Sabine's photos from Folk Club Bonn # 148 on 05.07.24

 A cappella evenings in Bonn folk club are always something special, there is a certain purity in the human voice which most beers, including Heineken, do not reach. However, one beer with infinitesimal reach is Marston's Pedigree on which John was weaned and is brewed in the brewery town of Burton-upon-Trent where John was born. Since 2020 the majority shareholding (605) has been in Danish hands, held by Carlsberg Brewery and in 2024 they also purchased the remaining 40% of shares in Carlsberg Marstons Brewing Company previously held by Marstons PLC which will henceforth concentrate solely on its pub business. This is all rather appropriate as in the ninth century after many Viking raids plundering England, the Great Viking Army overwintered for the very first time in England in the village of Repton, formerly the capital of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Mercia, in the winter of 873-874.  Repton is only a mere three miles downstream on the river Trent from Burton-upon-Trent, confirming the old adage, that "what goes around, comes around!"

Despite Marston's Brewery succumbing to mounting globalisation I can confirm that Marston's Pedigree is brewed using the old Union system in wooden barrels inherited from Bass Brewery and one of the best British bitters that one can find. 

Thus the first a cappella song of the evening was dedicated to Marston's Pedigree! 

Next up were Vocalisa, a seven piece ladies' choir on their first outing in the folk club

They confirmed that "Tomorrow really IS another day" and after allowing us to "feel the love " that night and introducing us to "Benjamin ", they let us know the dimensions of the "Blue Moon", even wider than the river Rhine. Thank you Vocalisa!

One of my favourite a cappella songs is "If" written by Rudyard Kipling, who apart from writing "Jungle Book" was also a very fine poet (as well as producing a line of wonderfully affordable cakes in England under the Mr Kipling brand). This short poem consists of wonderful advice given by a father to his young son and I learnt it from Vin Garbutt in the last century. In his later days, Vin took to singing it with guitar accompaniment, but I believe it is a much more powerful song when sung a cappella. Thanks

for that one Vin! 

"Cockles & Mussels" aka "Molly Malone" is a wonderful a cappella song for the audience to join in with, and they resoundingly did. It is, however, sadder than most Blues songs and in the end there is no one mortal, just Molly's spirit finally pushing her barrow through the streets of Dublin!

Dieter Müller and Gaby Steinhaus were in the audience at a previous folk club which was as usual full to the gunnels on the night, so even a walk-in spot was not possible. Still, they were duly invited to perform a floor spot in the future and this night was the night!

Dieter Müller

                                                                        Gaby Steinhaus

/    

                                                                      Gaby & Dieter

Gaby & Dieter reminded us that if you require some extra overtime there are sometimes eight days a

week" and however down you are "You've got a friend" and if you get lucky, "She's always a woman."

It was also the first time for Gaby & Dieter in the folk club and they are very welcome indeed to return and regale us again with your music. NB for future performers, the "theme" of the evening is never obligatory, it is always optional, so if you cannot adhere to it, no problem, it is meant merely as a hook to hang one's hat upon, should one have that necessary. For the most part, performers tend to show their mettle and vehemently grasp the nettle that a theme topic provides, even though some associations with the given theme are somewhat tenuous, to say the least! As always, "it is the thought that counts."

Next up was the seven-piece female choir with the name of "Goldrush"  under the leadership of Michael Barfuß as choirmaster, a long-time supporter of the folk club. Michael, an accomplished pianist, was admirably supported by Christian Kussman on double bass and Ivor Lazarev on guitar.

A little anecdote here to FBC # 146 back in May when Helge Kirscht & Kim Bennick performed a song entitled " Barfuß am Klavier", blissfully unaware that Michael Barfuß, who has often played the piano in the folk club, was listening unobtrusively in the audience.

Karin Schüler on the left here has sung many times in the folk club but for a lot of the other ladies it was indeed a debut appearance. "Goldrush" performed two Neil Young songs, an old favourite of mine "Old Man" and their encore "After The Goldrush" from which the group took its name. Quite a surprise was "Crabbuckit" from the Canadian hip hop musician k-os. Their set was completed by Simon & Garfunkel's song "April Come She Will" which was written by Paul Simon during his 1964 year in England absorbing the folk tradition. Many thanks to the "Goldrush"!

Gerd Müller a dedicated preserver of local German dialects and a regular presenter of poems and short stories, not in "Kölsch" the more famous local dialect of Cologne, but in "Bönnsch" the local dialect of Bonn. The donkey's ear recounted the origin of the folding down of the corners of book pages and Gerd just loves entertaining us all with his stories steeped in Bönnsch!

