Cityoffers Regensburg July 2007

Yes, it was great, as Hubert von Goisern alias Hubert Achleitner himself said of the double concert event on the 29th June. But not only that - Hubert von Goisern and Haindling, whom the musical world citizen had taken on board his floating stage at the Regensburg stop of his Linz Europe Tour in the Osthafen, thrilled the audience with a very special show.

And all this despite the "stormy" opening concert at the Donauinselfest in Vienna, where various parts of the stage ship were damaged and fell victim to the water, as well as a weak tugboat that had to be summarily swapped on the way to Regensburg.

After the charming Austrian with the somewhat weatherbeaten - but no less attractive - appearance had welcomed the countless fans who were waiting impatiently, Haindling opened the concert with a number whose sounds from various horns were reminiscent of the ambient sounds of a mountain pasture. If the audience were a little confused by this unexpected sound experience, it didn't last long before the Bavarian music cosmopolitan had them completely on his side. The Haindling classics also played their part, such as Paula, I hob di lang scho nimma g'sehn, Du Depp, Spinn i and In der Umlaufbahn. The ninety minutes passed much too quickly and with the encore of Irgendwie und sowieso Haindling dotted the i of his show.

The fans were completely enraptured and beautifully prepared for the following concert from Hubert von Goisern, who during the set from Haindling had been on stage for just a short joint number - which was honoured with thunderous applause. The long break for setting up, which lasted nearly an hour, hit the fans' mood somewhat and so the "host" didn't have a very easy start.

Finally he clearly showed his musical versatility with his jazzy and funky songs and instrumental pieces. Versatility that he has successfully proved more than once since the famous Hiatamadl, which he has left far behind him. After a short period of adjustment, the fans then really let themselves go and would not stop clapping at the end of the official playing time - 11pm. Hubert von Goisern then didn't deny them the encore and after a short announcement, "they can't take our power, because we've brought our own!", delighted the audience with a wonderful version of his classic Heast as ned. With an ultimate cool "Bye everyone. It was great with you guys!" Hubert von Goisern finally dismissed the content and happy Regensburg audience.

The concert-goers were less happy faced with the provided shuttle buses though, which were meant to commute between the Osthafen and the Donauarena. Only one stood at the exit of the open air arena, which meant a fight for the few seats. Had the concert been able to take place between Wurstkuchel and Jahninsel, as Hubert von Goisern had wanted, this problem would not have occurred. He couldn't resist a sideswipe at the city administration, who had stipulated that the concert should end at 11pm, "when only foxes and rabbits are out and about". It remains to be seen what hurdles will stand in Hubert von Goisern's way on his ship tour towards the Black Sea delta - he will certainly overcome them though, for his music and his audience.

SB

Hubert von Goisern and Haindling

Süddeutsche Zeitung 2nd July 2007

Hubert von Goisern's plea for a free Danube

Photo: Rolf Thym

On this Friday evening in the Osthafen in Regensburg, 5000 people are waiting for him with happy expectation. But, hidden from the view of his fans, Hubert Achleitner was still sitting behind a wall of sleeping containers on a leather sofa on the deck of a convoy that will be his floating living area, rehearsal space, studio and stage until 2009. Around him, everything is in the open air: a bath next to the satellite dish, artificial grass, a potted palm, a long wooden dining table, a nice canteen and a huge piece of rock. Those are the accessories for what has to be the craziest undertaking so far by the 54-year-old Austrian folk and rock musician who has already had an eventful life and whom the world knows as Hubert von Goisern.

With a crew of 25 musicians, technicians and ship's personnel, he will be travelling the rivers of Europe and, wherever possible, dock, raise the large stage and give concerts together with local artists. The tour should serve understanding between nations and also the city of Linz, which will be the European Capital of Culture in 2009 and which is strongly supporting the Goisern project.

The musical river journey had barely begun in Vienna when it nearly came to an abrupt end in a heavy rainstorm. But the ship managed the journey to Regensburg without problem.

