Christmas Show in Cleveland was a hit

On Friday we traveled for 7 hours to see this fabulous German Christmas show. Gisela Lewis of New Jersey organizes a German Christmas tour every year. The closest it came to Milwaukee was Cleveland. So I made my reservations months ago and finally the day came to travel to Cleveland. It was held at the Donauschwaben house in Cleveland and it was nice to see some old friends again. There were about 350 people in attendance. If you look at my other post on this website you can see a complete list of where they will and have appeared. I am so happy we were able to attend this show. It was one of the best I have every seen.

The headliner was Axel Becker, who is a big star in Germany. It is amazing that Gisela was able to land a big name like Axel, but even more amazing was his voice. Axel Becker has the most beautiful voice I have ever heard and is also quite the showman. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand and at the end of each set, he received a standing Ovation. Although, Axel was clearly the star, he was gracious to his fellow performers and brought them up on stage to share the thunderous applause.

The beautiful Styrina was also on the bill. Many people in Milwaukee remember this charming young girl from Austria with her long flowing blonde hair. This little "firecracker" really brought energy and excitement to the floor. She had traditional songs in her first set and changed into a glittery red dress for the 2nd half that made her shine like a red diamond. Styrina told me later she really enjoyed her time in Milwaukee and would love to return again.

Filling out the program was a band from Austria, Kristall. They had only 3 members of their band with them. We saw them in May in Austria when we were on the bus tour with Gisela Lewis. They were a lot of fun and some very talented musicians. The trumpeter, Werner George, was very talented and even sang a few songs.

This was clearly a top notch Christmas Show. Now I really feel in the festive mood. If you still have an opportunity to see this show while they are still in the states, please do not miss it. I have a slideshow below with pictures I took that evening. If you would like one of the pictures, just click on view all images and it will take you to the slide website. Click gallery view, then find the photo you want and right click to download. It's free.

Weihnachts Show tour presented by Gisela Lewis

Gisela Lewis is again presenting a fabulous Weihnachts Show tour in the USA and Canada. It starts on November 27 and continues through December 19. Gisela has brought entertainers from Germany for many years and this year's show looks like it will again be a stand out. Check out the list below to see if there is a show near you. It is bound to be an evening to remember.

The stars for this year's tour are: Axel Becker, Styrina, and the Kristall band.

We saw Axel Becker perform live in Germany back in 2006. He puts on a great show and is often on Volksmusik TV shows in Germany. He has many hits through the years and he is looking forward to his first trip to the US. When I listen to his voice the word "velvet" pops up in my head. Take a look/listen yourself and click on this link to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBCK5qMzXa4

Styrina was at this year's German Fest in Milwaukee and this beautiful girl with her long flowing blond hair aquired many new fans here in Milwaukee. I ofen hear people describe her performance as a little firecracker. Take a look at this YouTube link to see Styrina in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qAHHuNmDTY. We also saw Styrina in Austria when we went with Gisela Lewis and Peter Matthai (leader of the Sandler band) on the Bus Tour they organized in May this year. By the way, they have another tour planned for May 2010 and I will be bringing details of that trip soon. On that same Bus Tour, we saw the band Kristall perform and you will not be disappointed with this talented band. Here is a link to YouTube to see Kristall perform: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCjzT3_CzlI. They made great music and their humorous antics will have you laughing out loud.

Click on the poster to the right to enlarge the image. It gives details of this fabulous tour coming to the US.

Nov 27 - Deutscher Club of Clark, call 908-756-1783

Nov 28 - Delaware Saengerbund, Newark, DE, call 302-366-4710

Nov 29 - Franklin Square, NY, call 516-333-4710

Dec 1 - German-American Soc of Trenton, Yardville, NJ, call 609-585-5593

Dec 2 - Evergreen Country Club, Reading, call 610-944-7501 & 484-797-3528

Dec 3 - Germania Park, Dover NJ, call 732-557-0670

Dec 4 - Cannstatter Volksfest Verein, Philadelphia, PA, call 215-332-0121

Dec 5 - Schulverein Walpole, Boston, MA, call 508-586-0982 & 781-320-9940

Dec 6 - Schutzenpark, North Bergen, NJ, call 917-680-3942 & 718-821-7337

Dec 8 - Carpathia Club, Sterling Heights, Michigan, call 586-781-6734 or 586-822-2366

Dec 9 - Deutscher Sportverein, Ft. Wayne, IN, call 660-338-1234 & 260-248-2282

Dec 10 - Donauschwaben Society of Cincinnati, OH, call 513-451-6452

Dec 11 - German-American Culture Center Olmsted Falls, Cleveland, OH, call 440-235-2647

Dec 12 - German Family Society of Akron, Ohio, call 330-923-7947 or 330-336-7127

Dec 13 - Schwabenverein, Toledo/Oregon, OH, call 419-536-9942 or 419-691-4116

Dec 14 - Club Lorelei, Hamburg, NY, call 716-875-1064 or 716-633-1044

Dec 15 - Club Rhein-Danube, Leamington, ON, Canada, call 519-326-3740 & 519-326-1779

Dec 16 - Concordia Club Kitchener, ON, Canada, call 519-745-5617

Dec 17 - Association of Danube Swabians, Scarborough Toronto, ON Canada, call 416-290-6186 or 416-282-4021

Dec 19 - Blobs Park, Baltimore, MD, call 410-799-7130

Friday at German Fest in Milwaukee

Friday at German Fest was jam packed with fun. The visitors were very enthusiastic about Styrina's show. Styrina has beautiful long blond hair as you can see from the photo to the left. So I asked her to take a spin.

