Since there is currently nothing that you could treat yourself to live-technically, we look back again - in the form of a new series entitled "A Blast From The Past!". Episode 1 is about the Out in the Green Festival, which took place on July 18th and 19th, 1987 at the Odenwaldring near Babenhausen in southern Hesse. So back to the eighties - they are the most cited decade ever anyway, that's my subjective impression. Strictly speaking, it goes even further into the past - after all, most of the actors who worked the field between Babenhausen and the municipality of Schaafheim this weekend had already had their best time behind them. Some others, on the other hand, could only be admired with binoculars in larger areas, while others could no longer be admired at all.
The Out in the Green series emerged in Germany after the end of the Golden Summernight Festivals, which similarly indulged in guitar rock during the 1970s. In addition, it started in 1987 as the still existing Ticket Out in the Green Featival 1987Festival with a more diverse line-up in Switzerland. In Germany, the Open Air took place in a similar form for only a few years, later events with this title were much smaller and rarely featured international formations.
In spite of some legendary names in the billing, advance bookings for this festival were rather vague – there is no other way to explain why tickets were raffled by the daily press at short notice. The competition this year was not exactly small either: the first of many bizarre festivals with more contemporary guitar music took place on the Loreley rock. And the Monsters of Rock rebelled again before the brand finally burned down in 1988 due to vandalism (at least in Germany). As a musical general store, Rock am Ring was still in the orientation phase and offered some personnel overlaps with Out in the Green. However, this scored precisely because of its anachronism, in which chart compatibility played no role Won tickets for the Out in the Green festival in 1987 and a grateful audience tried to save some Woodstock feeling into the eighties.
Enter buddy Stefan, who was lucky enough to get hold of two tickets raffled by the press. Whereby only ONE name really invited us rock freaks on the ticket: STATUS QUO. The rest didn't interest us a bit. So, was it worth making the journey to the southern Hessian pampa, especially given the more than modest weather on the first day and the less than edifying forecasts on the second? Oh well.
"Hob Goblin played first, which luckily we almost completely missed." I wrote with the typical arrogance of a 22-year-old in my photo diary, from which all the pictures published here are taken. Next: "We used the time in which we were exposed to this -z-e-n-s-i-e-r-t- for a little shopping spree, where we got everything from (hash) pipes Lick at the Out in the Green Festival 1987 to monster pictures and leather hats to Werner comics was offered what the freak needs. We then went in search of an acceptable resting place (huh?) - and then we waited
lick
we of things. And they came out pretty bad. The next band was called LICK, came from Aschaffenburg and also sounded like that...". With that I leave my original notes from 1987 for the time being, because they don't get any more pleasant in terms of arrogance. I was probably less open to the regional openers, it seems. I can no longer verify my harsh judgment from back then – bands from before the Internet, who also share the name with many others, have a hard time being noticed afterwards.
Well-known musicians, however, were not safe from my disgust either. I'll quote my diary again, I'm sure the grown-ups can take it better: "Then came Roger Chapman - and not only that: He also started to pee and hardly stopped for the rest of the day. The music didn't help Roger Chapman cheer up at the 1987 Out in the Green festival: run-of-the-mill rhythm & blues heard thousands of times, which everyone should be fed up with. But no: Every year Chappo Open Airs and thousands of pubs every evening
Roger Chapman
playing his live record is still not enough to ban Chapman from performing". I had the live album myself. But it's true: In the late 80's there was a Chapman overkill in Germany that pissed me off about his music to this day. Maybe it's time to try listening again, it's been a few days now.
I still haven't gotten over the following Udo Lindenberg with his PANIKORCHESTER, whom I had already seen twice six years earlier (among other things as the headliner of a festival against the construction of the West Runway in the Frankfurt Festhalle) and from whom I owned one or two discs. By this point, my interest in him had cooled somewhat, despite my basic respect for Udo Lindenberg at the 1987 Out in the Green Festival (a condition that was inversely proportional to the ever larger halls he played). In the diary of 1987 it reads like this: “His music fools me
Udo Lindenberg
not for years (!), but in addition to his services to German-speaking rock music, there is no way around appreciating his personality. Who of today's German rock generation talks critically about "shit Nazis" when they want to play with Dieter Thomas Heck?" Udo has always been stable, even if it is expressed in junk songs like "What are wars for?" , which I believe he also performed here. In addition to hits like "Street fever" or "You don't need a guide". The latter is unfortunately more relevant than ever in its basic statement.
I will not quote here what I wrote in 1987 about the following Joe Cocker – that is extremely embarrassing to me and almost justiciable in its devastating arrogance. I've never had it with cover bands and the formation around the Woodstock veteran fed 90 percent of their program from foreign compositions. His fans rightly don't care, Joe Cocker at the 1987 Out in the Green festival, but I was never one of them, even when his famous one
Joe Cocker
BEATLES interpretation "With A Little Help From My Friends" is a highlight of the Woodstock soundtrack. On the Odenwaldring, however, this came along weak-chested and desperate in a bad sense, that's my impression formulated at the time. A matter of taste. But not everyone should be allowed to cover Marvin Gaye, I still stand by that today.
The first day of the weekend has been anything but ecstatic so far (buddy Stefan felt the same as I remember). The conclusion, however, made up for everything from soggy shoes to local openers to questionable covers. The formation around blues rock legend Rory Gallagher entered the stage as the last act. After an organ transplant in 1995 at the age of 47, Rory Gallagher unfortunately died far too young at the Out in the Green Festival in 1987. After a five-year break, Gallagher finally released a new album in 1987 with "Defender". In the years from 1977 (in which he
Rory Gallagher
Germany as well as Europe in the first Rockpalast night on television) until 1982 several, mostly high-class works with an increasing hard rock impact, combined with excessive touring, were released. In addition to these, he was a regular guest at summer festivals and honored the Rockpalast several times. Gallagher live was an absolute force full of joy in playing, the concerts topped his records quite a bit, regardless of whether he played acoustic blues on the guitar or ukulele or the driving, bluesy and melodic hard rock on his famous Stratocaster.
Rory Gallagher at the 1987 Out in the Green FestivalIt was no different at Babenhausen in 1987, where two tracks from the advertised new spin-off featured the usual suspects from blues covers by Son House or Muddy Waters, as well as live favorites like "Shadow Play" or " Bad Penny” framed . At the start next to Gallagher was his longest-serving partner on bass, Gerry McAvoy, who later kept the memory of Rory and his work alive with his project BAND OF FRIENDS. Years on the bottle were already taking their toll on the axeman, but I once again recognized Gerry McAvoy and Rory Gallagher at the 1987 Out in the Green festival as a high-energy ramp sow who thrives on the game, inspiring every character in the audience to jump along . It was my last encounter with the Irish national hero, for whom even Jimi Hendrix had the utmost respect. His great live moments at the Rockpalast are available on DVD, and all of his live albums are recommended.
So the trip was more than worth it. However, there was still a second day ahead of us after a night in bed at home. It should be a very interesting one. Everything about it here!
Text & photos: Micah