Sportfreunde Stiller - 30 wunderbaren Jahren
RÜDE
How does one look back on thirty years of band history? From a distance, the view resembles the outlook on a vast jungle of deep life. For us Sportfreunde, it is less inhabited by poisonous snakes and dangerous multi-legged creatures, but rather by friendly-minded jungle beings. Devoted to life, seeking stories and discoveries. Behind almost every tour day lie funny experiences, joyful embraces, great celebrations, and ever-growing stories that take deeper root over the years. Records and tours turn into high plateaus of memory, parties sometimes decades later into mammoth growths of “Do you remember back then?” tales. Brotherhoods, friendships, tender plants, or simply large-pored potatoes. In every corner, every fork in the trees hangs the smell and beauty of festive life. Sometimes a painful search and often a happy resolution.
What one person's hubris becomes the normality of a band. Standing on stage and tens of thousands sing a song that we burst out in the gritty rehearsal room: no problem, that’s normal. One rides home on a scooter, we in a rolling home, no problem, that’s normal. Music becomes the backstage pass to the hearts of strangers, who in turn become friends in some way, happening over and over again. It remains beautiful, and one can never get used to it. Being in a band I can recommend to everyone. Whether with or without music, it doesn’t matter; the main thing is that you dive in together and not alone!
FLO
Everything started with the "Wunderbaren Jahren". With the times when self-discovery broke through as rebellion, defiance, coolness, mod-shuffle, and wandering around. And with the idea of placing three not entirely similar musical preferences under one band context. Before the first sound in the spartan rehearsal room in 1996, Jack Kerouac, Big Muff distortion, some Germering school form, and definitely the idea of enormous volume haunted our minds. 27 minutes later, the "Wunderbaren Jahren" were born along with the knowledge that no matter what musical may come, this is a cheeky manifesto of our adolescent existence. It remains forever. It became the motto of our life. And besides, a lot more was yet to come.
From performances in dark cellar rooms in front of three curious souls to halls filled with ten thousand souls. From special quirks like World Cup hits, MTV Unpluggeds, horizon-expanding music videos, records made of wood/gold/platinum, reading tours in opera houses to the "totally normal" madness of a band along with unforgettable tours in the arms of the best crew of the Universe. From being the opening act for Foo Fighters, Green Day, and Grönemeyer to support bands like Ash, Nada Surf, Franz Ferdinand, and Kaiser Chiefs. It’s all there. From the always supportive and driving management to the always integrable social engagement. Against the creative hole, against the envious, against the mood creators, but always with the knowledge that what we do logically cannot please everyone. Who manages that, other than Florian Wirtz? With the tools and background of a radio play, two EPs, ten albums, millions of concerts (for example Eggenfelden, Neustrelitz, Hamburg, Tashkent, Madrid, London, New York, etc.) and the privilege of being able to combine profession and calling, we bow to our audience down to our toes. Mucho gracias grande for dancing, singing, and feeling along! We just want to tell you that you are the greatest for us. And that for 30 wonderful years! Let’s Go!
PETER
It’s 1996… a guy with a Britpop quiff asks a guy with a grunge raincoat, hey, you do music too, right? Let’s do something together! Are you in? Like indie, alternative in German, I have a song… one year later, after the first bassist went missing… hey, there’s a guy who studied jazz or politics or something, wears his cap backwards and under it a mop, should we try him out as the new bass guy?
So or something like that goes the start of the story of the 3 Sportfreunde. In the 29 following years, everything that one can experience as a band was approximately included:
• meteoric non-rise
• slightly awkward failures
• pop-like chart entries
• magical encounters
• rock moments for eternity
• world-class million-voice choirs
• giant crisis conquerings
• gilded honors
And songs as friends and friends as eternal companions of our songs. Again and again...
It’s 2026… now we are celebrating Sportfreunde's 30th anniversary. One must savor that on the drumhead! As a person, 30 means goodbye to youth, real life oh dear! As a band, 30 means hooray, we are still alive! (Freely after Milva) And that this band has been accompanying our lives for so long, yes, shaping and inspiring us in a significant and most positive way, we want to celebrate with you!
That’s why everything that comes on top now will be celebrated so tremendously that our hearts vibrate and our spirits sway!
We want to write new stuff, then hit the road with a Best Of and go all out!
Will you also rush through 30 wonderful years with us?
Entry: 6:00 PM