Styrina has a great mix of both Volksmusik and Schlager. She had people "schunkling" (which I call the German Arobics) and she came off stage, got up on the bleachers in the audience and interacted with the people while she was singing. This is her first time to the Milwaukee German Fest and there are many people who are hoping this will not be her last.

The Sandlers played most of the afternoon and enjoyed singing to the crowd that kept growing. As people walked by and heard the great sound that these muscians produced, they were just drawn in like a magnet. There were a lot of people who had become fans from years before and were very happy to see that the Sandlers had a new CD to offer. Willy, the lead singer, led a polanaise and got everyone on their feet. Willy is also an accomplished glass blower and if you had time to explore the shops you may have seen some the detailed glass items he & his wife had for sale there.

If you are looking to download some of the pictures in the Slide show below, just click on View all Images. It will take you to the slide show website and you just need to right click and download the picture you like. And... it's all FREE.

Pre-German Fest Party

We had a great time giving a Welcome party for the Sandlers, last night. They will be playing German Fest all weekend. When Peter generously offered his band to play, I quickly said YES! It was a great feeling to have the Sandlers play in "my" backyard. Click Here to go to a link where our son, Tim, took a few pictures and even some short videos.

We were also treated to Milwaukee' s own Peggy Mueller, who played a few songs with Peter and, of course, Hansi on the spoons. There were even some sing-a-long moments. These musicians gave everyone a glimpse of the fine music that there will be a German Fest this weekend. Styrina was also there and she enjoyed getting to know some of our guests better before the big weekend.

Thanks to all our friends who brought delicious food and drinks and for helping us give this party for these talented muscians. It is a party that we will always remember. The evening got us all in the mood to have a good time at German Fest this weekend that will be filled with good music (like we heard this night), good food and a wonderful time spent with old friends. Later in the evening the Widdersteiner (Oberallgau Musikanten) band arrived and we all had the opportunity to get to know them better.

Reise mit Musik - over 70 musicians

Our beautiful tour through Austria/Germany in May featured music - music - music. Peter our tour guide and the leader of Die Sandler, said that during our 2 week tour we saw over 70 live muscians/entertainers. There was NEVER a day without music. One of our first performers was the beautiful Vivan Lindt. Her parents own the Gasthaus Oeller near Passau and she entertained us along with the Gletscherfetzer band.

One evening Hans Fuchs and his Oberkrainer Show entertained us after dinner at the Donauschlinge Hotel. We were lucky enough to be entertained by a talented musician at the Donauschlinge Hotel ever night by the name of Willy Brandstetter. When we went to Linz there was a fest going on and we saw several talented muscians, but later we went for a boat ride on the Donau and had the whole boat to ourselves. The Linzer Stadmusikanten played while our group went up and down the Donau.

We also went into the Czech Republic and during our lunch a Country music band played music Czech style. Our visit to the Slavko Avsenik museuem was topped off with a traditional meal in the fest hall with authentic Oberkrainer musik.

One of our favorites was the evening when we were entertained by 3 great entertainers. We were in Millstadt at the Hotel Alexanderhof and none of us suspected that we were in for such a treat that night. Styrina started the program and when peter told us she was a "firecracker" he was not overstating it. Styrina is scheduled to be at German Fest here in Milwaukee this weekend and if you are going, be sure to catch her show. The band Kristall was also featured and they will be in the USA in November for a Christmas Show tour (Styrina is in that show too).

Then came Bernd Roberts. Just 2 weeks later he competed with his song "Hoer auf den Herz " in the Austrian Vortentscheid for the Grand Prix der Volksmusik. Bernd Roberts has been to the US previously and a real favorite along the East coast. He is one of many stars that Gisela Lewis brings to the US each year.

On the day that we toured Vienna, we went to Grinzing in the evening. We had some great house muscians playing old Vienniese tunes and soon it became a sing-along. That night one of our tour members, Wolfgang Ribbert, sang a beautiful song for us. Later Harry Steiner came by and really got our group up on their feet.

While we were at the Hotel Alexanderhof and young talented singer, Sandro, entertained us one evening. He gave us a 2 hour show and did not let us just sit there listening to him sing. He had us up on our feet doing the polanaise and had the men line up to show how well they could sing too. We had a lot of fun that night.

On our way to the Lammertal we went to the Laimeralm where the well known Laimer family provided the music with an absolutely breathtaking view of the valley below. When we got to Bavaria we stayed at the Hotel zur Post in Rohrdorf. The first evening we were entertained by Bettina Stark. She is quite a BIG talent on the tuba. She has been to the US in the past and several of our group were familiar with her. She also had some other entertainers with her, like Werner Buchner, who had some great songs. Also, Max Zantl, a famous yodler in the area gave us a sample of his fine voice.

We also saw a real Bavarian schuplatter group and had a typical bavarian meal. Our last evening in Germany, we went to the neighboring town of Neubeurern whose Stadt kappelle Musikkapelle Neubeuern was celebrating their 125th anniversary. It was held in a huge tent that held about 2,000 people. The local mayor tapped the first keg of beer and the little guy pictured to the right was ready. This Bavarian festival was also serving their beer in the traditional maas. It was a great way to end a fabulous trip.