It is Thursday, July 18th. The second evening of the Gurten Festival is just beginning. Pauli and his band, which includes Max, DJ Katana and Lino Schwertfisch, have gathered backstage. Lou, the booker and manager, asks if Max would like to say anything to the crew before the concert. Estelle, known as Alwa Alibi, who will bring Pauli to the Campfire Stage during his performance, rolls her eyes – she doesn’t like the obligatory circle before the performance. “Does that have to happen?” It has to. Max says he has been close to tears all day. Tears of joy, of course.
Max had already bought the four-day pass long before it became clear that he would be appearing as Pauli at this year’s Gurten Festival. “Immer dra gluubt aber nie hättis dänkt” raps Pauli aptly in the outro of his new album, which he took to the Gurten Festival.
We want to have a good time together. We all need to do this, and we all bear responsibility for it.”
«The next song is called Go ahead», says Pauli on stage. This is one of the new album tracks that, like the other fourteen tracks, simply «means a lot» to him. The audience also likes that. «The lyrics are so beautiful,» says a young woman to her friend.
(Photo: Claudia Baumer)
“Believe me, I saw you – I know it’s just a little,” raps Pauli on the Campfire Stage. This is followed by extensive applause for the people who work behind the stage. But the people in the audience are also made visible. It’s not a perfect space, that much is clear. Shit happens – even at the Gurten Festival, says Pauli. “We want to have a good time together. We all need that, we all bear responsibility for that.”
A warm summer night on Sunset Boulevard
Sometimes, very rarely, there is one of those magical summer nights when suddenly everyone is there – walking aimlessly together, on the still warm streets the evening suddenly seems endless. Sunset Boulevard Pauli captured the feeling of such a summer night musically.
(Photo: Claudia Baumer)
He takes his listeners outside (Take the shower.), out of the greyness of everyday life (tombola) and advocates Simply to stay in bed for a while. Pauli opens the windows wide and lets fresh wind and holiday feelings into the room (French Riviera).
What do we still dream of when everything is possible?
The past (the Sixties) behind him, he looks confidently into the future and, between neon lights and asphalt surfaces, finds answers to the question of what we actually dream of when suddenly everything is possible. Because: “When everything is over and I don’t need anything, I’ll move away from here,” says Pauli on the outro Without youMeanwhile, the Sunset Boulevard a fictional place with plenty of room for change and the freedom needed for our utopias.
See you on the summer stage
While Linda, Lino and Max say goodbye to the audience on the Campfire Stage, a few tears of joy roll down their heated faces. After the concert, the pink Sunset Boulevard-Sweaters like colored dots over the large area- and slowly disappear into the mass of festival-goers.
(Photo: Claudia Baumer)
Anyone who missed the sunset at the Gurten Festival can soon catch up. On August 31, Pauli and his band will bring the Sunset Boulevard to the open SCHÜTZ summer stage. After that, the first autumn concerts will take place.
