Ana Popovic – Hard Hitting Highheels

Since first seeing Ana Popovic in Koblenz four years ago, her shows there have become something of a yearly highlight for me.  Each time the empty streets in sleepy Güls  make me wonder if the audience is coached in en-masse or dropped ‘Close Encounters’ like from space-ships.    Wherever they come from though one thing is certain – those who see Ana once will  be back next time, and the next…

There are quite a few changes since the first show in 2005, and not all music related.  Not least is the baby seat in the Tour Van.  A bit of a novelty on the Rock circuit as Mark, Ana’s Man and Manager, acknowledges when I see him outside before the show.   In truth there doesn’t seem room for a mouse, let alone a baby, in the van.  As bass-man Ronald Jonker begins unpacking equipment I stifle the urge to ask if there is a jigsaw box picture somewhere to help show how it all fits together.  In the end I just leave Ronald and co to demolish their version of the Berlin Wall drumstick by guitar case and head for a bite to eat before the show (watching people work always makes me hungry).

When I return at 7.30 the van is empty and Café Hahn is filling up.  Playing the blues and coming from Güls has it’s up-side as  Local band ‘Blues Side’ can attest.  They’ve bagged  support slots for a number of top acts at the venue such as Walter Trout and Nine Below Zero.   Tonight it’s Ana Popovic and certainly ‘Blues Side’ are worth a listen with a good raw electric blues sound.

It’s true that I was a bit concerned having a support band would mean Ana  shortening her set.  It would certainly be an easy option;  especially since her band just flew in from playing a festival in Copenhagen the previous day. An easy option wouldn’t be for Ana Popovic though.   She played a support slot for the great BB King earlier this year and whilst they might be different colours, different ages and different blues stylists, both clearly share a desire to bring the music to the people;  and treat the people with respect.

The truth is Ana, will need at least two hours to play all the strong material she now has to draw from.  The new CD, ‘Blind For Love’ has what I think will be great live numbers on board; but will I have to miss old classics like ‘Navajo Moon’ to hear them?  I will soon know as Ronald gets the show off to a unique start by busting a string before Ana has even got onstage.  He’s shouting ‘Welcome Miss Ana Popovic’ and brandishing a bass string like he’s planning to garrot anyone who doesn’t applaud.  Help comes from the ‘Blues Sides’ bassist who comes to the rescue (and thereby proves how important support acts can be).  Finally the strings on and the show is off and rocking with ‘Wrong Woman’.

New drummer Frenchman Stephane Avellarzeda  is young but doesn’t lack in the punch department.  His hard hitting style pushes Ana’s sound into rock territory and I’m reminded of Phil Lynott’s advice many years ago to young Irish Band Mamas Boys – ‘Hit ‘em hard from the start and don’t let up’.  They do let up momentarily though for the moody and romantic ‘Song for M’ but the songs generally come hard and fast, none more so than the poppy ‘Nothing Personal’ – a hit single if ever there was one.

During the break I check out the merchandise stand where Mark is doing good business but I’m keen for part two.   I want to hear more of the new material and I am not disappointed.   Ana is back onstage with the title track ‘Blind For Love’ but the highlight for me is ‘License to Steal’ which also shows Ana’s very considerable guitar abilities.  I had this figured as a steel guitar number but there’s Ana playing a standard Strat and hell, it sounds like a National Steel guitar.  I would  like to hear this stripped down to just Ana and maybe the drums with a good measure of foot-tapping.  This is a good point to mention Ana’s style.  She’s not afraid to switch between finger picking and plectrum  within one solo.  Her eyes half close as she reaches for the sound in her head and I really believe that when that happens we in the audience no longer exist.  She’s somewhere else and wherever that is, we get it’s soundtrack in all it’s glory.  Just at times maybe there seem too many songs and not enough guitar,  so thankfully ‘Navajo Moon’ is still a set regular  to redress the balance and it’s still Ana’s musical Tour De Force.

