The UK Joni Reimagined show featuring Georgia Van Etten, Jo Harman and Jana Varga was invited to open the 24th international guitar festival in Hersbruck (Germany).
This is the concert review and photo by Katja Bub, originally published in the Hersbrucker Zeitung in German.
Standing ovations at the start (by Katja Bub)
Festival Homage to the legendary songwriter Joni Mitchell delights audience.
Georgia Van Etten
What a brilliant start: Stefan Redtenbacher‘s Funkestra and the singers Georgia Van Etten, Jo Harman and Jana Varga opened the 24th edition of the International Guitar Festival in Hersbruck on Saturday. At the end of their homage to the legendary Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, the audience gave them one thing: a standing ovation.
“The guitar family is back,” says a visibly cheerful mayor Robert Ilg at the beginning of the opening concert, welcoming the equally cheerful festival director Johannes Tonio Kreusch on the stage in the Geru Hall. Even though most of the people here have turned up in rather elegant attire, the atmosphere is relaxed. Many have stocked up on a drink at the bar beforehand and are now sitting in their seats in joyful anticipation. The focus today is on the music of Joni Mitchell, one of the greatest singer-songwriters of her time.
Stefan Redtenbacher has “reimagined” their songs, i.e. reinterpreted them. Before he starts with his Funkestra, however, the stage belongs to the singers he has brought with him, who first present their own songs.
Van Etten plays without shoes
Georgia van Etten is the first to appear. She sits down at the keyboard, flirts lightly with the audience and is not afraid to take off her shoe, as it seems to be bothering her while playing. A little later, shoe number two and Van Etten is standing barefoot on the stage and dancing to the music.
The Geru Hall gradually turns into a musical living room and Ilg’s words about the ‘guitar family’ that is back become reality. Georgia Van Etten enchants the audience with her incredible voice, which gives you goosebumps despite the summer temperatures. Singer number two, Jana Varga, is in no way inferior to her.
She sings in a velvety and emotional way about how it feels to have to start over again as a stranger in a new city. And with Jo Harman, who first appears with Funkestra, it is clear from the very first note: her voice gets under your skin.
Sometimes powerful, sometimes gently breathed, always full of deep emotion – the three singers have a musical level that Joni Mitchell would certainly have applauded. And Stefan Redtenbacher and his Funkestra, which few people know by name, are also top-notch. No wonder. Redtenbacher, a native of Austria and graduate of the Vienna Conservatory, is one of the most booked studio musicians in Great Britain, festival director Kreusch tells the audience. The star factor is high this evening.
Redtenbacher, who has been living in London for a long time, has his joy in playing written all over his face. Anyone who missed the virtuoso guitar playing in the first part of the concert, which belonged exclusively to the singers, will now get their money’s worth. The two guitarists from Funkestra show why they are rightly playing the opening concert of the International Guitar Festival in Hersbruck.
Taking a taxi home
The audience seems to be of the same opinion at the end. The applause is long and the listeners don’t let the musicians leave without an encore. This follows promptly. It is one of Joni Mitchell‘s most famous songs: “Big Yellow Taxi”. The audience only knows one answer: a standing ovation.
Credits
Written by Katja Bub, this article was translated from German to English and originally was published in Hersbruck/Nürnberg (Germany) | Hersbrucker Zeitung. Photo by Katja Bub.
Htps://epaper.nn.de/titles/nnhersbruckerzeitung/12222/publications/3331/2056965/27/2
Hersbruck Newspaper-2024-08-10
12.08.24, 10:35
PAGE 27 MONDAY 12 AUGUST 2024
Verlag Nürnberger Presse (VNP) | Nordbayern.de