The music boat was anchored opposite warehouses and a feed mixer, from which rose a sour smell of silage. Illuminated video walls sent into the night the message that the Danube - which in Lower Bavaria is being threatened by a new weir for shipping - must remain a free waterway. The League of Conservation and the Regional League for the Protection of Birds have begun an international petition campaign to save the Danube - with Goisern's support, the two organisations maintain. The musician thinks the scheme is very good, because as far as he is concerned further destruction of the river is equivalent to an "original sin".

But in the end it was a beautiful evening in the Osthafen: first of all Hans Jürgen Buchner (Haindling) cleaned up and then Goisern energetically proved once more with his new band that yodelling works wonderfully with fast rock riffs, merry arrangements from the Caribbean and even a hounding of jazzy syncopies. Two concerts in Passau followed on Saturday and Sunday with Claudia Koreck Band.

Rolf Thym

Aachener Zeitung 30th June 2007

Hubert von Goisern on his most spectacular tour. The Austrian is travelling the Danube and giving concerts on a stage that is also his stage.

Photo: Martin Kucera

Courage is one of the most important virtues of the Austrian Hubert Achleitner from Bad Goisern, near Salzburg. At the beginning of the nineties with his Alpinkatzen Hubert von Goisern became the protagonist of "new folk music", an earthy mix of traditional alpine folk material, pop and punk. The energetic meeting of accordion and electric guitar sold itself 100,000 times over, until at the zenith of von Goisern's popularity it all became too predictable for him. "At the time I had said all there was to say in my music," the former head Alpine Cat sums up.

The tall man with the impetuous thirst for adventure certainly had no thoughts of stopping. On the contrary. He moved into the distance. He travelled Africa with his band and at the invitation of the Goethe Institute in Cairo, he played together with the Egyptian superstar Mohamed Mounir in Assiut. Von Goisern proved to himself, his hosts and enthusiastic concert-goers in the east and the west that it is not just in theory that music works as a unifying element beyond stereotypical folklore and the most different cultural characters.

Dictation of desire

The 54-year-old accepted the prospect of "failing gloriously". Because he simply follows the dictation of desire with all his music world journeys. Didactical multi-cultural aspirations and ostensible political requests are never on his agenda. "Folk songs are common property and will only survive if they are reinvented all the time," says von Goisern, as he lights up a cigarette.

Mastering the most abstruse tours has made the Salzburg resident a calm, apparently mellow guy. When he talks about his newest adventure, it becomes clear that the outward impression is deceptive. The obsessed man, whose music would not see the light of day without maximum intensity is in the last stages of preparation for his most spectacular musical journey to date. The idea came to him two years ago "while fishing on the Danube".

Von Goisern will be travelling Europe's largest waterway, which long been mainly used for transporting goods, with a ship that has been converted for travelling and giving concerts. Since June his motto has been "Go East". Captain von Goisern celebrated his start on 24th June in Vienna. The last concert will be on 1st September in Linz. In between there will be stops such as Novi Sad, Ismajil, Budapest and Bratislava.

The ship, a 77x12 metre barge, was furnished with aggregate, painted and spruced up. This includes a hydraulically adjustable stage construction, with all the elements of a fully-fledged concert stage, such as lights and sound engineering and its own power supply. So far, so immoderate. But the expenditure is nevertheless in relation to von Goisern's plan. At every stop he will be appearing with local musicians and bands. "Because there is a huge need for communication".

Once more he must play the role of the lone warrior. A request for sponsoring from the Culture Committee of the European Union failed because of the required bureaucratic complexity. But von Goisern did not stop there of course. He found supporters and financiers for his bold project in a producer of soft drinks and the manager of European Capital of Culture Linz 2009. He has however lost his belief in an institutionalised, culturally comprehensive Europe. The obsession with letting his own musical origins be fertilised by the progressive folklore understanding of his Slovenian guests nevertheless fills him with hope. He explains what drives him in general with the wish to "do everything I start with the greatest love possible." Next year his fans here will be able to see that for themselves. After the Danube he will be filling the Rhine with music in 2008 and perhaps even the Meuse. With the singular musical and spiritual raw strength that only Hubert von Goisern has.

Five questions

What happens to musicians who don't share your passion?

I once bit one of the girls in my band on the ear while on stage. Because she was lacking in energy and I needed my hands to play.