The anthemic ‘APB’ has everyone clapping  along as I knew it must and the evening is, even at two hours, over  too soon.  When at the encore Ana asks what we want to hear and someone calls out ‘House Burning Down’ she seems a little disappointed.  She wants (needs?) to sing Blues.

We get T-Bone Walker and it’s a celebration – that Ana wants to play Blues and that quite simply, Ana wants to play, period.  When I later ask how she feels about people demanding she play Blues she emphatically replies that she plays what she wants to play and not what others want to demand she plays.  She says it smiling an enigmatic smile with a well earned drink in hand, but there’s a steely tone to her voice that says this lady is not for turning -  and if you love contemporary music with a heart and soul as I do then that is very good news indeed.

MORE PHOTOS

Make a diary date for Oct 10 2010 when Ana is back at The Harmonie in Bonn – and there’s still a chance to catch her live  this October  before she heads back to Tour the USA:

Oct 30 2009 8:00P

HAMTORKRUG

NEUSS, GERMANY

Heart & Soul – Marktplatz

Everyone knows John Belushi as Jake Blues.  Some might know that Russell Crowe  played him in an Australian Touring version of ‘The Blues Brothers’ during the 1990’s but few know that Jake actually comes from Bonn and his real name is Lothar Distelrath.  I know because I saw him onstage in front of the  Bonn Council Offices just last Saturday.

Under a warm and sunny sky in Bonn’s Marktplatz,  the evening gets underway courtesy of acoustic Rock duo Krysmah.  Formed out of the Deep Purple, Whitesnake coverband ‘Stargazer’.  Detlef Kornath and Frank Nerger take their life in their hands by playing electric hard rock anthems like ‘Smoke on the Water’ and ‘Whisky in the  Jar’  with not a Fender or Gibson electric in sight.   Nerger is an excellent electric guitarist (actually a part of the ‘Heartful of Soul’ Band) so why not play the songs electric? I asked him.  ‘”Acoustic makes it interesting” he smiled back.  I just know that given the chance to play that famous bass riff from Purple I personally would want to play  LOUD and ELECTRIC!  But he has a point.  The songs are interesting somewhat toned down and make me wonder if there is a music genre called ‘Folk Metal’ on the shelves somewhere.

Still getting my head around a German Bruce Springsteen after ‘Bosstime’ last weekend I was about to be confronted by a coverband who were themselves covering the ultimate Blues Coverband.  Heart & Soul were formed by Lothar Distelrath (Jake) and Dirk ZePuntke (Elwood).  Formed in 2002 the band bring their version of the ‘Blues Brothers’ to Parties, Summer Festivals and Street Events but they also have  some prestigious and odd concerts under their collective belts -  Alongside support slots for Kool and the Gang and Bony M have been a Birthday Party appearance for the then German Defence Minister Dr Peter Struck which led to an invitation to concerts for the troops in Sarajevo and Kosovo.

It’s certainly cheaper to be an acoustic duo than go on the road as an eleven-piece band but  ‘Heart & Soul’ don’t skimp on quantity  – or

musical quality as it happens.  They also deliver a fair bit of Rock n Roll Theatre as on ‘Flip, Flop and Fly’ with gaudy Bermuda shirts and comic wigs together with light dance routines as with ‘Shake a Tailfeather’.   But most importanly they know how to play Rhythm and Blues as proved by meaty versions of ‘Messin with the Kid’ and ‘She Caught the Katy’  that simply flip, flop and fly by.    A fair few people are joining in too – including a wheelchair bound gent who seems to have more energy and agility on four wheels than many of us standing.

Typically the concert atmosphere gets better and better as the evening rocks on.  A shame that there is no beer/wine tent as at the summer Garden shows – presumably a nod to the gastronomy providing seats and meals in the surrounding Cafe’s.  With typical Open Air in Bonn timing, just as the crowd is at its largest and the light at it’s most magical, it’s 10 pm and time to stop.  Hopes that the infamous Blues Brothers will treat this rule with disdain – but no – I guess their days of being just ahead of the law are over.  The lesson for tonight was ‘Blues’ my friends, and the Reverends Jake and Elwood left the stage to rapturous applause – Gods work done.

