Berlin (dpa) – The return could hardly have been one size smaller. For the first concert after long years of pandemic and a lot of time with new songs in the studio for two albums, the Berlin band Die Ärzte is back on stage.
Before the big stadium tour through Germany, Austria and Switzerland, we first go to very small shops in the capital. Only 120 fans can attend the start of the “Berlin Tour MMXXII”. They show that enthusiasm doesn’t need a lot of space.
Pogo dancing in the smallest of spaces
Saturday night at the “Schokoladen” club is also a return to the roots of four decades of band history. The building in the center of Berlin housed a chocolate factory for a long time, followed by vacancy, occupation as a residential and cultural project, and long disputes. The project has been secured as an alternative cultural site for ten years. The rapid rise of Die Ärzte began in such shops.
The fans are in a good mood, the doctors too. The square footage of the stage is almost double digits, after less than ten meters the last row in the audience is reached. In between, every harder piece by drummer Bela B (59), guitarist Farin Urlaub (58) and bassist Rodrigo González (53) proves: pogo dancing is also possible in the smallest of spaces – loud, fast, hard, physical contact.
Finally back on stage
“Noise” is already there at the beginning of the two and a half hour concert. In the chorus of the new doctor’s song, the English word for noise, noise or noise also sounds like: “It’s time for something new”. Like the mega hit “Schrei nach Liebe”, the song has a special place in the band’s work: a joint song by Bela B and Farin Urlaub, both songs were written after years of the band crisis.
“The house blessing was a bit crooked in the band, now it’s straighter again,” Urlaub tells the fans. In contrast to the first separation, the band stayed together this time and is now back on stage. Last year, the band, which became known with punk rock, had to postpone a sold-out tour due to the corona and finally cancel it completely.
The three musicians brought almost three dozen songs with them for their return. “We dug up a few old hits,” says Bela B, “you’ve gotten older too.” From the 80s, for example, “My little darling” is included or “As on the first day”. The fans also prove far-reaching textual security with later successes such as “Himmelblau”, “Junge” or “Unrockbar”.
For Farin Urlaub it all sounds like “as if we had rehearsed”. Bela B claims: “We rehearsed for three weeks for the first time.” The on-stage dialogues between the two musicians, which repeatedly reached the point of nonsense, are style-defining for the band’s concerts. There is a lot of improvisation, fooling around, asking questions. “What key? In E now?”.
Again and again there are short musical quotations. “Je t’aime… moi non plus” by Birkin and Gainsbourg plays just as short a role that evening as Maffay’s “Und es war Sommer” or “Du hast” by Rammstein.
It’s about support for the scene
The self-proclaimed “best band in the world” leaves a lot of space for the material from the most recent albums “Hell” and “Dunkel”, both of which were created during the Corona period and each ended up at number one in the charts. “Power”, “Stupid”, “Scream”, “Dark”, “Plan B”, “Me, on the Beach” are celebrated. In “Achtung: Bielefeld”, a critique of hip boredom and excess, Bela B updates the important line “But I think that a mother in Aleppo would also like to be bored once in a while” with Kyiv as the place of horror. scene applause.
The first 13 concerts in small clubs, halls and open-air stages are not just a foretaste of the stadium tour. For Die Ärzte it is also about support for a scene in which the band grew up and is still celebrated. Not all mega hits of the long years fit into the program of an evening. In front of the “Chocolate” a fan draws a personal balance sheet from the concert: “No “Westerland”, no “Too late”, no “Cry for love” – fuck it, it was awesome.”
© dpa-infocom, dpa:220507-99-199456/5
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