And if the audience reacts somewhat unenergetically?

That depends on what they are being offered. If you just put forward carpets of sound, you shouldn't wonder when people prefer to go to the carpet shop instead of the next concert.

Did you ever have contact with the other famous man from Goisern, Jörg Haider?

It's good that he acts as though he is a Carinthian. I know him by sight. His grandfather was a right Nazi. It's quite dismaying the way in which he is upholding the family tradition.

To what extent has your homeland shaped the adventurer von Goisern?

Things were so narrow and close in Bad Goisern because of the mountains that I had to climb up the mountainside to broaden my horizons. I have retained my desire for broader horizons.

What do you think of a unified Europe?

I don't think that everyone has to be able to get on with everybody else. But I do want people to meet and to be curious about one another.

Michael Loesl

TRP1 3rd July 2007

Photo: TRP1

Hubert von Goisern's grand musical adventure has begun. The alpine rocker made a stop on his Linz Europe Tour at the Rathausplatz in Passau. He dropped anchor on his converted cargo ship for two days in Passau.

As alpine rocker Hubert von Goisern broke musical traditions, as a globetrotter he crossed borders. Now the 54-year-old Austrian will be travelling on a cargo ship for two years. As ambassador for the Capital of Culture Linz Hubert von Goisern has ventured forth on an unprecedented large-scale project. With a ship converted to a stage the musician is on a river tour through Europe and also docked in front of the Rathaus in Passau.

On his tour Hubert von Goisern will be appearing with artists from 10 Danube countries. In Passau the Bavarian newcomer Claudia Koreck was on stage.

Over two days the alpine rocker, who is travelling with a new band, thrilled 6000 spectators and gave the Rathausplatz a successful premiere as a concert setting. A unique atmosphere prevailed, Mediterranean flair and the finest open air feeling.

Elena Fechter

Mittelbayerische Zeitung 3rd July 2007

It was great: Hubert von Goisern & Haindling open air in Regensburg

Photo: altrofoto.de

REGENSBURG. They have roots and they have wings and the combination of both composes their music – Hubert Achleitner alias Hubert von Goisern and Hans Jürgen Buchner alias Haindling. The Upper Austrian world musician made a stop in the Osthafen with his floating concert stage and took the world musician from Lower Bavaria on board for a dialectal, musical double open air event of the first order.

"We have our own power!"

A loudspeaker may have failed from time to time in the second part of the concert: but at the end, already past the police-ordered musical closing hour, the Goiserer still pulled out all the stops: "They can’t turn off our power. We have our own!" And so the audience had the pleasure of a "classic" - "Heast as net, wia die Zeit vageht". Out came the lighters. Hubert von Goisern fans reminisced and pined.

After the first concert in Vienna on the 24th June and the second in Melk on the 26th, the show in Regensburg was the third of the Linz Europe Tour, which will take Hubert von Goisern and his new band by ship along the beautiful, previously blue – and here so tidily canalised Danube to the coast of the Black Sea. Through nine countries and back again, with concert stops in both directions, 22 in total. For most of them Hubert von Goisern will be taking musicians from each of the areas on board his converted cargo ship. And in Osijek, Vukovar, Belgrade, Novi Sad and all the other stops, the concerts will be free. Wonderful. It is about more than commerce. It is to be a musical trip of encounters.

And Hubert von Goisern found just the right person for his meeting in Regensburg. His counterpart from Lower Bavaria in a way. The fact that both of them have made their hometowns part of their stage names (who knew that Hans Jürgen Buchner was actually born in Bernau near Berlin? You can’t hear it...) is more than a coincidence, it is routine. For all the ironic distance kept from the narrow-minded Bavarian and Austrian natures respectively, neither musician denies his origins. Love is there, sometimes wrath too certainly, and there is always a good and proper bit of joy in experimentation, creativity, that feeds from every possible source. Hubert von Goisern – founder of "alpine rock", the yodelling critic of folksiness. Haindling and the alphorn-jungle-sounds, the Afro-Bavarian. Two musical adventurers with a fixed base.