I’d happily book these guys for my Church, Birthday, Wedding or Bar mitzva.

MORE PICTURES FROM THE SHOW HERE

Julian Sas – Still Preaching

 

If a concert hall could have what could be described as a 'Home Game' then Julian Sas at The Harmonie in Bonn would be just that.

Except that Sas is from Holland.  How does he manage to sell the place out every year yet remain something of a secret tip amongst blues and rock fans?

Well the answer from me is 'I don't know' but I'm glad that if he has to be a 'Geheim Tip' as they say here in Germany, that Bonn is  no secret to his booking agent.  In fact he visits every year like Father Christmas.  And just like Santa, it's always a pleasure when he comes to town.  My last review called him 'The Missionary'.  Well the good news is that he is still preaching 'The Gospel according to Muddy Waters'

 

 

 

A first for me at a Harmonie concert was seeing a young kid being carried out of the audience.  He hadn't been screaming 'Julian!' (or 'John, Paul, George, Ringo or Bill' for that matter) but it was proof that JS fans come in all shapes, sizes and age groups as much as it was proof that it can still get pretty hot and sticky when the hall has a busy night.

 

At shows end I see the said youngster, upright again, with poster and pen in hand waiting for autographs.  So how does that fit in with the rockstar ego?  Julian was talking after the show about a festival in Finland. "This one is for Rory Gallagher" he remembers saying – and a crowd of 12.000 Fins went wild.  But importantly to me listening to Julian tell the story, it wasn't the fact that 12.000 fans went wild to hear HIM playing that mattered – he was moved that so many people there remembered Rory.  That, purely and simply, is Julian Sas.  If he has an ego, he keeps it in a locked up box in the attic, and the box is very definitely covered in dust.

 

It would be easy to think you were pretty important when you come out to a hall that is literally packed out to the corners.  In fact, had the Harmonie been twice as big I suspect the corners would still be packed.  They are certainly filled with hard rock music as Julian, Tenny Tahamata (bass) and Rob Heijne (drums) get going.  It's the classic power trio combination of course and on Sas classics like ‘Burning Soul', ‘Aint no Change'  and ‘Devil Got My Number'  you can firstly see why the hall is packed every year the show hits town, and secondly, you wonder why the band isn't playing stadiums instead of concert halls.

 

 

 

 
There are a couple of surprises for the audience in the shape of songs scheduled for the new CD next year.  The slow blues of ‘Sailing into the Unknown' for instance is a great workout for  blues guitar.  It's a song about coming home – and one wonders if the Harmonie isn't Julian's second home by now – certainly there is a family atmosphere about the show.  Peter from Julian's German website and Bill from ‘Rory's Friends' are here.  Bernie from the Mr Music shop is only missing because of illness.   It seems like half the audience know Julian, but maybe thats just Julian.  The extra effort people give can be seen in his whole presentation: from the Entrance tickets with photo on, through the deluxe packaged ‘Dedication' CD/DVD.  People put in extra effort for Mr S it seems.

 

No-one puts in more effort for the music itself than Julian though.  ‘The Way it Goes' is an uptempo song in the ‘Radar Love' mode that promises good things for the new release, but it's inevitably "one for Rory" that gets the biggest cheer as Julian and band launch into a ten minute blistering version of the Gallagher classic ‘I Take what I Want'.  A counterpoint to the up-tempo mayhem is Sas's own melancholic  ‘Blues for J'  dedicated tonight to  Bernie at ‘Mr Music' (Blues for B maybe?)

