GRENZENLOS TOUR 2003

Yodel rock and Egyptian pop

Weltnacht concert with Hubert von Goisern and Mohamed Mounir

Bielefeld (sis). Soft yodelling and primitive electric guitar riffs, a Styrian accordion and Arabic pop music, an Austrian "alpine rocker" and an Egyptian pop star - does that go together? It does. Hubert von Goisern and Mohamed Mounir master the style mix with style at their double concert in the PC 69.

Hubert von Goisern is regarded as the founder of "alpine rock". He and his band mix rocky rhythms with folksy melodies, with it he plays the accordion, harmonica or even a proper cow horn like a virtuoso. His singing sounds incredible, from throaty yodelling to rocky roaring, the 50 year old Austrian from the Salzkammergut brings out everything that the vocal chords give away. He has furthered his musical horizons on long journeys through Africa and Asia, African drum rhythms and relaxed reggae beats enrich his varied style, but the common time obligatory in folksy music pushes through again and again and dominates the concert.

You wrongly believe yourself to be in Musikantenstadl at time, then again in a rock concert or at a reggae party. The concert was advertised as a double concert by the Weltnacht team, so some were very disappointed that Mohamed Mounir only played for a short time at the beginning. Above all the countless Egyptians represented could not do anything with von Goisern's yodel, they move back into the foyer with a hubble-bubble and sing their own songs.

When Mounir then finally appeared once more and sang in duet with von Goisern, he created a surge of enthusiasm in the hall: Mounir and his good ten member band bring much more zest for life and exotic to the stage than the Austrian. With a good many drums and a jazzy sounding wooden flute, the group produces an infectious groove. Mounir is the star of the Egyptian pop scene, for a good twenty years, he has stood at the top of the charts time and time again.

But he is not undisputed: the video to his song Maddad fell victim to the censor in many Arabic countries, because the lyrics appeals for tolerance for other religions and points out that the God of Islam disapproves of any bloodshed. In Bielefeld, the merry hymn is enthusiastically celebrated. And so everyone has a really good time, the yodel rock fans and the Egyptians.

A hymn for peace

The musical result of an Egyptian-Austrian friendship

Music from the Orient and Occident, which blends perfectly at the end of Mohamed Mounir and Hubert von Goisern's double concert, and which releases strong emotions with the 17,000 spectators at the Stuttgart Killesberg. Three hours of special class.

Stuttgart. There he stands now, Hubert von Goisern, with tears in his eyes. Again, as on almost every evening of the joint tour with Mohamed Mounir, the Grönemeyer of Egyptian pop. After a boisterously good version of Afrika, the Goiserer spreads open his feelings in front of his fans, talks for ten minutes about his worries which he had before his flight to Cairo, about his shame which overcame him as he could feel there how gentle these Egyptians are, what positive strength the Islamic religion has. He first noticed, there in Cairo, how much the "antiganda" against Islam had worked on him. The man is evidently deeply impressed and in Maddad, the last piece of the evening, also musically opens all the floodgates. Mounir and the Austrian's bands play the deeply religious song together, with the recurring refrain "Gib mir Kraft" ("Give me strength"), as a hymn for peace and a tolerant cooperation. A strong musical message, which hits directly into the hearts of the audience.

It is clearly noticeable and carries the concert, the great friendship between Mounir and the Austrian alpine rocker Hubert von Goisern, which began a year ago with a joint appearance in Assiut, the former Fundamentalist stronghold.

Whoever came in time for the concert, experienced an excellence appearance from the Nubian singer, who sings against religious extremism and intolerance in his provocative lyrics. While Mounir's current CD sounds somewhat too sweetly produced for mid-European ears, it gets right to the point in Stuttgart. With a ten man band, among them a fantastic flautist and the guitarist Roman Bunka, the 48 year old offers Egyptian pop funk and soul, perfectly arranged and complex. There was strong applause for it.

Hubert von Goisern put money on the songs of his last album with his reliable band. Cleverly balanced alpine sounds with world music influences. Whether in Hallstatt, Rio, Cairo or Dakar, it can be yodelled well everywhere, at times floating over the surface of a turquoise coloured lake, in crazy rock wickerwork or in the jungle - never rustic, always subtle. And in songs like the cheerful Akipenda, Hubert celebrate the old long song splendour with quite a few solos. Heast as net is naturally not missing, but the high point of the evening was the call into the sky above Stuttgart: "Gib mir Kraft".

Hubert von Goisern & Mohamed Mounir: Live in Bad Ischl - 17th June 2003

Nothing stops singing

"It is this war against inflexible thoughts which makes something of you," says the Arabic pop star, Mohamed Mounir. "I am certain that we can set an example against fear and mistrust," says his Austrian counterpart Hubert von Goisern. What do the two men have to do with one another? Well: a good year ago, Hubert played a joint concert with Mounir in Egyptian Assiut, in front of 15,000 people. And now Mounir is on the road with the Goiserer in Europe - from the Donauinselfest in Vienna to the Gaffenberg Festival in Heilbronn.

