in
Alsfeld, Germany - 31 March 2012


Event: Rock & Oldies
Location: Hessenhalle
Bands: Gibson Brothers, SAILOR, Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich, The Rubettes feat. Bill Hurd, The Lords

Photos by: Katrin Wagner, Karsten Wagner, Werner Blessing


SAILOR during "A Glass Of Champagne"


SAILOR during "A Glass Of Champagne"


Henry, Phil and Tom during "A Glass Of Champagne"


SAILOR during "One Drink Too Many"


SAILOR during "The Old Nickelodeon Sound"


SAILOR during "Vera From Veracruz"


SAILOR during "Vera From Veracruz"


SAILOR during "Karma Chameleon"


Presenting... Phil Pickett


Tom


Henry


Oliver during "The Secretary"


SAILOR


SAILOR during "La Cumbia"


Henry


The Full Monty...


SAILOR during "
Con Te Partirò"


The songs that SAILOR played in Alsfeld:

A Glass Of Champagne
One Drink Too Many
Give Me Shakespeare
The Old Nickelodeon Sound
Vera From Veracruz
Mack The Knife
Wooly Bully
Girls Girls Girls
Karma Chameleon
The Secretary
La Cumbia

encores:
Tom's Moment (Drum Solo)
The Full Monty
Con Te Partirò - Time To Say Goodbye
Champagne Reprise


After the show...

...there was a spontanious little "pool-party" with the SAILORs and Beaky, Mick & Tich:


Newspaper article from "Oberhessische Presse" about the concert:

From Mack The Knife To "A Glass Of Champagne"
Oldie Night at the Hessenhalle with SAILOR and Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich

They can still do it - and really well, maybe even better than in the past: SAILOR, the Lords or Dozy, Beaky, Mich & Tich who all stormed up the charts in the 60s and 70s might have aged just like their audience, but their home is still the stage and they truly enjoy playing the old songs again, just like at the Oldie Night on Saturday at the Hessenhalle in Alsfeld.
The show on Saturday was started by the Gibson Brothers, even though the brothers from Martinique had a difficult time to get the only 300 people in the hall going. They asked their audience to clap and sing, but even during their big hit "Cuba" the mood was slightly restrained. This eventually changed during "Que Sera Mi Vida": In good old 80s-fashion people started to dance. Dance interludes without shirts, Caribbean sounds and another "Cuba" encore didn't really seem to impress the audience, though.
This was totally different when SAILOR continued the show, presenting an amazing spectrum of their skills in almost an hour. "A Glass Of Champagne" was the beginning of the British band's success in the mid-70s - and of course this was the song that started the show of those musicians. Next came "Mack The Knife" and of coruse "Girls Girls Girls" or covered songs of Boy George and the Village People. To their song "In The Navy" the SAILOR musicians around singer Oliver Marsh, son of founder member Henry Marsh, returned to the stage in sailor suits. Goosebump-feeling was caused by Marsh with the Andrea Bocelli classic "Con Te Partirò", only to then grab the guitar again and present another "A Glass Of Champagne" reprise.
Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich, all born in 1944, also had a lot of fun on stage. They alreday started to play together in the 60s and presented a mix from this successful era - ranging from their own songs like "Save Me" and of course "The Legend Of Xanadu" to Beatles-classics like "Let It Be" or "Yesterday".
Finally, The Rubettes - "Sugar Baby Love" was one of their biggest hits - and the German Beat- and rock band The Lords finished the show. They became famous with "Poor Boy" or "Shakin' All Over".


"Cuuuuuuuuuuuba"... - A concert report by Katrin Wagner:

Our journey to today's concert in Alsfeld starts with a great meal at our favourite Chinese restaurant "Koi", run by our friend Po, followed by an unusually short journey to Alsfeld which is only an hour away for us.
We arrive at the hotel in the early afternoon and find out that the SAILORs are asleep. Luckily we don't have to wait alone, though, as our dear friend Susi from Munich is here as well. The hotel seems a little out of date to us, but who cares, as long as the people around you are nice.
A little later we meet Phil's youngest son Harry, soon followed by Tom, Oliver and Henry who are about to leave for their soundcheck. Phil is rather jet-lagged, having been in L.A., so he decides to follow them in a later van. Meanwhile we are also joined by Werner and Renate.
At 5.15 pm Karsten, Susi and I drive to the venue and are able to listen to a bit of SAILOR's soundcheck. The doors are opened at 6 pm, but the audience only consists of about 300 people tonight so that the stage is placed in the middle of the hall instead of at the back. Weird... About 2 1/2 years ago I was here at another Oldie NIght with The Sweet and others and the place was sold out and so packed that we couldn't move at all. But we won't let this get us down... a SAILOR gig is always fun, whether it's in front of 15.000 people or 47 people (remember Luckenwalde, anybody?!). They manage to make every audience member feel like it's a private concert anyway!
The shows starts at 8 pm. Meanwhile Karsten, Susi and I have been joined by Werner and Renate again, too. But unfortunately our friends Lothar and Monika couldn't make it. First it's time for the Gibson Brothers. Their show brings back some horrible (but fun!) 2003 Holland-memories, and sure enough we don't get disappointed waiting for their dance routine without shirts and their 10 minutes versions of "Cuba" and "Que Sera Mi Vida". Also, having left the stage after one song to complain abouts ound problems they obviously don't seem to realize that now the sound is good on stage but not in front of it any more. Sigh...
Next it's time for SAILOR - lucky us to get our boys early - and the deliver a great and fun show as usual. The mood in the audience raises from 10 % enthusiasm to 100 %. Oliver kindly dedicates "The Secretary" to me again (THANKS) and we all have a lot of fun, as well as the boys. Only Tom struggles with the drum kit that keeps falling apart while he plays, and Oliver later tells us that his microphone kept giving him electric shocks whenever approaching it. The "Full Monty" is one of the big highlights, as usual, and then "Con Te Partirò" gives everybody shivers (and tears as well).
After SAILOR's concert we stay to watch Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich who are always great fun too watch and clearly one of our favourite "Oldie" bands. The SAILORs do the same and stay at the venue to watch their show. Two ladies approach Oliver to tell him how much they like his tattoo and that they'd like to marry him... He doesn't have an easy day! ;-) (Next time call us and we can be your bodyguards, Ollie!)
Back at the hotel the kind night clerk gets us drinks and we all gather around the pool table and enjoy the games, first with the SAILORs and Mark, then joined by
Beaky, Mick & Tich as well. I guess nobody expected Karsten to be an old "pro", eh?! ;-)
Karsten and I leave the hotel at 3 am and get back home an hour later. What a fun night it was!
Katrin Wagner, 04 April 2012