It is 15 years since Hubert von Goisern and the Alpinkatzen stormed the charts with Koa Hiatamadl. Hubert von Goisern’s music was played in beer tents – and he does not like to remember that. So the calls for "Hiatamadl" from the Regensburg audience were totally in vain. That piece won’t be played again live, says Hubert. Shame, says the fan. But instead there are other wonderful things - Om und unt for example, or the Juchitzer, which Maria Craffonara got almost as well as Sabine Kapfinger did way back then, she who once taught Hubert how to yodel.

"It was cool with you guys"

It has been 25 years since Buchner’s first LP with the simple title Haindling came onto the market and had great success. For that reason the band is currently on an anniversary tour. An almost nostalgic atmosphere arose in the Osthafen: "Paula, oh Paula, mia fanga jed’n Dog vo vorn o..." Who wouldn’t want to sing along? The repertoire went right back to the beginning: Du Depp, I hob di lang scho nimma g’seng (he even forgot a few of the lyrics…). Oh yes, it was great. Or, as Hubert von Goisern remarked as taking his leave: "It was cool with you guys."

Beate Lutz-Maß

Thanks Peter

3rd July 2007

Photos © Elli Christl | Click to enlarge

Passauer Neue Presse 2nd July 2007

Visitors, law enforcement, residents and landlords happy with the concert in front of the Rathaus

Photo: Robert Geisler

The Rathaus had a fabulous premiere as a concert arena on Saturday with Hubert von Goisern. 2500 concert-goers, together with 500 onlookers from Römerplatz and Milchgasse and Schrottgasse were hushed by the alpine world music.

And once more Eulenspiegel Till Hofmann has delivered a brilliant coup despite the misgivings of the city, residents and landlords of the old town. The man from Passau knows what he has in Passau and vice versa: "I want to record the poetry of its squares. That is worth every effort. That stays. You carry it with you for ever." And it was pure poetry: at the premiere the musician looked across over 3000 people in front of the Rathaus on the summer night. The Georgsberg enchanted the audience, as did the illuminated Oberhaus above the stage ship, flanked by two video walls. Police, 20 stewards and 13 medics were all agreed that it was a "pleasant service" in the manageable arena with good entrances and exits. Certainly in the afternoon the discontinuation of the Rathausplatz's everyday role as a traffic turntable brought about some chaotic moments and heated disputes between stubborn drivers. The Freudenhain exam celebrations in the Rathaussaal also sharpened the situation. From 3pm the helpers stoically dismantled the Ratskeller beer garden around the amazed guests and put out more than 1900 folding chairs. Landlord Kurt Strigler - family and friends had free tickets for both evenings - looked with resignation at the scene from the Logenplatz sitting room window: "I like culture and I support it. But we have high water at the Rathausplatz often enough. That's enough of a spectacle. If we were to have a great flood the Goisern ship could anchor at the Domplatz. That's where I think culture should be."

Scharfrichter landlord Walter Landshuter takes his hat off to Till Hoffmann: "A great idea! I think it's great that the city struggled through to give permission after 20 years of chronic doubts ". City councillor Erika Träger conformed: "We really should use Passau's beautiful squares more often. I respect Till for having such creative ideas and for seeing them through." Landshuter's criticism: "It's not good that the landlords of the old town are not included, especially over at the Ratskeller."

As if on cue, Till Hoffman strolled past and proposed that the Scharfrichter landlord put his tables out up to the barrier. No sooner said than done. Jodlerwirt owner and Goisern-fan Sepp Eichinger was in his element in the pulsating Schrottgasse. He found it "excellent when life comes into the old town, when something stirs." As doing the art evening the night before, he gave out glasses of sparkling wine. Whether restaurant guests or not, about 500 onlookers happily waited around the concert fences until the last encore yodel at 11pm.

