Rock and Roll Mega Weekend

Just before moving to Berlin we had bought tickets to two concerts.   These were for two bands that we (I) have been following for years - Die Toten Hosen and Die Ärzte. These bands are two of the biggest bands in Germany.

We weren't able to pay for the tickets from overseas, so the very first real purchase we made once moving to Berlin was to pick up these tickets from koka36 (ticket shop) in Kreuzberg (the day after we got here).

Each band has been going since 1982, and with Die Toten Hosen from Dusseldorf and Die Ärzte from here in Berlin, there has been quite a rivalry throughout their careers. In an unprecedented move, both bands were scheduled to play the same venue over the weekend of August 9 to 11. Die Toten Hosen were playing one show on the Friday, and Die Ärzte would play a show on both Saturday and Sunday night. We went to the Friday and Sunday shows. We have been fortunate to see Die Toten Hosen play once before in Christmas in Cologne 1998 - so it's been a while between concerts but this would the first time seeing Die Ärzte

The venue for the concerts was the famous Tempelhof airport and these gigs were to be the biggest ever staged there.

With the concerts so big, and Tempelhof so big, it was an amazing sight to arrive at the Tempelhof S-Bahn station and make the long walk to the concert area. So many people, so much rubbish!

The tickets said 'doors' open at 2pm, but the concert wouldn't start until 6pm.

With two support bands scheduled to play we for there a bit later in time to grab a 'small' beer at 4 euros + 2 euro pfand...rip! (or 10 Euros for 1 litre).

We had to walk around a bit but there were just no real good vantage points left. There were SO many people already there and the mosh area was full and a grandstand area was reserved for who knows who.

We had to walk around a bit to get somewhere in order to see the stage and also have a good view of the big screens. We were quite far away from the stage and behind us the mass of people appeared to go for hundreds of metres more. I found out later that 50,000 people were there that night.

By the time we settled on an okay spot the second support band came on to play. These guys were called KraftKlub and were really good.

After a long break (why is it always so long? so people can buy more beer?) Die Toten Hosen finally came on - at about 8:45 pm. The sun was setting behind the stage and with the sea of people it was quite a magical experience.

They opened up with a track from their new album and played many of the old songs that we and everyone else is so familiar with. The Germans really get into the whole thing and frantically sing along with all of the songs. The band is fully aware of the fanaticism of the crowd and often incorporate 'sing alongs' into the sets. This is what makes these gigs so great as it's not just hearing the music live from the stage, but a full immersion of everyone around you singing with such conviction.

Although the band is a 5 piece, it is only the lead singer (Campino) that talks to the crowd. These 'conversation' breaks were frequent, mostly humorous, often having a go at the rivalry between football sides or Die Ärzte and sometimes more serious like politics or when he stopped the show because someone had collapsed in the front area (a fan was once killed at a show of theirs so naturally they are wary of this happening again). Another song was stopped midway through after Campino jumped in the crowd and squashed someones head with his 'Arsch' (as he said).

Midway through the show it was announced that it was the birthday of the drummers son's girlfriend 'Meg'. she came out with the son and together they played two songs. They were okay, but were were here to see the band and while everyone was politely 'into' the youngsters we couldn't wait for the Hosen to get back to it.

Once the Hosen were back into it they launched into an English song of theirs 'Pushed Again', then a cover of a Die Ärzte song 'Schrei nach Liebe' in which they really do a fantastic job. The rest of the set was all killer with some of the most classic Hosen songs and then brought to an end (before the encores) with their newest anthemic song from the latest album 'Tage wie diese. The encores followed and it was a fantastic concert.

My only gripe was that we were so far back that we spent more time watching the big screen than the stage - but all big concerts are like that. Unless you are prepared to get there super early or be an asshole and aggressively and undeservedly push you way to the front, then a long way back is where you are going to be!

The concert went for just over two hours, 33 songs and three encores.

We had the long walk back to the train station and there were just people everywhere.