 

 

 

 

It sometimes seems like there are two concerts in one when Julian Sas is in town.  One is a hard rock package with pounding drums and thumping bass, the other is a rock/blues show.  I can't help smiling every time I see Julian switch to his Gibson Thunderbird and pick up a glass slide. Whatever else Julian has played, does  play or, for that matter will play in future – at the bottom of it all is Muddy and co.  He talks briefly after the show about keeping the blues alive and if I heard it from anyone else it might seem like media hype.  When Julian tells me how much of a buzz he still gets every time he puts on a classic from the likes of Muddy Waters though it comes from the heart.  How do I know?  Because some have a rock n roll heart, Julian Sas has a heart made out of Muddy Water Blues.    

Photo Gallery

Sunny Skies for a wet day

 

If you weren’t inspired enough by my review of the 35th Anniversary show by Sunny Skies in the Harmonie last year to see them on Saturday then shame on you for missing another action packed show at the Harmonie.  The ‘Skies’ know how to have fun – and how to share it with the audience. 

 

 

One of the (many) things that impresses me about Bonn’s premier cover-band ‘Sunny Skies’ is the sheer breadth of their reportoire.  In Alex Krienke and Nadine Weyer they have two superlative vocalists  from whom pretty well everything seems possible.  How many other bands have singers who can comfortably cover AC/DC’s ‘Highway to Hell’ and Robbie Williams ‘Angels’ (Alex) or  Stings ‘Fields of Gold’ and Tina Turners ‘The Best’ (Nadine)? 

Nadine – Best vocal of the evening? 

 

I can’t help wondering if there isn’t a bit of healthy competition going on between the two vocalists to see who can deliver the best performance on the night.  Certainly last year it was Alex who stole the show for me with a heart rending version of ‘Too much love will kill you’.This year again he seemed on the verge of tears as he hit the last words “to much love will kill you – every time…”  The Queen song has always been a favourite of mine, and of Alex too.  Was Mr Mercury singing his own fate?  Too much promiscuous gay love killed him?   Although written by Brian May I always see Freddie bearing his soul on this one – and Alex’ performance of it is as good as live singing gets.   Only… Nadine trumped him this year with her version of Melissa Etheridge’s ‘Like the Way I Do’ attacking the lyrics in a ferocious fashion “Does anybody love you the way I do?” she implores.  You would have to be a man of stone to doubt her. 

 

Or Alex?   

Okay, for the sake of fairness, best rock vocal of the night: Nadine and best ballad: Alex.  Fair? and while we're on the subject, best guitar performance: Martin Behr for a nice funky start up to 'Smoke on the Water'.

 

Yes, coverbands.  I said I don’t like them once.  But the heck, how can you not like people who give 100% onstage.  Every one of the 10 strong band had a smile on his/her face.  Every one of them played their hearts out and every one of the capacity crowd who was there not just heard but felt the music.  Hats off to the Ladies and Gentlemen of the band for making a wet and miserable day one with, well, Sunny Skies.  

A word of advice:  Band founder Rope Schmitz tells me the 'Skies' are playing a show with the Bonn Hofgarten Orchestra at the  Museumsmeile Festival on 24 May.  Sounds like it will be well worth a visit.

Band website: http://www.sunnyskies.de/

More photos: http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c124/johnhurd001/Sunny%20Skies2008/

   

Blues Caravan 2008 in Bonn

 

“What happens when you take three in-charge divas from different countries and put them all together on a bus in the dead of winter for 65 shows? Each one of them used to calling the shots and running the show, each with distinctly different personalities, playing styles and communication skills. Who will fold? Who will triumph? Who will cry first?”

That’s how Candye Kane described the first Ladies Only Blues Caravan Tour in 2005.

The answer was ‘Good things happen’ and so this coming Sunday (27 Jan) sees the Caravan making a stop for the fourth year running in Bonn’s Harmonie.  Candye is back again too and this time there’s the chance to see a rising star of British Blues Miss Dani Wilde (pictured above) from that down south home of the blues Brighton.

My advice – don’t miss it!

