Grobschnitt in Hagen 31/01/09

A little late review of the Grobschnitt concert from last week:

Gobschnitt is the band I have the seen the most often in the 70's and when a friend invited me for their concert I was quite happy and curious, but had also the flogging-a-dead horse feeling even so the critics of the last concerts were rather enthusiast.

Hagen the hometown of the Grobschnitts is a boring industrial town on the edge of a hillside region called Sauerland, where it was still freezing cold when we finally found a parking place. The concert took place in the Stadthalle of Hagen with a capacity of 3000, the concert was being sold out for some time now.

A nice venue in a hexagonal shape, good acoustics and good visibility from everywhere, no chairs which  demands some stamina (and beer) during a four hour concert. The average age of the audience was quite high including yours truly.

We didn't had time to eat before the show and just got a currywurst and a beer when it was Grobschnitt time:

First thing, the concert was fantastic and I didn’t regretted a bit to have come, the band plays now in a father & son combination : Stefan Wildschwein Danielak (acoustic guitar & vocals) and his son on guitars BTW stunning solos during solar music!!! and  Milla Kapolke and  his son on  guitars plus Tony Moff Molo keyboards lightshow and vocals, Admiral Top Sahne on drums an percussion,Deva Tattva on keyboards and Demian hache on keyboards and percussion.

while  the blue Danube announced the twenty minute break , we took  a pee, bought T Shirts and had some more beer and  it was time for the second half introduced by  Merry Go Round, Space Rider and then it was time for Solar Music (the power Play version)

Now for sure Solar Music is always the main dish of a Grobschnitt concert and I must say even compared to the 70’s shows I wasn’t disappointed at all, the Power Play version exists since the early 80’s and is cut into smaller sections that segue into each other using  obviously the original Solar Music material with more vocals. The visuals are great, a little less “dangerous”  (I remember some school auditoriums, where they surely have played only once after their homemade pyrotechnics) and more professional, but the result is really great, you have the two men with grinding machines throwing sparks, the fire-bearers, the sun-god with a neon crown ( the only cheesy item), the explosions and the great light and dry ice  show. Also some great guitar solos by Stefan Danielak junior.

After a short break the band came back for the encore section with Marry Green ( as a special guest the first drummer Axel Felix  Harlos ), the Razzia theme finale including the band presentation and as a special goodbye and unreleased acoustic song dedicated to the Grobschnitt fans….

all in all a great show,a very lively mixing old and new stuff and two generations of musicians! Recommended to everybody who has seen or never seen the band.

Here are exerpts from a  TV interview (in German) and some concert snippets, on the day before the concert:

http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=7GsJ-m_O6NU