The Lehàrtheater in Bad Ischl experienced the dress rehearsal for this tour through Germany, Austria and Switzerland. "Nothing stops singing" - that goes for one who comes from Nubia, and it goes for the other, who has his roots in the Salzkammergut. They do not just compliment each other greatly, they also see each other as kindred spirits - Mohamed min Nubia and Hubert von Goisern.

"Westerners don't differentiate between a human Muslim and a terrorist" - Mohamed Mounir

It is probably no chance when they both stand barefoot on the stage. And it is also no chance that they are both interested in much more than "their" music.

Naturally this music is and remains a priority form of expression. That they do it together, side by side on stage, that speaks for both of them (and of course for their bands).

But they also very consciously start from where the, through many centuries, so fruitful dialogue between the East and West broke off.

Not by chance did Mounir play the singer Marwan, who lived in the Spain of the 12th century, where under Islamic rule, a civilisation could experience their golden age which excluded neither Christians nor Jews, in Destiny - a film by Youssef Chahine.

Since then, almost a thousand years have passed, but the times have not got better. "Today, the Western world no longer differentiates between a human Muslim and a terrorist," but Mounir does not want to give up.

As his answer to 11th September, he borrowed from a Sufi song and played Madad: it can be translated as "Help", with "Give me strength" or as an appeal to the prophets.

"Mounir is a magician, who ensures that his magic spreads" - Hubert von Goisern

The album Earth ... Peace seemed surprisingly religious for a musician who had gone his own way since the 70s and integrated the rhythms and melodies of his homeland of Nubia - at the crossing point between Africa and Egypt - in his songs.

"Home game" for Hubert von Goisern

Four days after the joint appearance with Mounir in Bad Ischl, followed a "home game" for Hubert von Goisern and band - More than 4,000 people came to the open air on the occasion of the "80 years of SV Bad Goisern" celebrations.

Oud and accordion music

Hubert von Goisern and Mohamed Mounir at Burg Wilhelmstein

Würselen (an-o) - Arabic oud and Styrian accordion music - this unusual combination provides an overflowing open Burg Wilhelmstein open air stage. The Austrian Hubert von Goisern presents the Egyptian singer Mohamed Mounir to his audience.

The "artist, who in the meantime I can call friend", is a star in the Arabic world. Mounir, who comes from Nubia, combines various Arabic influences and African genres, which are enriched with modern pop elements. Dressed in casual jeans, Mounir steps onto the stage and captivates from the first moment through his unbelievable stage presence. His songs sounds like love and the romantic cliché of the Orient and are about political and social themes. He takes the captivated audience through the ensemble playing of the croaking guttural sounds, hypnotic flute and driving drums. The listeners react with restraint. That first changes as Mounir calls for rhythmic clapping.

Trumpeter flirts with violinist

When Hubert von Goisern steps onto the stage, the temperature in the Burghof rises noticeably. The two recording artists play two songs together with their bands. The symbiosis of the Styrian accordion and Arabic singing works incredibly well, it seems as if the two musicians have never done anything else in their lives. The Arabic trumpeter flirts with the violinist Marlene Schuen and a piece of the vision of understanding between Orient and Occident seems to become a reality.

Hubert von Goisern's appearance arouses a funfair atmosphere. The audience greets the Austrian with loud juchitzers and spurring "Hubert" calls. He really lets go with Volxjammer. Despite the alpine sounds, the band is reminiscent of Kastelruther Spatzen and Co., rather than a cool reggae band. Von Goisern remains true to his style, yodels and plays the accordion and lets the guitar roar. As the smoke machine sets in, drums and guitar play rock beats and von Goisern starts speech song, it's clear: it is unusual, but classy.

Egypt and the Alps

Bad Arolsen. Two of the most beautiful regions of the world, musically brought together by Hubert von Goisern and Mohamed Mounir on Thursday evening.

With his very special, according to his fans the only true understanding of folk music as "alpine world music" the Austrian combines traditional instruments with modern lyrics, dialect and yodelling with rock-sounds.

This mixture tempted more than 4,000 visitors to the Beekmann Stadium. Amongst them, Princess Cecilia, who followed the concert of her "noble" fellow countryman very attentively. As guests, the 51-year-old invited the Hohtraxlecker Sprungschanznmusi and Mohamed Mounir. The ever experimenting Hubert Achleitner has been working together with the Egyptian pop star since the 2002.

Hubert von Goisern & Mohamed Mounir: Live in Bad Ischl - 17th June 2003