Marius Bear stepped onto the stage, slipped out of his shoes, and, as always, put them neatly in front of him. He set off for the sentimental “New York”. The Appenzell singer/songwriter and his band opened the 2nd festival evening of the 11th Stars Of Sounds in Aarberg. It was just a moment before that we feared they would have to play in front of the more or less empty place. But then all the concert-goers crawled out of their shelters and didn’t let the pouring rain spoil their mood. Well, the Migros-Mischtwätter rain capes certainly helped.
Dancing to Crimer and Gentleman
On Friday the festival started into the 11th round and we already danced to Crimer, Gentleman and Parov Stelar through the warm summer evening. That means, we were welcomed on this Friday evening with super tasty salmon cheese tartes and drinks. But we also decided to let Crimer’s crazy 80s pop and Gentleman’s Reggea beats sweep us away at the front of the stage. His fellow musicians also shone solo on the keys or strings.
Gentleman’s band and background singers also had their solo parts. Gentleman himself loved to seek the closeness of the audience. In the course of the evening he even took a bath in the crowd for “Dem Gone” and “Superior”. We almost thought he wouldn’t return to the stage anymore.
But we missed Parov Stelar because we went home early. But I read that the electro-swing group went just as wild as they did during the 3-4 songs I had heard at the Stars Of Sounds in Murten four years ago.
Aarberg defied the rain for Marius Bear
Saturday night the weather god was not so much on our side. While concerts and festivals had to be interrupted in many places (Greenfield in Interlaken was evacuated for a short time), Aarberg was still quite lucky. The thunderstorm passed over the town before the show started and apparently had not caused any major damage. The music program started wet, but in time…
The audience defied the pouring rain for Marius Bear. While it was pouring out of buckets, the band not only played “Sanity” but also other songs from the same named Ep. His rough, scratchy voice Marius immediately captivated the audience. But not only with his own songs but also with the Black Keys cover “Lonely Boy” he provided goose bumps. Even without the band at times, just with his guitar. Just like back then when he started his musical career as a street musician.
(Photo gallery: Marius Bear at Stars Of Sounds Aarberg 2019)
At that time he had sung in dialect several times besides the English songs. So at Stars Of Sounds in Aarberg he thrilled additionally with the only dialect song “Momou”. He had written this inspired by his grandma.
Marius Bear finished the rather quiet concert with a lot of drive and let the town dance to “Roots” and “Blood That My Heart Beats”.
Pegasus’ only festival show
The rain had faded a little. Behind the stage there was some blue sky. Didn’t look bad already! A colleague had already been sure about it: She had never seen a Pegasus show in the rain before. Okay, I couldn’t remember that exactly myself. But Pegasus started their home show with the thrilling “Symptoms” right after the break. And their only festival show this summer was WITHOUT rain. Ha! Quickly hoods were lowered again or rain jackets were taken off completely. It was supposed to get hot that evening.
(Photo gallery: Pegasus at Stars Of Sounds Aarberg 2019)
They continued with “Fragments” before the first 2-3 tunes of “Rise Up” made the audience cheer and the first hit followed. It’s Pegasus 3rd time at the Stars Of Sounds in Aarberg. The last time they were here was in 2015 on the festival stage (read here). The difference to back then? Maybe a little less stage fright. The band seemed to be much more relaxed and in the best mood. This immediately spread to the audience and the atmosphere in Aarberg’s town was great. This went directly to the fan’s heart! Yes, at the moment it is rather quiet around Pegasus. The program probably known to most. Do you think they are working on something new? Their fans hope for it.
After the more relaxed “God Knows”, Brenner heated up with his drumsolo and they continued no less energetically with “Technology”. Happy that the rain had stopped, Noah joked: “But the weather radar hadn’t predicted that it would drip from the roof!” But hardly anyone could be disturbed by the few drops, when the Biel guys continued to power with “Digital Kids”.
