Arnold Fritsch and Ines Paulke
are names that carry the patina of legend on the “east side of town”.
Their first standout hit came out in East Germany back in 1975, “Doch
ich wollte es wissen.” They didn’t disappoint us this
evening – the cigarette lighters were out and aflame as Ines sang
a series of powerful ballads. Our good pal
Michael Friedman, the Vancouverite (Canada) with a checkered
past, brought along his orchestral arranger Jens Naumilkat on cello, and
won over many new fans with his powerful vocal and guitar renditions of
songs from his “Diamond Space” CD. Berlin’s answer to
the Everly Brothers, the Smashtones,
lightened things up with “Space Blues and Pop Songs” for two
voices and two guitars. Doc Flo and Leeman
had a great solution to that age-old Songwriters-in-the-Round problem,
“What song shall I play next?” They wrote their song titles
on little pieces of paper, which were then drawn at random out of a hat.
No problem there – every single song was great. And the guitar playing.
When Leeman started a’strumming those 32nd notes, the roof started
a’raisin’.
The “notorious” 5th Chair.
Some very illustrious “rear ends” have occupied it, and this
show was no exception. Ralph Schueller
trucked in with wife and child all the way from Leipzig with a spirited
love song, “Wach' auf, wach' ein”. Lutz
Keller sang a typically wry, bittersweet musical commentary,
“Winter in Berlin” and Helmut
Fuchs Bardun offered a kabarettistisches Lied
about a green parrot (“der grüner Kakadu”).
Björn Braune (we call
him “Berlin’s answer to John Mayer”) was more subdued
than usual, but impressed us with a moody love song. If this man is “in
the house” he is almost always required to perform, and this night
was no exception. Dirk Michaelis
closed out the first set on the 5th Chair with his evocative balled, “Wo
willst du hin”. The same applies to Stephanie
Forryan and McKinley Black, who sang “Monster”
and “I Tried My Best” (respectively) in the final set.
Ralph Schueller
Lutz Keller und Helmut Fuchs Bardun
 
Björn Braune und Dirk Michaelis
Stephanie Forryan and McKinley Black
Pam Bethke
We came back for an encore, two in fact, suddenly it was “Summertime”
in December, and our “Hearts” were “Unchained.”
A splendid time was had by all – until next time that is, when we
will wash away those New Year’s Eve’s hangovers on Saturday,
January 1 in the Rickenbacker's
with another – fabulous - Songwriters-in-the-Round featuring Kyler
England, Sherman Noir, and Rüdiger Bierhorst. What a way to start
2005!
In the meantime I wish you all the merriest of holiday seasons, and good
health and good cheer in the coming year. Thank you to my incredible team
for their dedication and hard work, and of course to all of you for supporting
the show.
See you soon at Songwriters-in-the-Round!
Cheers,
Tom
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