Kat Johnson '24 | My Experience at a Bilderbuch Concert

@bilderbuchmusik

One of my favorite German artists is an Austrian rock band called Bilderbuch (Picture Book in English). Bilderbuch was one of the first German artists I discovered, and I quickly became a big fan of their music. They have such a unique sound that I haven't heard in any band regardless of the language. Recently, I was able to attend a concert of theirs with my roommate and had an amazing experience. 

The concert was their first show ever in the United States, as well as their first show in several years due to COVID-19. Both the band and the fans were excited to be there, elated to be experiencing this special performance. The show was performed at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. and Bilderbuch was actually the opener for a musician called Roosevelt. Roosevelt is from Germany, however his songs are in English, whereas Bilderbuch’s songs are mostly in German. Bilderbuch performed a variety of songs from some of their more recent albums including, mea culpa (2018), Magic Life (2017), SCHICK SCHOCK (2015), and Vernissage My Heart (2019).

Although Bilderbuch was just the opener, my roommate and I suspected that many of the attendees at the concert had gone solely to see them perform. We were shocked at the number of older fans in attendance, since Roosevelt and Bilderbuch are both young. We guessed that many of these older attendees were native German speakers who heard about the concert and were interested in seeing a live German concert in the US, which are pretty hard to come by. We overheard many other attendees speaking German at the show which was exciting for us, as it is not often that you hear others speaking German in the US. My roommate and I did practice some German with each other and had a lot of fun talking about the German lyrics we would hear in the show.

We were surprised at how many people in the audience knew the lyrics to most of Bilderbuch’s songs. One guy standing next to us in the front row even said after Bilderbuch performed that he only came to hear them and he left before Roosevelt went on stage. We had a similar mindset, but we decided to stay and hear Roosevelt perform as well.

Bilderbuch’s performance was incredible. The band had such an amazing stage presence and great energy. The lead singer, Maurice, engaged with the crowd and encouraged participation, making the concert really fun. When he spoke to the audience, he would speak in English, but he still sang the songs in German. Each of the four band members had such unique personalities and outfits for the show. My roommate and I especially loved guitarist Mike’s (Mizzy) bucket hat that he wore to perform. 

I loved the performance overall, and my favorite two songs Bilderbuch performed were “Maschin” and “Checkpoint (Nie Game Over).” “Maschin” was the last song they played and it was incredibly fun and exciting as this is one of the most famous and upbeat songs. Their whole set was full of energy. I was definitely exhausted from dancing by the end of the show. “Checkpoint (Nie Game Over)” was also great to hear. It has always been a favorite song of mine and I was excited to hear it live.

I was overjoyed to attend their show, and thought their performance was amazing. My roommate and I had a great time and would recommend Bilderbuch to everyone to check out. The show was super memorable and definitely a really cool experience, especially since I might not have many other opportunities to see German musicians perform live.