The Alpentainer is back! Exactly 5 years after the last tour, Trauffer not only celebrates the start of the new “Glöggele” tour in Langenthal’s Westhalle, but also his return to the Alpentainer family.
Tuning in with DJ Tom-s
The large Planzer truck trailer stands imposingly in front of the Westhalle in Langenthal, wrapped into the new tour outfit. There are still 30 minutes until the door opens. The first fans in line get a little impatient as the queue gets longer and longer. They all want to see the Alpentainer again.
The Party Village is not to be missed. DJ Tom-s is right in the middle of it all and keeps things lively and in a good mood with the best-known après-ski and party hits beforehand. In the meantime, the front row is quickly taken over, before people eat in the Alpine village or stock up on the latest fan articles at the merchandise stand. There’s even merch there that you can’t get in the online shop (yet?).
Big and small, young and old are there. Edelweiss shirts, dirndls, Trauffer caps and self-created shirts and jackets have been taken out of the wardrobe for tonight. In keeping with the theme, some even brought their bells along.
Debby opens the concert evening
At 7:30 pm, the Valais singer Debby opens the concert evening with a short set. She enters the stage in a stunning black tulle skirt. Debby is supported by Dieti Zurbriggen on drums and Sandro Jordan on guitar.
Some people may know Deborah Seiler, Debby for short, as the singer in the cover band Double D or from the women’s dialect pop band “Härz”. With Härz, she was on stage with Trauffer at the Hallenstadion Zurich in 2018. That’s how she met him, Debby tells us between songs.
Now Debby has decided to take off with her own dialect songs. I stumbled across her first single “Was weri wenn”, which Debby sings at the end of her set, by chance on Spotify a week ago. At that time I hadn’t even noticed that she was going to be on tour with Trauffer. By the way, her debut album is due to be released in autumn.
Complete photo gallery: Debby in the Westhalle Langenthal
With her powerful voice, the infectious energy and the great dialect songs, Debby can immediately inspire the audience.
As if overrun by an avalanche
“Allegra, Grüezi, Buongiorno – hey, schön bisch da!” – Frank Niklaus (guitars), Patrik “Kiss” Meier (bass), Thomas Kull (accordion) Chrigu Kyburz (drums), Christian Hugelshofer (guitars) and Monika Schär (vocals) as well as the two new background singers Daniel Küffer (vocals, saxophone) and Matthias Arn (vocals, keyboard) place themselves. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Trauffer in his grey Alpentainer coat is standing at end of the runway. Beaming all over his face, he starts the second alpine party of the weekend with his 8-members band!
To the title song “Glöggele”, the audience swings their backs and shakes a leg. In keeping with “Geissepter”, Trauffer swaps his grey Alpentainer coat for a green one. The concert visitors clap and yodel along from the first note. As soon as Trauffer grabs the guitar and Daniel supports him with a rousing saxophone solo, they can really start rocking. Like an “avalanche”, the joy of being at a Trauffer concert again after such a long time is rolling over.
During the up coming 1.5 hours, we can expect a great mix of pop, rock, Schlager and folk music mixed with lots of cool electro beats. What fun when the Alpentainer practices French with “Schöö’teem” or goes over to rock’n’roll with “Zwätschgelisi”. It doesn’t feel at all like there have been five years in between.
The one with the cows
The one with the cows Back then Marc Trauffer became known with the group Airbäg. After the band broke up, he started his solo career as Trauffer in 2008. Since he charted at number 1 in the Swiss Album charts in 2014 with the cleverly titled album, he has been known to everyone as the “Alpentainer”. The album “Alpentainer” went platinum with over 20’000 units sold and the follow-up albums even managed to top this. So “Heiterefahne” went double platinum. His most successful work, the album “Schnupf, Schnaps und Edelwyss”, released in 2018, not only reached number 1 in the Swiss charts again as his third album. It went triple platinum with over 60,000 units sold. He is considered one of the most successful Swiss musicians.
With “Glöggele”, Trauffer released his seventh solo and thus fourth No. 1 album at the end of October 2022. The album had been in the works since 2020 and was actually already planned for 2021. But I don’t have to explain to you why that didn’t work out, do I? (Pandemic and all that… ) Trauffer’s plans were also turned upside down.
