katrin Renner (http://www.creavision-webdesign.de/)
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