Recommendations of the Editorial team
Six years ago, Xavier Naidoo was “officially” on a concert stage for the last time with his own band and his own songs. What followed was an unprecedented rumble. Now the 54-year-old is attempting an escape artist trick on Tuesday (December 16) in the Cologne Arena. With an outcome that is still uncertain. We’ll know more in a few hours.
According to statements from Cologne residents on the right bank of the Rhine, no fans have been seen camping on the hill near the Lanxess gates.
As is well known, the two opening concerts are sold out, apart from a few leather chairs in the bling-bling zone. The Naidoo camp then wrote a brief message via Instagram, with all sorts of emoji garnish:
“The rehearsals are finished. The time will come in a week. We’re ready, are you too? Cologne, we’re coming!”
Critical discussion with Xavier Naidoo
Virtually the entire German media landscape took the upcoming shows as an opportunity for critical appraisal with varying degrees of severity.
The newspaper “Jüdische Allgemeine” understandably gave no quarter: “In the German cultural sector, people are reluctant to deal with the virulent anti-Semitic ideas within their own ranks. The successful comeback of Xavier Naidoo is another example of this. However, this reduces to absurdity the claim that everyone has made so eloquently that they want to combat anti-Semitism.”
Even on the website of the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg one felt compelled to mention Mannheim’s son’s “Cologne Concert” in a mildly warning manner. After all, the Electoral Palatinate residential city is located in the north of the Ländle. And the soul master who lost his way once described the Rhine/Neckar town as the “New Jerusalem”.
“Is Wendler coming as a support act?”
In the fan forum of the “Festivals Unted” platform, however, you can find cynical comments:
“Is Wendler coming as a support act?” asks “Concertfreak” in view of the scandalous chronicle of his Schlager colleague. “Certainly catering from Attila, including children’s blood on tap?!”; “Madpad77” suspects with regard to Naidoo’s Q-Anon penchant. “I suspect that in Leipzig you can certainly observe the same suspicious audience as at Kontra K,” says “SmileAgain” about the regional differences in reception.
There are currently two cases of incitement against Naidoo pending at the Mannheim Regional Court. He and his legal team strictly reject the allegations. In 2021 he worked with the right-wing extremist musician Hannes Ostendorf. A point that shows that problematic content can be found not only in interviews, but also in Naidoo’s work.
The famous three-minute apology video followed in 2022. Naidoo spoke of wrong turns, mistakes and regrets, condemned nationalism, anti-Semitism and racism – since then it has remained silent. Apparently enough for many fans: demand for tickets is also high outside of the two debut shows, and some fan comments are partly euphoric.
At the time the tour was announced, right-wing extremism expert Andreas Speit diagnosed that a credible exit would be a long process. And not to just push it off the table with a video.
While the organizer legend Marek Lieberberg (79), who has an almost grandfatherly mentorship position to Naidoo, defended the apology aria as credible, organizations such as the “Values Initiative” had even called for the concerts to be canceled.
Xavier Naidoo is silent
Naidoo himself nonchalantly brushes off all requests for a current statement. His team refers to the tour preparation. Tenor: “It’s better not to say anything. Let the music speak!”
Whether these concerts will be the contemplative pre-Christmas return of the fallen son; or even the moment in which he positions himself publicly and with unctuous words as “purified” remains to be seen.
The way back to the mainstream of society will not be easy for Mr. Naidoo, according to a current, widely used headline gag with reference to a song title.