Die Toten Hosen

In June of this year I was able to be at one of the biggest events of this year, as part of working for the event venue "Stadthalle Bremerhaven, an open-air concert with Stigma, Trashmonkeys, Donots, and Millencolin. All of them were part of the pre-show for the headliner "Die Toten Hosen," one of Germany's biggest Bands. 12.000 fans came, and it was so much fun to photograph and write about this occasion.

Here is the article as I posted it on the website Stadthalle Bremerhaven




If you are interested in seeing my pictures of the event, follow these two links: Pictures of Die Toten Hosen, and Pictures of Stigma, Trashmonkeys, Donots, Millencolin


Here is a translation of the article I wrote about the open air concert with the "Toten Hosen" [The Dead Pants] – funny name for a band, I know. "Die Hosen" have been a band since 1982 and became an essential element in the German punk-rock movement. They have been able to sell over 23 million records to date, and are performing all over the world – which is very rare for a German band with predominant German lyrics. "Die Hosen" are definitely known by every German; therefore, I considered working at the concert an honor. Besides, I must say that the "Donots," pronounced do-nots, are a great live band. I love their song "Stop the Clocks". Check out their latest album "Coma Chameleon," it's worth it. And the "Trashmonkeys" have planted their song "Attitudes in Stereo" in my ear, ever since hearing it live.

Thanks for your interest, here is the English translation of "Open Air der Superlative--Die Toten Hosen"

An Open Air Concert of Superlative Quality: „Die Toten Hosen“ are performing live in Bremerhaven

An open-air concert of superlative quality took place on Saturday the 6th of June at Wilhelm-Kaisen-Platz in Bremerhaven. 12.000 fans came to enjoy one of the most successful German bands to date, “Die Toten Hosen” live. And if that would have not been enough to attract viewers, “Die Hosen” brought a number of punk-rock bands with them to animate the crowd before their show.

The beginning of the almost six-hour long concert is made by “Stigma,” a German alternative band that sings their songs in German, which is rare for this genre.

Next are the “Trashmonkeys.” “We are trying to break the sound-barriers, today,” says Andreas G. Wolfinger, the lead singer, and starts playing their current single “Leaving Home.” The band from Bremen gives there all for an hour, and says good-bye with “Attitudes in Stereo.” “The encore will be on our LP,” says Wolfinger and refers to the band’s merchandise, which is being sold on the festival grounds. The audience is thrilled. An enthusiastic viewer in the front row asks a security guard for the band’s name that had just finished their performance.

After a short break, the “Donots” step on stage. Ingo Knollmann —lead singer — understands how to thrill the audience. And after his band’s performance, and his funny statements, one could say the Donots have developed a friendly relationship with Bremerhaven’s audience. “Bremerhaven, you are windy,” he says, “Bremerhaven, but you’re still dressed very nicely.” Then he continuous with the last song, “Stop the Clocks,” and orders the audience to sing along, “At a Hosen concert every single song has to be sung along,” he adds, “At a ‘Hosen’ concert every single damn song is being sung along,” he smiles contagiously.

With the last pre-show performance, a punk-rock sound pours out of the speakers. The audience is still pleasantly hyped when “Millencolin” starts playing their songs. Nikola Sarcevic greets the crowd and explains that it is National Day in Sweden – their hometown; he is being ironic when he states that his band came from Sweden to be celebrating the holiday in Germany.

At dusk, after a four-hour long pre-show with a fantastic line-up, “Die Toten Hosen” finally begin their two hour performance. Campino and Co are pleasing the crowd with classics and new songs of their latest CD “In Aller Stille” [In All Silence]. “Machmalauter” [Turnitup], the motto of the upcoming tour that includes more open-air performances, seems like a complete success, as 12.000 fans leave happily and pleased at 11 pm.

Die USA lieben ihren Präsidenten, oder?

Here is another translation of an article I wrote in January 2009 for DEICHHELDEN




Americans love their president, don’t they?

It has been official for over two weeks now, America’s first African-American president is officially in office and it seems that Americans love him. Furthermore, the whole world is fascinated with President Barack Obama. DEICHHELDEN reporter, Janina Marquordt, met five young Americans to find out how they have witnessed this historical event and asked them what they really think about their president.

