Lushy at Wassermusik 08, Berlin, Germany
Yesterday was a little calmer, starting with Coconami (I somehow missed snapping a picture of them, sorry!) who used to be in the Tiki Tiki Bambooos, a Surf band from Munich, they now are a Ukulele duo, with mostly female vocals. This has to remind me of Petty Booka, if just by the sound of two ukes and japanese ladies singing. Maybe a smaller venue would benefit their delicate presentation more, but on the other hand Wassermusik successfully aims at presenting a wide range of music styles.
Lushy – the most contemporary sounding act in the Tiki series of events at least, if not the entire set of Wassermusik events. It’s hard to compare Seattle and Berlin for me. However I can say that there is an artificial element, not unlike in the B-52s for example. Like a yellow plastic Tiki mask at Trader Vic’s, they stuck out of the set of Wassermusik performers by having said cartoonish lounge approach coupled with some electronics. I think this could be a really groovy thing, but probably working best with a dancing party crowd in a small club.
- Wassermusik 08 Berlin
- Wassermusik, Part IV
- Wassermusik, Part V
- Wassermusik Tiki Days Photostream
- Wassermusik Calendar Online
Where was the Wassermusik festival held in Berlin? I’ve heard some people desperate to see Barack Obama lose claim that most of the people that showed up for his speech were actually around for the festival and just happened to watch his speech since he was around. I can’t find specifics on the location of Wassermusik though. Thanks.
The festival took place in (with rain) or beside (with sunshine) the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (The House of World Cultures). It used to be called just Kongresshalle, located between John-Foster Dulles Allee and the river Spree, right next to the federal chancellors administration building and the Tipi show tent. This was only a five minutes walk from the place of the Obama speech at Siegessäule. I think some people who came to see Obama also visited the Festival, being in the area anyway and some people originally intending to see the festival, deciding to see the speech instead. But nobody can have any numbers on all of this. The attendance at Wassermusik was up to 400 people, while the media say 100 000 were standing at the Siegessäule to hear the democratic american presidential candidate. The security measurements probably kept a considerable number of potential festival visitors away, since several ways of access were blocked by police.
Well, I just saw an American video reporting 200 000 Obama fans in Berlin, I’m no good with numbers, so I will revise my initial comment now. To say those 200 000 wanted to see Don Tiki and I Belli di Waikiki is a little far fetched, but a good goal for next year! The attendance of 400 at Wassermusik is my estimated guess at one peak moment, not a total, mind you.