Turning misfortune into something positive – was it luck, solidarity, just business as usual, or a miracle?
The theme of the evening’s concert was ‘Wonders/Miracles’ – was this title also a sign of things to come?
The Folk Club Bonn thrives on its versatility, drawn from a mix of professional, semi-professional and amateur musicians, and so so-called ‘featured artists’ are often present, some of whom travel from distant lands not only to give the audience a special treat, but also, not infrequently, to enjoy the unique atmosphere of the Folk Club Bonn. This focused attention on the artistic performance is always present, even with soft sounds – although, as you know, electric amplification is never used. Last Friday, too, professional support was once again on the cards – the Italian duo Serena Finatti and Andrea Varnier, who had already been celebrated twice with great applause at the Folk Club, had announced their appearance – but unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, they were unable to keep this promise. Moreover, the reason had arisen at such short notice that it was no longer possible to give advance notice of the cancellation, and so the organisers waited for the duo to appear that evening – unfortunately to no avail.
But the Folk Club wouldn’t be the Folk Club if the evening hadn’t been turned into an unforgettable experience all the same – artists already on stage extended their sets, and others, not scheduled for the evening at all, stepped in spontaneously and without preparation – but with total professionalism. How lucky that everyone is so flexible – a great sense of solidarity amongst them, without any airs and graces – at the Folk Club, that sort of thing is simply normal, and all in all, it (or the Folk Club) is simply a miracle – the miracle of Bonn?
But first things first – still hoping that Serena and Andrea would walk through the door at any moment, John Harrison, as always in his role as master of ceremonies, began the evening with the loudly proclaimed and thus hall-silencing “Läääddddiiieeeeees an Gentlemen, Mesdames et Messieurs…”. As always in May, John then paid musical homage to the forces of nature, symbolically represented by the ‘Green Man’, the goblin responsible for rebirth and all growth in nature. What would the start of May be without a sing-along? And so Mr Harrison encouraged the audience to join in, and together, with some 70 voices, the May song ‘Hail! Hail! On the first of May, to the hall. Traditionally, the 1st of May in Bonn is also the day of ‘Rhein in Flammen’ /Rhine Aflame, and so it always fits in well and is a lovely addition when John tells the story of a wild mallard duck that fled the fireworks, chose the Harrison family’s balcony as a makeshift birthing room, and hatched her eggs there. John’s daughter named this figure, which resembled a Zeppelin in both form and activity, “Zeppelina”, from which John then turned the story into a song that delights us in May.
After John, it was the turn of the Molitones – a trio featuring the wonderfully sensitive guitarist Carsten and the singers Iris and Steffi, both blessed with great voices. Together they treated us to their versions of the songs “Can’t Help Falling In Love”, “Make You Feel My Love” and “Tommi” and, as is easily discernible from the titles, they clearly paid homage to love, which is traditionally associated with May (of course, love lives all year round, but it often just begins in May).
Caroline Bernotat and Peter Bachmann now seem to have formed a lasting musical partnership and once again delighted us with their own songs and interpretations of well-known classics. I think the two of them harmonise better and better each time, and so they encouraged the audience to sing along to the song ‘Puff The Magic Dragon’, made famous by Peter, Paul & Mary, guiding them through the song with their vocal lead.
Kai Hofstetter – scheduled for the last Folk Club, but had to pull out due to illness – celebrated his return with the Annette “Drunt am Mee” in his characteristic Rhine-Main Delta dialect. A spring song that describes a ritual gathering on the Main to celebrate the arrival of spring. As a reminder: an ‘Annette’ is the performance of just one song – in contrast to a ‘Floorspot’, which comprises around two to three songs.
Volkskapell, a dream that I – your chronicler on this occasion – have been pursuing for many years, has come true – and I hope it can continue for a long time to come. In my view, German folk songs have an undeserved bad reputation. Just like songs sung by the people of other cultures, they describe cultural events, express social and political grievances, and highlight the social conditions that prevailed at the time of their creation.
We try to incorporate both polyphonic singing and various instruments. This evening, we used the guitar, the zither, and the banjo as instruments.
