Dear Folkies,
March was a wonderful month and thank you all for attending FCB
# 166 so well, despite the the local public transport strike last Friday. You
were certainly very well rewarded with a sparkling programme of live acoustic
music at an extraordinary high level. Not only did we have Ismael and Thomas as
featured artists with some amazing instrumental guitar music, but also Midnight
Fyre, who have been featured artists at past folk clubs, Ashleigh and Gareth came
along en route from Prague back to the UK and honoured us with a floor spot
extraordinaire. Although Wolfgang Schreifer couldn’t attend because of a broken
toe, the poetry corner did us proud, with not one, but two of the poems in the
top five most popular poems in the UK, „If“ by Rudyard Kipling and „ I Wandered
Lonely As A Cloud“ by William Wordworth.
There will be written reports available for you to peruse regarding
the music later.
Anyway, some of you have been looking at the blog recently, quite a lot of you in fact it seems. Early in January we went past half a million and as the blog is actually sixteen years old this month. Almost as old as Folk Club Bonn. I would like to link you to Chuck Berrry’s hit song „Sweet Little Sixteen“ as a token of celebration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksbSil1Nn3g&list=RDksbSil1Nn3g&start_radio=1
The keen sighted ones amongst you might recognise an old
Stoner playing rhythm guitar behind Chuck in the form of Keith Richards. This
was recorded in 1987 in St Louis, so even Keith looks a lot younger than he actually
does today. So while January did not bring us „half a million framed autographs“
as mentioned in the song, it did bring us over 500,000.00 clicks in January on
the FCB Blog. So thank you all for your continued support.
The man who conceived the FCB Blog, Barry L. Roshto would
not have been very inpressed with the half a million in January, but I’m sure
he was chuffed with the 512,000.00 mark which we achieved already in February.
Barry being a keen mathematician as well as a musician has been following the
FCB Blog‘s progress by means of a geometric progression: 2,4,8,16,32,64,128,256,512,
1024. So this year gave us two highlights within a very short space of time of
each other!
So many thanks to Barry for developing this wonderful little
Blog and keeping it going when we lesser technically minded mortals
occaisionally mess it up. Thanks Barry! Apart from his musical and mathematical
talents Barry is also a great media artist and you can check out some of his
exploits here together with Ursel Quint : https://snowkrash.org/
Do check it out and please do remind Barry
that his first after the break spot is still available for him on First Fridays
of the month at Folk Club Bonn.
At the beginning, in 2010, the FCB Blog was only managing an average of 25,000
clicks per annum and as it has taken 16 years to reach half a million this
averages out at 31,250 clicks per annum. We are now at 533,111.00 today, so if
this rate continues we should reach the million mark before the current decade
has ended! We certainly did not see that coming.
Dear Folkies,
for those of you who are not native German speakers and
pehaps not subscribed to the local General Anzeiger newspaper, there is in fact
a strike today by public transport operators in the Bonn area. This might
unexpectedy hinder you if you wish to attend this evening’s meet at the folk
club. Trams and most of the buses will probably not be running. So you will certainly not
be able to attend by tram along route 66! The normal DB mainline trains will be
running and these are not striking, so there are mainline trains running several times per hour and
the non-intercity trains stop at the UN Campus station to the south of Bonn,
and this is a 12-15 minute walk from the folk club in a southerly direction. This
is a way of travelling from Bonn or Bad Godesberg in a north south direction. Some
buses will be running, and in particular those buses run by sub-operators,
rather than SWB. So, the 611 route between BN Lessenich and BN Heidehof, which is operated by Univers, and can be accessed at both Bonn and Bad Godesberg and also stops at the BN UN Campus.So, this is another possibility, if you allow enough time. Otherwise it is about 15 minutes by cycle
from either Bonn or Bad Godesberg. Walking is also possible in roughly an
hour from either Bonn or Bad Godesberg, or there is car sharing as there is ample parking available at BTHV, or even a shared taxi. Good luck!
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Dear Folk Club friends,
In March, we will once again have featured artists:
The brilliant guitar duo consisting of Ismael de Barcelona and Thomas Monnerjahn (https://www.ismaelythomas.de/Ueber-uns/) has announced their appearance. You can look forward to a virtuoso fireworks display of Iberian and South American melodies. Ismael is considered one of the best flamenco performers far and wide. Thomas' speciality is Manouche jazz or swing (keyword: Django Reinhardt). The two have been good friends of the Folk Club for years, and their evenings are simply thrilling. As always, the programme will be rounded off by regional and national artists.
The theme of the evening is ‘Time’.
Let yourself be surprised and enjoy the evening!
Here is a summary of the most important details:
Date: 6 March 2026
Start: 7 p.m. until approximately 10 p.m. The hall
opens at 5 p.m., offering the opportunity to enjoy a leisurely meal and drinks
before the concert. Those who arrive early can also sit in the front row.
Location: Dotty's Sports Bar and Restaurant (public
clubhouse of the Bonn Tennis and Hockey Club – BTHV),
Christian-Miesen-Straße, 53129 Bonn (Dottendorf)
Admission is free.