Despite the huge amount of people leaving at the same time we were able to get on the first train. So Berlin!

It was an exhausting day, with all the standing and bopping around. We had a day off on Saturday and then went to do it all again on Sunday.

We had decided we would go a bit later to this gig, but still arrived around the same time as when we had got to the Die Toten Hosen gig. I was expecting this gig to be a bit more raucous as this was local heroes on home turf.

Even from the train as we approached Tempelhof we could see that things weren't as busy as the previous concert. We again made the big walk from the station to the stage area and there were much fewer people around (but still busy).

As we got closer I could hear that the band was already on stage. 

We had missed the support acts and the start of the gig. Shit! However it turned out that we had only missed three songs - but still this was three songs we had paid for!! haha.

The crowd was much smaller and with only the previous attendance of 50,000 to compare it with I would have thought that there would have been about 35,000 people. With 120,000 tickets sold for the weekend I would think this would be a pretty much spot on estimate.

This was  immediately deflating, we'd missed the 'anticipation' phase of the gig, missed some songs and by comparison with the previous gig had the sense that already this wasn't going to be as good. With the band starting so early (maybe because it was Sunday) they played half of the gig in late evening daylight which also took aware the mystique of opening to a sunset as the Hosen had done before them.

We walked around a bit to look for a good spot but it was still hard to get a closer vantage point that we had before so we went nearby to where we had been before as this was the best we could get without jumping over people.

The concert kept going and I was wondering when all the real atmosphere would kick in. I looked around at lot and people WERE singing every word and dancing like crazy but it just seemed much more subdued than the Hosen fans.

It is my understanding that just like people decided whether you liked the Beatles or the Stones, same thing in Germany - you gotta pick - Hosen or Ärzte. I don't want to have to choose, but I did realise that night that Die Toten Hosen have got a special emotional place in my soul that Die Ärzte don't inhabit.

Now I am pretty familiar with Die Ärzte songs, or so I thought, as the setlist was not one which I readily identified with. My experience with Die Ärzte is pretty much being a fan in a vacuum. Before moving to Berlin I didn't know anyone who had even heard of the band. My enjoyment of their music has been a solitary one, devoid of the political and cultural changes that people often associate the 'soundtrack of their lives' with. The songs I like the most didn't even get played at the gig! 

Despite all that whinge, the band was great. These guys are a three piece and they constantly are mucking around on stage, all are lead singers of certain songs and often change instruments. They are a lot less serious compared to the Hosen in the live setting. Their music runs everything from the moronic to serious political statements.

As the sun went down the band played 'Schrei nach liebe', of which the Hosen had covered the night before, and I couldn't say this publicly in Berlin, but I think Die Toten Hosen did it better! Die Toten hosen have an extra guitarist on stage which amongst other things gives a fuller sound. It didn't help that Ärzte guitarist Farin Urlaub blew the last notes of the 'Schrei nach liebe' solo!

One of the last songs to be played was 'Zu Spät' and this one really resounded with the crowd and particularly the couples around us. The song, from a 1984 album, was completely lost on us for its couple significance but you can imagine that over the last 30 years this song has been played at these peoples high schools, on the radio, at University, parties etc and etched a emotional link that we have simply missed out on. It would be like playing Cold Chisel's 'Khe Sanh' to the Germans. No way they would sing the lyrics so loudly and incorrectly as we do and still felt it meant something to them :)

The concert finished after just over two hours, 36 songs and also 3 encores.

Although we enjoyed the music, we both just didn't feel connected to this one - a combination of missing the start of the gig, not knowing the setlist well enough and being spoilt by the excellent concert just two days before. I so badly wanted to add this one to the list of 'best concerts ever been to' but unfortunately it's just going on the 'concerts went to' list. I'm still a fan for sure, so I really hope we'll get a chance to see them in a smaller setting one day soon.