The featured artists were due to play after us, but as they were not present, it became clear that unfortunate circumstances had prevented them from appearing. A short break was taken, which was used to quickly reorganise the evening. After the break, John brought the audience back together with his little poem by Edward Lear about the owl and the cat, “The Owl & The Pussy Cat”, and handed the musical baton to John Hurd,
Tom Kannmacher is always a welcome guest at the Folk Club, because – and I personally find this particularly wonderful, as you can imagine – he also has a great love for German folk songs. And he delves even deeper into the annals of German culture than I do – treasures emerge whose origins most people knew nothing about – but once discovered, they wouldn’t want to be without them. And so Tom began with a musical account of the lament of a farmer’s life, of the burdens and hardships of daily life, which often fail to lead to even the minimal prosperity of a secure existence – does that sound familiar to anyone? Although we all, even if poor, live today with a relatively greater security in our lives than the farmer in the song ‘Auf Erden der Bauer keinen guten Tag hat’ (On Earth, the Farmer Has No Good Day). The song “Der Müller der Dieb” (The miller and the thief) rails against the thieving machinations of the millers, who, thanks to the necessary infrastructure, usually held a monopoly in agricultural production. “In Bohemia there is a little town” is a tribute to a garrison town where civilians and the military lived together in close harmony until, yes, until war broke out and the ruling powers demanded that the soldiers take up arms. Many did not return, and the pretty little town became a field of mourning. The floor spot was actually supposed to end after three songs, but then it turned out that Tom, of course, had even more songs up his sleeve and, out of solidarity with the Folk Club, naturally performed these as well.
And then came yet another show of solidarity. Thomas Monnerjahn and Eric Linfoot were in the audience and, on the spur of the moment and without any preparation, took to the stage for an impromptu performance – what else could you expect when there was no chance to prepare? From these two, EVERYTHING. On a borrowed guitar with steel strings (Thomas has been playing exclusively on nylon strings for some time now), they conjured up a jazz magic whose professionalism others (myself included) cannot match even after years of practice.
Coupled with Eric’s wonderful voice and song interpretation, the audience was treated to a real treat. With ‘All Of Me’, ‘Stormy Monday’ (during which John Harrison spontaneously stepped in on the harmonica) and ‘Manha de carnaval’, they filled a gap without being mere stopgaps.
As planned, though slightly extended, Rick Fines then once again showed us his skills. A Canadian professional musician who ended up in Bonn due to family circumstances, he has now become an integral part of the Folk Club and repeatedly demonstrates a wide variety of styles on the guitar, ranging from blues to jazz and ragtime. He also repeatedly makes it clear how simple and effortless playing the guitar is (or can be, if you know how), once the fear is gone and the principle of finger movement and the correct fingerings are understood – in other words, it remains a science :-). Rick treated us to both songs he had composed himself and interpretations of other musicians’ works.
“Laundry On The Line” was his opener. Whether the freshly dried laundry was immediately soiled again by coffee stains remains a mystery in the song “Coffee, One Cream”, but his remark that it is a great joy on earth to wake up in the morning, but an even greater one to hold a freshly brewed cup of coffee in your hands, so that by savouring it you can refocus all your senses on the new day, was certainly understandable. “My Mistake” is a story about a love that, fortunately, turned out not to be a mistake after all, but a stroke of luck. “Half Full Cup” is a song (if I’ve understood everything correctly) that was actually meant to be written about a girlfriend. But at some point, Rick realised that his mother had suddenly appeared in the lyrics too, and to top it all off (or did it complicate things?), his sister as well – during the performance, I simply listened to the music, and it completely satisfied me. The set concluded with a rendition of the Chuck Berry track “No Money Down”, which describes a love for a car.
Here, Rick was once again able to prove that, even though both hands are occupied with the guitar, he can still play the trumpet – with your eyes closed, you could actually get the impression that a soft trumpet was playing in the background – even though it was just a mouth-played tune without an instrument. Rick will certainly delight us many more times, and just as certainly, we’ll never get bored listening to him.
Well, what could possibly come next? You guessed it: a tribute to our patron Jock Stewart – because without this act of solidarity, supported by everyone, a Folk Club would never cease to exist. And now? Remember, after the Folk Club is before the Folk Club. We’ll see you again on 5 June 2026. With that in mind,
Out of the bedroom,
Yours, Mario
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