Megan Dixon, 25, Hyatsville, MD,
Katie Edwards, 22, Brooklyn, NYC,
Pat Roxas, 24, Manhattan, NYC,
Marie Jean-Louis, 25, Brooklyn, NYC,
Dwayne Hackett, 25, Brooklyn, NYC

For inauguration, the 20th of January, an estimated 1.5 million people went down to the National Mall to witness how Obama got sworn in, what did you do for inauguration?
Megan: I went to the National Mall with several friends of mine and watched the ceremony on jumbotrons. It was exciting and exhausting because we had stayed up all night the night before in order to get down there super early. It was crowded, and crazy, and for a while we didn’t think we would make it up to the Mall because they had closed down so many streets for security. We finally found a way and were actually close to the Washington Monument.
Marie: I was at work but we watched it on a small TV that my co-workers had organized, so I was able to watch most of it.
Pat: Woke up at 11 o’clock, (I couldn’t go to DC), turned on the TV and watched it, the best seat you can get is in front of your TV.
Megan: Yes, I could have just watched it on TV, I didn’t even see that much, but it felt great being able to be part of a huge historic moment and share it with others.

How did you feel when the first African-American president got sworn in?
Dwayne: Unfortunately, I was at work, so I missed a good portion of it; however, my highlight was to learn that he was the official president of the United States.
Pat: I voted for Obama, and I think that was more important than going to DC to see him being sworn in.

Do you remember the day Obama got elected, and did you expect him to win?
Katie: I didn’t think it was gonna happen but I kinda lost faith in our country the second round of Bush being in office. So I thought that it was really cool for a black president who was about change and a lot of new things happening, but I thought people didn’t wanna take that risk or do something different for once. I was kinda doubting our country but got pleasantly surprised.
Dwayne: I am from Barbados, our population is 95% black, so for me it was more so because his father was a direct descendant from Africa and his mother being mixed. You have this boy who would have, 50 years ago, been walked all over, not just because he is black but because he is mixed, to instantly becoming president of the United States. The fact that that you would have someone to come from the lowest of the lows, to catapult its way all the way of the top, was a world-changing event.
Megan: I had a bunch of friends over and we watched it on TV. I remembered the last elections when it was Kerry versus Bush, we thought Kerry would win, and then as the night went on, when it looked like he was winning, and didn’t at the end, made me feel so awful, it was so disappointing. So I had that in the back of my head and I was pretty sure, but also scared about what could happen if he wouldn’t win, just like Kerry. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the TV and when we learnt that Obama won, we were all screaming and dancing. On the news they started showing all the stuff that was going on in DC, all the people coming out in the streets to celebrate, so we decided to go down, too. People were high fiving and hugging strangers. It was definitely a night I will always remember.

What does Obama stand for, and what are you hoping will change?
Pat: Obama stands for a bunch of high expectations that need to be met. ‘We will harvest the wind, the sun, and the soil’, he said. We need new energy sources-our climate is changing. He’s definitely got a long four years.
Marie: He stands for the people, the middle class, the people that make up most of the United States, the ones that get screwed by our taxes. I want everybody out of Iraq. I want the economy to go back up. I want more fairness between classes. I want everybody to have health insurance, and I want woman to have the same rights. [A week and a half, after inauguration, Obama signs the “Lily Ledbecker Fair Pay Act”, under which pay is not determined by gender or skin color. The act was named after the now 70 year-old Lily Ledbecker, who went to the Supreme Court, to effectuate the same wage for females like herself, and their male co-workers, but her case had been denied.]
Megan: He is trying to bring in a new era of government that is transparent, and that actually works for the people more so than the big corporations. I am concerned of the state of our educational system, the state of health care. I also hope that he can help restore our reputation throughout the world.
Dwayne: There are so many things that I want to change, but what I really want to change is that I would prefer that he would find a way for companies’ recognition for the need of the people, meaning more jobs and fair payment for the jobs. I want payments to be adjusted.
Katie: I think he is a great icon of every person in America, like the president should be, and that’s why he has a lot on his plate. I hope that it will inspire other people to put their expectations in regards and actually do things to change. It’s everyone’s job to make something change, not just his. He is just not gonna fix everything, and I hope people will understand that.
Pat: He is not inspiring people, the people have to inspire him. He is the president that is subjected to change what the people want. He will only do what the people push him to do.
Katie: Anything is better than what we had for the past eight years, so even if he fails at everything, he still stands for something amazing that is way better than what we’ve had.
Dwayne: Exactly, regardless of all the turmoil we are going through, it was a world-changing event and I think it is the first of many dominos that will fall, probably all over the world. No matter how his presidency ends, it is a new age.

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