Wise Guys in Wesel

December 4th 2005 - Niederrheinhalle Wesel, Germany

Our third Wise Guys concert, our second in Wesel. I was really looking forward to this day. And it turned out to be great, as expected of course :) We left at half past 5, a little later than last time in January, when we arrived at the Niederrheinhalle at half past 5 and were way too early haha. Now, we arrived at 7 o'clock, which was perfect. Just after we arrived, Anke walked into the foyer, and some minutes later Flyli arrived as well. Unfortunately Nina couldn't come... We found our chairs in the first row and waited, chatted, waited and chatted. Mareike arrived as well. We hadn't met here before. It was really nice to meet her in person finally! The Wise Guys had been so kind to tape their set list on the stage, and we made a picture of it so I didn't have to write down the song titles during the concert. I'm wondering why they are still taping this setlist on the stage, can't they remember the order of the songs?? Och nee, ich weiß schon: "Sie sind gräßlich vergeßlich. Denn sie haben ein schlechtes Gedächtnis, was sie sehr heftig beschäftigt...." oh nee, das war ein Bodo-Zitat..sorry)

OK, it's 8 o'clock. The concert begins. So let's write some more in the present tense now, that's a bit easier. Talking about writing this: It's pretty hard to write a concert report in English about a concert which was in German. The thoughts that are going through my head right now, are all in German. Confusing... :) Eddi comes on stage and gets a big applause. He starts singing the new Opener (Opener A). He's singing about himself, being all alone on the stage. Pretty lonely, so Sari joins him (there's applause and cheering when he appears) and together they sing along. To hear thirds all night long is probably getting boring, so Clemens joins them next. Again, they have to wait until the audience gets quiet before they can sing along. They need a bass, and Ferenc appears on stage. Finally, to make it all sound funky, Dän appears on stage, mouth drumming.

There they are!! Without a pause they continue with Opener B which is an up-tempo song full with energy. It's the perfect start of the show, it really makes the mood rise to a higher level. I'm stunned, wow!! I love this new Opener!! It's really hard to sit still, and already people are clapping on the rhythm.

Dän tells us he gets a lot of emails with requests for songs e.g. "Could you please sing this'n'this song, cause it's my favorite". They just can't fulfill all these wishes and therefore they sing a song of comfort, which is of course Du kannst nicht alles haben. We know when to clap, and more important: when _not_ to clap, but naturally there are always some people who don't know about this and clap while they shouldn't, which makes everybody laugh. Nice song, but I want to hear another new song now! My wish is fulfilled immediately. Dän tells us about Sari, who was ill last week. He still looks a bit pale as a matter of fact. Sari says it's because of his blue blouse, he always looks this way. Yeah, right.

Anyway, it's important to stay healthy with a profession like this. Aber sonst gesund is the next song. The sound is good, but I really need the lyrics to understand this one. Too many medicine names in the song make it really hard for me to understand. It's a funny song, though I'm missing many of the jokes.
I didn't take notes during the show, but somewhere in between the songs there is the famous "Zuschauerbefragung", the audience questioning. It's same as ever, actually. There is one new question though: "Which one of you prefers Stehkonzerte (concerts where you have to stand), and which one of you prefers Sitzkonzerte (concerts where you can sit down). I can't decide... for I like them both. A good mixture of both kinds of concerts is the best, I guess.

Somewhere in between the songs there also is the "City Quiz" in which Dän asks his colleagues questions about -today- Wesel. The winner of this quiz wins a second-hand car from one of the suburbs of Paris..... The questions are historical, but again I have a vocabulary short-coming here.

