BETONTOD are back in action! The punk rockers with their hearts in the right place. They bring along their new album titled "Show Yourself!" and two good, old acquaintances: the burning anger at injustice and the desire for the adventure called life. "And that doesn't get boring even after more than 30 years," Frank Vohwinkel, guitarist, main songwriter, and lyricist of the band, is convinced. Did he really just say 30 years? Damn…
In terms of punk rock with German lyrics, BETONTOD have long arrived in the quality league of Die Toten Hosen or Die Ärzte. Founded in the early nineties in picturesque Rheinberg, "on one of those balmy summer nights on a park bench," Vohwinkel laughs. "No one believes you anymore today," albums like "Traum von Freiheit," "Revolution," or the recently released "Pace per Sempre" in 2021 regularly land at the top of the charts. And live, Vohwinkel, singer Oliver Meister, guitarist Mario Schmelz, bassist Adam Krosny, and drummer Maik Feldmann have long made it to the big concert halls.
Even more: BETONTOD have established themselves as regular guests at the largest national festivals like Wacken Open Air or Hurricane. And as part of the Rhineland neighborhood assistance, the quintet already heated up the audience for Die Toten Hosen at their 40th anniversary celebration in 2022. For more numbers, data, and facts from the past, please consult the internet or your doctor, depending on your individual condition. Because this is about the NOW. More specifically: about the thirteenth BETONTOD album titled "Show Yourself!" But until this thing really arrives in the now-now, it's a wild ride.
No one wants to talk about it anymore, but for "SHOW YOURSELF!" the all-dominating theme of the last three years plays a significant role. What is it about? Right, the pandemic. Because it completely threw a wrench into the works for the band and the album "SHOW YOURSELF!" "Now I have to elaborate a bit," Vohwinkel says with a bittersweet smile. "Because we started working on the record back in 2018." In the studio of Fabian Zimmermann, who has been known in the BETONTOD cosmos for a few years as a co-producer of albums like "Traum von Freiheit," the starting signal for "SHOW YOURSELF!" is given, and the first single 'Das Kapital' is released at the end of 2019.
And then Aunt Corona comes to visit and stays much longer than anyone would like. "When the whole lockdown really kicked in a month before the planned release date of the album, we immediately stopped everything and postponed it indefinitely. Because unfortunately, it quickly became clear to us that things looked really bleak for performances. Without concerts, a release at that time made no sense."
BETONTOD spent the pandemic in "Scheissegal Modus," as Vohwinkel grins. With "B-Seiten" and "Pace per sempre," BETONTOD released two "interim albums" (cf. the interim beer). On "B-Seiten," the band dedicates themselves to tracks that didn't make it onto previous albums. "And since all that crap was still not over afterwards, we made another album in the next three lockdown months. We had time," he adds. With "Pace per sempre," BETONTOD wanted to "just deliver new music to the people," as Frank says. And to beautifully wallpaper the faces of right-wing conspiracy theorists with the wonderful rainbow cover in passing.
But during all that time and with all that creativity, the five musicians always had this other, finished album lying in the closet in their minds. And when the moment comes when concerts are possible again, they breathe new life into this album. Welcome to the now, welcome to "SHOW YOURSELF!" A masterpiece with the best of the past and present. In other words: Other songs, this force, these melodies have to come to terms with this first. No matter if from Düsseldorf, Berlin, Rostock, Cologne, or elsewhere. Because this is how punk rock with attitude is done, punk(t)!
BETONTOD live:
June 7, 2023 Saarbrücken, E-Werk ("Ruhrpott Rodeo on the Road")
June 8, 2023 Jena, F Haus (SHOW YOURSELF! Tour 2023)
June 9, 2023 Berlin, Columbia Halle ("Ruhrpott Rodeo on the Road")
June 10, 2023 Hannover, Faustwiese ("Ruhrpott Rodeo on the Road")
June 16, 2023 Neuhausen ob Eck Southside Festival
June 17, 2023 Augsburg Sommer am Kiez
June 18, 2023 Scheeßel Hurricane Festival
June 23, 2023 Cham, L.A. (SHOW YOURSELF! Tour 2023)
June 24, 2023 Vienna, Arena Open Air ("Ruhrpott Rodeo on the Road")
August 11, 2023 Rheinberg, Pulverturm BETONTOD Home Game Open Air 2023
September 29, 2023 Cologne, Kantine (SHOW YOURSELF! Tour 2023)
September 30, 2023 Munich, Muffathalle (SHOW YOURSELF! Tour 2023)
October 1, 2023 Nuremberg, Hirsch (SHOW YOURSELF! Tour 2023)
October 5, 2023 Wiesbaden, Schlachthof (SHOW YOURSELF! Tour 2023)
October 6, 2023 Stuttgart, LKA-Longhorn (SHOW YOURSELF! Tour 2023)
October 7, 2023 Hamburg, Große Freiheit (SHOW YOURSELF! Tour 2023)
October 13, 2023 Berlin, Astra (SHOW YOURSELF! Tour 2023)
October 14, 2023 Dresden, Reithalle (SHOW YOURSELF! Tour 2023)
October 20, 2023 Osnabrück, Rosenhof (SHOW YOURSELF! Tour 2023)
October 21, 2023 Magdeburg, Factory (SHOW YOURSELF! Tour 2023)