“Glöggele” contains 16 songs and, as usual, there is a lot of Trauffer in it. This album, his music in general and especially his concerts are meant to entertain people first and foremost. He wants to ensure that his audience can switch off and have fun alongside their not always easy everyday lives.
In the last five years, however, Trauffer has not been idle: After his last solo tour in 2018 (read the concert report from Olten here), Trauffer joined forces with Gölä for the joint project “Büetzerbuebe”. They released two No. 1 studio albums and the highlight of their project was the two shows played at Zurich’s Letzigrund Stadium in August 2022.
Trauffer’s main occupation, however, is entrepreneur. Besides the music, he still successfully runs his wooden toy factory in Hofstetten near Brienz. In June 2022, he and his wife also opened the Trauffer world of experience, including the Bretterhotel.
Where does the chalet come from?
In addition to a cover of Trauffer’s great idol Polo Hofer and the new Trauffer songs, the old party hits must of course not be missed. “Frl. Marty” is at the start and with it the new background singer Mats Arn, who together with Trauffer tests the audience in a small singing competition on their singing skills.
Complete photo gallery: Trauffer in the Westhalle Langenthal
But where did this “La Tzoumaz” chalet suddenly come from? Wasn’t that where the construction trailer was a moment ago? When you go to one of the concerts, keep an eye on the stage set. Barely blinked, it could be that it has changed quickly. There are a total of five different images within the show. This second stage set is obviously was inspired by the chalet in La Tzoumaz (Valais), where Trauffer recorded the new “Glöggele” album.
“Mier Houe ufe Putz” – and the best way to do that is with a proper “Stubete”. Because some people have complained in the past that Trauffer and his band have never played a proper Stubete, he invites Marc Tschanz, Domi Schnidrig and Simi Schnydrig, a real Örgeli trio, to join him on stage. But whether this one with the traditional “Örgelihuus” and various covers really passes for a real Stubete? However, it is clear that from this point onwards, the only way is to go up. Because “Steil isch geil” and the choreo to “Dr Gipfel” is still known very well by all of Langenthal after five years. You still know it too?
Moments for the heart
With so much power, everyone needs a short breather. Therefor Trauffer also masters the quiet moments. When he sings a duet with singer Monika Schär, it goes straight to the heart. So the two of them are suddenly standing in the middle of the hall on a small stage with a piano. Trauffer sits in the middle of the sea of lights at the piano and accompanies the beautiful ballad “Tanze im Räge”. A homage to his home Lake Brienz follows.
Back on the main stage we discover a new stage set. So the party starts in the “Gondeli” before the self-proclaimed Alpentainer turns the whole Westhalle into a big choir with “Heiterefahne”. Five years ago, the world was a different place, Trauffer affirms. While putting together the programme, he asked himself a few times, “Does anyone still want to hear all this?” It is therefore not just a return as Alpentainer, but a coming home to the Alpentainer family.
Drinks at Skiclub-Bar
The search for “Giseltraud” continues towards the end of the show. But first we celebrate briefly at the ski club bar. The stage set has changed again and Mats serves drinks at the bar to the fans Trauffer brings on stage.
But of course Trauffer cannot leave without an encore. Another change of scene as it gets really hot in the Zurich tram. There is also swaying to “Müeh mit de Chüeh”, while everyone becomes a “Sennesinger”. But because the insatiable audience doesn’t want to stop asking for that feeling and that one little moment, they only say their final goodbyes after the touching “Ziit geit nie verbi”.
The party has only just begun
It’s a typical Trauffer concert evening, as you know it and the fans love it. It’s about two hours of the very best entertainment with singing and yodelling, dancing and swaying, rocking and laughing. In between, there’s more than one goosebump moment. In the alpine village you can continue to dance and party with DJ Tom-s. And although the week with tour preparations, rehearsals and the two shows also sapped his energy, Trauffer takes another 1-2 hours after the show until the very last autograph and selfie request is fulfilled. What other artist is still doing this on this scale? We take our hats off to that.
Strictly speaking, however, the party has only just begun: The tour continues on 18 March in Frauenfeld and will last until mid-May. All dates can be found at www.trauffermusic.ch. Tickets you can get at Ticketcorner.
promoter: www.stargarage.ch
Info about Debby: www.debbymusic.ch
