Band from Bad Godesberg The next gig will happen in a flower shop
The Godesberg band "Woodstuff" likes to perform at unusual places. On December 28 they’ll play at a florist in Friesdorf. Also, the musicians urgently need a new rehearsal room.
The Godesberg band "Woodstuff" had their last big performance at the city festival in September on the Theaterplatz stage. There, the organisers had signalled to the rock musicians that they had been "the best openers" for years, reports singer Helmuth Weil. „The bar staff had to organise more beer at the booths from the very beginning. You can hardly give a better quality seal to an opening band," says Weil.
The social worker, who works in the youth welfare service and who has also helped members of the board of directors to keep fit, has been part of the band for six years. In 2006, he became aware of them and booked them for his own wedding. "They were already a very good band back then," Weil emphasizes. The repertoire ranges from the Beatles hit "Here comes the Sun" to "Itchycoo Park" by the Small Faces and "Little Wing" by Jimi Hendrix to "Somebody" by Bryan Adams.
"Totally unspectacular" is how the band's history had begun three years earlier, as co-founder, guitarist and singer Karl-Heinz Künkel tells us. "In October 2003, the idea of an acoustic rock band was born in a bar in Bonn's Südstadt in a humid and cheerful threesome. Soon the right name was found and we were ready to start", says Künkel, who is a PC specialist at the Wissenschaftszentrum.
Music and friendship
"Woodstuff", as the name suggests, basically only uses guitars made of wood. "And it's rare to see bands that use those for Pink Floyd and Rolling Stones titles. Except for Woodstuff," says singer Weil, a „Friesdorf fella“. That impressed him immediately. When the band was looking for a new singer six years ago and approached him, he immediately accepted. "And so it worked out very well."
Alongside Künkel and Weil, guitarist and singer Jürgen Bethge, a retired Telekom employee, bassist Thomas Husemann, also a PC expert, and drummer Christian Koch, an administrative employee, will be on stage. "Everyone is united by the joy of music from the 1960s to the 1990s," says Weil. And in addition to that the desire, to stay close to the audience at concerts that have already taken them to the Netherlands. And that by no means only consists of older generations. "We also like to perform in unusual places," says Weil. Recently, they played in a car repair shop. And suddenly the young listeners wanted to buy CDs from them. "We never had anything like that before," the singer reports. So they have pressed their first sound carriers from live recordings without further ado. The next concert will be played by Woodstuff on 28 December from 7 pm in Friesdorf at Blumen Hannes in Annaberger Straße 31, so there will be "A Night at the Florist". The entrance is free. Every tenth visitor will even receive a household set as a gift. And the ladies - free Prosecco.
Once a week the band meets for rehearsal. Unfortunately, they recently lost their band practice venue, which needs to be used for other purposes. Now the five of them have to travel far to be able to play together. "In Bonn there are hardly any rehearsal possibilities for bands like us", regrets Weil. So he would be very grateful if readers could give a tip. "The best place to rehearse is in an industrial area. because we can get really loud." Weil laughs. Who actually sets the tone for the band is the last question. Weil answers with a wink: "We are a democracy. Everyone can do what Künkel wants."
Contact: www.wood-stuff.de
Original text: Ebba Hagenberg-Miliu
Translation: Mareike Graepel
