Buskers Brunswick 2022: Six Frenchmen Sechs rocked the festival
Summer, sun, music and a good mood. That could be the motto for this years’s festival at Brunswick. From friday to sunday evening different bands and artists are performing in the city. My favourite act are six artists from France. The sextet is called „Demain on change tout“. The guys are so fascinating that in comparison the pied piper is a choirboy.
Chris Blaze – the Fire Ninja
We arrive in the early afternoon at the Friedrich-Wilhlem-Platz. There is not trace of Chris far and wide. That’s strange. The guy is supposed to start his show at two o’clock p.m. Well, he might be a little bit late. And that is not the only inconsistency. According to the programme Chris is said to be from Estonia. The artist himself however claims to be from Australia. Is he playing a game of cat and mouse?
At first Chris tries to get close to the audience. He asks for some „energy“ from the public which he needs to do his tricks. Not everybody, that’s obvious, understands English well. It take some time but after a fulminant start the people open up their hearts. Chris twirls with burning ropes, swallows fire and dances like a berserk over the place. His quick movements make it hard to follow him with my eyes. Calling a little girl onto the stage for some help that convinces even the ultimate doubter. All in all the show is entertaining and spectacular. A good start for us.
Detour to the baroque festival
After Chris Blaze’s act we leave the festival. We cycle to the museum park. We want to listen to the „Water music on the Oker“. What has been announced enthusiastically as „Watermusic in its truest sense! Baroque music fort he whole family, for young and old or simply to chill or sunbath“ was a completely letdown. Due to the lack of clear location data where and when the concert starts everybody looks a little bit lost. When the boat with the instrumentalists finally passes by it only lasts for a minute, unless you feel like following the boat down the river. We feel twited off and therefore return to buskers.
A catching rhythm
The Schuhstraße is calling us. We want to listen to the singer Janileigh Cohen. Unfortunately, that is not so easy. At first we sit down on a bench to listen closely. A shabby and drunken looking guy sits down next to us. His talking to himself and his sweeping gestures are nerve-wracking. We move on.
Our next destination ist he main stage on the Platz der deutschen Einheit. Mighty Mike in on the programme. On our way we stop at a bunch of people. We can only see a huge puppet with three mobile heads. What is this? We move closer and even though we still do not understand what is going on these music men seem to be something special. We see wild gestures, pacing around and hear crazy music. And suddenly I realize that it does not matter what these Frenchmen are really doing there, it is just fun! The performance is a real spectacle. It is so bewildering and funny at the same time. I have never seen something like this before.
The audience is thrilled. The artists itself seem to have fun with their (impromptu?) show. Anyway the time limit is overrun. We have an eye on the main stage. Mighty Mike did not enter the scene yet.
Mighty Mike – the Strongman Show
Suddenly it is due. Demain on change tout let off steam. The stage is waiting for the next maniac. And there he is, the strong man from Canada. Before the one-man-show starts Mike asks for some support from the audience. The strong Canadian juggles three bowling balls, bends horseshoes and has a sledge hammer dancing on his nose while maneuvering three sabers. It is a good laugh for everybody.
The next act, a group from spain, does not knock our socks off. We decide to give the other stages a chance. On the Schlossplatz we see the end of Murray Molloy’s show, the sword swallower. At the Ringerbrunnen we take a look at Erich Stenzel. The stage at the Schützenstraße is empty. Well, it is time to go home. It was a long and entertaining day. We are looking forward to Buskers 2023 already.