Denglisch is a great song with a great text. It's about the anglicizing of (in this case) the German language. I also like this song for the energy, the dancing, the choreo. I like up-tempo songs like this. The choreo is great, the pyramid is super (though Montezuma can build a bigger one) :P

Next is Erzähl mir die Geschichte, which is a ballad, and it's so quiet in the audience! It's really pretty and after the song is sung, the audience stays silent for a second, and then we applaud. Perfect! During the next song we notice Sari isn't recovered totally. The song was Das war gut. First I have to tell you, it was sung in a very high tempo!! When they started with the beat I was thinking they had some time to catch up! Sari missed a complete sentence, and another sentence he almost started singing too late. Das war gut - das war mal besser. But I forgive him completely. It's one of my favorite songs, and I was feeling so sorry for Sari. (der arme! *knudl*). Another new song, which came next, was Romanze. The lyrics are funny, and it's a song that perfectly suits Clemens. Toll!

Then came Achtung ich will tanzen. Great song, and when I see it now, I have to think of the KusS-WiseGirls dancing in Merkenich hahaha. But poor, poor Sari again! After the song he was totally exhausted!!! which he normally isn't. I had the feeling Dän was distracting the audience by acting _he_ was totally exhausted (which he probably even was), he was hanging over the table like totally worn-out, which was a very funny sight (hehe). In the mean time Sari took some very, very deep breaths and drank some water. Clemens was moderating for the next song, which was Powerfrau. Poor Sari had to sing his power song after the exhausting dancing! Now I really felt sorry for him. But he'd recovered and gave away an excellent show, naked belly included. Just great!

Next was Buddy Biber, which is a new song. I'd heard about it from some friends, but I didn't have a clue what it was about. That's because I didn't know what a "Biber" is. Now I know. After the first sentences there was a loud bell ringing in my head. A "Biber" is a beaver!! Hahaha. This song is one of my new favorites. It's soooo funny! It's like a cartoon song, including the funny crazy sounds you hear in a cartoon. The choreo matches the sounds and text, and it's amazing and unbelievable to hear it and see them sing this LIVE! And: I want a video-cartoon-clip from this song!! Bitte bitte!! Anette, can't you draw one? It would be too good! I was stunned (again)! WOW!! I love this Buddy!

During the song, Clemens 'hits' Eddi, and you hear those funny slapping sounds, but he accidentally hit Eddi's head microphone, so we missed a little part of Eddi's voice while he was fishing his microphone of his back and put it back on his ear hahahahahaha. Ich hab noch nie so viel gelachen bei einem Song.

Wo der Pfeffer wächst and Nur für dich where the final two songs before the break. Both great songs. I love the rougher sound in "Wo der Pfeffer wächst", and "Nur für dich" is just very humorous. Clemens put his head under the tap, he was still dripping while appearing on stage again. He looked almost drowned. Well, you know what he looks like during this song haha. This time he didn't forget to put his hand through his hair after taking the jacket off (just a fact I notice - for the statistics, right?) ;)

Ok, time for a little break. I buy two WDPW-cd's for Wilma and her friend. We have a drink and chat with each other. Enough topics to discuss; Schillerstraße, Deutschland sucht den Superstar mit Dutchy Tooske, Dieter Bohlen und Dieterinchen - wer ist das??, Sari being a bit ill, the WG-Forum and the Allerletzte Community are some of the topics. I notice my German is getting better *freu*

When the Wise Guys return on stage, they are wearing their black suits. Time for the beautiful Mad World. During the first strophe there is a little murmuring in the audience, people are finding their places and sitting down. Then it gets quiet and I can totally enjoy this beautiful song. One word: Goosebumps. The next song, the Ohrwurm, is really a totally different type of song. We (Flyli, Anke, Martin & I) are "members" of the "Tötet den Ohrwurm- committee" (ahum), and when Dän says some people just can't hear this song anymore, we start to applaud. The look on Clemens face is just unforgettable! Offended, but laughing at the same time. But, we have to admit, this song is very, very popular. During the cd-recording in England the Wise Guys have been writing a new Ohrwurm-song, it's called "Ich bin KEIN Ohrwurm". They sing a small part of the song, for it isn't finished yet (harhar), and it's very funny to hear this song in a 12-toned-scale.

