Live Review: Rocco del Schlacko - Püttlingen 2019 (Day 2)

Sauwasen, Püttlingen, Germany
8th to 10th August 2019
Rocco del Schlacko 2019 Day 2 with reviews of Skindred, Donots, Von Wegen Lisbeth and Die Toten Hosen

While the first day of the festival was dominated by summer, sun and sunshine, the second day was the exact opposite. Short, strong rain showers transformed the Saarland festival Rocco del Schlacko on the second day into a wet, muddy affair - but the party mood was not affected at all. In Püttlingen, the festival people had a lot of luck, because apart from small, but heavy rain showers, which soaked you up to your underpants, the storm, which hit the southwest strongly (especially the south of Luxembourg received the unwanted visit of a tornado), passed right by the Rocco del Schlacko. So: No interruption, only a small break at the Ponyhof in the early Friday evening.


Skindred

SKINDRED is a Welsh Heavy Metal band formed in Newport, Wales, in 1998. Their musical style mixes Heavy Metal, Alternative Rock, and Reggae, also known as Hard Reggae. The band also integrate elements of Hardcore Punk, Dancehall, Jungle, Ska, Hip-Hop, Drum and Bass, Dubstep, and various other influences into their music. They are well known for their energetic and involving live performances, and have won several awards including “Best Live Band” at the 2011 UK Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards and the “Devotion Award” at the 2011 Kerrang! Awards. Bad news for all fans of SKINDRED: The concert was cancelled because of a delayed flight. So the timetable was rescheduled.


Donots

The DONOTS are a German band, founded in 1994, who mainly play Alternative Rock and Punk Rock. Some of their lyrics are in English, others in German. At 7.10pm, the square in front of the main stage was really crowded. The simple reason: The DONOTS. Rocco permanent guest was the Punk Rock band from Ibbenbüren and probably everyone celebrated the Westphalians. For the 8th time they played at the festival and you could believe that singer Ingo Donot likes to come back to the contemplative Saarland every year. This year the band is already celebrating their 25th anniversary, which was easily recognized by the big banner on stage. Shortly before the DONOTS concert began, it suddenly rained out of buckets. But at the beginning of the show there was sunshine again, so nothing stood in the way of the gig any more. The first song ‘Ich mach nicht mehr mit’ was played and the huge curtain with the band’s logo dropped. Immediately the fans were amazed and sang along loudly and began to dance. Ingo Knollmann, the singer of the band, used the whole stage for himself and showed a strong stage presence.



With a few jokes he also made his fans laugh and smile. Of course, the Saarland was brought into the jokes and was called asocial, as it is common at the Rocco del Schlacko. When the singer noticed that one of the many fans in the audience was celebrating his birthday on Friday, the band sang to the birthday child. In the middle of the concert it started to rain heavily. But that didn’t stop neither the fans nor the band from being in a cheerful mood, even though they were wet to the bone. They partied so hard that they forgot about the rain: Up to nine moshpits were formed in the crowd, again and again larger circles were formed, in which the audience pogoed and let all their energy out. Crowd surfers let themselves be carried on hands and Ingo couldn’t resist to leave the Sauwasen without taking a bath in the crowd. With such energy for the next 25 years there is nothing to stand in the way.

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Von Wegen Lisbeth

VON WEGEN LISBETH is a German band founded in 2006 in Berlin. Their music style is to be assigned to indie pop. Especially in their music is the use of unusual musical instruments such as a children’s chimes. The quintet released their second album ‘This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.’ this year. After the DONOTS the audience was definitely warmed up, but also soaking wet. A bit more contemplative and dryer was VON WEGEN LISBETH’s gig. The Indie Pop band from Berlin focuses on German-language music with electronic elements and let the crowd take a breath before the headliner of the day.



Like two years ago at the Rocco Del Schlacko, the band had bad luck with the weather again. But with the first song ‘Wieso’ the rain was quickly forgotten, and the fans enjoyed the music. With a simple black banner, the band itself was more visible on stage and the audience could fully concentrate on the guys. Singer Matthias Rohde was able to make the mood clear with his charming smile and the other band members were also able to prove what they are made for. By changing instruments several times during their songs, they showed that they are musically very talented. With songs like ‘Meine Kneipe’, ‘Westkreuz’ or ‘Lisa’ they amazed their fans and were able to create a good atmosphere.

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Die Toten Hosen

DIE TOTEN HOSEN (literally “The Dead Trousers”, figuratively “dead boring” or “brewer’s droop”) is a German Punk Rock band from Düsseldorf. All band members are self-taught musicians. The focus of the band’s music has gradually shifted from funny and nonsensical to serious. The songs from the band’s first LP were mostly about having fun, but by the end of the 1980s they were focusing more on political and social issues such as racism. At 10.40 pm, one of the most important Rock figures in German music history entered the stage of the Rocco del Schlacko for the first time. The ‘Laune der Natur’ record is already two years old and the first big concert tour for that album took place in 2017. The setlist began with intro ‘Wer bremst verliert’, but already the first song, ‘Bonnie & Clyde’, showed the vocally powerful audience that the classics shouldn’t be neglected.

Frontman Campino and his bandmates delivered as usual a good show, even though the newer songs were all much more Pop-influenced and the real pPunk feeling didn’t really came up. But especially the fans of the earlier works were happy about classics like ‘Hier kommt Alex’, ‘Alles aus Liebe’ or ‘Eisgekühler Bommerlunder’. The two-hour party convinced all festival visitors. // Setlist: 01. Intro (Wer bremst verliert) / 02. Bonnie & Clyde / 03. Du lebst nur einmal (vorher) / 04. Liebeslied / 05. Madelaine (aus Lüdenscheid) / 06. Auswärtsspiel / 07. Laune der Natur / 08. Das ist der Moment / 09. Altes Fieber / 10. Alles passiert / 11. Niemals einer Meinung / 12. Paradies / 13. Alles was war / 14. Unter den Wolken / 15. Steh auf, wenn du am Boden bist / 16. Pushed again / 17. Wannsee / 18. Alles aus Liebe / 19. Wünsch Dir Was / 20. Hier kommt Alex / 21. Wie viele Jahre (Hasta la muerte) / 22. Eisgekühlter Bommerlunder / 23. Far Far Away / 24. Schönen Gruß, auf Wiederseh’n / 25. Opel-Gang / 26. Halbstark / 27. Tage wie diese / 28. You’ll Never Walk Alone

All Pictures by Elena Arens