Photo: Robert Geisler

Christine Pierach

Mittelbayerische Zeitung 30th June 2007 Hubert von Goisern dropped anchor for the first time in Germany on his uniting boat tour along the Danube with a concert in front of more than 3000 people at the Osthafen in Regensburg. After the appearance by the Bavarian group Haindling Hubert von Goisern and his musicians played their mixture of modern rock and traditional and classical elements, which they will be performing in the coming months on the banks of the river in ten central and eastern European countries. Von Goisern is travelling as ambassador for the European Capital of Culture Linz 2009. The Regensburg show was also used as a petition event against the expansion of the Danube. Together with about 20 members of band and crew the musician will be travelling through the summer with a convoy of ships. Aside from the barracks ship, the troupe has a ship with a large stage equipped with light and sound. Von Goisern will be giving concerts from this floating stage together with local bands. Two more concerts are planned in Bavaria with Claudia Koreck Band in Passau (30th June and 1st July). Then the tour goes to south east Europe, down to the Ukraine. Photo: altrofoto.de

Süddeutsche Zeitung 28th June 2007

Encyclopedia of sound: The Austrian alpine rocker Hubert von Goisern will be travelling the rivers of Europe on a boat for two years

The idea of a music boat used to be a big thing. But now it has almost died out, both as an amusement ship that takes dancers up and down the rivers of Europe and as an expression in itself. Now it is back again, with a different definition: the new music ship transports musicians and music to new shores. It will travel the rivers of Europe and, if all goes to the plans of the initiators, should counter the altercations between the bigwigs that happen these days with the magic of the sounds of the continent and the variety it holds. Commander of this water journey is actually a man of the mountains: Hubert von Goisern, the celebrated Upper Austrian alpine rocker and one of the great conciliators of folk music and new sounds of our time, came up with this idea for the river tour with the ship owner Wolfram Mosser-Brandner. And Martin Heller, manager of European Capital of Culture Linz 2009, has taken the whole thing under his wing as a two-year cultural mission.

Of course the music boat is only a metaphor. It was not a museum piece that was put to sea in Wallsee on the Danube in Lower Austria, but rather a completely up-to-date convoy, as is nowadays used for pushing enormous loads upriver. A so-called barge, which served for a long time as a transporter of gravel and silt, forms the heart of the convoy as a concert ship. At 77 metres long and 12 metres wide, the pontoon-like vehicle offers the necessary space for a large stage together with all the sound and lighting equipment. The floating stage was built at the Brandner's shipyard and can be raised or lowered according to the level of the bank to be at the eye level of the audience, who will be standing there in their thousands. The stage ship should have passed its rehearsal last Sunday at the Donauinselfest in Vienna. It already has an involuntary gale test behind it: a furious storm that cost three people their lives in east Austria, ripped through installations and superstructures.

There are another few sleeping containers on the ship for musical guests, the kitchen and a kind of piazza for the travelling players. Alongside is the barracks ship for the eight member of Goisern's band. On the deck is enthroned the white bath next to the big satellite dish. The convoy is pushed by the MS Wallsee, an old, although perky tugboat with 700 horsepower. Right at the front flutters a flag with a dragon on it.

The musical cargo ship is decorated with each of the locations. With two long journeys, first the east and then the west will be acoustically explored, whereby musicians and groups from each of the host countries will join the concerts on the river. So it will not be a pure Goisern tour, but rather a little encyclopedia of European folk rock.

In the next few days the tour will go up the Danube to Regensburg (29th June) and Passau (30th June/1st July), where the brilliant brass musicians from Haindling will join them and in Passau the Claudia Koreck Band. And then comes the long journey downstream through the Balkans until August: Bratislava, Budapest, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, to the Ukraine. There will be more than 20 shows, including in places where there have never been rock concerts. But fortunately there are musicians everywhere who flavour young popular world music with the traditional sounds of their homeland.

Grand finale in Linz

In the summer of 2008 the whole convoy will chug its way up the Danube through the Rhine-Main-Danube canal to dozens more concerts. In summer 2009 a final show in the Upper Austrian city of Linz, the Capital of Culture that year, will bring together once more the artists whom they met and with whom they played. Sound and picture recordings and live broadcasts - the Austrian broadcasters and numerous stations along the way are getting involved - should result in a complete musical document at the end.