Wolfgang Schriefer from Cologne changed Janis Joplin's "Mercedes Benz" song into a critical a cappella song in Kölsch about the cars of politicians. 

Kai Hoffstetter after trying to impress us with the size of a fish he recently caught in the river Rhine ("Honestly it was this big!")  Seriously though, Kai performed an impressive work song from the deep South with his "Annette"! Thanks Kai!

After the break, John Harrison ably assisted by Detlef Stachetzki performed a rndition of "The Hippopotamus Song" the classic from Michael Flanders and Donald Swan aka "Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud, which allowed for copious audience participation.

Detlef

Mario had the bright idea of singing the tongue-twister „Shoeshine Suzie“  a cappela, which we did.

More conventionally Mario wished to perform his self-penned song, "Bad Breath Blues" together, but, it being an a cappella evening, I had not brought any musical instruments with me. I did, however, find an Ab Blues harp in one of my pockets, but that did mean that Mario had to tune his guitar down half a tone and play it in Eb instead of E on the guitar, which at least had the advantage of conveying the song with an earthier Louisiana air as would have otherwise have been the case. 

Mario rounded off with an a cappella piece "Lustig, lustig" which roughly translates as funny, funny, or lusty, lusty! 

Mario certainly had all the correct hand signals!

Wolfgang Schriefer came back on stage fpr an original rendering of Janis Joplin's "Mercedes Benz" and while Wolfgang was complaing of a sore throat it actually greatly enhanced his performance in this particular song! 

The hare and the fox was the subject of Anke & Jörgs wonderful north German Plattdeutsch local dialect set. One imagines the hare will take more care when selecting a new dance teacher.

Dancing was obligatory for Anke & Jorg

and indeed a cause of great joy!

The "Wash Queens " were the highlight of the evening and Mariam Mentel (on the left above) who has often sung at the folk club, graced us with a new a cappella female Barbershop quartet this time.

The continued joy was obvious to both see and hear. Thank you very much ladies of the Wash Queens!

Only Jock Stewart remained to be sung and despatched on his way, with a sweeter vocal serenade than usual with all the wonderful vocalists present.

Looking forward to seeing you all again in September!

Mario's Report of FCB # 148 from 05.07.24

  

So that no victory of the Spaniards disturbs, better that you listen to non-instrumental songs with only words.......

 

... and that was exactly the motto of the 148th Folk Club in Bonn, "a cappella". Yes, the date coincided with the quarter-finals of the European Championships, but the hall was nevertheless well filled. Soccer fans are usually also a capella fans (because they usually can't bring any instruments with them for fan songs in the stands - except perhaps tröööööten), but on this evening they were sitting in the next room in front of the TV, and the music was playing in the Folk Club. And how.....!!! 

As always, our Master of Ceremony John Harrison kicked things off with The Joy Of “Marston's Pedigree”, a tribute to his favorite beer and, of course, the pub where it was served. Unusually, but in keeping with the situation, John handed over the singing baton to the group Vocalisa after this song - but not without announcing that he would be back on stage again. And Vocalisa really got going. It's amazing what can be done with voices alone. How different pitches, how different harmonic multiphonics of sung tones, or even deliberately disharmoniously inserted intervals, fit together to form a coherent whole, that is great art - both from the arranger and the performers. And Vocalisa did their job more than just well - so well that the audience already saw a highlight in the quasi first act of the evening and frenetically demanded an encore. This was gladly granted with the song “Tomorrow Is Another Day”. This encore was worked towards with the songs “Can You Feel The Love Tonight”, “My Friend The Beautiful Benjamin” and the classic “Moon River”, which is well known to everyone. 

Now John had a hard time absorbing the enthusiasm of the audience and feeding it further, but, what else would we have expected, he managed it. With the a capella poem “If”, which describes the good advice of a father to his son, he brought the audience back from the heavenly spheres of melody to the reality of real life. Lively in melody but sad in lyrics, the show continued with the Irish tune “Molly Malone”, the woman who sold mussels (“cockles” are cockles, and “mussels” are mussels) in Dublin until, after her death, she only went about as a positive spirit with her fish stall.  And John would later return in the company of other musicians - but more about that later. 

Dieter Müller & Gaby Steinhaus announced themselves as “We're here for the first time today and, despite the theme, we've brought our guitars with us a capella”. I should mention that this wasn't a bad thing at all, because the two of them let off a firework display of well-interpreted music. It started with the Beatles. “Eight Days Week” encouraged people to sing along, and ‘She's Always A Woman’ was also familiar enough for many to act as a backing choir. They said goodbye with “You've Got A Friend”, but not without promising to come back often. I thought it was great to hear new interpretations of the songs and not just the attempt to sing covers as faithfully as possible. 

