Kalemegdan Disk - ROCK FROM EASTERN EUROPE

Kalemegdan Disk Release Information

Hardly a grey hair, only a few wrinkles, and as excited as if she were a teenager. She has good genes and it is hard to believe that “recently” she celebrated her 55th birthday with many guests in her native city at the Elbe. We are not talking about a woman here, but about the Stern-Combo Meißen. On 21 September 2019, the five-member art and prog rock ensemble invited guests to a concert of superlatives on the banks of the Elbe in Meißen. The recording of this impressive evening with all its highlights and musical delicacies is now being released by the Pool label as a double DVD entitled “55 Years – The Anniversary Concert”.

Much has already been said and written about this evening, however, crisp moving pictures with sound are only available now. And once again, “de Gombo” has left nothing to chance. Back in 2014, when the album “Live at the Theater am Potsdamer Platz” was produced, the production was entrusted to a young lady by the name of Melanie Braun, who captured the concert with great sensitivity and an eye for the right moment. The disc has become one of the band’s most popular releases, not least because it includes one of Thomas Kurzhal’s last performances. For “55 Years – The Anniversary Concert” the production was once again placed in their capable hands and they did well. On two DVDs you now get an evening-long programme in first-class picture and sound quality, which depicts the band and their joy of playing wonderfully.

However, it was not Melanie who was responsible for this joy of playing, but the musicians themselves. And there is a lot to discover. What is particularly striking is that the songs, some of which are 50 years old, are on an equal footing in terms of sound with completely new pieces by the combo. They don’t seem old or covered with patina, but fresh and crisp, as if they came straight from the latest album. In direct comparison to other recordings of the band, one also notices that after all these years, there is still a changeability in the arrangements and the performance, so that one never has the impression that something is repeated here for the umpteenth time or that one has already seen or heard this on another recording. This also shows that there is still a lot of life in the formation and that nothing is routine. For example, one can observe the growth of Manuel Schmid on the keys, who now performs the task he once took on out of necessity on keyboards, synthesizers and Moog almost to perfection and almost falls into a kind of frenzy when playing. He lives and experiences every note. This makes the viewer feel cheerful. Or Lexa Schäfer and his playing on the four thick strings, which seems to sound different and always a touch finer with every encounter with him. He shows very appetisingly that there is more to dealing with a bass guitar than just making the listener in front of the stage feel vibrations in the stomach area. In general, it’s the many individual elements that create this coherent picture in their interplay. Here, one cog meshes with the other and the result is something to be seen and heard.

Almost all of the band’s important creations are included on this double DVD. Personally, I only noticed the absence of Vivaldi’s “Frühling” (Spring), otherwise Martin Schreier and colleagues left nothing to be desired by the audience. All phases and moments of the band’s history were covered and it is really exciting to observe how the 55-year-old Meißner can pick up her audience to dance and sing along as well as to listen attentively and dive into other worlds. The audience accepts it gratefully and often audibly, celebrating the art rock songs just as much as those from the pop phase in the 80s. One would think that this would bite and not go together, but the gentlemen have been proving the opposite for years.

Not to be left unmentioned are the many guests who have linked their coming to joint performances on site. With “Der weite Weg” (The Long Way), the audience can enjoy the old number again with Stern veterans on bass (Bernd Fiedler) and organ (Lothar Kramer), and with the appearance of Andreas Bicking they can soak up a reunion with the creative head of the 80s. The latter brings an additional note to the sound with his saxophone. For me personally, however, the highlights of the guest appearances here are those of Veronika Fischer and Michael Behm. Vroni’s performance in a duet with Manuel (“In jener Nacht” (In that Night)) is beautiful enough to kneel on, but when she sings the Panta Rhei classic “Nachts” together with the combo, the goosebumps just won’t end. She is and remains an exceptional artist with a clearly recognisable voice, of whose class there are not too many in this country, especially among the “new generation”. A similar feeling comes over me during Micha Behm’s performance, who first sings “Der Eine und der Andere” and then takes his place at the skins and cymbals during “Stundenschlag”. That has something. It awakens nostalgic sentiments.

As intensely as one enjoys this raucous celebration on the couch at home and absorbs every note, the three hours long DVD evening is over in no time and you hardly notice. You would have liked to put in a third or fourth DVD, because you are kind of insatiable, but at some point it has to end. When the credits roll, you realise that you’ve been well entertained, that you’ve moved the carpet in front of your sofa by constantly fidgeting along, and that you’re actually thinking about starting all over again.

In the meantime, the band is already 58 years old and will soon be celebrating its 60th birthday. In addition, they have dropped the double name, once again dropping the word “Combo” after 1980, and with “Freiheit ist” (Freedom Is) they have filed a document proving that old music groups are still in full swing many years after their founding and can sound correspondingly awesome. If you don’t believe that, then give yourself this double DVD and compensate yourself for the many torments suffered in front of other stages and in the daily programme of radio and television.

Christian Reder

Tracklist

DVD 1

1. Bilder einer Ausstellung
a) Schloss Rockstein
b) Eine Nacht auf dem kahlen Berge
c) Das große Tor von Kiew
2. Was bleibt
3. Der weite Weg
4. Die Sage
5. Der Kampf um den Südpol
6. Der Alte auf der Müllkippe
7. Kein einziges Wort
8. Weißes Gold
a) Ouvertüre
b) Der Traum
c) Des Goldes Bann
d) Die Erkenntnis
e) Weißes Gold

DVD 2

1. Der Eine und der Andere
2. Stundenschlag
3. Frei
4. Auf der Wiese
5. In jener Nacht
6. Nachts
7. Wasser und Wein
8. Schnee und Erde
9. Die Zeder von Jerusalem
10. Also was soll aus mir werden
11. Nimm die Welt in die Hand
12. Rabe Medley
a) Leben möcht’ ich
b) Mein Weg
13. Dein Herz
14. Eine Nacht
15. Wir sind die Sonne