Lister

By Karsten Baun
Translated by Rasmus Ovesen

The band Red Warszawa has previously performed at the Roskilde Festival in 1997 and 2001 – officially, that is. The last many years, Red Warszawa have played concerts for a die-hard group of fans round and about at the festival. This is the case this year, too. Clad in a “duct tape-armour” which was becoming increasingly worn, the band’s lead singer “pretty Jens” and a complete wreckage of a band held court at Agora G.

German evergreens

In close dialogue with the surrounding core-audience, Red Warszawa entertained with their colourful stories which mostly evolve around drinking. Among other things, the rocking show offered renditions of classics such as the German ode to the supermarket chain Aldi. The audience sang along with a determination that would have made German teachers giggle with delight.

When Heavy Henning’s heart started to hurt

In the middle of the show, lead singer ”pretty Jens” read a social-realistic poem that he had written during last year’s festival. The poem is about when guitarist Heavy Henning’s heart started to hurt. It has a moral that “pretty Jens” passes along to the enthusiastic audience. “Henning is just like any other person – if you don’t drink enough, you get withdrawal symptoms.” The words of wisdom were taken in before the rock rolled once more and “pretty Jens” served port wine with exaggerated gestures all over the audience.