Another women's choir by the name of Goldrush now took to the stage - their a capella was supported a little instrumentally, with the initiator of the choir Michael Barfuß sitting down at the piano and Igor Lazarev on guitar and Christian Kussmann on double bass giving the singing additional momentum. The choir enchanted the audience with the songs “April Come She Will”, “Old Man” and “Crab Bucket” - and if it wasn't a day of penalties, it was apparently the day of encores, because the Michael Barefoot Choir was also forced to do the same, which it gladly granted with the song “After The Gold Rush”. 

Gert Müller, the keeper of the Bönnschen dialect, then presented the audience with two poems, which unfortunately had to be offered in memory of his recently deceased friend Ferdinand Böhm. “Das Eselsohr” is a lesson on the historical origins of the folded book page, while ‘Isch mööchens wieder Bönnsch verzelle’ simply expressed the longing for the preservation of dialects. As always, when Gert recites his poems, it was a cheerful time that made you forget all your worries - and on this evening, with this name (albeit spelled differently), a home game anyway :-) 

Wolfgang Schriefer is not only an excellent musician, but also a good writer of poetry and, like most artistically creative people, also a critical zeitgeist. After hearing a report about politicians' cars, he immediately thought of Janis Joplin's socially critical song and came up with his own version of “Mercedes Benz” in Cologne dialect. 

Before the upcoming full floor spot, Kai Hofstetter performed another walk-in on football night. And even though it wasn't written for this occasion, the title “Reibach” was a perfect fit for the European Championship spectacle - or in other words - the EM billion-dollar business. As a bluesman from the Rhine-Main delta, Kai also interprets the song in traditional (Franconian) dialect - and does it very well. 

Now, as announced, John Harrison once again - this time with the support of Detlef Stachetzki. Both performed the song (or is it actually a one-act play) of the “Hippopotamus”, the animal which, as a herbivore, has nevertheless killed more people every year than any decent lion. After all, it emerges from its beloved mud with elemental force and quite a huff when humans disturb it. 

Now your chronicler,     was allowed to climb the stage again to perform a tongue twister song with John: “Shoeshine Suzie” doesn't really describe anything, but it does so in a tongue-twisting way. We got through it :-). We didn't continue with an a capella song, but with the consequences of roaring a capella fan songs in combination with excessive beer consumption - the next morning you can sing the “Bad Breath Blues”. Back to the days of the wandering journeyman, when a capella was still part and parcel of pub music. Mario Dompke ended his performance with “Mit Lustig, Lustig”. 

And then Wolfgang Schriefer and John Harrison were back to join the audience once again for the original “Mercedes Benz”. 

With Anke and Jörg Bohnsack, old acquaintances and representatives of the North German dialect took to the stage. This time, in keeping with the theme, without instruments, but as usual agile, rhythmic and full of life. However, in the very first song they sang what can result from a false zest for life. “Lütt Matten de Haas” wanted to learn to dance and found the wrong teacher in the fox - the result: he was eaten. When the two of them are already eating, they do it on a grand scale. However, “Den Herrn Pastor sien Kauh” was too much for just one, which is why the song tells of the division of the cow in the village. The Hamburg anthem was of course a must for the two of them, and so they ended their performance with the “Tüddelband”. 

Yes, and although it was hard to wait after these great performances, there was another highlight at the end of the evening. The Wash Queens make a capella music in its purest form. From “simple” polyphonic singing to pure barber store music, they have a lot in their program.And so we were able to experience their goosebump-inducing interpretations of “Mister Sandman”, “You've Got A Friend In Me” (watch out for the “In Me”, because it's a different song to the one we first expected:-) ) and “Sweet Dreams”.The spontaneous creativity of the group should not go unmentioned, because the first thing that awaited us was a short, spontaneously created poem about the current situation - called “EM Gedicht” (EM poem) in short. All in all, this was also such a good performance that the appreciative, experienced and often spoiled audience enthusiastically demanded an encore.And, as I expected, this was also granted with the song “Lass mich dein Badewasser schlürfen” (Let me sip your bathwater) in a gendered form that brought out all the clichés.Simply great. 

And while we're on the subject of highlights - I hardly need to describe the last highlight - the artists and audience once again gave their all in paying homage to FCB patron “Jock Stewart”.

With this in mind, see you next time in August - oh no, it's the vacations - on September 6. 

Out of the bedroom, into the Folk Club

Yours

Mario