Eddi tells us about the loneliness in hotels. His moderation was so great, but it was also illogical and muddled as always, so I can't tell you exactly what he said. Was it here he mentioned about his visions? *lach* I don't remember. But anyway, he's getting to the point where they all are sitting in their hotel rooms, feeling lonely, away from home, and taking the remote control to zap the tv and see all kind off highly intelligent tv programs. Time to sing Neun Live, about the irritating annoying call-tv games. My favorite lines, the 200 dollar question: "Wie ist der Vorname des Mannes, den ihr sicher alle kennt, des früheren Tennis-Stars, der sich Boris Becker nennt? Noch ein kleiner Tipp, sonst wär's ja viel zu schwer: Boris Jelzin hat genau den selben Vornamen wie er! Der Name fängt mit "B" an und hört mit "oris" auf. Ruft uns an! Seid ihr gut drauf? :P

Einer von den Wise Guys is funny as always, and Zu spät ist witzig wie immer. By the way, writing a report by using two languages can be handy. I can write something down with different words when actually I want to say the same thing about a song. Toll! OK, das so nebenbei bemerkt... I know these songs so well, also do I know the choreo very well which makes it easier to make pictures at the right time.

Weltmeister is a fantastic song and actually I want to stand up and jump along, but unfortunately this is not a Stehkonzert. Next is Das Allerletzte. There was a great moderation for this song, but I forgot it... Or was it here that Eddi tells us about his visions? No idea. Eddi did tell us (somewhere during this show) about the future.

He tells us being a Wise Guy is quite risky. When one of them dies in a car accident (they all suddenly look at Ferenc... *lol*) there is no a cappella group anymore. Or, if one of them falls of the balcony in a hotel... What should he (Eddi) do with his life if something like that happens? Therefore he did a yodel course, as to say for his new career... Yeah right. Haha. Ok, but I was talking about "Das Allerletzte". This song is, together with "Buddy Biber" one of my new favorites. What a cool, strong song! Right now I still have the chorus melody in my head, going on and on. Mein neuer Ohrwurm :P The song is so very powerful! And I love the use of dissonance.

Time for some action. Sing mal wieder! Wir sind dran!! I still love this song so much, Eddi is improvising right in front of us and he's laughing his head off when the audience repeats his "sssh" which he says because he wants the volume down. Then we have to repeat "ssssh sssh sssh" in different tone heights and rhythms. It's totally funny and Flyli can't sing along for she's laughing too much.

I think it's great that Ferenc sings King of the Road. It's Martins favorite song. And it's just Ferenc' greatest success. After the big applause, we are about to hear the final song of the evening. It's Feierabend. Arrivederci, Zeit nach Hause zu gehen... Of course this is _not really_ the final song, for there are several extra songs. Which reminds me of the fact I wanted to notice that the Wise Guys sing extremely many extra songs. Four! In the Netherlands you are very happy if you get two extra songs, mostly you get just one, and four is just not thinkable. I love the German people :P First extra song is Jeder Stimme zählt. I was already looking forward to this song. I think it's very hard to sing by turns like they do. It's also the perfect "closer" of the evening (eh... what's the opposite of "Opener"?) because they leave the stage one by one, just like they appeared on stage at the beginning of the show. And, of course, the yodel part of Eddi is worth mentioning. He was singing the sentence "Denn die sagen, das Jodeln sei ohne Niveau" and after that the audience went wild!! Clapping and cheering and stamping the floor, and Eddi had to wait quite long before he could continue. But he was enjoying it, you could clearly see. After he was carried away by his four colleagues the audience started to sing the Ohrwurm (oh neeeee.... haha), and they came back for Ruf doch mal an. You know, they start this song while standing with their backs towards they audience. During this short moment, Flyli, Anke, Martin and I looked at each other and our thoughts were like one: Stand up!!!! We got up and because we were in the first row, everybody got up and it was just extraordinarily geil *g*. This song reminds me of Tanzbrunnen and I just can't sit still, I have to wiggle and jump and sing and clap. After this song they sang Jetzt ist Sommer, another happy song, das bringt einfach gute Laune! Then they left the stage and the audience started singing the Ohrwurm again. They came back one more time to sing the Ohrwurm-Reprise which was cool. Then it was really time to finish.