Hubert von Goisern, born in the Upper Austrian town of Bad Goisern in 1952, has completed notable musical projects with Tibetans, Africans and Egyptians during the course of his career. The cultural stream has always followed the course of the great rivers of Europe. The tendencies of these times are to be taken from them. Capital of Culture manager Heller phrases it so: "In terms of culture the Linz Danube region reaches to the delta at the Black Sea." Heller has also given the musical ship's crew a crate of books for the hours of leisure on board: Discoveries and journies, Homer's odyssey is there and Dante, as well as stories of expeditions of modern times and, practically, a recipe book for freshwater fish.

Michael Frank

29th June 2007

Photos © Elli Christl | Click to enlarge

Süddeutsche Zeitung 28th June 2007

"The possibility for failure is great" - what attracts Hubert von Goisern to his European river expedition

It is his hitherto largest project: for two years Hubert von Goisern will be travelling the Danube with his companions. This summer alone he will be playing 25 "best of" concerts with musical guests on board for the Capital of Culture Linz (2009). In the foreground are the meetings and thus the Austrian, born 1952, will meeting Haindling in Regensburg harbour (29th June, Tel: +49 21 83 91 82) and Claudia Koreck in Passau (30th June, 1st July). Bernhard Blöchl spoke to the artist.

Three ships, hundreds of kilometres, many ideas. What is driving you?

I could of course lead my life a little more comfortably and play a traditional tour. But is that better? I think that life makes sense for me when I am collecting experiences. I am a curious and adventurous person. And as you get older you venture to try greater things. So this project is so exciting because there is so much opportunity for failure. There are many things over which we have no influence. You have to believe in a miracle. The project is like a test of self-belief.

Apparently the idea came to you while fishing on the Danube ...

Yes, but the original idea came about in Africa. I wanted - and still want - to do a similar tour along the banks of the Tanganyika Lake. I have had this vision for ten years. But that's more complicated.

So the Linz Europe Tour can be seen as a kind of preliminary stage?

Yes, although things will have to work very differently there. But in so far as this shows that something like it is possible, then it can be seen as a preliminary stage. I am more or less at home here. In Africa you need a integration figure to carry it. It would be the wrong signal for another European to come along, à la Geldof: We'll help you, we'll do it for you! I am a strong advocate of helping yourself.

This is about the European discourse and the cultural eastwards expansion. What role does music play?

The central role. For the language with which the people on board will communicate will be music. Music is a language in which you cannot lie. You can't fool someone with music. It's always clear how someone feels when they start to sing and play. Music is something in which very many people can involve themselves. Music is a point of crystallisation for a great feeling of collaboration.

28th June 2007

Photos © Presseservice Donauarena | Click to enlarge

Abendzeitung 27th June 2007

Hubert von Goisern tours up and down the Danube on a ship

The beautiful blue Danube is not at all beautiful today. And it has never been blue either. Dangerous eddies and white surf form on its waves. No, not again! Only the evening before had it whirled through the stage construction on the ship belonging to Hubert von Goisern and his team - and today should be the opening concert at the Donauinselfest in Vienna for the large-scale Linz Europa Tour 2007 - 2009!

"At last we're off," Hubert von Goisern is please. "If we had known how complex and multi-faceted all the problems would be, perhaps we wouldn't have started the project at all. It's good not to know everything." The project: for the next two years Goisern will be on tour with his band, travelling through half of Europe.

When the king of alpine rock talks about problems, he is not just talking about the adverse nature of the weather, but many stumbling blocks, large and small, such as logistics, permission from the authorities, nautical and the sound engineering too. "And nevertheless: you can't plan everything. There are many things that we must let come to us. Whether we want them or not." But nobody could have suspected the fact that the art of improvisation was already in need at the opening concert. But at the debut in Vienna that had been postponed by two days the fans said thank you with calls of "encore, encore".

This year the Linz Europe Tour 2007 - 2009 leads through eastern Europe to the Black Sea, next year it goes north to Rotterdam; and in 2009 the whole thing will culminate in Linz, which will then be the European Capital of Culture. All the artists that Hubert von Goisern meets on his adventure along the rivers of Europe will gather for this event.

