Mario's report from Folk Club No. 160 on 5 September 2025

 Magic without any electrical tricks

So, do you all remember Catweazle? The wizard from the Middle Ages, transported to the 20th century, described pressing the light switch as an electrical trick (of course, I mean the original with Geoffrey Bayldon, not the German remake with Otto Waalkes). As usual, this electrical trick was not used at the Folk Club, and the music came unamplified from the people themselves using the bio-trick. And, as always, this was mostly at a sufficient volume. This was now determined by the master of ceremonies, John Harrison, who, as always, loudly welcomed everyone with the call ‘Ladies and Gentlemen...’ After ensuring the necessary attention, as usual, he began the evening's festivities with a short poem of his own composition, ‘Release The Cudgeon’ (meaning ‘club’ and John's own word creation). He then recalled the atrocities of the Vietnam War with his somewhat older, but unfortunately still relevant song ‘1001 Protest Song’. The title 1001 was chosen because John felt that there were already 1000 protest songs, but nothing had changed, so an additional one still made sense. John then returned to unaccompanied poetry with his song ‘Two Cents A Brew’ – a kind of spoken song with a chorus that the audience was allowed/could/should sing along to. The song is about how tea used to be a great luxury and now, thanks to supermarket own brands, costs only about 2 pence a cup. John concluded his musical contribution (he continued to host) with ‘Trouble And Strife’, also penned by him. A song that denounces another war, namely the Yugoslavian War. And once again we see that humanity learns nothing, whether it's climate destruction or wars (which of course also contribute enormously to climate destruction) – unfortunately, it goes on and on: Ukraine, Gaza, Africa, Asia – small or large-scale destruction is raging everywhere.

As a photographer and reporter for many other music events in Bonn, John Hurd has been quite busy lately, so he was unable to attend the Folk Club a few times. It was all the more gratifying that this time he was not only present but also actively participating musically. With the Bob Dylan song ‘If You See Her, Say Hello,’ he once again demonstrated his musical versatility.

Next, a surprise guest came on stage, whom John Hay had brought with him and accompanied on his guitar. Thirteen-year-old Keyaan thrilled us all with his saxophone playing and his voice. First in the song ‘Careless Whisper’ – known to everyone from the great George Michael – and then with the sing-along song ‘Let It Be’ by the no less great Beatles. Unfortunately, Keyaan is not from Bonn, but was only visiting, so it remains uncertain whether we will be able to listen to him again.

But we will certainly be able to listen to John Hay more often, who now played and sang Leonard Cohen's ‘Hallelujah’ on his own. He felt the need to do so after he was unable to play the song in full at Folk Club No. 150 due to the 2-minute rule :-).

Holger Riedel announced his short performance with the words ‘Holger practises piano’. Well, Holger has practised piano quite well – it worked quite well with the chosen piece ‘Currywurst’. But he needs to practise a little more, because he still has to concentrate very hard on playing the piano, so that he doesn't have enough concentration left for singing. But as we know Holger, he won't give up, so we're sure to hear both (piano and voice) in harmony soon. I think it's great that Holger has once again shown us that the Folk Club Bonn is a meeting place for both professional and amateur musicians and that the emphasis of the event is on having fun together.

The musicians Dennis, Jakob, Michael and Kilian are simple and edgy. And that's also the name of their band, “Einfach und Kantig“ in German, which first delighted us with the song ‘Flieh'n nach Holland’ (Flee to Holland). Among other instruments, the piano was also used, and here it became apparent that the purely acoustic performance format of the Folk Club necessitates ‘manual volume control’ (Biotrick). The Folk Club is also an opportunity to find out whether and how the volume of individual instruments can be controlled so that all other instruments can also be heard and the voice has enough space without amplification. This is certainly a considerable challenge for bands that have loud instruments in their ranks, such as the piano or cajon – in the case of Einfach und Kantig, both are represented. In other words, the Folk Club Bonn provides further musical education – so if anyone has to work longer at the next Folk Club, just apply for educational leave and visit the FCB :-).

But back to the musical performance. Apart from the difficulty of understanding the lyrics due to the quiet voice (or was it the piano that was too loud?), the songs performed were great. Full of humour and yet critical of the situations described, the song ‘Lachen’ (Laughter) described how the entertainment tax robs the poor of their last free domain of joy. In the instrumental ‘Keep On Gwine’, the pianist didn't have to worry about balancing the volume with the vocals, so he was able to let his excellent dexterity run wild. I admit, my fingers would have been tied in knots by the 12th bar (or even the 2nd?).

The featured artists of the evening this time were Midnight Fyre. Never heard of them? Well, that's probably because the two musicians (oh, didn't I gender that nicely?) were previously known to us as Butterfly Moon. But now they have decided to use their former band name as the title of their first CD and to call themselves Midnight Fyre, which makes them even more mysterious. And the two presented this first CD at the Folk Club (although it won't be available for purchase until next year). To avoid getting carried away with enthusiasm for every song title, I'll summarise it here. Ash and Gaz don't sing songs, they play songs. Each individual song is a story told through voice, guitar playing and physical, theatrical performance, resembling a short musical. The guitar knows how to shine through rhythmic composition without imposing itself, knows how to alternate and combine soft tones with strummed, loud chords through plectrum picking, and knows how to take on a role in the story being told. Gareth (Gaz) directs and, although he is usually the calming influence, is also an essential part of the story. In the foreground of all the mini-musicals, however, is Ashleigh (Ash), who divides herself into an entire acting troupe. With witty and charming announcements and explanations, she introduces the plot. With her versatile voice, she guides us through the sung actions and explains the stories through the modulation of her voice – even if the audience does not understand the lyrics. She emphasises the dramaturgy of the story with her physical accompaniment to her performance. Well, as you can see, I'm still enthusiastic about the two of them. I had the honour of commenting on their first appearance at the Folk Club in March 24, and my enthusiasm has not waned. But now to the songs, which I'll just list here to whet your appetite for the CD that will be released soon.

