Rock um Knuedler 2004

Myein, Blue Room feat. Daniel Balthasar, Pronoian Made, Mack Murphy, Toxkäpp, Couchgrass, Michael Shepherd Band, André Mergenthaler, Sonic Season, Lord Bishop Rocks, Zap Zoo, Toto

OK, don't even get me started about Toto! Apart from the fact that there are few bands I hate more than these old conservative bores, I get serious stomach aches thinking of the number of great bands you could have financed with the money alone these dinosaurs have cost... I am serious, it's every year the same with the Rock um Knuedler festival: get a couple of local bands for cheap money to play dull and occasionally also cool gigs, to have the evening ended by the oldish organisers' favourite bands, as if they were just doing it for themselves. But fortunately enough, this year we had the Euro2004 finals and better things to do.

Like every year, we missed the first two bands because we were still doing our radioshow, but with the windows open we got a first hint of the music. Myein started on the big Lion stage at 3pm, probably in front of not so many people, and Blue Room feat. Daniel Balthasar continued on the smaller but more intimate Horse stage half an hour later, and I am truly thankful that the gods made me miss this in my opinion horribly boring band. Pronoian Made (4pm on the Lion stage) are also not one of my favourite bands, and up 'til here I was already wondering about how a radio colleague of mine could utter the statement that the Rock um Knuedler has never been so great like this year. OK, it was better than last, but there were already a good deal better times. But hey, it's free, so let's not complain too much.

The first band I actually watched was Mack Murphy and the Inmates (4.30pm, Horse stage), and the fact alone that they kind of originated from a skinhead oi band makes them curiously appealing. Mack Murphy also used to play acoustic folk as Reggie Fain, and his Mack Murphy incarnation is supposed to be a more electrified version of his former self. Strangely enough, not only I felt reminded of darker music, as even some people thought that this was Pronoian Made. OK, it wasn't that bad, but Lex for instance felt reminded of The Alarm, which probably made a lot of sense.

And now let's face the narrow-mindedness of the organisers. When Mack Murphy stopped playing, Toxkäpp started on the Lion stage, meaning that Patrick, who plays guitars with both bands, had to make a sprint from one stage to another. And of course it wasn't possible to have some other band play before them. Anyway, I guess Toxkäpp were the first band to get people moving a bit, but then there brand of Lux-ska is already very popular among punks and not-so-punks alike.

5.30pm on the Horse stage, and Couchgrass entered the stage. The first three songs already showed why they are one of the very few young bands that you have to take seriously. Their songwriting is mature and spontaneous at the same time, the stage presence ranges from cool to outrageously funny, and I was told again that since Dirk started playing drums, they have become a real live powerhouse. And I am not only saying this because I feel ashamed for having confiscated one of Dirk's beers. After the third song, there was a longer problem with the bass amp (and I am still waiting for a Couchgrass concert without technical problems), but they mastered it in their own nerdy yet funny way. Too bad that this took some time from their actual playing time, and again a big boo towards the organisers who abused the technical pause to show some commercials on the video screen. Is this really only about the money or what? But then again I shouldn't be too hard on the guys as 1. they still do this shit every year and 2. they had two high-quality huge video monitors where you could follow what was happening on stage while the nearly 50 euro expensive Pink concert didn't have this luxury (according to Lex, self-proclaimed Pink groupie).

When Couchgrass were done, we were in for a very special treat: Michael Shephard Band. This guy's probably called Michel Schäfer and plays the most criminally conservative brand of blues hard rock. According to a scene insider, Mr Shepherd's day-job is "Pechert", so I guess that his music isn't so out of touch with what he does in real life. People were really bored by this, but I guess there can't be a Rock um Knuedler festival without such embarrassment (I still remember fondly the Chris Birch Band).

6.30pm, Horse stage, and we had one of the few really daring moments of the Rock um Knuedler history, with André Mergenthaler performing 45 minutes on his cello, starting every song with a rhythm that he was recording while playing, then looping it and adding some solo elements. Normally (apparently) he does this with more or less classical music, but tonight he did a special "rock" program which made him sound like a crazier Apocalyptica all by himself. Great moving stuff, which had more than one person headbanging.

Sonic Season started with their amazingly boring folk rock on the Lion stage at 7pm, and although they have already a professional stage show and a lot of local semi-popular guests on stage, this was so unnecessarily futile, playing folk rock without any bite. So ok, one of them used to live in the USA, and they love the USA so much, etc. but them still doesn't give them the necessary credibility. And while Sonic Season were playing their hymns towards the American life-style (and I am just guessing all this from what I read from their interview in the Luxpost newspaper), some meters to the left of the stage, a group of Antifa militants had started displaying a message against fascism.

And now the truly weird shit happened. There are few countries that officially hate Fascism as much as Luxembourg, and hey, we have as good a reason to hate Fascism as any other sane country, considering the misery World War II brought over Europe. But as soon as some punkish looking dudes display anti-fascist messages, you have a lot of conspicuously short-haired security people and policemen charging in on this group. So ok, they maybe didn't have explicit permission to display the message, but what about Freedom of Speech? (Well, maybe it was going too far instigating people to fight fascism on the imperialistic US Independence Day... Coincidence?). I didn't watch the episode for too long, but it seemed to me that in the end the police and security guys left them in peace. I use this opportunity to give my solidarity to the Antifa movement and all other people fighting fascism in the World!

But back to the fun things in life, with Lord Bishop Rocks. Lord Bishop is a unique person, and he started playing shortly before 8pm on the small Horse stage, being its evident headliner. I don't really know how the God of Sex Rock makes it, but his music always gets me moving. There is nothing subtle about it, and he isn't even a great technician on his guitar, but he's choke full of energy that people just have to believe his messages. And singing about eating pussy on the historical Knuedler site made this event already something very special. I guess some more doubtful minds learnt today what the hysteria about the Lord is all about.

The last two bands to play the Lion stage were Zap Zoo and Toto, but we decided to leave for a Portuguese pub in Bonnevoie. Supporting the Greek team, but reasoning that there was a higher chance for the Portuguese hosts to win, we probably thought that there would be great party. When Lex and I arrived, the first half was already over, and when Angelos Charisteas made the winning goal in the 57th minute, the party was over. We were snickering among ourselves, secretly happy but not daring to display it too openly. And when Jimmy Jump made his round on the field and ended in the goal with seven security jerks on top of him, I heard myself screaming "Goooooaaaaaal" and still thank the Greek gods that I survived this impertinent outcry among the eyes of the disappointed Portuguese supporters. And anyway, Otto Rehagel was my headliner of the evening, Toto not even coming close!