Right on time at 8 p.m., the musicians of the HR Bigband took to the stage and kicked things off with On Fire. Stefanie then came on stage singing, accompanied by Eva Schröder and Leslie Jost. Both had already accompanied her at the concert in the Alte Oper. Right from the next song, Shadows, the audience was able to show how well they could sing along. Despite the early stage of the concert, they did a great job. Anyone who knows Stefanie knows that she always likes to tell a story or talk about serious topics. Just like before Knocking Down the Wall, when she told the story of a bout of depression she had last fall and how she managed to pull herself out of it step by step for the first time in her life. She said how honored she felt to be on stage with such a great band as the HR Bigband. But she still sometimes had doubts about whether she could really do it all, and that’s exactly what the song was about… and she said about the little voice in her head, “Sometimes it just has to shut up.” During the song, she also called on the audience to sing along, because that’s the best medicine. She announced Mother’s Heart with the words, “The next song is a song that means a lot to me,” and conductor Jörg Achim Keller began to set the tempo. “And um… yes, and you’re going to hear it now… because… he’s always right,” she said, pointing to the conductor, and it was clear that she actually wanted to say something else, but took it with humor. What followed was a really beautiful version of the song, with a solo by the keyboardist, during which Stefanie and her singers stood to the side so that everyone could see him. After the song, however, she returned to the previous situation and asked the conductor, “May I say something?” She then spoke about the feelings that connect us. That simply being is valuable enough. The uniqueness of each person, which is suppressed in society, but that everyone has the same feelings in some way. She asked the conductor if he would accept strangeness as a compliment, to which he replied, “Sort of.” And that by strange, she meant that someone is worthy of her remembering them. And that she would rather be strange than not be herself. This is also the core message of the song that followed, Colors. What followed was a very beautiful, quiet version, introduced by a trombone solo, accompanied only by an acoustic guitar.

[See image gallery at catchingmovement.de] With Carry the World got really funky, perfect for dancing along to, introduced by a double bass solo and a flute solo. But Labyrinth continued in a similarly funky vein, this time with a trumpet solo opening the piece. Both Leslie and Eva got to show off their amazing voices, proving they were every bit as good as Stefanie. Without a break, accompanied by rhythmic clapping from the audience led by the three singers, the band seamlessly transitioned into Diggin’ in the Dirt. The announcement that usually takes place before the song was made during the song, with Stefanie saying that if someone had told her at 17 that she would be playing with the HR Bigband at the Batschkapp in Frankfurt at 35, she would probably have laughed and cried, but above all, she wouldn’t have believed it. She recounted that at the time, she had a slipped disc, eating problems, and was very self-destructive, which meant she was not doing well at all. She then had herself admitted to a closed psychiatric ward. Her therapist at the time told her that when she was released, she should go to the forest regularly and just write. And now she does that full-time, and the audience was her forest for the evening. And now she wanted to do a little scream therapy with the audience. Everyone was to form a ball with their hands, put their problems and worries into it, and then shout “Ohohoh” loudly and throw it at her. Since she was there by car, she would simply pocket the balls and throw them into Lake Thun, which is near where she lives. And the audience had a lot to shout about. After Diggin’ in the Dirt, things quieted down for a bit, with only a few instruments, and continued with In the End, which then suddenly got the familiar momentum of the song with all the musicians and even more. Afterwards, she thanked everyone involved who had made this truly wonderful evening possible. From the musicians to the HR to the individual employees of the Batschkapp. Finally, she performed Best Life, a song from her latest album Labyrinth, which was very lively. She first danced with the conductor and then with her singers, standing between them to show that every musician is equally important to her. To conclude, she sang an old classic for her, Only So Much Oil in the Ground, a song she had already sung successfully at SSDSDSSWEMUGABRTLAD* and which, on her way to victory at the time, showed what a brilliant soulful voice she has.

Setlist: On Fire // Shadows // My Man Is a Mean Man // Knocking Down the Wall // Build a House // Mother’s Heart // Colors // Carry the World // Labyrinth // Diggin‘ in the Dirt // In the End // All We Need Is Love // Best Life // Only So Much Oil in the Ground

The post Stefanie Heinzmann & HR Bigband – 30.01.2025 – Batschkapp Frankfurt appeared first on Catching Movement.

Avralize

So that everyone would have time to get into the hall, Avralize didn’t start immediately after the doors opened, of course, but only 50 minutes after the scheduled time so that the concert wouldn’t run quite so late. Although strictly speaking that wouldn’t have been so bad, but more on that later. First up was Avralize, a band I already saw last year as headliners on the small stage of the Traffic Jam Open Air. In any case, they quickly managed to create a good atmosphere and the audience was quickly warmed up again. They were able to trigger both a large mosh pit and a wall of death and so their own small release party for their new single Wanderlust, which was released on the same day, was a complete success.

