The motto for the evening was friendship, so I started the evening with two songs about two of my personal friends who both died tragically young, both were classmates, one at fifteen and another one at twenty-seven years of age, the latter who was also the best man at my wedding and I at his.
I certainly know why I have an affinity with the Blues.
The third song was by Malcolm Guite and entitled "The Green Man", who is a much older friend to everyone, even if they are not yet aware of it, on this increasingly endangered planet.
Next up and tickling the old ivories was our good old friend and folk club stalwart Holger Riedel. Holger hast often stood at the railway barriers on his way to the Bonn Folk Club and once was so perturbed and moved after 15 minutes wait, that he wrote a song about it, "Warten, Warten, Warten!" :
Was this a cry for "Help", or just a song by Lennon & McCartney?
Next came Kai Hosstetter treating us to a rare mixture of Fränkisch and Mississippi Blues:
Andreas Kulik treated us to two songs by the Polish group "Stare Dobre Maizenstwo", which roughly translates as "Good Old Marriage" which can simply be certainly more than just a friendship:
A five-piece Fomiander were out in force tonight crowning the first half of the evening with a similar number of songs mainly from Matio Dompke's own pen. An interesting fact of which you may not be aware is that double bass does actually fits into a Fiat 500! It must be like a Dr. Who's Tardis on the inside!
BREAK
After the break, young Van Demian pleasantly surprised us, and especially the old Bluesers amongst us, with songs by both Dave von Ronk and Townes van Zandt, as well as one of his own. Certainly, a young man of good taste and a good young musician and singer, who is most welcome to come again. So please do so Jacob :
Next up was Knut Rausch who has now played some three times at the Folk Club and becomes better each time with his carefully selected guitar instrumentals and now letting his vocal chords also play a part:
Climbing up onto the high acrophobia-inducing heights of the Folk Club Bonn stage next were Jörg Bohnensack and Uli Abt nuking us with a "Uke" and a good pair of vocal chords. "You've got a friend in me" was spot on the evening's theme and their second song, "We'll Meet Again" was a kind and timely reference to our dear departed Steve Perry, a veritable Folk Club Bonn perennial:
Next up was Caroline Bernostat with a belated a cappella song originally prepared for an earlier FCB evening theme, which she could not attend. The Pentangle song "When I Was In My Prime" would have been better framed in the present, rather than the past tense, judging by her vocal chords on this evening:
The second half of the evening was crowned by the duo Grün and Huth comprising the talented humorous and wickedly ironic multi-instrumental chanson duo which somehow emerged as if by osmosis several decades ago by the amazing chemical and spiritual relationship between Stephanie Huthmacher and Ursula Hoffman-Grünes. Who could ever deny the wish to possibly, at some time to call Heine on the telephone, a man with such timeless patience? Thank you for a wonderful evening!
You certainly both belong to the "most very pleasant things in life!"
As is typical here for Grün & Huth, the best pair of legs on display was not theirs, but actually from a man!
Then, at the very end, we all sang Jock Stewart together, and that was that. the end of another wonderful beautiful acoustic musical first Friday of the month evening in Bonn Folk Club. I think though, that although I was born in England, as I am very much a convinced European, it is somewhat unfair if I should buy everyone a drink when I do have to pay for all the Brexiteers' foibles of judgement anyway!
We hope to see you all again soon!