Germanys Pfand and 'The Big Score'

In Germany when you buy a drink from the supermarket, you pay the normal product price plus a 'pfand'. The 'pfand' is an additional charge (between 8 and 25 cents) per bottle and also for crates (1.50 Euro + per crate). The 'pfand' portion of the drinks charge is refunded to you when you bring your bottles back to the supermarket. The 'pfand' is a recycling initiative and it works - everyday you see people with sacks of empty bottles on the way to the supermarket to get their pfand back.

All medium to large supermarkets have a pfand machine where the bottles and crates are returned. These machines are like ATM's and are fully automatic, scanning the bottles are they are put in the machine and then giving you a docket once you have finished.

Once you have finished you either do your normal grocery shopping and the cashier will scan your docket which will take the value of your returned pfand off your total bill. If you want you can go directly to the cashier and get cash without buying anything.

Since moving to Germany we have been like the locals and carting all of our used bottles back to the supermarket on a regular basis. It is amazing how those bottles can add up when you have a 'do' at your house!

The other side of the pfand thing is that discarded bottles represent a currency that anyone on the street can take advantage of. In particular, homeless and disadvantaged people are always seen going through the bins or picking the bottles of the street. More industrious people target the local parks and clubs, knowing a lot of bottles are 'up for grabs; and come prepared with many bags and in some instances special trolleys. For instance once night while we were waiting for a club to open, a savvy pfand entrepreneur arrived at opening time with a huge flatbed trolley and many empty crates. A good idea, hang around the club areas, and as everyone arrives they will need to dump their 'roadies' before going inside.

So, leaving your bottles behind when out and about almost definitely means that someone will come along later and benefit from your waste. Everyone knows this, so if someone is begging on the street it is a valid donation, and gladly accepted to give them your empty bottle. If no one is around to take the empty - don't put the bottle in the bin, put it next to it as someone will be along shortly to pick it up and there is no need to make them go through the bins. Leaving your bottle behind is a social good.

Everyday pfands are sitting patiently on the street waiting to be picked up and we have found ourselves more and more inclined to start collecting them - particularly if we have a bag, are already on the way to return pfands or are near to home.

I've coined an acronym for my pfand hunting, 'HVPs' and that is I am on the lookout for 'High Value Pfands' - the ones that are worth 15 cents or above. I am now less likely to bypass a HVP!

So - on the evening of the Berlin International Beer Festival we could see a pfand paradise developing. We were out with friends and not going directly home at that point so we didn't collect any at the event. When we did go home however we started to pick up the pfands that were littering our street. In front of our place is a park and we went to have a brief look to see what pfands were hanging around. PFAND JACKPOT! 

At this park are a couple of concrete table tennis tables, and some people had obviously had a bit of a gathering around here earlier in the night with the table full of empty pfands waiting for us. There were a good amount of HVPs there and also a plethora of the usual LVP (Low Value Pfands). Being close to home and armed with a bag (and a bag thoughtfully left by the party people) we collected the lot.

This ended up being the haul.

And a basic breakdown of the individual value of what was collected.

The crate was ours already but through a rookie move we returned the bottles without the crate, rendering the crate non-returnable. Crates must be returned with the empty bottles inside by putting on a small conveyor belt at the bottom of the pfand machines. The machine somehow works it all out, maybe by weight and gives your the value of the individual bottles (in this case 11 x 8 cents) plus the crate pfand of 1.50 Euros for a total pfand refund of 2.38 Euros.

When Monday came around we carted the pfands to our local supermarket and joined the pfand machine queue.

With our turn we put bottle after bottle in. Not an unusual sight so no one cares.They will wait patiently and I am sure they have all done a big pfand run like this themselves. Out of our haul only a few turned out not to be pfands (either just not a pfand or a bottle from outside of Germany and therefore ineligible).

At the end of it we had fed the machine 1 crate, 17 x HVPs, and 49 LVP for a total refund of 8.57 Euros.  

We used our docket to buy our groceries for the next couple of days, only being a couple of Euros out of pocket for the entire shop that came to just over 10 Euros.