 

BluesCaravan Tour 2008: “Guitar’d and Feathered”

In just three years, the Ruf Records BluesCaravan has become an extremely popular
musical event reaching more and more blues fans in more parts of the world. After stopping
off in Paris, London and Berlin, the 2007 edition played over a dozen concerts in the USA
and was a featured attraction at the renowned Notodden Blues Festival in Norway. Setting
off under the title “Guitar’d and Feathered,” the trio of outstanding artists on the 2008
BluesCaravan tour promises to continue the trend.

“Guitar’d and Feathered” is the name of an exciting new album by California singer Candye
Kane. Kane was on board for the initial BluesCaravan in 2005 and rejoins the tour on the
heels of her hot new release. Famed for her flamboyant style and powerhouse vocals, the
award-winning singer has authored eight albums to date on labels like Antone’s, Rounder,
Sire and of course, Ruf. The current “Guitar’d and Feathered” project teams her with an allstar
cast of six-string heroes including Kid Ramos, Popa Chubby and Ana Popovic. With or
without such high-octane support, Kane never fails to win over the hearts of her audience.

One of the artists holding up the “Guitar’d” end of the bargain is Deborah Coleman. The
Virginia native has earned 11 Blues Music Award (W.C. Handy) nominations and has long
been a respected performer in the United States. Last year, she finally got a chance to show
off her talents to European audiences on the 2007 BluesCaravan tour. Boasting slick chops
and an uncanny stage presence, Coleman can lay back on soulful, groove-oriented numbers
or tear it up with some incendiary rock. Those who caught last year’s performances won’t
want to miss this return engagement.

The BluesCaravan also has been instrumental in breaking talented young artists to an
international audience. Ruf Records’ latest discovery is British singer/guitarist Dani Wilde.
Inspired by American greats like John Lee Hooker and Buddy Guy, Wilde – who’s just in her
early 20s – has already shared stages with stars like Jools Holland and Gary Moore. While
major labels were coveting her for her mainstream appeal, she decided to stay true to her
first love, the blues. “In 33 years in the music business, I’ve never heard a British female
singer of such brilliant raw talent,” said one industry insider. Listen for yourself!
In 2007, Ruf Records was recognized by the Blues Foundation with the “Keeping the Blues
Alive” award. The stellar roster assembled for the 2008 BluesCaravan tour offers further
proof that the music is alive and well. Featuring solo sets by each of the three performers as
well as a jam session finale, the BluesCaravan is an unbeatable live blues experience.

Vincent Abbate
BluesCaravan
www.bluescaravan.de
 

Harmonie Bonn

Louisiana Red – The Real Deal

It’s been a busy week for live music.  Live blues music to be exact.
It came as contemporary (Snowy White), as 70’s rock/Boogie (Canned Heat), and as contemporary jazz/funk/rock (Ana Popovic).  On Sunday however it left it’s many hats, coats and incarnations at the door as Louisiana Red took The Harmonie audience back to the land ‘Where the Blues Began’. 

 My verdict?  To quote an old BB King album title – the blues is very definitely ‘Alive & Well’. 

 

I once saw old footage of the early 1960’s blues scene.  Teenagers sitting at café tables or on the floor with faces glazed over in rapt attention and reverance as ageing masters of their craft like Sonny Boy Williamson II and Memphis Slim plied the trade of genuine folk blues.  Sundays show was a colourised version of those days;  the kid sitting in front of me even had a 45rpm record on his lap.

 

The German blues band ‘Baum’s Blues Benders’ kicked off the evening in fine style.  They had a Blues Harmonica player in the shape of Uwe Planke who knew his stuff and I’m a sucker for great blues Harp so they could do no wrong for me. 

 

I’m sure Bill Baum and Co will forgive me though for jumping to the ‘main event’.  The legendary Louisiana Red  had a childhood in the blues – Born in Bessemer, Alabama, in 1932; Red saw his mother die a week after his birth and his father die at the hands of the Klu-Klux-Klan.  At just 9 years old  Red was left in an orphanage for three years.  His first wife died of cancer at just 30. 

