Recommendations of the Editorial team
A perfect evening: the sun is shining, the sky is blue, the violins are about to come. Oh no, Die Toten Hosen! Even better, because there’s a bit of romance here and there, but above all there’s a lot of noise. The start of what will probably be Düsseldorf’s last major German tour takes place in Stuttgart, and 65,000 people came to celebrate. And how!
It starts with “Opel-Gang”, then comes a new song, appropriately “The show must go on”. There will be nine more songs from the current album “Drink up! We have to go” – and all of them fit seamlessly between the biggest hits. That speaks for the farewell work, but it also speaks for the live quality of the Toten Hosen: They simply know how it’s done. The interplay between loud and quiet, between thoughtful and on the twelve, between anger and joy. Tonight it’s mostly the latter. Campino repeatedly thanks the audience, including for the latest chart success: “We made the music, but you made it number one!”
Rarely have you seen Die Toten Hosen smile so much
On “Liebeslied” he describes himself as “a bit over-motivated”, but the appeal of the Toten Hosen was never that they were flawless, but that they always got the ultimate result. And rarely have you seen the band smile so much – like a gang that is happy to be going around the house together again. Breiti and Andi constantly run onto the pier to take a closer look at the people; as expected, Kuddel blossoms especially later on during the anti-“Bayern” song. Vom still looks like a hyper teenager behind the drums, and the newly hired keyboard player, Jet Baker from Buster Shuffle, doesn’t bother him.
Die Toten Hosen are known to have many pieces about transience, and of course all of them fit the current situation like a glove. One of the biggest German rock bands says goodbye, it’s okay to feel melancholic. During “Altes Fever” everyone shouts the lines even louder: “And again and again/ They are the same songs/ That feel/ As if time were standing still.” During the socially critical “What’s wrong with us” there is a few minutes of reverent silence, and it is probably at this point that many people realize once again how much we will miss the pants as a collective because of their strong stance. Although the men have now mastered their instruments after 44 years of practice, they are not just musicians, but above all people – and friends. Between each other and somehow from everyone here.
It’s not just the singer who has tears
The most touching moment of the evening: when Campino talks about how much their former drummer Wölli, who died in 2016, is still present in the band. They’ve just written him a song, and it’s not just the singer who’s crying during “Eyes Close (It’s Raining Flowers)”. Right after that they belt out “Get up when you’re down.” “Alles aus Liebe”, “Pushed Again”, “Make a Wish”, “Here Comes Alex” – there is no stopping them, and although they play 32 songs, they are all missing something. (For example, the “Word for Sunday”.)
When they leave the stage after 75 minutes, the crowd briefly falls into a state of shock, although it is clear that they will play encores that are almost as long again, there is still a lot left to do. Perhaps the only small imbalance of the evening – they could have added the first of the three encore blocks straight on. But we’re complaining here at world champion level. What this band brings to the over 60s is pure joy.
A celebration of the moment, for eternity
There is of course “On Days Like These” and even “Cry for Love” from the doctors, and finally “Drink up” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. But Die Toten Hosen don’t just leave the stage with it, no, they record “All You Need Is Love” and walk around the stage during the entire song to say thank you, to wave, to take it all in. What does one of your best pieces say? “This is the moment/ That you are attached to/ When you think back at some point.”
Celebrate the moment, with a lot of energy, but without any escapism: Die Toten Hosen can do that like no other band, and that’s why their concerts are always so much fun. Fortunately, we still have a few opportunities until the summer of 2027.
The complete setlist:
Opel gear
The show must go on
We never left
Away game
You only live once
Only forward
Old fever
Bad neighbors
Wannsee
Love song
What’s wrong with us?
Everyone says that
Close your eyes (It’s raining flowers)
Get up when you’re down
Bonnie & Clyde
What once was
Under the clouds
All for love
Pushed again
Make a wish
Here comes Alex
——-
whim of nature
Dusseldorf
Greetings, goodbye
——-
Everything happens
Bavaria
This is the moment
Days like these
——-
Cry for love
Friends
Drink up
You’ll Never Walk Alone