Köln

09.03.2013 Kaizers Orchestra (Gloria-Theater, Köln)

Monday, March 11th, 2013

The next-to-last concert of the European tour, and at the same time, the last concert in Germany (unless they will play a festival in Germany after all …). I didn’t know the Gloria theater before, just from the outside, and I was pleasantly surprised – after I surpassed the first shock when coming in. The hall was great for Kaizers – an old theater, sloping down towards the stage, red velvet everywhere … just like in the opera, but with a standing audience! And it was packed (which was the reason for the shock when coming in); it was really hard to fight your way through the audience to get to the other side, were it was less crowded. But there it was easy to find a nice spot even just before the show started.

DJ Ralph Myerz warmed up for Kaizers – I haven’t mentioned him at all in my reports before. That’s because he wasn’t there before the concert in Berlin, because he was sick. In Berlin, Prague, and now Cologne I really wasn’t impressed by him, to be honest: They could have just played music without anyone on stage – that would have had the advantage that you could have conversations at the same time. The way it was, it was just loud, but not really interesting. Especially in Cologne the response to the DJ was really bad, and there was relieved and hopeful applause whenever a song ended. Not nice, of course – but I could understand it …

But then it was time for Kaizers – and they went full throttle right from the beginning. Totally awesome, I was overwhelmed! At the last concerts, they started out rather calmly and the atmosphere got better from song to song. This time, the Jackal talked and talked right from the beginning, and I could hardly keep up with taking notes. Very entertaining! But then there is a downside to everything – they couldn’t really keep that level throughout the whole concert. So this time, it started out totally amazing and then continued in a “normal” way. Which means that all in all, it was a very good concert, but if a concert deteriorates (even a little) instead of getting better and better, it feels a bit negative. Even though that’s not fair at all, because the concert was great.

All in all, I had the feeling that the concert was pretty short, and with just 17 songs on the setlist (for example, they did not play Svarte katter and Dieter Meyers, and these are extra long songs), the concert was definitely shorter than usual. I suspect that they had less time than usual because they had to leave as soon as possible – Copenhagen isn’t really that close.

The setlist:

  • Aldri vodka, Violeta
  • Det polaroide liv
  • Tusen dråper regn
  • Din kjole lukter bensin, mor
  • En for orgelet, en for meg
  • I ett med verden
  • Støv og sand
  • Sigøynerblod
  • Ompa til du dør
  • Bøn fra helvete
  • Forloveren
  • Philemon Arthur & the Dung
  • Kontroll på kontinentet
  • Min kvite russer
  • Maestro
    ———–
  • KGB
  • Begravelsespolka

And since there was so much happening especially in the beginning, here’s just a list of my notes:

– In the part of Det polaroide liv where the Jackal sings all alone, the audience started clapping this time – also through his “breathing pause”. As a result, he started breathing on the beats, which didn’t sound healthy. *g*

– “We’ve played in Cologne before, and we know you can sing, clap, and dance – all at the same time!”

– Already after the third song they got questions from the audience. Even though they usually take questions later on in the set! The first question: “Why don’t you play in Hamburg this time?” First, the Jackal pointed out that he doesn’t really need to answer that question. But okay, so … uh … well, why don’t they, actually? Hellraizer saved him: “We thought this was Hamburg?” And the Jackal managed to get back to the concert in an elegant way: “That was a good question, but … now we are in Cologne!” Cheers from the audience – and all was well. *g*

– Next up was a duet – or, to be precise, the first duet of ten! Which made Hellraizer protest at first, but of course he did sing along in Din kjole lukter bensin, mor.

– After Støv og sand and before Sigøynerblod, the Jackal explained: “Not only can we play the blues, but also East-European gypsy music!” – and that was very well received, of course.

– At the end of that song, in the “for hans far” part, the Jackal somehow messed up the lyrics and saved himself by singing something about which father he was talking about – well, not his father, but his father’s father, and so on. Very funny. *g*

– After Ompa til du dør: “That was an old song – just like you!” And with that the Jackal pointed at someone in the audience, who he also addressed again later in the concert – not really that nice, uhem. *g* But it was true, all in all the audience was rather old at that concert.