Preview: 10 April 2026 (postponed by one week to the second Friday due to Good Friday on 3 April 2026); theme of the evening: ‘Miracles’; featured artist: Pierluigi PG Petricca from Italy https://www.facebook.com/pierluigi.petricca.180/
Anyone who would like to hear Ismael and Thomas again will
have the opportunity to do so:
- On Saturday,
14 March, from 4 p.m. at Café Bistro Melody, Werftstraße 5 -7, 53117
Bonn-Graurheindorf
Enclosed you will find posters for the evening at the Folk
Club in German and English.
If required, further information is available from your Folk Club Team Elena, John and Detlef
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Liebe Folk-Club-Freunde,
im März gibt es wieder Featured Artists:
Das brillante Gitarrenduo bestehend aus Ismael de Barcelona und Thomas Monnerjahn (https://www.ismaelythomas.de/) hat sich angekündigt. Ihr dürft Euch auf ein virtuoses Feuerwerk aus iberischen und südamerikanischen Melodien freuen. Ismael gilt als einer der besten Flamenco-Interpreten weit und breit. Thomas‘ Spezialität ist der Manouche-Jazz bzw. -Swing (Stichwort: Django Reinhardt). Die beiden sind schon seit Jahren gute Bekannte im Folk Club, und ihre Abende begeistern einfach. Abgerundet wird das Programm wie immer durch regionale und überregionale Künstler.
Das Thema des Abends lautet „Zeit“
Lasst euch überraschen und genießt den Abend!
Hier zusammengefasst die wichtigsten Daten:
Datum: 06. März 2026
Beginn: 19.00 Uhr bis voraussichtlich 22.00 Uhr. Der
Saal ist ab 17.00 Uhr geöffnet und bietet die Möglichkeit, vor dem Konzert
gemütlich zu speisen und zu trinken. Wer früh kommt, kann zudem in der ersten
Reihe sitzen.
Ort: Dotty’s Sports Bar und Restaurant (Öffentliches
Vereinshaus des Bonner Tennis- und Hockey-Vereins – BTHV),
Christian-Miesen-Straße, 53129 Bonn (Dottendorf)
Ferner das „Allerwichtigste“: wie immer Eintritt frei
Vorausschau:
- 10.04.2026 (wegen
Karfreitag am 03.04.2026 um eine Woche auf den zweiten Freitag verschoben);
Thema des Abends: „Wunder“; Featured Artist: Pierluigi PG Petricca aus Italien https://www.facebook.com/pierluigi.petricca.180/
Wer Lust hat, Ismael und Thomas noch einmal zu hören, hat
Gelegenheit dazu/
- Am Samstag,
den 14. März, ab 16 Uhr im Café Bistro Melody, Werftstraße 5 -7, 53117
Bonn-Graurheindorf
Anliegend erhaltet Ihr Plakate für den Abend im Folk Club
und den Auftritt im „Melody“ in deutscher und englischer Sprache.
 |
| Die Refrainzettel |
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| John Harrison |
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| Mario Dompke |
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| Kai Hofstetter |
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| ... zusammen mit John Harrison |
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| Hans Ihnen und Antje |
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| Jutta Mensing |
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| Wolfgang Schriefer |
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| Irish Folk Choir |
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| Chorleiter Dietmar Imhäuser |
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| John Hay |
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| Shay McVeigh |
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| Rick Fines |
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| Reporter John Hurd bei der Arbeit |
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| Zum Abschluss singen alle "Jock Stewart" |
John Hurd from 3SongsBonn was present at the last folk club and blessed us with a wonderful report and rippig photos:
"The theme of Folk Club Bonn meeting number 165 was ‘Partytime’. In retrospect it should have been ‘Sing-a-long Night’. A plethora of neatly typed lyric sheets arrived on the tables at Dotty’s well before the evening started. Obviously quite a few musicians had spotted that we had a choir on the list tonight – not that the extra trained voices were needed. Folk Club audiences have always subscribed to the simple rule of singing along and keep changing your key until the people around you stop staring in your direction. It always works for me anyway......."
Read all about it here ;
https://3songsbonn.com/?p=33066
Vorfreude?
Voller Vorfreude fuhr ich heute ab,
zur Hauptfreude, in den Folk Club.
Zu eurer Freud trage ich vor, ein Gedicht,
bin ein Poet nur hier, stets darauf erpicht,
eure Herzen zu erfreuen.
Ja, ich werd es nie bereuen,
seit Jahren schon hier hinzufahren,
mit der Deutschen Bahn, oft schwer zu ertragen.
Meine Vorfreude am Südbahnhof, die ist meistens riesengroß.
Ach käm sie doch, die Bahn nur bloß.
Doch fährt sie dann im Bahnhof ein,
steig ich ganz schnell vor Freud hinein,
und blitzschnell bin ich dann in Bonn.
Doch kommt sie nicht, das hab ich dann davon,
und nehm die Straßenbahn nach Bonn.
Die hält dann zwar an jeder Tonne,
habe jedoch mehr Vorfreud - Zeit, welch eine Wonne.
Und ist mit Jock Stewart, die Hauptfreude dann vorbei,
so bleibt mir auf der Heimfahrt, die Nachfreude, joh meih.
Ach schauet her ihr lieben Leut,
ich hab mich heute, so auf euch gefreut.
©WolfgangSchriefer,01.2026
