With a huge bang, the new album arrived in the middle of the year. Without any prior announcement. Not a peep beforehand. No one believed that WIZO was still active. It was assumed they were finally six feet deep in moist earth, and the worms were fattening themselves on the body of the cult band from Sindelfingen. Well, opinions about the album were quite varied. Some celebrated it, while others were more disappointed. I belonged to the latter group. More information can be found here.
I was all the more excited about this tour.
For me, it also turned out to be a big gathering of WIZO enthusiasts from around the world. Mikki, a very good friend and founder of the fanzine 'Deutschmusikland', came all the way with her husband from across the pond to see her favorite band. I was really looking forward to seeing her again, and we had planned to attend the shows in Stuttgart and Nuremberg.
We set off on Thursday the 23rd early in the morning. Quickly jumped into the shower, threw on the old band shirt, and packed the tickets.
Richard came from England, and we had arranged to drive together from the airport in Nuremberg to Stuttgart. He has also been a big fan for a long time, and we were able to chat about many things during the drive, even though my English is a bit 'rusty'. Stuttgart is really a boring city. Some call it "Zombietown". There, we first went to the hotel, and then there was a funny coincidence. The guy at the reception immediately commented on our shirts: "So, going to a concert today?", "Yep", "Cool, the bassist Ralf Dietel went to school with me!".
Up in the room, we waited for Mikki and Den. When the door opened, there was of course a big reunion. Everyone was super happy! I had brought Mikki a copy of the board game "Rock'n Rodeo", and we passed the time until the concert studying the rules and drinking beer. Around 7 PM, we set off for LKA. A 20-minute walk. Just before we arrived, I, the ultimate chaos, realized that my tickets were still in the glove compartment. Man, what a mess. Something is always going wrong. So I quickly ran back, missed the entrance, and panting and gasping jumped into the car and sped towards LKA. The place can't be that big; I'll find them there quickly.
Yeah, right... Not a chance. It's a huge venue. At the entrance, the first singer of WIZO, Jochen Bix, was standing right in front of me. He had his fully veiled girlfriend with him. He kept glancing back a bit furtively to see how she was perceived by the people. Well, it's cold outside, so you can wear a burka. Inside, it was already filled with people. 2000 showed up, and that on a Thursday. Incredible! I really didn't think WIZO would still draw such a crowd. In the hustle and bustle of people, I briefly ran into Mirco from 'Take Shit' and 'Verwesende Altlasten', chatted a bit, and then I went to look for the others. They were in the entrance area, and many people from DML had gathered, chatting animatedly.
Now Axel was heard on the mic: "Hello on behalf of the band WIZO, this is an awesome band that is coming up... Applause for Schmutzki". And then it started soon. The Schmutzkis are a pretty young band, in the classic trio setup. They are totally energetic on stage. I particularly like the bassist who is banging his head off. The music they make is very original and goes down quite well. Very modern. Punk rock blends with hip-hop and alternative. I don't remember the lyrics from the concert, but what I heard afterward is authentic. At the end of the show, Schmutzki encouraged the audience to sit down for them. That actually worked. I have no interest in such things and generally find it ridiculous. The band was good... definitely worth checking out!
Then they set up for WIZO. They have a huge banner on the tour that features various motifs related to the band. I particularly like the tasteful lighting. And they had some really strange amps on stage. They looked really spacey. Like on the Starship Enterprise. But they produced a really solid sound later on. I, a total hater of modeling amps, have to admit that.
Then the red curtain closed. What had been concocted? The tension rose. You could feel it in the audience. Mikki and Richard slowly but purposefully moved, as if drawn by a magnet, to the front row. I stayed further back with Den.
Then the lights went down. Loud cheers erupted from the audience.
And there they were. They say the dead live longer, and they were alive, my dear Scholli. It kicked off with 'Raum der Zeit'. They have been doing a megaphone intro for about ten years now. With a siren and the first verse in spoken word before it really kicks in and everyone sings along to this awesome song. The number is just amazing! Then the 'Seegurke' came out. I don’t like the song at all, but it fits very well into the set and sounds much better live than on the album. Then came 'Hey Thomas', one of my favorite tracks from WIZO. After the rather poppy song, it went hard with 'Diese Welt', and you have to say there was a lot of energy on stage. Ralf jumped around like a bouncy ball from one corner to the other, Axel was in top form, and Mr. Guhl was pounding away on the drums. Axel had said two weeks earlier in an interview with Mini that they were hard at rehearsing. But something always goes wrong. The sender cable somehow slipped out, and while the roadies were eagerly trying to plug it back in, Axel said something like: "This is a home game for us today; Stuttgart is always something special, and I can promise you that we will go way over time today!" This naturally received a big round of applause. 'Das goldende Stück', 'Nana', 'Gute Freunde'... Hits lined up one after the other. It was pretty hot in LKA, and the crowd was in a good mood. Stuttgart was sweating and clapping. And of course, I got a beer shower. From the new album, they also played the two tracks 'Ganz klar gegen Nazis' and 'Unpoliddisch', which were enthusiastically celebrated by the crowd. After that, 'Kohlenholen', which surprisingly didn’t go over as well live as on the album. The people stood there quite motionless. Then it got old. Axel during the announcement: "We are now going to play a very old piece that we have never played live before, and I had to realize that I was really fast on the guitar back then. Today, I’m just playing catch-up!". He meant the country number 'Traumfrau' from the first single. Later in the set, fanfare sounds heralded the hit 'Königin' from the new album. And it sounds absolutely great live! I don’t know why, but I got goosebumps. Well, maybe someone just left the door open. Who knows. Then came the downer 'Quadrat im Kreis'. At the end of the regular set, during 'Letzte Sau', there was a little surprise. Axel presented his "Fertiecaster" with the Fert as the body. Very cool idea. Who knows, maybe it will soon go into production, and you can order it in the Hulkshop.
But the calls for an encore didn’t take long to come. When WIZO came back on stage, there was something like a premiere. The first fully acoustic WIZO song on stage. All three with guitars played 'Meine Wut' from the new album. WIZO wouldn’t be WIZO if they didn’t play that piece. Well, that piece, the one that’s a bit forbidden and that everyone was waiting for to really go full throttle. 'Kein Gerede' and everyone was out of control. As a cherry on top, they added 'Bleib Tapfer'. I have to say WIZO is back. With a new lineup into a new era. I’m curious to see how everything develops in the future. Live, it definitely had a bombastic effect.
Zack! And then the lights came on. Beer was everywhere on the floor. What a waste. I quickly got something to drink and waited for the others. Mikki looked a bit battered from the pushing and shoving in the front row, but she said she sang along loudly to every song. Carmen and her buddy, who used to run the fan club, were also with us. They are really cool and, of course, had bags full of old stories to share. Like how someone always bled during the pogo back in the day, and solidarity T-shirts from the band were distributed. Or that it was a big deal in Stuttgart in 1992 when WIZO played here for the first time at LKA... and so on, and so forth...
In the end, there was a detour through the incredibly boring Stuttgart. The beer was gone, and most gas stations were closed. Plus, the navigation showed me gas stations that didn’t even exist. Anyway, when we finally found one, we were only allowed to take six beers each. Shitty city, shitty rules. Richard tried a trick to increase the amount. What about six Faxe?! But the fat jellyfish behind the counter was not willing to compromise. Exhausted but happy, we headed to the hotel room for a nightcap before heading to Nuremberg in the morning.