– By the way: Bøn fra helvete contained duet number 6 of 10. *g*

– After the barrel part in Bøn fra helvete, the Jackal and Omen started arguing/fighting somehow. It ended in Omen using the crowbar as sword and waving it in the air – you just had to be reminded of Star Wars. *lol*

– Jackal before Forloveren: “I like the old songs and the old fans, but I love the new songs and the new fans!”

– In Forloveren, the Jackal stabbed Hellraizer with the mike again, and Hellraizer tumbled off stage (but a beer made him feel better quickly *g*), and in the middle of the song, the Jackal tested his golf skills (like he already did at some other concerts), shooting an imaginary golf ball into the audience. And he also did the “tsch-k-tsch-k” – “It sounds like jazz – I don’t like it” again.

– Before Philemon Arthur: “And now back to the old songs, back to the old songs” – my interpretation is that Kaizers consider everything that they did not play in the opera and that is thus fresh in their minds as an “old song”.

– After his solo in Kontroll på kontinentet, Killmaster complained that his guitar was broken – all show, of course.

– “The next song was written on the roof of the biggest Norwegian pop star, Morten Abel. I had my pump organ up on his roof for a while – long story, don’t ask – and composed two songs there. One I won’t tell you. The other one is the one which will follow now: Min kvite russer!”

– The singing part worked much better than in Prague, it was both louder and more confident. But it seems like more and more women refuse to squeak “kvit kvit” – maybe it is time to switch the roles? =;-) But the Jackal cheered us on: “Allez allez! Use your stomach!” And the entertaining improvisations by the Jackal didn’t cause any problem for the audience this time.

– When they came back for the encores, Hellraizer imitated Omen again and followed him in sync – until Omen suddenly turned around and faced him, catching him in the act, which caused Hellraizer to duck and wander off disappointedly.

– Not sure what the Jackal was thinking about during Begravelsespolka – definitely not about the lyrics. He actually sang one of the lines three times, and there wasn’t really that much that was correct of the rest of the lyrics either. But that didn’t matter, and I doubt anyone noticed – and of course the audience loved the song!

All in all, another great concert, even though it felt a bit hurried in the end.

25.03.2011 Kaizers Orchestra (Stollwerck, Köln)

Saturday, March 26th, 2011

Waaah! And now the tour is REALLY getting started! Yesterday was great, but today was SO SO SO much greater! =:-) Well, I wanted to keep it short, but I know that won’t work with this concert…

The venue was packed – not quite sold out probably, but almost. I was surprised how wrong memories can be… I remembered the Stollwerck to be huge, but no, it definitely isn’t. Nice and cozy! And as I mentioned: packed with people… more precisely with Kaizer fans who were HOT for the concert.

So it was no surprise that the atmosphere was just awesome right from the start. Already after the first song, there was a (Norwegian) discussion on stage: “Are they all here to see US?!” – “Fantastic!”

As always, they started with the gypsy part, and the audience went crazy. By the time they played Resistansen, the Jackal was up on the barrel, directing the audience and the band by turns – and both sides looked up to him, hung on his lips and did everything he told them to. Sheer madness! But the beginning of Katastrofen is actually quite mean; Omen plays the beginning of Bak et halleluja on the organ, until the Jackal starts singing Katastrofen… =;-) And they played Djevelens Orkester again, yeah!

The Violeta part started out a bit more quietly, because the songs aren’t known that well in Germany yet, obviously. But it didn’t matter at all – I noticed again the enormous amount of energy that especially the Jackal puts into the songs. Philemon Arthur and Femtakt filosofi – wow, the guy LIVES these songs. And the audience was absolutely fascinated.

The one of the (many) highlights of the concert: En for orgelet, en for meg! I love the song, and it seems to be THE song of Violeta that is best-known in Germany. When it was clear which song would follow, there were cheers of joy from the audience. And it was absolutely crazy to see the audience during the song, just amazing! =:-D The Jackal had us sing along in German: “Eins für das Orgel, eins für mich!” Not quite right, but that makes it even more likable… *lol*

They played Diamand til kull again, which got a nice reception,and as I had expected, Psycho under min hatt was a wild pogo song. And then the Jackal tried to come up with the German translation for the song title “Svarte katter & flosshatter”. “Black cats and… uh?” Of course the audience could help him out! He just had to jump on the barrier and hold out his microphone to a girl in the front to get the translation: “Flusspferd!” Which means hippopotamus. Not QUITE the same, but close enough… *rofl* I don’t know if that was a joke or a guess…. but hey, “Black cats and hippopotami” is a great song title as well, right? =:-D

