25-06-2016 Udo Lindenberg

[schema type=”event” evtype=”MusicEvent” name=”25-06-2016 Udo Lindenberg” description=”Support: Wirtz” sdate=”2016-06-25″ street=”Red Bull Arena” city=”Leipzig” country=”DE” ]

The Red Bull Arena in Leipzig was a gathering place on this sunny Saturday. People from all over Germany got together, to see Udo Lindenberg play live. Most of the audience had grown up with the music of Udo Lindenberg. Now they were here with spouse, friends or even the entire family to have a great time. The evening would begin at 7:15 pm with Wirtz, who was opening up for Udo Lindenberg on this entire tour.

The German rock musician Daniel Wirtz reached a whole lot more people after participating in the TV show “Sing Meinen Song” where musicians of all genres cover the songs of each other and perform it in their own style. Wirtz has been making music since 1999, walking on a solo path since 2007. Five full length studio albums and a special acoustic tour – along many regular tours and festivals of course – Wirtz had shared with his fans so far. And now the guys joined Udo Lindenberg through arenas on the “Keine Panik!” Tour.

The stage was huge. The band was sitting in the far front of the stage, with the cover of the latest release covering the screen in the back of the stage. Then the guys began playing their songs. Loud and rough music with lyrics that speak the truth, straight out, was amazing the audience instantly. The music filled the arena, as the last fans were still coming in, finding their spots. Wirtz played a small collection of their best songs out of all the albums they have released so far. Surprisingly, there were quite some people who could sing along to the songs.
Wirtz played for half an our, getting the audience ready for what was yet to come. The singer Daniel talked to the audience between the songs, thanking the audience a whole lot. The band was surprised about the great reception. What a brilliant thirty minutes.

After a quick change over, Udo Lindenberg was about to get ready to go on stage. But all the sudden it began pouring down. A heavy thunderstorm was going by Leipzig, and only barely missed the arena. So as the clouds lifted and the stage was dried again, everyone was ready to get the show started and Udo Lindenberg could hit the stage.

Lindenberg started his musical career as a drummer. In 1969, he founded his first band Free Orbit and also appeared as a studio and guest musician (with Michael Naura, Knut Kiesewetter). In 1970 he collaborated as a drummer with jazz saxophonist Klaus Doldinger in Munich.

In 1971 Passport, a band founded by Doldinger, released its first album, with Lindenberg on drums. He also played drums for the theme music for the German TV series Tatort. The first LP by the Jazz rock group Emergency was released in 1971 but met with little commercial success. The year 1973 brought a breakthrough with the album Andrea Doria and the singles “Alles klar auf der Andrea Doria” and “Cello”. With over 100,000 copies sold, Lindenberg quickly received the largest record deal of any German-language musician up to that time. Lindenberg was earning a special place in the new German-language music of the 70s, finding a niche between internationally oriented Krautrock and mainstream pop music of the Schlager variety. German-language rock had previously been confined to predominantly political message bands whose music was directed at a narrow audience.

Almost fifty years later, Udo Lindenberg is still going strong, ending his “Keine Panik!” Tour in Leipzig tonight, where the band will also shoot a live DVD. All cameras were set and ready to capture this amazing evening.

After a short announcement, a boat came out of the screen in the back of the stage. The orchestra and band entered the stage. Then the lights turned to the other side of the arena. So did the cameras. A black curtain lifted and Lindenberg came flying into the arena. Singing the opening song “Odyssee” while floating above the audience and across the arena, onto the stage. Dancers and three female vocalists supported Udo Lindenberg’s performance all the way through the show. Every couple songs, Udo talked to the audience. Either telling a story about the song to come, about his past, or thanking the audience for having come out.

For “Coole Socke” a kid choir joined Udo on stage, singing the song along with him. It was a cute performance of the children. You could tell, they were absolutely excited and pulled of an amazing performance. For the song “Cello” Clueso joined Udo, later throughout the show Otto Waalkes, Daniel Wirtz, Till Brönner, Stefanie Heinzmann, Helge Schneider and more each had a guest part of one or the other songs. Udo was never alone on stage.

On the right hand side of the stage, there was a bar set up, where the guests could get a drink. The back of the stage was always remodeled to match the song. Whether the screen was playing videos – as it did for “Durch Die Schweren Zeiten”, a ship that came out of the back, a stairway. Even a UFO with aliens came flying down onto the stage. Even blow up dolls designed by Udo himself, were covering each side of the stage for one song or the other. Throughout the entire show, there was always a whole lot going on. Each of the guest vocalists thanked Udo for the chance to play on stage with him and to be part of this entire “Keine Panic!” production. It was simply amazing to see this entire show with all these little details come together and create this wonderful show that seemed to be timeless.

Before the song “Sternenreise” began, the band asked the audience to light their phones to make the huge audience in the arena look like an ocean of stars. The audience did as they were told and transformed the arena into a night sky filled with stars. For “Horizont”, the screens were linked and showed a view of the earth with the sun rising behind it. It was a beautiful scene, matching this timeless and breathtaking song that everyone was singing along to.

Before “Ende Der Welt”, Udo introduced his entire band and orchestra. One of the band members was his oldest friend, Steffi Stephan. Each member received a huge applause. Then band and guests proceeded with the encore and therefore the last part of the show.

After “Candy Jane”, Lindenberg introduced all his guests, thanking them for having come out and playing along. Then he thanked the audience and his crew of 300 people for having put this show together. Then he continued with “Reeperbahn”.

For the last few songs there was a whole lot going on in the audience and on stage. From a boat floating over the audience, to a balloon with a dancer hanging below, performing for the audience and Udo, flying over the audience once again. I will not give you the precise details, because I do not want to give away the grand finale of the show before the DVD is out and for you to watch. But let me tell you this: It was a blast and absolutely impressive.

The show lasted for almost three hours. All the guests, orchestra and band, came back on stage to perform the last couple songs of the show. Jumping around on stage, dancing and singing to each other, the grand finale ended with a big firework. What a show. Everyone left the arena nothing less but impressed. This would be the show everyone will be talking about for times to come. Wait for the DVD to come out, to see what a blast this show was.

Wirtz
Udo Lindenberg