The Year 2006
Did it have anything to do with the Football World Cup taking place in our home country? In 2006, for the first time in their 24-year long career, the Hosen took themselves a whole year “off”. But not meeting up regularly to play music together in Düsseldorf didn’t necessarily mean that the various members of the band went to ground completely. Live wire Vom regularly stood on stage with his other two bands, Spittin´ Vicars and The Boys; hobby chef Kuddel engaged in the balancing act between home cooking and rehearsals; globetrotters Breiti and Andi each travelled to see remote bits of the world – and Campino celebrated his coming out as a theatre actor in Berlin’s Admiralspalast. German magazine Der Stern judged this to be no less than “the cultural event of the summer”.
The vocalist played Mackie Messer in Bertolt Brecht’s “Dreigroschenoper“ (Beggar’s Opera), staged by Klaus Maria Brandauer. Due to its immense public success, the play, which featured renowned German actors such as Katrin Sass, Gottfried John and Birgit Minichmayr, was even prolonged. Süddeutsche Zeitung, who had been on the spot watching the rehearsals, gave the following impression: “Those who expect a goon with airs and graces or the snotty attitude of a notorious punk will be smitten with amazement by this loveable, charming ‘punk rocker’ who is always modestly keeping in the background and integrating himself into the team with childlike enthusiasm. Campino simply is gorgeous.“
Campino himself summarised his experience: „We had a very difficult start, but in time the play got better and better, starting with the premiere. The total running time was even extended and we managed to sell out the Admiralspalast 45 times. This means more than 70,000 tickets sold, which is an immense success for a theatre performance.“ And for all those beginning to worry that he might start a new career now, at the end of the year he had a few consoling words on hand: “I’m quite happy to live my life as a Tote Hose, and not as an actor.”
(To be continued...)
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