Afterglow!

We were still chatting together when the Wise Guys came from backstage. We got signatures from all five of them, and in the end I had a chat with Dän, cause he'd done me a favor and so I brought him a little gift; 1 liter vanilla vla. His reaction: "Geil!!" German people and vla from the Netherlands... I still don't understand why vla is so special.. hahaha. Besides Dän, who was very happy with the vla, Flyli is also showing signs of a vla addiction. She's wetting her lips with her tongue already as if she can already taste the vla which is still in the closed package... and it's not even _hers_ ! Weird, weird phenomenon... ;)

Clemens asked me a funny question about my t-shirt (which says: "a capella addict"), he said: "Ist das eine a capella Gruppe oder eine allgemeine Aussage?" Hahaha. Last January Clemens was a bit ill, he went home straight after the concert and we didn't meet him during the Afterglow. So this year, I wanted a picture with me and Clemens. And Flyli was also allowed to be on the picture, but only if she smiled! And she did. Good girl ;)

Noch ein paar Sachen auf Deutsch, ich kann's nicht lassen... Abspann:
  • 1 nicht gemachte Spül
  • 1 kleines rotes Ferrari ;)
  • 2x 110 km (hin und wieder)
  • 2 verrückte Niederländer und 3 verrückte Deutschen zusammen in die erste Reihe
  • 1 Blamagegedanke....
  • 27 übergeile Lieder
  • worunter 7 gaaaanz neue Lieder
  • 2 WDPW-cd's mit Autogramme
  • 1 Bodo Wartke DVD
  • 1 Tube Blendi Zahnpasta
  • 1 liter Vanille Vla
  • 1 orange Tasche, jetzt auch mit Autogramme
  • 2 Sachen fürs "Allerletzte" Weihnachtsprojekt.....oooooh geheim....
  • 34 mal das Wort "geil" benutzt. Wenn ich das mal auf Niederländisch machen würde, würde man mich gaaanz komisch angucken...
  • das war Quatsch, ich hab nicht gezählt :P ;)
  • 82 Bilder
  • 14 davon hier online
  • Verschiedene Stunden schreiben für dieses Bericht
  • Und das wichtigste:
  • Jede menge Spaß
  • Ganz gute Laune
  • Und ein tagenlanges Dauerngrinsen...

Some comments...

Von Anke:

Ist echt gut geworden der Bericht über Wesel *grinsend in Erinnerung schwelg*! Nur ein paar kleine Korrekturen von mir:
-Vor "Denglish" macht Dän die Moderation mit der Fernbedienung.
-Eddis Visionen Moderation ist vor "Das Allerletzte" und geht ungefähr so: "Ich habe ja oft Visionen. Vorallem nachts. Neulich lag ich in meinem Hotelzimmer und bekam so ein merkwürdiges Gefühl. Die Wände um mich herum rückten näher und glühten rot und sahen aus wie flüssige Lava. Ich rief nach dem Zimmermädchen. Sie drehte sich verschlafen um und ich erschrak. Ich schaute in eine grauenvolle Grimasse, die mir gleichzeitig schrecklich vertraut vorkam. Denn es war das Gesicht von Clemens!" Und dann sagt er noch irgendetwas über Situationen, in denen man keine passenden Worte findet, und dass das folgende Lied dafür gedacht ist- oder so etwas ähnliches.

Thank you Anke! genau so war's! *lach*

From Martin:

It took me one hour to correct this report! It was full of "Denglish" words, e.g. wenn-when, Januar-January

Sorry Martin, but thanks for reading it after midnight.