A drizzly Monday is brightened up with a poetry slam in the Lyrik Kabinett, in Schwabing. Continuing their international poetry events, the Manchester poet Ben Mellor will be performing, alongside two German poets (Munich’s Sven Kemmler and Anke Fuchs from Cologne).
Bringing back memories of eighteenth century French satire seminars at university, the Residenz Theater are showing Voltaire’s Candide on Monday evening. There are only a few tickets left, so snap them up now. I love Voltaire’s wit and tongue-in-cheek approach to writing and, despite having analyzed Candide to death, I adore how he portrayed the human condition in such a satirical manner. If you’ve already got plans for Monday, Candide will be performed again this Sunday, at 7pm. It’ll also be showing a couple of times in May, including one matinee performance.
Friday 13th sees the beginning of a new Haus der Kunst exhibition – featuring Canadian artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller. The two currently work in Berlin and the Goetz Collection exhibition features eight installations from the pair. The artists are famous for their audio installations and in the current Haus der Kunst exhibition, you can hear a dog barking, a hiker breathing – sounds that evoke personal memories. The exhibition will run until mid-July.
Tuesday sees the legendary Kim Fowley in action in the Rote Sonne. I’m aware that “legendary” is a word bandied around and attributed to all sorts of modern artists, but Kim Fowley is something special. Now aged 72, the producer, songwriter, author and filmmaker will perform a select number of events in European cities – and you’re more than welcome to take along your own instruments so that you can perform on stage with the artist. It will be quite some evening!
If Fowley’s not your thing, US rock band The Used are in action in Backstage on Tuesday. They’re not my thing, but they have a very sold fanbase – and you can expect a full house.
Wednesday is a very musical day in Munich – the Freiheizhalle are hosting a Balkan Beat Box event – a genre that’s now incredibly modish. Indie troubadour Dan Mangan is playing in Hansa39 on Wednesday – perhaps my tip of the week. A friend of mine really wants to check out Ira Atari in the Kranhalle on Wednesday too – a German singer reminiscent of Roisin Murphy. Import Export are hosting their regular open mic night for up-and-coming singer-songwriters. If that’s not enough, you can check out fun British pop band The Kabeedies at 59:1 on Wednesday night. At the of of the month we’ll see the Lange Nacht der Musik – yet Wednesday night is a pretty good rival!
If reading the above program has worn you out, you might want to take your seats and enjoy Tommy, at the Deutsches Theater in Fröttmanning. The Pete Townshend rock opera will run until the end of the month.
On Thursday, we return to the seventies to relive new wave – The Undertones are playing in The Atomic – with support from Elektrik Kezy Mezy. The Undertones reunited just after the millenium, and have been playing fairly solidly since. They’re now touring Europe – and they’re still putting on a good show. I was going to make some joke about teenage kicks, but I’ll spare you.
I can highly recommend Three Kingdoms, which will be showing at the Kammerspiele from Thursday until Tuesday. I saw the play late last year – it’s wonderfully acted, focusing on human trafficking, with an Estonian, British and German cast. Credit has to go to Estonian artist Ene-Liis Semper for her fantastic stage and costume design.
Friday’s quieter, with a jazz session in the Glockenbachwerkstatt from 9pm – and one very interesting play – Woyzeck überschrieben. Büchner’s incompleted Woyzeck, a tale of a man who only eats peas as part of a medical experiment – and as a result goes mad, was one of my favourite plays from my studies. Herzog’s subsequent 1979 movie also had quite an impact on me – Klaus Kinski has one of those unforgettable faces. This time, director Sebastian Blasius presents a dance version of the play. The performances will be held at i-camp in Entenbachstr. on Friday and Saturday night.
On Saturday, German singer and actress Nina Hagen is playing at the Muffathalle. She’s approaching sixty, and has had quite a life – she studied ballet and dreamed of becoming an opera singer. Her stepfather was East-German dissident Wolf Biermann and he helped shape her political views. At the age of sixteen, Hagen moved to Poland, to begin her career as a singer. She’s most definitely an important cultural figure in Germany, and to see her would be quite an experience. Tickets are still available at 35,75 €.
If you fancy a party afterwards, Corleone (Sendlinger Tor) is celebrating its first birthday – pop along from 9pm to help celebrate.
On Sunday, Sinead O’Connor will play at the Freiheizhalle. If you haven’t seen this yet, you really must:
London singer-songwriter Ben Howard is also in town on Sunday, playing the Muffathalle. He’s a part of the Mumford and Sons scene and is signed to Communion Records – if that nu-folk style is your thing, you’ll enjoy the show.
That’s your lot, folks!
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