They were happy about a “real concert” in front of “real people” in Ladenburg: Clemens Rehbein (front) and Philipp Dausch (right) from Milky Chance. Photos: Bernhard Kreutzer
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By Katharina Schröder
Ladenburg.Caramelized chorizo, pasta salad, chocolate-covered strawberries – it doesn’t sound like a typical concert meal. Sven, Antonia, Julian and Franka sit with it on their blanket on the Ladenburger Festwiese and wait for the sold out concert of the Folktronica band Milky Chance from Kassel.
Around 1200 fans are waiting with them. They sit in small groups on blankets they have brought with them, with their own provisions. That is the concept of picnic concerts. “The event starts earlier,” says visitor Antonia. “You prepare the food together, that’s really nice.” The four were able to get in the mood for the concert musically. Milky Chance was already running during preparation. For the four concertgoers are Picnic concerts a concept for the future. “It’s more relaxed than usual in a scramble,” says Sven. The only drawback is the cool box you brought with you. “We were told at the entrance that such a hard object is not good.” For the next time the group plans with a cool bag.
More festival than concert: Friday evening with Milky Chance at the Ladenburger Festwiese on the Neckar.The audience is mostly quite young, for many it is the first concert since the beginning of the pandemic. “It just feels good to be back at a concert,” says Johanna from Heidelberg. Last year she was already at a picnic concert in Berlin, “but it’s better here,” she says.
Sophie, Christina and Mandy from Hockenheim, Schwetzingen and Reilingen are enthusiastic about the picnic format. “Everything is well organized,” praised Mandy. “Bringing your own stuff with you is really cool and you don’t feel that press on each other,” says Sophie. But the three of them bought a cold beer. The cooler bag doesn’t keep up with a drinks trolley. So there is still a gastronomic offer at the picnic concerts. Long queues are non-existent there.
The evening seems more like a festival. Visitors settle down on their picnic blankets and there is plenty of exercise. Instead of just standing in front of the stage, the fans sometimes walk a bit – then with mouth and nose protection, which the stewards also control. A picnic concert is by no means a static event where everyone is seated, and Milky Chance can handle it very well.
When the band takes the stage, it takes less than ten seconds to get the crowd to stand up, the first dance quickly. This is somewhat reminiscent of the children’s game “The ground is lava”, because the groups should not leave the picnic blanket or their own area marked with lines on the meadow. People cheer and celebrate the band on stage. The percussion and bass vibrate. The scene does seem a bit surreal. Milky Chance singer Clemens Rehbein agrees. “People – yay” is his first exclamation. The evening on the Festwiese is the first real concert in front of real people after a year, and that is “mega awesome”.
There is also a premiere for the fans in Ladenburg. Milky Chance will play the new song “Colorado” live for the first time at the festival grounds. That goes down well. While singer Rehbein is exhausting himself on stage, the audience in front of the stage does the same. And here, too, the advantages of the format are evident: Many fans dance and hop barefoot to the music. What can end in a broken foot at a regular concert is easily possible at a picnic concert.
After an encore, the stage ends shortly before 10 p.m. Unlike at other concerts, the fans don’t head straight for the exit. Many sit on their blankets and chat. The atmosphere at the picnic concert is especially relaxed, and partying works at a distance.
By the way, this was the case in mid-July at the “deck chair concerts” by Revolverheld and Johannes Oerding in Hirschberg. But there the fans got the food brought to their seats to order. The fact that gastro employees scurried through the rows didn’t hurt the atmosphere at all. Helge Schneider, on the other hand, felt so disturbed by the food service providers in front of his stage at his “beach chair” concert in Augsburg that he broke off his performance. So it doesn’t always have to be down to the concept. Maybe formats like the picnic concert in Ladenburg are even a reminder and a slow getting used to the time before the pandemic. In any case, it was a success on the festival ground.
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