‘Rotate The Night’ is a song about experiences in Greece, ‘Step Out To The Silence’ is a story about tranquillity without the constant barrage of information, ‘Still Gonna Be There’ is a tale about the beauty of life, ‘Go Your Way’ is billed as a British folk song (and is the only song of the evening not written by the band themselves), ‘How'm I Gonna Know’ is a report about their life on a narrow boat. It should be noted here that ‘Go Your Way’ is a song by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss; so not a traditional song in the true sense of the word – but as they say at the Folk Club Bonn, folk songs are all songs that the folk (people) sing. 

Then, after the interval and performances by other regional artists, the second half continued with the songs ‘Northern Lights’, which the two dedicate to all mothers, ‘Shine Your Lights’, in which they sing about the beginning of their personal relationship, ‘Feels Like Home’, an ode to the feeling of home when looking at the ocean, ‘Second Home’, a description of life in many hotels (here a hostel in Istanbul), ‘Happy Song’, so named because it always makes the two happy when they play it, and ‘Intertwine’, which was written after the TV show The Witch and is very magical, in keeping with the evening. Of course, Midnight Fyre was not dismissed without an encore, which they fulfilled by singing ‘House Of The Rising Sun’ together. Since the two are always travelling, I hope to hear them often at the Folk Club.

But let's jump back to the beginning of the second half of the Folk Club, which was opened by the house magician – er, house poet – Wolfgang Schriefer. He began with his song ‘Die Magie der Ruhe’ (The Magic of Peace) (to the melody of Paul Simon's ‘Sounds Of Silence’). After stumbling a few times, but saving himself with spontaneous comments and making his audience laugh, Wolfgang later commented on his performance with the words, ‘Making people laugh is also an art.’ Wolfgang concluded with his song ‘I'm Happy Just To Be With You’, originally called ‘Afterglow Of Your Love’ and written by Steve Marriott of the Small Faces, who burned to death in his bed in 1991 (again, thanks to the Folk Club's continuing education academy :-) ).

Daniel Habermann discovered his love for the Folk Club, and so he returned to the stage once again to present his own songs. In contrast to the piano described above, he came across as rather quiet, but in the Folk Club this only means that the audience becomes even quieter in order to listen reverently to the performance. In his first song, he described the magic of smiling, and that was also the name of the song, ‘S-M-I-L-E’. ‘Tender World’ is a story – or a hope? – about what our world would be like if it weren't so harsh, but a little more tender. David performed his third song, ‘The Universe’, in which he also describes a world at peace. I really like David's music because he touches the soul with his quiet but nonetheless impressive tones.

We have often been able to enjoy the magic of a cappella singing in folk clubs dedicated to this very theme. But even without an explicit a cappella evening, barbershop music never fails to delight. And so it was at the 160th Folk Club with The Wash Queens (Bettina Vogel, Miriam Mentel, Ulrike Koll, Ines Schoofs). Four great voices, which wonderfully reflect the tonal range of barbershop singing, transported us into a dreamlike world with ‘Everything’ by Michael Boublé, ‘They Just Keep Moving The Line’ from the musical SMASH and the well-known ‘Sing, Sing, Sing’ by Louis Prima. The performance was so brilliant that, of course, one of the rather rare encores at the Folk Club (rare? huh???) was in order. It was performed to the melody and with the same title, ‘Lass mich Dein Badewasser schlürfen’ (Let me sip your bath water) – but with lyrics that made the equality of women clear. To describe this here would only be possible by printing the entire text. Therefore, I recommend that you attend the next Wash Queens concert and listen to the song again carefully. In any case, it was great fun and a musical delight.

Almost every river eventually flows into another body of water, and such estuaries are often settlement sites for different cultures, which establish their own new culture there. This phenomenon is very well known in the Mississippi Delta. But we didn't have to travel that far this time, because Kai Hofstetter took us to the Main Delta as usual to delight us with his Franconian blues. In his songs, Kai selects down-to-earth legends and superstitions from everyday life, which he turns into lyrics in his own words and then performs to bluesy rhythms. This time, however, in his own words, it was rock “n” roll. In the song ‘Der Deifl un der Moust’ (The Devil and the Moust), he described how the devil turns apple wine into champagne.

Was that it? Of course not, because everyone paid tribute to the patron of the Folk Club with the song ‘Jock Stewart’ and remembered that after the Folk Club is before the Folk Club. On 3 October, there will be another nail-biting event – namely, the Waldzither will once again take centre stage to remember our late Steve Perry. Tim Liebert (Doc Fritz) from Jena, who has played a key role in making the forest zither (Waldzither) socially acceptable in music again, has agreed to perform at the 161st Folk Club in Bonn.

So, get out of bed and join us on 3 October!

Yours, Mario