The convoy of ships around the MS Wallsee consists of a tugboat, a barracks ship and takes a barge with a floating stage along with it, from where music will be made. With local musicians, who will appear with the Goisern band. The convoy will be stopping at about 50 places. Now it is first going from Austria to Germany, then to Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, through Slovakia and the Ukraine.

Hage Hein, from Munich, Goisern's friend and manager for many years, is nervous from the day after casting off: "The whole thing is going far too slowly, I must speak to the captain, otherwise we won't make the schedule!"

A total of 25 people are permanently on board, including crew and guests. They are all hungry, several times a day. A challenge for chef Holger Alt, who performs magic from the smallest room. "In the beginning I was still under the illusion that I could wander through the markets and cook regional food. But that probably won't be enough. Nonetheless I always try to put some local colour into the menu." Sailors' songs from Hans Albers sound out from Holger's cassette recorder.

No sooner has the convoy cast off from Wallsee, the self-proclaimed "Florida of the Mostviertel", the first whispers go around: "Does everyone have enough mosquito repellant? The further east we go, the more the mozzies will eat you!" The mosquitoes are the flying bugbears on our floating village. Until finally Petra Hinterberger, responsible for the electronic image processing, puts an end to the whole thing: "Yes, yes, I know, mosquitoes as big as birds and as hungry as vampires! We'll see...!"

There is a lot of music on board as soon as the first evening. The singers Marlene Schuen, Maria Moling and Maria Craffonara, all members of the new Goisern band, astound with Romanian folk songs. And just about laugh themselves silly as one of the sofas keeps coming apart. "That's why I brought them along," says the boss from Bad Goisern, "because they're so funny!"

The ship with the open air common room is fondly put together, from the green artificial lawn to the bright pot plants, all with great attention to detail and tasteful. "Hubert had a hand in it himself," says manager Hage Hein.

It is clear that you can have a good time in such an environment. Straight after the first breakfast Hubert rehearses with his vocalists and his friend Willi Resetarits, formerly a great figure on the Viennese scene under the name "Ostbahn Kurti". Willi is proud to be a part of this project and he isn't missing the Viennese sarcasm: "I would love to say something very meaningful. But words fail me."

It is plain to all on board that this is about more than just a boy scout expedition. The new EU countries are to be explored; and there is the desire to leave traces, not just musical. At the centre, according to Goisern, "should be the people on the banks and their wishes, hopes and problems."

Hage Hein sums it up: "This project is bigger than all those taking part!" And with that he does not just mean the four million Euros for the project, but the spirit behind it.

But life on the ship soon takes hold of him again: "What? Really only five drinking water stations between here and the Black Sea?" Tour manager Jonas Steckel suggests: "Tell everyone straightaway that showering is a luxury and that a morning bath in the Danube just as good!"

And what other rules of are there on board? "Clear up your own mess. I can't say more than that," says Jonas, "after all it's all still new to us too. So we have to work everything out. We'll be smarter at the end of the tour!"

But what is plain from the beginning of the tour: we have to separate the rubbish! Red sack, yellow sack, blue sack. Because you don't throw your good environmental intentions overboard. Well, we don't!

The brightly painted and inscribed ship attracts attention. People stand all along the banks and wave. Word of the project has spread. A fan manages to send down a big box of breakfast rolls on a rope from a bridge.

There is happy excitement as the first guest musicians come on board, the ethno rock group Zdob si Zdub from Moldova. Manager Igor Buzurniuk has a nasty sunburn on his heavily tattooed back and is helped as far as is possible with creams and friendly words. Aside from that people are talking in English, German, Italian and with their hands and feet. Somehow it works. You just have to want it to. Igor is over the moon. "Wonderful! Grand idea!". He knows too that any idea is only as good as its execution. Hage Hein: "It'll be exciting right to the very end!" Many expeditions have failed due to disagreements on board.

Hubert von Goisern has not let first concert at the Donauinselfest in Vienna that was delayed by the weather weigh upon him. He is looking forward to everything that is coming to him: "I that we will all return healthy and with many exciting stories to tell." And when he receives the news by telephone that his son Niko has passed his exams, he is really happy.

Arno Frank Eser
© Verlag DIE ABENDZEITUNG GmbH & Co KG