A concert report by Susi Akinci:

Translation to follow...

Wirklich geplant hatte ich den Konzertbesuch ja eigentlich nicht, denn vier Stunden Autofahrt schrecken doch etwas ab. Aber nachdem klar war, dass Katrin und Karsten auf jeden Fall kommen, ich also nicht ganz alleine sein würde und ich ein bisschen Spaß wieder einmal dringend nötig hatte, habe ich mich spontan entschlossen, mich auf den Weg zu machen. Wie im Flug verging die Autofahrt ohne Stau und ohne Stress.
Gerade angekommen haben sich auch schon Katrin und Karsten gemeldet, dass sie auch schon da sind - super Timing! Wir haben uns in der Hotel-Lobby getroffen und gemütlich zusammengesetzt, dann kam Harry, Phils Sohn, später dann Tom, Oliver und Henry, die dann in die Halle zum Aufbauen des Nickelodeons fuhren. Phil schlief noch ein wenig seinen Jet Lag aus und kam erst später dazu. Kurz darauf kamen auch Renate und Werner und es war wie ein "kleines Familientreffen". Dann machten wir uns auch auf den Weg in die Hessenhalle.
Vor der Halle konnte man per Lautsprecher auch SAILORs Soundcheck mit anhören. War ja schon mal eine gute Einstimmung. Begonnen haben dann die Gibson Brothers. Viel kann und möchte ich dazu nicht sagen. Das Publikum wäre willig gewesen, die Band aber weniger, sorry Jungs, aber das ging echt daneben. Sie waren einfach nicht in der Lage, Stimmung zu verbreiten. Bei mir hat da selbst das Bier nicht geholfen.
Ganz anders beim Auftritt von SAILOR. Sofort waren alle bester Stimmung. Was den Gibson Brothers nicht gelungen ist, hatte Henry schnell erreicht. Er brachte die Leute schnell dazu, ihre Sitzplätze zu verlassen, und schon ging die Post ab. Phil merkte man seinen Jet Lag nicht mehr an, und SAILOR konnten das Publikum total mitreißen. Oliver hat es einmal wieder geschafft, Katrin mit seiner "Hammerstimme" zum Weinen zu bringen, der Rest des Publikums war schlichtweg fasziniert. Beim Full Monty hä4tte sich die eine oder andere der Damen noch viel mehr gewünscht, aber man kann ja nicht alles haben, Ladies. Alle hatten viel Spaß, und leider war nach einer knappen Stunde schon wieder alles zu Ende.
Nach einer kurzen Umbaupause war es Zeit für Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich, und auch hier hatten wir viel Spaß, sie sind einfach bezaubernd und haben es noch voll drauf.
Dann war es Zeit für uns zurück ins Hotel zu fahren. Renate und Werner wollten noch bleiben, sind dann aber auch schnell zu uns gestoßen. Ja, wir wussten es ja gleich.
Obwohl die Bar des Hotels nur in der Saison geöffnet hat, konnte es uns der Nachtportier ermöglichen, an den einen oder anderen Drink zu kommen. Vielen Dank dafür! Bei Bier und Rotwein ließen wir den schönen Abend bei netten und lustigen Gesprächen ausklingen, während SAILOR und Beaky Mick & Tich Billard spielten. Ich hatte selten so viel Spaß, beim Pool zuzusehen.
Nachdem der Rotwein geleert war und ich endlich nicht mehr gefroren habe (in dem Hotel war es wirklich sehr kalt), freute ich mich dann total darauf endlich ins Bett zu kommen. Katrin und Karsten hielten noch bis 3.00 Uhr morgens durch. Kompliment für das Durchhaltevermögen.
Nach ein paar Stunden Schlaf und einem guten Frühstück, bei dem mich ein junger Mann, der auch das Konzert besucht hatte, sehr nett unterhielt, habe ich mich wieder auf den Rückweg gemacht. Wieder einmal war es ein schönes Konzert und ein wunderbarer Abend, der mir viel Spaß gemacht hat. Ich freue mich schon auf das nächste Mal!
Susi Akinci


Renate together with the SAILORs and Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich


Concert Photos    

© copyright by