Wise Guys
July 4th, 2009 - Borkum, Germany
Spoiler alert: Don't read this review if you don't want to know about new songs.
At the beginning of the year, I checked the Wise Guys tour plan, and discovered there was only one concert that we could go to. Other concerts would take place on dates that didn't suit us for different reasons or were simply too far away. That's when we decided to go to Borkum, to visit the third concert of their island tour. Borkum, which is the first of the East Frisian Islands isn't that far away, we can even take a ferry from the Netherlands to the island.
On Saturday morning, we cross the border and drive north on the highway in Germany. From our town, there's no highway north in the Netherlands - that's why we drive the one in Germany. We don't need our navigation system, because the way to the ferry is too easy. Briefly worded it's just driving north until we reach the Wadden Sea. All we have to make sure, is to leave the highway in time, to cross the border again and drive further north in the Netherlands. At the end of the trip, it feels like driving in the middle of nowhere. The final 10 kilometers are empty and when we approach the north coast, there's only land, windmills and some industry. And a harbour. When we leave the car, we smell the salty air and immediately forget home and work. The sun is shining, we've got plenty of time and we feel as if we're on vacation! We leave the car on the parking lot and the ferry takes us to Borkum. Although the ferry departs from the Netherlands, the majority of the passengers is German. For some reason, this island is not really known by Dutch people.
After we arrive on the eastern side of Borkum, a small steam train takes us to the small city on the western part of the island. There are many hotels, apartments, shops and it also has a nice beach. In the afternoon we explore the main streets, climb the lighthouse and take a short walk on the beach, away from the touristic area, and we find a lot of seals sunbathing and sleeping on a sandbank. It's a beautiful sight.
After dinner in a restaurant with sea view, we walk to the Ernst-Wiegman Halle, were the concert will take place. You would almost forget that that's why we're actually here! We haven't seen the group since Clemens' goodbye concert, December 2008 in Düsseldorf. We expect that Nils Olfert, "the new guy", will be settled down in the group by now and we're curious to hear him.
The hall where the concert takes place,
is a sports hall without airconditioning and when we enter it's a pleasant *cough* 27 degrees Celsius.
Luckily we don't have to wait long before the concert starts. Although we're pretty late, we still
have a good view on the stage. Just after eight o'clock, the concert starts with a new audiotape
with Eddi making some announcements about how we should enjoy the evening and about what is
and is not allowed. Then, the show really starts with Am Anfang (At the beginning), a song in which
the beginning of many different things is named such as the leaning tower of Pisa which just
started with a lousy architect. After "Mit allem was die Stimme kann, von Flüstern
bis Geschrei, legen wir jetzt richtig los. Seid ihr mit dabei?" (with all the voice can
do, from whispering to screaming, we're starting it now. Are you with us?) the audience
screams out loud and many people are clapping in unison together with the Wise Guys.
The song is followed by Moin, in which Nils introduces himself. At least by now everybody should know he's the new singer in the group. But I guess many people already know the story about Clemens' departure and are not amazed to see a new face. I'm happy to discover the sound is very clear and the lyrics can be understood quite easy, which might be caused by our position close to the sound technician. The sound must be optimal where we are.
Dän greets the audience. "Hallo and thank you! We are the Wise Guys from Cologne, and this is our new man, Nils Olfert! But, he's not that new actually, because he's 32 years old", he continues. He adds Nils course of life in two sentences, refers to the hot temperature and he asks the audience to let small people, mostly kids, get through to the front so they can see something as well. He then explains they sing songs without instruments, which is called a cappella. The Wise Guys however, decided to call their music vocal pop from now on, because a cappella sounds dull, outmoded and narrow minded. The audience applauds, and when Dän explains it's actually called "Vokal Pop", because they sing in German, the applause changes into laughter. When Dän explains they had to choose between "Vokal Pop" and "Oral Musik" the laughter and applause increases even more. When he wants to tell us something about the following song, it's still very noisy in the crowd. Dän asks if we're still discussing who can stand in the front. Again laughter and applause. When the people quiet down a bit, he tells us, the next song is some kind of an exercise, to see if we can handle more intelligent song texts. Der Mann der alles zweimal machte (The man that did everything twice) is a silly song, but the fact that it's really sung twice is a direct hit. According to Dän we should be glad, because the song was supposed to be about the man that did everything four times. Without wasting more time, they continue with Es ist nicht immer leicht (It's not always easy). This song might not be in the show for long, because it's partly about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and they might divorce soon, and The Wise Guys don't like to sing songs that are outdated, or so they claim ;)
The audience questioning is always interesting. There are quite a lot of people that are staying on Borkum because of this concert. Other than us, most people are on the island for at least a week. (We've only got two days.) The next song is Angels. Nils applied for the job with this song. He's a great tenor and his voice is strong and powerful. But I must admit I prefer their own songs, for instance Sonnenschein (Sunshine), which is written on this island, just like many other songs. The song is dedicated to all beautiful women. Without further introduction they sing Jetzt und hier (Now and here). It's a party song and the audience goes pretty wild, despite the heat. It must be really warm on stage as well. When they finish the song, Dän thanks us for the standing ovations and he adds he's glad it's not so warm in here, which is of course another reason to laugh, because we were already standing and it's terribly hot! He's wiping the sweat from his face and sounds a bit out of breath.