Setlist Avralize: Lotus // Stab by stab // Canvas // Higher // Wanderlust // Upside down

Bluthund

To save even more time, there was a mini break of maybe 10 minutes, during which Bluthund played the typical pre-songs. And then the show started. Abraxas kicked off straight away, jumping into the pit and up the barrier during the first song and seeking contact with the fans. And to Beat braucht Bauch there was also a lot of cheering as Alex and Stropo from TBS came on stage… with somewhat strange pants, no idea how to describe them, so just have a look at the gallery and you’ll know what I mean. But they went down very well. During Maskenmannfrau there was the first Wall of Death of the gig and for Büro until Rente the first circle pit. But not an ordinary one, because as usual Abraxas had a simple office chair with him on stage, with which he then went into the crowd so that the circle pit could run around him. The previous atmosphere escalated and you could almost have believed that Bluthund was the headliner. But that wasn’t the end of the special features. Fans of Bluthund can guess what was to come. Scheisswut was of course not to be missed. And what does Abraxas do? Right, he divides the crowd for a Wall of Death, but didn’t miss the opportunity to go into the middle beforehand, to fire up the audience, to awaken their anger so that they can let it all out during the Wall of Death. But he is also known as a climbing artist. Someone who tries to climb somewhere in every venue. That’s not quite possible in the Batschkapp, but at Hass Hass Hass he still didn’t miss the chance to take another dip in the audience, which consisted of him somehow getting to the stairs and then crowdsurfing back to the stage from there. After 40 minutes it was over and the band had certainly won some new fans after the gig.

Setlist Bluthund: Bye Bye Irokesengang // Unser Weg // Beat braucht Bauch // Leute // Mit meiner Maschine // Maskenmannfrau // Büro until Rente // Egal // Scheisswut // Hass Hass Hass // Wir fackeln alles ab

The Butcher Sisters

And then it was time. It was time for The Butcher Sisters. First Kai, Manuel and David entered the stage one after the other. The lights went out or changed to half strobe and Alex and Stropo came on stage with small scooters with light wheels. And off they went with Sonnenbrille, which is also the opener from the new album. And to show what was to come that evening, confetti strips were fired directly into the audience. Chaos was the order of the day! Alex then gave birth to the next baby live on stage and Reiner was born. The crowdsurfer rate was already damn high and it wasn’t going to stop all evening, the security guards had their hands full. To make it even more fun, Stropo briefly disappeared from the stage to return with two inflated clubs. So of course it was immediately clear what was to follow, UGA UGA BAM BAM! By now a classic, with Stropo jumping into the pit with a club and thrashing the front row. That evening was no different. Three songs in and the scent mark was set. And there was the first break. A large glass with a stylish minibar was brought on stage and a huge Aperol was mixed. This was then passed around in the front row so that it could be drunk while the song of the same name was played. After three stripes, Stropo ran to the loo with a microphone. Well, no wonder. But a replacement was needed to keep the show going. And that was none other than Mehnersmoos, who can be found as guests on the album for Bierdurst. And to make sure it didn’t get boring, Gregor and Marcus from the King Nugget Gang came on stage right afterwards for the noodle song. And Marcus also had some swimming noodles with him. Real noodles for the noodle song would have been more appropriate, but would have been hard to see. So the swimming noodles were enough. Things got a little more contemplative for Mein Stern, during which Stropo also went crowdsurfing.

[See image gallery at catchingmovement.de] Bauchtasche then marked the second time that the confetti cannons were fired to make the chaos even bigger. The special features continued, Stropo suddenly conjured up a trombone for Zeig Mir Dein and played it. Or at least pretended to. This definitely went down well and some people decided to extend the crowdsurfing to surfing. In other words, one person was carried lying on their back while the second person stood upright on top of the surfer. You can see what I mean in the gallery. After Bauch Beine Po it got dark. Jungle noises could be heard, so it was clear what the next song would be, Banana. And of course the inflatable water banana came again and was thrown directly into the audience, where it was boarded relatively quickly by two spectators and after a short time the mosh pit minister joined them, only to be ordered down by Stropo because he wanted to. And jumped on from the stage and rode around the audience himself. Then came Friday and it was time for the encore. The short break was used to allow Manuel and David to get rid of their banana costumes and for Stropo to return as a dragon and Alex as a knight. For Drachentöter, a song they had recorded for the album together with Equilibrium. There was a very large circle pit as well as a wall of death, with almost the entire Batschkapp opening up from left to right. The party was slowly coming to an end, but Baggersee was still to be played. And what do you have with you at a quarry pond? An inflatable beach ball, of course. The only difference was that this ball was the size of a man and was thrown into the crowd, where it flew happily back and forth and confetti strips rained down from the stage for the third time. At the end, they realized that they hadn’t had any canned beer and invited the whole mosh pit crew on stage. Loyal fans who had bought tickets for every concert on the tour to get them in the mood. And what did they get? A canned beer drinking contest and the finale with the matching song. The mosh pit crew was allowed to stay on stage for this. Then it was over and the time until the last special of the evening at midnight, the launch of the new album combined with a signing session, was no longer that long, “thanks” to the power cut and the late start to the evening.

Setlist The Butcher Sisters: Sonnenbrille // Reiner // UGA UGA BAM BAM // Aperol // Drei Streifen // Bierdurst (mit Mehnersmoos) // Der Nudelsong (mit King Nugget Gang) // Mein Stern // Bauchtasche // Zeig Mir Dein // Bauch Beine Po // Banana // Freitag // Drachentöter // Baggersee // Dosenbier

The post The Butcher Sisters – The Great Music Band Tour – 16.01.2025 – Batschkapp, Frankfurt appeared first on Catching Movement.

[See image gallery at catchingmovement.de] As second band Aeverium came on the stage, which was for me the main reason to be there. And it was worth it, really great show!

[See image gallery at catchingmovement.de] After Scarlet Dorn, followed by Aeverium, finally the headliner of the evening, Lord of the Lost played on stage. In the end it can be said, that it was a very fun evening, with great bands on stage, playing different sorts of music, so there was something for everybody in the audience.

The post Lord of the Lost – 06.04.2017 – Batschkapp Frankfurt appeared first on Catching Movement.