-Fan-Tourtagebuch

München, 17. April 2014
Philharmonie

Fotos von Rudi W.

Ein Bericht von Wilfried

BAP Unplugged or not as it happened since MTV still owns the rights to the moniker and didn’t allow it to be used on the current tour. BAP zieht den Stecker has seen the band scale new heights of popularity and most of the concerts are sold out. Seems that two volumes of autobiography coupled with Wolfgang’s stroke 3 years ago have done the trick. Cynical, moi? Perish the thought…

As some of you know BAP have flown under my radar for nigh on 20 years (from 1988 – 2005). After the chance meeting at Lovely Days in St. Pölten I have been more enthusiastic about the band as ever and I have actually watched the electric band at least 6 times since. So why did I drive to Munich yesterday? Simple because the gig was totally different: more musicians, different set list (half of the songs never heard live before) and an all-seating concert (apart from during Verdamp lang her and after the encores). So, here’s the current band from left to right:

• Anne de Wolf, multiinstrumentalist (violin, cello, mandolin, harmonium, xylophone, trombone!)
• Michael Nass (piano, organ, guitar, white hat on bald patch)
• Rhani Krija (Moroccan percussionist extraordinaire, otherwise a member of Sting’s band)
• Wolfgang Niedecken (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica, tea-drinking)
• Werner Kopal (upright and acoustic bass, black hat on bald patch)
• Jürgen Zöller (still the “new” drummer after 27 years; he was completely outplayed by Rhani but they only let him play with brushes: at times he looked like Animal from the Muppets Show but he was sadly never unleashed, there was only one mike covering the whole drum set!)
• Ulrich Rode (Anne’s husband standing in for Helmut Krumminga who couldn’t make the tour; guitar, slide guitar, dobro, pedal steel guitar)

I won’t bore you with the whole set list. Suffice to say they played 27 songs in 1 hour and 20 minutes before and 1 hour and 40 minutes after the interval. Some bands don’t bother to play longer than BAP do only in the first half! My decision to take the long road to Munich was entirely vindicated. Last year BAP rocked the Lehartheater and the Rockhouse in front of 300 people and yesterday they sold out the hallowed hall of the Munich Philharmonie. It doesn’t matter to the atmosphere: Niedecken talks the same to 3000 people. He is a natural showman. He is not the greatest musician but his lyrics and voice speak for themselves.

Standout songs to my mind were:

• Rotwießblau quergestreifte Frau with a Ring of Fire snippet in the guitar solo
• Magdalena (weil Maria hat ich schon) feat. a breathtaking percussion solo by Rhani
• Shoeshine with its distinctive Latin sound
• Anna (Anna, dreh disch net üm), a sing-along gem from the back catalogue
• Noh Gulu which featured a jazzy piano solo leading straight into
• Jupp from 1981’s breakthrough album Für Usszeschnigge
• Verdamp lang her feat. Werner’s double bass solo intro and the famous riff played on the mandolin by Anne
• Lena and the appropriately named final song Sendeschluss (both slow and long instrumental parts)

Waiting for the next Extratour which should bring the band back to Austria again (maybe in 2015 or 2016?).