Then they played Hjerteknuser, which they had left out yesterday. A short break for questions from the audience (“Can I fuck you?” – “Yes, Jürgen, of course you can, right after the concert! And after that, we’ll take care of the rest of you… And by the way, this was the LAST question…” *lol*), and then it was time for the hits part of the concert. And this time this was 100% true – even though I gotta admit that I normally feel that the best part of the concert is over after the Violeta songs (Because I have seen and heard the remaining songs a few times *cough* before); this time, everything went up a few extra notches and the remainder of the concert was just awesome! The audience went completely crazy, people were jumping around, dancing pogo, surfing the crowd, and singing along – not matter what you sing, just do it! Sheer madness. Did I say that before? Whatever: sheer madness!

So the result was two encores – first KGB and Dieter Meyers, and then Bak et halleluja (I guess I don’t have to mention that the audience went crazy during that song, right? *g*). And while the audience kept on singing, the Jackal started tap dancing. The rest of the band stood around him, clapping and cheering him on… until they started to get enough of it and dragged him off stage. *lol*

The complete setlist: Intro, Delikatessen, Djevelens orkester, Veterans klage, Katastrofen, Sigøynerblod, Resistansen, Philemon Arthur & The Dung, Femtakt filosofi, Din kjole lukter bensin mor, En for orgelet en for meg, Diamand til kull, Psycho under min hatt, Svarte katter & flosshatter, Hjerteknuser, Ompa til du dør, Bøn fra helvete, Kontroll på kontinentet, Maestro. First encore KGB and Dieter Meyers Inst., second encore Bak et halleluja.

All in all, the concert was almost exactly two hours long – and my first sentence after the show as: “Better than Folken!” And yes, it was. Completely different, of course, but all in all: better. =:-D

And the lesson of the night: If the front man is fighting tears on stage, the audience did EVERYTHING right!

15.11.2009 Bela B (E-Werk, Köln)

Monday, November 16th, 2009
This entry doesn't exist in English.

Und weiter ging es mit dem nächsten Konzert in Köln – eigentlich total verrückt, da hinzufahren… insbesondere wegen der dreieinhalb Stunden Heimfahrt danach… Aber nun ja, wat mut dat mut, und es hat sich gelohnt! … weiterlesen!

5.4.2008 Kaizers Orchestra (E-Werk, Köln)

Saturday, April 5th, 2008

I still remember hearing rumors about Kaizers playing at E-Werk in Cologne a few years ago. That wasn’t realistic at all… and it turned out that they were supposed to warm up for another band there and in the end, it didn’t work out anyway. But by now, Kaizers are playing at E-Werk as the main act…!
... read on!

5.4.2008 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (E-Werk, Köln)

Saturday, April 5th, 2008
5.4.2008 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (E-Werk, Köln)

31.12.2006 Die Ärzte (Ärzte statt Böller, Köln)

Sunday, December 31st, 2006
This entry doesn't exist in English.

Die Ärzte wären nicht Die Ärzte, wenn sie nicht völlig durchgeknallt wären. Oder wenn sie irgendwas tun würden, was “normal” ist.
… weiterlesen!

31.12.2006 Die Ärzte (Ärzte statt Böller, Rhein Energie Stadion, Köln)

Sunday, December 31st, 2006
This entry doesn't exist in English.

Mein 45. Ärzte-Konzert.
… weiterlesen!

31.12.2006 – Photos Ärzte statt Böller (Rhein Energie Stadion, Köln)

Sunday, December 31st, 2006
31.12.2006 – Photos Ärzte statt Böller (Rhein Energie Stadion, Köln)

21.11.2006 Kaizers Orchestra (Live Music Hall, Köln)

Tuesday, November 21st, 2006

Gnaah, it’s starting again already… I decide to NOT get into the front this time but to stay somewhere in the back. But of course I need to say hi to the people standing in the front. And then I realize that this place would be just perfect for the concert and it would be more than stupid to return to the back before the concert starts. But tomorrow… I will really stay in the back tomorrow! *gg*
... read on!

21.11.2006 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Live Music Hall, Köln)

Tuesday, November 21st, 2006
21.11.2006 – Photos Kaizers Orchestra (Live Music Hall, Köln)