With “Get Over You” it became calmer again. It’s a song for the couples on the festival grounds, during which they can hold each other in their arms. Whereby, the singles just have to hold themselves… During the song Noah, Gabriel and Stefan jumped into the audience and made their way to the middle of the square. With only two guitars and a ring of bells they played “Man On Mars” in a great acoustic version. As always Noah stayed in the audience while the other two returned to the stage. Noah turned to the VIPs and started “Skyline”. After the first lines he handed over to his two band mates, to hurry back to the stage and finish the song with the whole band.
Of course, no one let Pegasus go without an encore. Before they became wild again with “Last Night On Earth” and bass player Gäbu let the whole place jump, he sat down with Noah on the keyboard and enchanted Aarberg with my absolute favourite “Metropolitans” (I’m still waiting for the release of this live version, aren’t you?)
With their hit “I Take It All” Pegasus ended the evening to hand over to The BossHoss.
It got hot with the Berlin cowboys
The backing band began with an extensive intro before the Berlin cowboys, front men Sascha Vollmer and Alec Völkel, also joined. In 2005 The BossHoss performed in Switzerland for the first time and have played countless shows since then. In 2013 also at Thun Arena, where I had seen them for the first and so far only time. Yes, and 8 albums later they were on stage in Aarberg. Longtime fans will surely confirm: They are still as cool and likeable as they were back then.
(Photo gallery: The BossHoss at Stars Of Sounds Aarberg 2019)
If you didn’t know The BossHoss through their wild country rock’n’roll shows, you might have got to know them in the last years at several The Voice shows (currently at the 2nd season of The Voice Senior) or at VOX’s “Sing meine Song”. Visibly enchanted by the great scenery and impressed by the Pegasus show, The BossHoss turned the place into a beautiful sea of lights several times during the course of the evening. But before that, the 7 member band first changed from the intro to the current album title song “Black is beautiful” and really cheered everyone on.
With cool riffs, fast beats, but also their funky brass trio the Tijuana Wonderbrass they gave everything from beginning to end. Although Sascha held back a bit, Alec was the total showman. He heated up the stage, cheered on his fellow musicians during the solos and jumped into the pit several times. He rocked to “I keep on dancing”, “Hey ya” or “AYO” in a black, then in a black and white leather jacket before he took it off. They asked if we were cold and brought Natalie from the audience on stage during “Hot in Here”. She certainly wasn’t cold anymore – us neither by the way.
The BossHoss also played “Little Help”. The song was recorded by Alec and Sascha with their The Voice-Kids Mimi and Josy. But they were not there and of course already in bed at that time.
With “Polk Salade Annie” followed a song about lettuce, with “Dos-Bros” they also forced the very last in the audience to their knees and at the latest with Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” really everyone sang along.
The highlight of the BossHoss concert came with the final: The band brought several girls on stage, while they really hit it again for “Word up”. The drummer was poured over with a few beers to create some extra special effects. A great mix between cool rock and likeable countrypop show ended. The BossHoss released the Stars Of Sounds audience into the night with “Stallion Battalion”.
In Murten they continue with a great programme
Many other musicians and bands can also be found at openairs. On 5 July 2019 the Stars Of Sounds programme will continue in Murten. Besides international stars like Fantastischen Vier, Rag’n’Bone Man, Rea Garvey and Michael Patrick Kelly, Swiss acts like Halunke, The Gardener & The Tree, Stefanie Heinzmann or Lo & Leduc will be at the shores of Lake Murten. Unfortunately without me, because on the same weekend the Irish Boyand Westlife will celebrate their comeback in Dublin. Somehow breaks my heart not to be there. So please sing along and celebrate the great programme for me!
The complete programme and all information about the festival can be found at www.starsofsounds.ch.
Tickets are available at Ticketcorner!
Information about the bands can be found here:
www.crimer.ch
www.gentleman-music.com
www.parovstelar.com
www.mariusbear.com
www.pegasustheband.com
www.thebosshoss.com
