Eisheilige Nacht 2023
29.12.2023, Bremen, Germany
FULL GALLERY can be found HERE
The Pier2, which at best would fit 2800 party-loving fans, filled up only hesitantly – and we stayed far away from that number throughout the evening. But it did get sweaty as the evening progressed – because if you dance and celebrate your favorite band, there’s no way around it.
The evening started right on time with MANNTRA from Croatia, who were able to set the audience on fire for around 30 minutes. Wonderfully approachable and full of energy, they took over the stage and the fans welcomed them with open arms. A performance that really warmed everyone up after queuing in the cold, as everyone gratefully joined in. Musically, it may not have been to everyone’s taste, but they also got the audience in their seats to stand up, and that’s telling a lot!
After the show, the thirsty fans flocked to the bars to make good use of the changeover time and to get some liquid carbohydrates – after all, the evening was still young and would still require a lot of energy from them.
The evening continued with LETZTE INSTANZ – for me still one of the bands I’ve been listening to and following since my youth, and it’s always nice to see them on stage. And that’s because although they’ve grown older like you and I, they’ve aged like wine (or good cheese, but that sounds less charming) – still full of passion, full of energy and still up for some funny acts. A pink sock with a face as a singing hand puppet?
Quite normal. The first collaboration with one of the other bands on “Entzündet die Feuer”? No problem, Albi from Fiddler’s Green joined them on stage. But speaking of Fiddler’s Green – if you wanted to see a wonderfully attractive Christmas tree, all you had to do was wait until the performance of “All I want for Christmas is you” – and Fiddler’s Tobi danced across the stage in a amazingly charming costume – and certainly got a few laughs from the audience. When we reached the end of the show, we looked into disappointed faces – why? The show had been great! And that’s exactly the problem – it was over far too soon, just the same amount of songs on top and everyone would have been satisfied.
During the next short break, people made another pilgrimage – this time not to the beer stalls, but…three guesses, even though it would certainly only take one try. What hadn’t been sweated out yet had to be gotten rid of elsewhere and after a fight out of the crowd and back into it, the break was over in the blink of an eye.
FIDDLER`S GREEN continued even faster and more danceable – equipped with their new album and songs off it, as well as with many older songs, the time continued to fly by, or rather: as if dancing made time vanish. When the audience wasn´t dancing solo, there was a small circle pit around violinist Tobi – and hand on heart, I quickly packed my camera in my bag and threw myself into the fray.
Somehow it’s become a bit of a standard for a band to send a member into the crowd and say: “Good luck, we hope nobody stumbles!”. Fortunately, it went well once again and everyone returned to their starting positions without any injuries, only to then enjoy Tobi’s wonderful solo, played with endless love and passion, or or or… it was a gig that was so full of fun and joy that it’s hard to decide which of the many highlights to emphasize! What you can say, however, is that the new tracks are not only an absolute hit on CD, but also work brilliantly live!
Last but not least, everyone was already slightly exhausted but full of anticipation, waiting for SUBWAY TO SALLY – and immediately we found ourselves in a (not so pleasant smelling) snow flurry. A wonderful and Christmassy, or at least wintry, sight. This start already had something magical about it, and of course, how could it be otherwise, there was “Eiskönigin” as an introduction. What followed was what you could expect from Subway to Sally on their current tour, judging by the setlist.
There weren’t really any surprises, which I thought was a bit of a shame – of course it was entertaining when the other bands stormed onto the stage during “Veitstanz” and swapped instruments, but that special something was missing here. Especially for fans who have already seen the band several times during this year’s tour, I would have liked a moment of surprise here and there. But that’s not to say that the show wasn’t good – it was fun, not only for the audience but also visibly for the band. It was a successful and well-rounded end to the evening before the fans were released into the darkness and cold of this December night.
