Yesterday I learnt again that spontaneity is a very good thing and often results in beautiful experiences. I decided last minute to join my friend to go to the Xavier Naidoo Open Air in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. I didn’t have a ticket and I was not sure if and how to get one, but I felt I should just go. And fortunately getting a ticket turned out to be easy.
The city of Rothenburg is a beautiful one with a lovely medieval city center and wonderful nature around. But we didn’t have more time than for a short stroll through the city to get my ticket at the tourist information because we had to queue. The concert took place on the Eiswiese outside the city, the place where next weekend the “Taubertal Festival” starts with acts like “The Offspring“, “Materia“, “Beatsteaks“, “Farin Urlaub”, “Madsen” and more.
Supporting act was Daniel Wirtz. He became widely known recently for his participation in the TV-program “Tauschkonzert”. Some may also remember him as the lead singer from Sub7even, a German band whose song “Free your mind” with En Vogue brought them international success as well. Now Wirtz performs as a solo artist. His songs are honest, deep, dirty and they just rock! So it was a great start into the evening. Favorites: Keine Angst, Mon amour and L.M.A.A., which he wrote for all the music critics who picked his first album to pieces. I also love his version of Yvonne Catterfeld‘s “Du hast mein Herz gebrochen”, but unfortunately he didn’t play it.
BTW: Xavier himself introduced Wirtz! I thought that was a beautiful gesture, because often supporting acts are just fill-ins. Xavier gave him a respectful frame.
Then finally the singer whom some call “Dr. Ton” entered the stage for his own set. He started off with a cover version of Edwin Starr’s War and followed up with “Frei” together with Wirtz, his own “Frei sein” and another song about freedom, which will be on his new “Nicht von dieser Welt 2” album. Of course some of his hits were a must and the audience sang along to “Bitte hör nicht auf zu träumen”, “Ich kenne nichts” or “Dieser Weg”. The encore set was a bit unusual. While most artists end their concert with their biggest hits, their sing-along-songs, Xavier started with two covers of slow and sad songs (“Amoi seg ma uns wieder” – Andreas Gabalier and “Mitten unterm Jahr” – Christina Stürmer), then a slow, political song “Europa” and ended with two album tracks “Hört, hört” and “Zeilen aus Gold” – despite the fact that there were quite a few of his big hits that could have ended the show and hence were left out completely. But considering that Naidoo is a very conscious artist, I guess that it must be seen as a statement. Looking at the title of the show could be a hint that he wanted to defy conventions, to free himself from them. Adding the fact that Xavier is known for his attitude to emphasize the message and to be critical regarding typical popstar behavior and adoration, it makes sense. It might not meet the audience’s expectations but I totally admire his courage to free himself from them and to kind of free himself from his own material as well and not let it chain him into everlasting performances of the same old stuff. But that’s just my humble interpretation…
Despite the five hours on the road, the milelong walk to and from the parking area to the venue, the eight hours of waiting, the unfortunately only “almost-meeting” with Daniel Wirtz, whom security told to leave exactly at the moment that it was our time to get our picture taken with him, the odyssey to find the freeway after the show because of milelong detours and later the odyssey to find something to eat… it was all worth it and we had a wonderful, fun day! Unfortunately it seems we often tend to forget how to act spontaneously the older we get. But yesterday I made a vow to become more spontaneous again!
music, the world & me 