German Fest and The Police Reviews
Jul. 27th, 2008 11:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ferrumaeternumFriday was the first and regrettably last time I will be able to see The Police. Surprisingly it was also my first German Fest, despite the fact I’ve been speaking German for over six years and having German heritage on both sides of my family.
I was surprised at how most of the culture at German Fest was set back quite a few decades. It seemed to be made for old German Catholics and Lutherans. I couldn’t find any rune sets or rune pendants anywhere. The only other cultural festival I’ve attended before was Irish Fest, which embraces old traditions as well as modern culture and bands, and doesn’t leave out aspects of Ireland’s pre-Christian past. The other interesting thing is that German Fest is very Bavaria-oriented, which is quite a bit different than the rest of Germany. Most of the steins even had sayings about Bavaria and the Black Forest. The rest was very stereotypical from the food to the dress to the music. With the sheer amount of people with Germanic heritage living here, one would think the festival would try to bring something new to Milwaukee. I wasn’t surprised to see all the local German restaurants vending there. Nearly all the items for sale can be found at German Glass & Gift Imports in Richfield or Chicago’s annual Christkindlmarkt. There was one German rock band that played – Biba und die Butzemänner, but I was unable to see them due to the concert. Perhaps it may have been more enjoyable if I was old enough to publicly consume Jaegermeister or any of the other fine imported beer and alcoholic beverages, but I won’t be able to do that at German Fest for another two years. Will I go back again? Depends on what bands are playing then, really.
I had a better seat than I imagined as I was only about thirty rows from the stage and between the center and the left, which made for a great angled view. I was disappointed that hardly half of the Amphitheater was filled by the time Elvis Costello and the Imposters went onstage. Despite the insane humidity, he still wore a suit and left it on for the entire set, even though he looked like he was going to keel over at any moment from the way he was moving around with his guitar. I had previously seen Costello with Allen Toussaint for all of five minutes at Summerfest a few years ago when a certain someone I was with decided they wanted to leave. Anyway, him and his band were very solid, playing the ‘80s hits “Pump it Up” and “Everyday I Write the Book”, along with material from his new album. His keyboardist did an excellent job with the complex and diverse material and the drummer had a very primal sound (which I love) that cut through the summer air like a knife. He also played more soulful numbers such as “Flutter and Wow” and “Allison”, where Sting came out and turned it into a duet. A good third of the audience missed out on that one for arriving late.
Although nothing can compare to the original at their peak, I thought The Police were phenomenal, especially for a reunion. Sting and Stewart Copeland were in great shape, and Andy Summers just looked like Steve Diggle from the Buzzcocks, especially with the frilly flowery shirt he was wearing. Regardless, he’s a great guitarist. I studied his work while I was taking lessons, so it was a treat for me to see him play live. He even gave a Fender Strat warmth and feeling, which ain’t easy. Andy and Sting also had a bit of a guitar and bass play-off, which are always fun. Other than the fact Sting looked like he hadn’t shaved for a few days and his shirt looked like Under Armour, he was still in great physical shape and his voice cut right through the crowd of 15,000 that were all singing along. Sting took advantage of that and let us sing quite a few parts of their songs, including half the chorus to “Da Do Do Do, De Da Da Da”. Unfortunately, he obviously forgot part of the lyrics toward the beginning of “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic”, but recovered quickly. The audience’s average age was roughly 50, and most of them were drunk off cheap watery American beer, so no one else really seemed to notice. This is the third legendary band I’ve seen this summer, and it’s funny that all of their tours have been based off their best albums: Iron Maiden with Powerslave, Blondie with Parallel Lines, and now The Police with Synchronicity. The stage setup and lights also reflected this, and despite being designed back in the ‘80s, still gave the stage a very futuristic look. There were even several rising columns with different seizure-inducing lights. The Police’s reggae, jazz, and Eastern influences really came out during this performance, especially with Stewart Copeland’s incredible percussion skills. For “Don’t Stand so Close to Me” and “Wrapped Around Your Finger”, he played a gong, xylophone, and several different chimes and symbols simultaneously. During one of their songs Sting even changed the lyrics to “this is the Stewart Copeland show”. Indeed it was, and a great one at that.
Photos can be viewed here, since I didn't realize my camera did not have any batteries in it until I got down there.
Message in a Bottle
Walking on the Moon
Demolition Man
Voices Inside My Head / When the World is Running Down
Don’t Stand so Close to Me
Driven to Tears
Hole in My Life
Every Little Thing She Does is Magic
Wrapped Around Your Finger
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Can’t Stand Losing You / Reggatta de Blanc
Encore I:
Roxanne
King of Pain
So Lonely
Every Breath You Take
Encore II:
Next to You
Other highlights include:
Some lowlights:
Next up is Irish Fest, where I will be purchasing an assload of jewelry, seeing Leahy’s Luck and Gaelic Storm, and probably failing at trying to avoid my dad, aunt, and uncle. (We all go when we can get in free because we’re cheap.) I wish I would have gone in the rain last year to see The Tossers ‘cause they aren’t playing this year and I’ve never been able to catch them whenever they’re in town.
