Many years ago, I covered the ‘Pub Festival’ in Neumarkt twice a year for the local daily newspaper. There were loads of bands and venues, and I set myself the challenge of visiting every band, photographing them all and writing a piece about each one. That was – quite a feat. I had to time the whole evening down to the minute, and if I’d just reached the interval with one band, my whole schedule would be thrown into disarray. (And, of course, the article had to be back at the editorial office by Sunday lunchtime…)
That was nearly 20 years ago now; the Pub Festival is long gone, and a few years ago Tim Wihr revived the whole thing under the name ‘Kneipenkarrussel’. A few old-timers from back then are still on stage – for example, Jürgen Klein, who used to play with the Roosters. I’ve already written about the Leisure League Dogs on several occasions.
Other things haven’t changed either. In some venues – such as here at Westside – those wretched LED PARs with individual LEDs are still in use. They flicker and, incidentally, create rather eerie contrasts. Sometimes you can use that to create dramatic effects.
That’s ‘Sepp’, the singer from ‘Cash’, a cover band that’s been around for 36 years. They played at ‘Wittmanns’, a venue that didn’t exist 20 years ago – I don’t think even the building was there back then. But the lights are those LEDs again. I was out and about with the OM-1, and the electronic shutter worked reasonably well for that. I wouldn’t want to do that with the older sensors (e.g. from the ‘PEN’ too). You’d need a mechanical shutter for that – and not only does it rattle, but the shutter’s too slow. Here, I’ve actually managed to capture every singer in a nice pose. Simply because the camera’s quick enough. Their facial expressions change far too quickly for me to react in the moment. And afterwards, I’ve got plenty of material to pick out the best shots. Back in the day, with the E-3, I was happy if I had one or two usable photos of each band. That was enough for the newspaper. With the OM-1, the 14–35 f/2 and the 35–100 f/2, it’s all ridiculously easy. Go there, point and shoot. Done. Next venue.
I’d already ‘finished’ with the ‘Karrussell’ by about 11. Partly because there were fewer bands and more ‘DJs’ this time. And yes, you can take great photos of DJs too – Fotonoid shows how it’s done – but it’s just not my thing. Neither photographically nor musically.
This is ‘Dammit Rules’, a punk band. The lads might look a bit like your mother-in-law’s dream – but the music’s more in keeping with the band’s name. They’ve been around for a few years now too; I reckon they hit the stage shortly after the pandemic. Another thing that hasn’t changed in Neumarkt: the love of smoke. They’re up here on stage at the ‘Broadway’, formerly the NewBerlinClub. It’s been refurbished yet again, but the squeaky door to the kitchen is still there. (I’ve included pictures from the ‘NewBerlin’ in a few of my books because, back then, I photographed a party photographer as he was flashing his camera across the ceiling – it looked really nice with the fog.) It’s still just as tricky to take photos there as it was back then. The fog machine at the Westside also blocked the view of the drummer …
Everything’s changed here. ‘Coopers’ and ‘Twister’ have now become the ‘Cattle Shed’. There’s a railing in front of the stage now, with tables and chairs set up in front of it. This used to be the scene of Neumarkt’s wildest mosh pits. I’ve got loads of photos from here in my books too. Instead of the nice furniture, there used to be an electronic dartboard. Things change. This is definitely ‘Stereo Acoustic’ – ‘Sound, feeling, joy’. The band’s been around for at least ten years. Unfortunately, their Facebook page is a bit outdated. And yes, I’ve got even nicer photos there, but none where everyone’s in the shot. It’s just quite cramped in that place.
There was an alternative vibe at Speicher 28, a former BayWa building:
Thankfully, almost all bands these days have such lovely backdrops with their names on them, so you can still recognise them even years later. Their Facebook page isn’t quite up to date either. In any case, the wooden stage exuded an authentic charm, so that the various cover hits really came across as vintage. And yes, you can still take decent photos even with lighting like that:
And if you make an effort and take a photo from right at the back, you’ll even get a spotlight in the shot:
By the way, it’s really handy to have a long (zoom) focal length and a flip-out screen. That’s because you have to lower the camera so that the singer’s head is level with the spotlights. On a large stage, you’re automatically in the right position in the photographers’ pit. On small stages, you’re responsible for positioning yourself.
And that was it, really. Marijana, whom I’d been looking forward to seeing, was ill and was replaced by an Ed Sheeran cover artist – and I didn’t manage to get into the ‘Deutscher Kaiser’ to see Josef Schön. It was so packed that you couldn’t even get through the door.
All in all: the concept works. Tim confirmed that advance tickets had sold out. And by half past nine, almost every venue was already absolutely packed – and pub-crawlers were out all over the city, wandering from venue to venue. (The cover photo showing an empty Broadway – that was taken before the event started.)
Oh yes: taking photos with a proper camera was forbidden. I’d got press accreditation, so I was allowed to. It was quite relaxing – ten years ago I was stopped every ten metres: ‘Hey, take a photo of ussss’ – ‘Snap!’ – ‘Eyyyy, feddd! Where’re you from?’ Those days are over. Thank goodness. And – oh, wonder of wonders – even the mobile phones that used to be everywhere have been greatly reduced in number. People are chatting, telling stories. They’re even swapping business cards instead of asking for a WhatsApp number. Crazy.
I’ll be back next year.