 

Plenty of reasons to be blue and know how to feel the music then, and Indeed one of his numbers today is a personal one about losing his wife to the big ‘C’.  His thoughts are simple and powerful  “Kids are gonna miss you, Reds gonna miss you too…”  he remembers. “Wasn’t nuthin poor Red could do.  Why am I treated so bad?”  He is even blue on contemporary topics – his opening number addresses the 11 September tragedy.  Make no mistake, When Red digs into his soul he digs deep.  But he can also laugh as loud and hearty as any man as he does when he picks up an old and battered guitar that looks tiny in his big hands.  “This is my toy” he smiles, “and I love playing my toy!” before hammering into an Elmore James riff that takes our breathes away with its power.

 

 

He introduces the Bluesbenders back onstage to join him and they all look nervous with the Master at first.  Uwe Planke rifles through his box of harps to find one in the right key and Bill Baum immediately changes guitar with Red when Red’s own goes out of tune.  This show is clearly an honour for them but after a few songs it’s obviously also a pleasure – for them and their legendary host.  Red is all smiles introducing Bill  like they are old friends but also adding that they met for the first time that day.

 

 

 75 and not out – Rocking Red 

The show is a roller-coaster ride through Delta/Chicago Blues.  A tribute to Cary Bell who died a while ago and nods to older legends like Muddy Waters ((“Same Thing”), Jimmy Rogers (“Baby don’t you wanna go”) and Elmore James (“I had a Home”)  Red is in full flow with “Shake Your Moneymaker” and “Freight Train” and when he straps on his Les Paul and stands up to play it’s like he’s twenty again.  The enjoyment of playing is clearly in his every bone and muscle. 

 

The audience are on their feet too – and the stages height puts them also at his feet, which seems somehow fitting for a man who is still a King of the Blues.

 

After the Show I promise Red copies of my photos – “Oh yeah – I want them to show my kids!” he beams.  And I can tell he means it – like his blues, it comes from the heart.

 

 

Photo Gallery: 

http://s26.photobucket.com/albums/c124/johnhurd001/Louisiana Red/

 

 

Soulful of Blues

 

What could be better than good music?  Free good music is the answer and Saturday evening in the Bonn Marktplatz was the place to find it.  The Zebulon Jazz Trio and Soulful of Blues made for a pleasant evening watching the sun go down and the blues rise up.

First act
onstage was The Zebulon Jazz Trio.  There
was a bit of everything in their performance – from Jazz to boogie to classical
so I’m (for once) lost for words.  If I
look at the flyer for tonights show then I find two words – ‘Cajun Jazz’ – so
that must be it.  They are, for sure, a
winning combination with enjoyable accordion sound and some excellent Italian
vocals but it’s the virtuoso performance of Phillippe Nicola that steals the
show.  There are no words between the
music, but plenty of intense faces to show that the music comes from the hearts
and souls of the musicians.

 

Phillippe  Nicola – feeling the mood 

 

Main act of
the day is Bonn’s own blues stalwarts ‘Soulful of Blues’.  The band, led by Hans-Georg Rehse, has been
around a long time, supporting such top acts as Luther Allison and Robert Cray
and they know how to play them blues for sure. 
Helped out by an excellent sound mix and a glorious Hammond Organ sound
(I’ve always been a sucker for bands with one of those). 

 

Hans-Georg Rehse – Soulful Leader of the Band 

 

Hans Georg
is obviously a fan of the three kings – BB, Albert and Freddie.  Material from all three of them gets a
workout during the set, with BB’s ‘Let the Good Times Roll’ utilising the
band’s brass section to the full and a great version of  Albert’s ‘Why Me?’ my particular
favourites.  By the time we arrive at the
dreaded Bonn Concert watershed time of 10pm there is only time for one quick
encore and it’s quite a surprise after so many old classics to hear Keb Mo’s
‘Dangerous Mood’.  Maybe ‘Soulful of
Blues’ weren’t dangerous – but they were pretty damn good and more than proof
that you do get something for nothing sometimes.  Let the good times roll indeed!