So pfand collecting it's not something worth quitting your day job for - if you have one. However, pfand hunting represents real money for those that need it and, as we have seen in the past, can add up to large sums if you target the HVPs or have the time and determination to gather huge quantities of HVPs and LVPs.

For us pfand hunting is more of a game (HVPs are always on the radar) and while we will of course return our own pfands in the future the 'off the street' collection is better left to those that need it more. Making a habit of hunting down 'the big score' for us is likely to be an infrequent occurrence...though I didn't say never! :P

Berlin International Beer Festival 2013

I'd like to think that I know 'what's going down' in Berlin - at least the main things. However, this one snuck up on us.

Coming home from a day out on Friday we popped out at our local U-Bahn station and saw a seemingly endless line of parked trucks and beer tents being set up.

What's this all about. Back home we checked it out and it was the Berlin International Beer Festival, running for this weekend only. How didn't we know about this? There's been no signs or nothin' in our area, and social media has been quiet. Though - of course when you mention it to people they all of a sudden know all about it. Regardless we had to check it out...it is pretty much on our doorstep after all!

The description on the Internet sounded pretty impressive - a 'Beer Mile' would be set up between Frankfurter Tor and Strausberger Platz. That's 1.6 kilometres of booze'ing. I like to validate these types of claims, so measured it myself on the map...yep its pretty much a mile :) (well specifically it's 1.5 km's but with a bit of overflow I'm sure they made up the extra 100 metres).

For Saturday night we already had plans to catch up with our friend Mackenzie, who after almost a year in Berlin is heading back home to Sydney this week. Sad Face :(

Mackenzie had heard of the Beer Festival already and after a local dinner we went to check it out. Mackenzies brother Joe is visiting at the moment so he came along too.

We started out at Frankfurter Tor and the place was super busy. All located on one side of the street, on its ample Soviet Era flagship boulevard. 

The central walkway was jammed with people and all kinds of stands on either side. Mostly beer, but sausages and other food stuffs. By the roadside were lots of beer garden type set ups, it was so cool. Scattered around the mile were heaps of little stages full of live music - a great atmosphere.

We walked a way along trying to find a place that wasn't charging a 'pfand' - a deposit for the glass, and also had a place to sit. We found a place that was selling its beers in bottles (most places were doing glasses and steins which attract the pfand). We got our four beers from Cologne, 3 euros each, and four of these cost 9 euros...the guy was having a bad math day.

As we sat we got a chance to people watch. Lots of stag and hen's nights and a few rowdy Englishers, but everyone was well behaved.

You could appreciate having trouble keeping up with the punters when you see how busy it was.

We went to another place and got another round of beers. This lady could add up properly.

We finished the time at the Beer Mile with another beer, this time one from a glass which attracted the pfand. As we were still drinking these, at around midnight, the stallholder guy came to tell us that we had to drink up and get out, the 'ordnungsamt' (municipal police) required that everyone comply - and those police guys were starting to gather in force.

We left the Beer Mile and walked to Alexander Platz to finish off the night and say our sad farewell to Mackenzie.

On Sunday we went back to see how it was during the day. Still busy but nowhere near as jammed as the Saturday. In the evening it would no doubt pick up again, but thunderstorms hit in the late afternoon so I'm sure we saw it at it's peak.

On the Saturday night we had seen a stand selling the Dutch treat, Oliebollen, pretty much a very heavy donut the size of a softball. we sought it out, and got ourselves 4 for 5 Euros. The lady put 5 in our bag, not sure why though one of them was a bit smaller than the others.

Once last walk down the mile...

A pause to listen to a rock'n'roll act...

A look back to the start of the mile at Frankfurter Tor (where the two towers are), from about a third of the way up...

A last look at the ample, well spaced toilets lining the mile...essential at a Beer thingy...

 We were so impressed with this event that snuck up on us. So well organised, lots of variety and lots of fun.

Wonder if I will hear about it next year?