The next song is called Neues Handy (New mobile phone) and it's sung by the bass Ferenc. Dän first explains to the younger part of the audience, that in their youth people didn't walk around with telephones in their pockets. He describes in a very detailed way how an old telephone looked like and if we believe him, some kids in the first row are stunned.
We should also know that Eddi will be singing the bass vocals in this song, because we probably won't hear him. The mobile phone Ferenc is singing about, can do anything. According to Ferenc, it will probably even be able to iron if the newest software has been downloaded. The only thing that isn't possible is making a phone call... A typical Wise Guys songtext with funny remarks and an joke in the end. Apart from the smile it brings on my face, I'm not really stunned by the song. I like Däns story more than the song, haha.
That doesn't count for the following song, which is also new. Slechtes Karma (Bad karma), also called Loser by many fans, is different. It's not just sweet and funny, it's spicy and a bit bold. The choreography might be a bit too much like a boyband, which they really aren't, but it fits the song. After that, Eddi tells us about days on which everything goes wrong. The following song, he says, is not about such a day. Ich habe geträumt (I've dreamed), sung by Sari, is about waking up after a beautiful dream. The song has a real catchy sound (I'm still singing it in my head days after the concert). It only has a very sudden ending, but maybe that's because I heard it for the first time. Sari tells us the new songs might appear on their new album which is due to come out in February 2010. It's a long wait until then. Luckily we don't have to wait long before the break starts. Sari draws attention to the Misereor stand for which they are ambassadors and Dän continues by telling about their merchandise stand which is there to fight the financial crisis ;) The final song before the break is sung by Nils. In the song he tells us all about one of his hobbies, Midsommernacht bei Ikea (Midsummer night at Ikea). I like the song for it's absurdity, and also for Sari's vocal percussion in the end!
The temperature has risen to 29 degrees Celsius by now and air humidity is 65%. Almost everybody leaves the hall to get some fresh air and a drink. Only the people in the first rows seem to be afraid to loose the good places and stay where they are. Many people are still outside when the Wise Guys reappear on stage and start the song Ich liebe sie dafür (I love her for that). It's a ballad sung by Sari, but because of the noise the people are making while entering the hall, I can't really enjoy it. Maybe the Wise Guys are a bit distracted as well, because it's not completely straight as well. After such a sweet ballad, the intense Wo der Pfeffer wächst seems even more powerful than usual. Dän uses the song to give his voice a break, because the audience sings the verses for him. I still love the song. In the following song Nils sings about a completely different woman. Mit besten Grüßen (With kind regards) doesn't really convince me in any way and if I hadn't written the song title down, I would probably not remember the song at all. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's just my own weariness, because although I've been out in the fresh air, I'm still warm and starting to get a bit tired. I should probably hear the song again before I can judge it.
The next song is an older one. Dän tells us the average age of the audience seems to get lower. It's just something they've noticed. Eddi, Sari and Dän were in the same school class and are the same age. But for some reason, Sari has got the youngest looks and is therefore most popular. Eddi and Dän don't care at all, so says Dän, but the looks on their faces prove otherwise and the audience has to laugh. Sari looks so young, he's still even given a slice of sausage at the butcher. In Quäl dich fit (Torture till you're fit) Sari, as fitness master Mark Shakiri, explains how to stay healthy. The fitness-training-like choreography is great.
Eddi asks us who likes to fly and who doesn't. Flugzeug (Airplane) is a wonderful song and the lyrics suit me, because although I love the beautiful views, I always get a little air sick. After the part "...runter kommen sie immer" (they always get down) the audience is laughing quietly. The song is followed by Alles in die Luft, which I absolutely love for its (literally) explosive strength. The audience is loud, the Wise Guys are loud and the stroboscope is working overtime. Then, Dän tells us about some fans who are wise guys themselves. Some fans now ask if it's appropriate to sing Flugzeug just after an airplane crashed down in the Indian Ocean last week. We are told, in these situations they really think it over thoroughly. Exactly that's why they will sing the next song, even though the Titanic sank back in 1912: Seemann (Sailor).
Sing mal wieder (Sing again) is great this time. Eddi has made the sing along part for two voices, which adds new joy. Then, without further introduction, they sing Schiller, which I like a little less than before, because Eddi seems to be out of breath. Dän thanks the people that made this concert possible and informs the audience of the afterglow. The final song is an old song, usually sung by Clemens. Nils is singing the lead vocals for Mädchen lach doch mal (Girl, please smile) and it sounds very good. Apart from Clemens' huge smile, I don't miss him during this song and during this concert. Nils is definitely a good successor. Of course, a concert doesn't go without encores. The first is Radio, which I haven't heard for a long time and is so beautiful! It's still one of my favorite a cappella songs ever. Jetzt ist Sommer and Ruf doch mal an are two almost compulsory songs that are sung at every concert. But I don't feel the Wise Guys are bored by these songs and they get the party going on!
The afterglow, which takes place outside, is full of people. The Wise Guys are heaped by autograph hunters and after a highly necessary cold drink we are getting back to our hotel. The following day we take a long walk on the beach and travel back to the Netherlands, where home and work are waiting for us. We had a wonderful weekend which felt like a holiday. Maybe we'll get back to the island some day... but probably not because of the Wise Guys, because this was their last island tour.