I was surprised at how most of the culture at German Fest was set back quite a few decades. It seemed to be made for old German Catholics and Lutherans. I couldn’t find any rune sets or rune pendants anywhere. The only other cultural festival I’ve attended before was Irish Fest, which embraces old traditions as well as modern culture and bands, and doesn’t leave out aspects of Ireland’s pre-Christian past. The other interesting thing is that German Fest is very Bavaria-oriented, which is quite a bit different than the rest of Germany. Most of the steins even had sayings about Bavaria and the Black Forest. The rest was very stereotypical from the food to the dress to the music. With the sheer amount of people with Germanic heritage living here, one would think the festival would try to bring something new to Milwaukee. I wasn’t surprised to see all the local German restaurants vending there. Nearly all the items for sale can be found at German Glass & Gift Imports in Richfield or Chicago’s annual Christkindlmarkt. There was one German rock band that played – Biba und die Butzemänner, but I was unable to see them due to the concert. Perhaps it may have been more enjoyable if I was old enough to publicly consume Jaegermeister or any of the other fine imported beer and alcoholic beverages, but I won’t be able to do that at German Fest for another two years. Will I go back again? Depends on what bands are playing then, really.
I had a better seat than I imagined as I was only about thirty rows from the stage and between the center and the left, which made for a great angled view. I was disappointed that hardly half of the Amphitheater was filled by the time Elvis Costello and the Imposters went onstage. Despite the insane humidity, he still wore a suit and left it on for the entire set, even though he looked like he was going to keel over at any moment from the way he was moving around with his guitar. I had previously seen Costello with Allen Toussaint for all of five minutes at Summerfest a few years ago when a certain someone I was with decided they wanted to leave. Anyway, him and his band were very solid, playing the ‘80s hits “Pump it Up” and “Everyday I Write the Book”, along with material from his new album. His keyboardist did an excellent job with the complex and diverse material and the drummer had a very primal sound (which I love) that cut through the summer air like a knife. He also played more soulful numbers such as “Flutter and Wow” and “Allison”, where Sting came out and turned it into a duet. A good third of the audience missed out on that one for arriving late.
Although nothing can compare to the original at their peak, I thought The Police were phenomenal, especially for a reunion. Sting and Stewart Copeland were in great shape, and Andy Summers just looked like Steve Diggle from the Buzzcocks, especially with the frilly flowery shirt he was wearing. Regardless, he’s a great guitarist. I studied his work while I was taking lessons, so it was a treat for me to see him play live. He even gave a Fender Strat warmth and feeling, which ain’t easy. Andy and Sting also had a bit of a guitar and bass play-off, which are always fun. Other than the fact Sting looked like he hadn’t shaved for a few days and his shirt looked like Under Armour, he was still in great physical shape and his voice cut right through the crowd of 15,000 that were all singing along. Sting took advantage of that and let us sing quite a few parts of their songs, including half the chorus to “Da Do Do Do, De Da Da Da”. Unfortunately, he obviously forgot part of the lyrics toward the beginning of “Every Little Thing She Does is Magic”, but recovered quickly. The audience’s average age was roughly 50, and most of them were drunk off cheap watery American beer, so no one else really seemed to notice. This is the third legendary band I’ve seen this summer, and it’s funny that all of their tours have been based off their best albums: Iron Maiden with Powerslave, Blondie with Parallel Lines, and now The Police with Synchronicity. The stage setup and lights also reflected this, and despite being designed back in the ‘80s, still gave the stage a very futuristic look. There were even several rising columns with different seizure-inducing lights. The Police’s reggae, jazz, and Eastern influences really came out during this performance, especially with Stewart Copeland’s incredible percussion skills. For “Don’t Stand so Close to Me” and “Wrapped Around Your Finger”, he played a gong, xylophone, and several different chimes and symbols simultaneously. During one of their songs Sting even changed the lyrics to “this is the Stewart Copeland show”. Indeed it was, and a great one at that.
Photos can be viewed here, since I didn't realize my camera did not have any batteries in it until I got down there.
Message in a Bottle
Walking on the Moon
Demolition Man
Voices Inside My Head / When the World is Running Down
Don’t Stand so Close to Me
Driven to Tears
Hole in My Life
Every Little Thing She Does is Magic
Wrapped Around Your Finger
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Can’t Stand Losing You / Reggatta de Blanc
Encore I:
Roxanne
King of Pain
So Lonely
Every Breath You Take
Encore II:
Next to You
Other highlights include:
- Drunken middle-aged people doing all kinds of dorky dances
- Modert art images being shown before the concert by Warhol, Mondrian, and Haring
- Bob Marley’s “Get Up Stand Up” being played loudly before The Police went onstage
- People showing up to the concert wearing lederhosen and other traditional German garb
- Losing about five pounds in sweat, only to probably gain it back by eating a large piece of Schwarzwald Kirschtorte afterward
- Doing the chicken dance and polkaing to an oom-pah band with my mom
- A stein that was also a drinking horn, which would have been pretty badass if it wasn’t $80
- The “das Boot” drinking boot stand that actually means ‘the boat’ in German, not ‘the boot’, so the shirts that meant to say ‘I love the boot’ (I love das Boot) were really ‘I love the boat’. Boot = Stiefel auf Deutsch. This is why you can’t put German and English words together in a sentence.
- The lack of umlauts in signs, which also changes the meanings of some words. The least they could have done was add an ‘e’ after the letter that should have had an umlaut over it.
Some lowlights:
- My $120 jacket getting stepped on by a drunk old cougar
- Nearly all the food stands revolved around meat and sauerkraut and some combination of the two
- Most of the stuff being geared for old people who don’t know squat about ancient or modern German culture
- The only people I caught actually knowing German were those onstage
Next up is Irish Fest, where I will be purchasing an assload of jewelry, seeing Leahy’s Luck and Gaelic Storm, and probably failing at trying to avoid my dad, aunt, and uncle. (We all go when we can get in free because we’re cheap.) I wish I would have gone in the rain last year to see The Tossers ‘cause they aren’t playing this year and I’ve never been able to catch them whenever they’re in town.
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