English: I am very pleased, that I will play and sing my own songs at the Fête de la Musique in the Rheinauhafen in Cologne this year. On Sunday (21st June 2015, 15:00-15:30) I will perform on stage in front of the Chocolate Museum. I hope the weather will be fine and nobody has to stand in the rain. This would be a great pity, not only for the audience but also for the artists. Enclosed you’ll find the festival poster and the program with all the bands, artists and choirs.
Deutsch:Ich freue mich sehr, dass ich dieses Jahr wieder auf der Fête de la Musique im Kölner Rheinauhafen meine eigenen Lieder singen und spielen darf. Dieses Mal wird man mich am Sonntag (21.6.15, 15-15:30) auf der Bühne vor dem Schokoladenmuseum hören können. Ich hoffe, dass das Wetter einigermaßen wird und niemand im Regen stehen muss. Das wäre echt schade – nicht nur für die Zuhörer, sondern auch für die Künstler. Unten sieht man sowohl das Plakat als auch das Programm diese Musikfestivals mit allen Bands, Künstlern und Chören.
English:Let’s see if I will get the chance again to perform my own songs and maybe some cover songs at the Fête de la Musique in Cologne this year. The „Fête“ will take place as usual at the 21st of June, so this year it will be a Sunday.
In the video you see/hear one of my songs (Real Love) played at the acoustic location 3. I was glad to play my acoustic music connected with my little amp, because otherwise it would have been hard to hear (ships and trains were passing by in the background 🙂 ). Thanks again to the nice audience!
Deutsch:Ich bin gespannt, ob ich auch dieses Jahr wieder die Chance bekomme meine eigenen und vielleicht ein paar Coversongs auf der Fête de la Musique in Köln zu spielen. Die „Fête“ findet wie üblich am 21. Juni satt; dieses Jahr ist das ein Sonntag. In dem Video sieht/hört man einen meiner eigenen Songs („Real Love“), gespielt an der „Acoustic Location 3“. Ich war froh, dass ich meine akustische Musik mit meinem kleinen Amp verstärkt hatte, denn sonst wäre es etwas schwierig gewesen mich zu hören (Schiffe und Züge sind im Hintergrund vorbeigefahren 🙂 ). Vielen Dank nochmal an das nette Publikum.
So – now this interesting last weekend is over!! I got the chance to play on one of the 3 acoustic places at the Rheinauhafen in Cologne as announced previously in the last 2 blogs. Without having any idea how the place was looking like and how the sound would be, I took my guitar and my small battery-driven Roland amplifier with me – just in case. The whole event started at 4 pm and I arrived at a quarter past (as said my slot was between 5:30 and 6 pm). I was curious about the other 2 acts that should play earlier than me, but all I found was a quiet and orphaned “acoustic 3” location. 2 program posters on the balustrade (built to prevent the people from falling into the river Rhine 🙂 ) declaring this place as “acoustic 3”, showed me that I arrived at the correct location. The second act also didn’t show up. I thought about leaving this event but I decided to stay and to play something as promised. I started at approx. 5:10 pm (see the pictures before and after 🙂 ).
The orphaned acoustic 3 location just filled with my amp and my mic
Fête de la Musique Cologne 2014 acoustic 3 (Silo 23)
I had to use my amp due to the inadequate acoustic situation at that place. I stood there with the river Rhine in the back and watched how the people reacting to my sound. This is not the first time for me to make music in the outside on the street, but I must admit you somehow feel like an alien even though this was an official music event. It was the first time for me to use an amp and a microphone in the outside and fortunately the sound wasn’t bad. I could hear myself perfectly and this prevents me to destroy my vocal cords J . The audience, which I could convince to stop and listen to my music, confirmed that the sound was good. So I played about an hour, due to the fact that a. the music act after me also did not appear and b. the audience wanted more. All in all I declare this happening as another music experience. I was relaxed on that day, the wether was nice and those who talked to me gave me good feedback. They were pleased that at least I played at that place. Unfortunately I could not get in contact with the other musicians due to their absence, but some people asked for my card, so maybe they will contact me by mail. Let’s wait and see. I am not 100% sure if I will perform on an acoustic location at the Fête de la Musique in Cologne again. I will try to get a slot on a “real” equipped stage next time, but this is up to the organizers of the event. Finally I can say that I was part of this global event. I recorded the whole performance and divided the video into different parts, so you will find my first song “Right now” in the part 1 uploaded in Youtube:
Now it is clear where I will perform next Saturday, 21st June on the “Fête de la Musique” in Cologne. You’ll find me between 17:30 and 18:00, at the Silo 23, Aggrippinawerft (Akustik Spielort 3). This is either at the end or beginning of the Rheinauhafen in Cologne. See the map (Akustik 3 on the right):
The acoustic location 3 can be found on the very right – Silo 23!
Currently I am working on my 30 minutes program. I will play the songs from this blog, new songs, but it is also allowed to play cover versions. So – maybe I will cover some songs from my favourite musicians Tyrone Wells and Marc Cohn.
Let’s see if I will play totally unplugged or if I need an amplifier and a microphone. I will post photos and videos from this event after this music weekend – of course! 🙂
The annual music festival “Fête de la Musique”, also known as the worldwide celebration of music, is taking place on June 21st in cities around the world. Jake Lang, the French Minister of Culture created this festival. The first official 1st “Fête de la Musique” occurred in Paris in June 1982. Since then it is celebrated in more than 460 cities in 110 countries on the same day.
Its purpose is to promote music in two ways:
Amateur and professional musicians are encouraged to perform in the streets. The slogan Faitesde la musique (Make music), a homophone of Fête de la Musique, is used to promote this goal.
Many free concerts are organized, making all genres of music accessible to the public.
(Source: Wikipedia)
The “Fête de la Musique” started in Cologne last year and I got the chance to perform my music on one of the acoustic stages this year (Akkustik Spielort 3, 21.6.2014, 17:30 – 18:00 – I don’t know where I’ll exactly find it . I was told it, it’s here: Silo 23, Aggrippinawerft).
It’s exciting to be a part of such a global annual event. So – let’s see what I will experience there. I’ll let you know in this blog.
Here you’ll find the link:
Link to the Cologne homepage of the Fête de la Musique 2014
Robert Artley 