No, not the sort of festival that comes to mind straight away. Better not to make a comparison with Werchter, Pinkpop, Roskilde or Rock am Ring. Picture a very laid back, very civilized, very "bürgerlich" festival for the whole family; two tents, a mussel-shaped stage where local bands and hip-hoppers can do their look-mummy-I-can-twirl-without-hands thing, (street)theatre, gardens of beer, and fun & games for the little ones. An entire week with only a few performances per day. With the top-act programmed in the middle of the week, the (obviously) still active and alive: Manfred Mann's Earth Band. (Remember "Mighty Quinn"?) By the way, the 'only' act which sold-out a couple of days in advance.

Well Saturday gives what Sunday steals. Tonight 16 Horsepower has to compete with Taj Mahal (maybe the janitor of the building? Your guess is as good as mine ;-) who plays in the larger of the two tents. 16 Horsepower is scheduled to perform in the small tent (capacity approx. 350-400 people) with plenty of tickets still available late in the afternoon. Will the show sell-out? The weather surely doesn't help to attract more people, even though the beergardens are quite full with some hard-core drinkers.

Having a German meal outside (but safely under a roof) a stone's throw away from the 'Kleines Zelt' we were getting plagued by 60 minutes of aborted Splinters-versions during the sound-check. No, dinner was great. ;->

Then just 15 minutes before the show Nick Cave welcomed us into the tent. "Tupelo" was played on the P.A. Coincidence? I don't think so. ;->
Shortly after, David E. Edwards arrived through the same entrance we all did. He gazed into the audience, noticed only a handful of people and telepathically I could hear him think: "Yeah, this will be another great show I'll tell my kids about." ;-) Around 20:00 only the tiers of seats (4 rows) were pretty filled. The semi-circle before the stage frightening empty. Not a very uplifting and inspiring sight for the rest of the band- and crewmembers who came dropping in one by one. Dropping? Well, not everyone.

One was making a strange ticking sound; the sound of a metal leg. Pascal Humbert slowly entered the tent with a crutch, his strawfoot wrapped in white bandage. Jean-Yves Tola adjusting his pace beside him, looking like a proud mother, who had just done her job well. ;-)

Pascal cautiously limped his way on stage. Everyone's attention was focused on him. What had happened? A severe case of blood poisoning. A very painful affair. He couldn't stand up to play the bass guitar or the double bass. So he sat down on a barstool, which really didn't look like the most appropriate furniture to give his foot the rest it needed.

They opened with Splinters (doesn't it sound familiar? ;-). By that time people had left their seats and came towards the front of the stage. To have a better glance at David's footwear, I suppose. Are those sneakers? No, their just ... (pointy) white shoes with a small buckle? But can this be filed under the chapter: David is a dandy? ;->
And look at Steve's shirt? ... Is that washable? ;-) ... Is this a 70's silver shiny disco-shirt? No, it looks great on you. Yeah, really. ;->

It was only in the midst of Wayfaring Stranger I got more aware how the band made up for Elin Palmer's absence. Really proven at the utmost during Straw Foot. Jean-Yves showed us again how very skillful he is as a percussionist. In one hand a kettledrum-stick beating synchronous with the rhythm and in the other hand a different kettledrum-stick (had a more xylophone-effect to it) he slammed against the rhythm in several more beats. Very impressive, especially to a person who can't even master the game where one hand has to go back and forth above your head and the other has to move from left to right in front of your stomach. :-)

Pascal's face regularly distorted into grimaces, which weren't always the same as when he's fully concentrated and into his music. ;-) Several times David asked whether he was o.k. Pascal answered with smiles. Smiles that probably meant; no, but I'm hanging in there, don't worry. But when he had to change instruments and was struggling with that big double bass it was evident that it wasn't easy for him.
Yet on Harm's Way he finds again a way to dazzle me with a very tender and atmospheric bass-line. Incredible! Later with "Silver saddle" he even manages to squeeze out didgeridoo sounds from the double bass.

During the show, the tent suddenly filled up pretty completely and a corps of lively guys, weaponed with bottles of white wine stationed themselves behind us. Am I still in my probationary period about the fact that I said German people never talk during concerts? Cause ...em ... I actually like to take that back. ;-)

Steve's contribution was larger than ever. More keyboards, more guitar and real loud and clear backing vocals. At some points even with more passion in his voice, looking at the audience as if he had a lot of anger in him. Or was it because he spotted someone who was flashing with his camera? ;->
At the end of Wayfaring Stranger when Steve steals the show with his guitar solo, David clapped in his hands and complimented him with, I think he said: "Crazy Horse Tonight." He did say it off mike though, so he could easily have said something else, like : "Lazy whores unite" ;->
Not sure if it was on Silver Saddle or Cinder Alley, but on one of the slower songs, Steve took a position with legs spread as if he was about to give this gigantic solo. Instead he prudently touches his guitar. He probably wasn't aware of it himself, but it was a real funny sight to look upon.

When the regular set ended with Clogger, Pascal seemed in desperate need of some medication. He had come up stage as fast as a turtle, now he skipped of stage like a kangaroo. An a- and bemused Jean-Yves waved goodbye friendly. And leaving behind a baffled David, who looked as if he had just seen a miracle happen and didn't really come to terms with it.

16 Horsepower came back for one encore only (see setlist). For Heaven's Sake had to be kangaroo-skipped because of Pascal's predicament. It meant that the whole show lasted less than 75 minutes. Much to the disappointment of the relatively older audience who had really heated up to the band. In my opinion the concert was better than could be expected considering the circumstances. A cold tent where the rain came down and leaked within. It was good but not quite the stuff dreams are made of. Go to sleep lil children. The sandman's mud! The sandman's mud!

By Ing!

Excerpt from "Tupelo" by Nick Cave.

The new "Hoarse" CD with correct tracklisting was available from the merchandise stand.

A review by the Südkurier, a German newspaper.