Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. everyone is sitting in front of the screens. It’s hard to believe, but even in the middle of the pandemic lockdown it is possible to discover new bands at concerts. At a live experience that almost feels a bit like the real thing. But actually discovering bands and watching concerts stand rather in the background these next nine events of the concert series “Next Generation 2021” . As the title suggests, the Swiss Education Showcase project “Next Generation 2021” is primarily about education – and this for the next generation.

The events industry was hit hard by the corona pandemic: It is the first to be shut down and will be the last to be allowed to work properly again. On 28th February , it is already 1 whole year (!!!) since the federal government issued the immediate ban on big events due to Corona. A year in which the event industry mostly stands still. Concert locations, clubs and bars are closed. For a while it was even said that singing was forbidden. And not really an end in sight.

Of course, this also affects the trainees in the industry: While commercial apprentices can work and learn in home office, the bans prevent the event specialist trainees from doing their job. The Swiss Association of Technical Stage and Event Professions (svtb-astt), together with the partner association artos (www.artos-net.ch) and the training companies as well as the support of the Confederation and the cantons, have brought the Swiss Education Showcase “Next Generation 2021” to life.

From 20th February until 18th March 2021, the trainees organize a total of nine major events in Switzerland and Liechtenstein under the direction of a teaching company. The events are professionally staged with light and sound by the young people in the industry. Well-known Swiss artists rock the stages of various concert locations (see also: Event tip Next Generation 2021). Even the audience is there live despite lockdown and prohibitions thanks to modern technology, in this case thanks to the Zoom video conference software.

Rääs kick off the night

Virtual admission is at 7:30 pm. As in real life, you first look in the list of participants to see who is there. Maybe you even know someone else? After the greeting from svtb President Jörg Gantenbein, there is a brief technical introduction by two of the 94 trainees. Everyone in front of the screens adjustinng the picture and sound again and off you go.

The dialect band Rääs kicks off the concert series “Next Generation 2021” on the stage of the SAL in Liechtenstein’s Schaan on this first evening. Rääs in the concert location, the audience at home in front of the screens. The band around front man Oli Frick is really happy to finally be back on stage after a long absence from live.

Sometimes their Balzer dialect songs are rockier, sometimes more poppy. Their set list includes catchy songs like “Gundula” or “Schöne Zit”, of course with a matching motley light show, but also some quieter songs. When front man Oli waves his arms, the audience in front of the screens joins in. Lighters are also brought out. Yes, this interaction is possible thanks to the existing technology. In the concert location they have 2 large screens so that not only the audience sees the musicians, but also the other way around.

Who, like me, only got to know the band now: The Liechtenstein band Rääs was founded in 2003 as a quartet. Two years later they play their first gig. The band wins numerous competitions in Austria and Liechtenstein. Radios in Lichtenstein, Switzerland and in Voralberg play their songs. They have now released three studio albums and one live album. There are seven of them on stage that evening. By the way, “Rääs” is a dialect expression for “ripe” or “ready”. And yes, I don’t even know the expression in my Bernese dialect.

Megawatt’s fire is burning

The short break between the bands is used for interviews and short conversations with politicians and those responsible for education.
Fitting to the current Corona situation, it continues with the second dialect rock band Megawatt and their song “Liechterloh”: “… Das Füür brönnt immer no, lichterloh. Ja, die Tröim wo ig gha ha, sind immerno irgenwie da… ” – what means as much as the band’s fire is burning and they are hot for this rare opportunity to perform.

Long hair, black leather outfits, strong grips into the strings of the electric guitars: Megawatt would actually be on tour with their debut album of the same name if it wasn’t for this pandemic. The band hasn’t been around that long yet. They only start shortly before the lockdown in January 2020 with their first performance, theur top 10 album and many plans. As a result, they have even been nominated for a Swiss Music Award as “Best Breaking Act” this year. We’ll find out whether they’ll take the concrete block home at the award ceremony next Friday.

Megawatt’s set continues with “Irgendwia” and “Hinter diar”. With the latter, front man Thomas Graf praises the association for how it stands behind the learners and organizes these opportunities for them. Thomas himself is also an apprentice supervisor in an industrial company with 40 trainees. He even brings two of his own apprentices to the screen for a short conversation. Later he also lets a fan tell herself the personal meaning of their song “Loieherz”, before Megawatt with memories of the 80s (“80er Jahr”) reaches the end of their rousing concert.

An entertaining evening

These were two great, entertaining and likable concerts by two interesting, for myself newly discovered dialect bands. The sound was a bit bumpy at the beginning, but the settings soon seemed to be right. It is not easy and quite challenging for the organizers to bring the optimal sound to the various devices to the people at home. Very few people probably have a mega sound systems and maybe not always the best internet connection.

A live stream is certainly no substitute for a real concert experience. But it is a nice and varied alternative to bridging the gap during the pandemic until it can finally be reopened and hosted normally. And with zoom it’s even funnier than a simple live stream. Personally, I am happy to see a real live concert from a real stage every now and then. And if it helps for the education of so many, even better.

The next shows of “Next Generation 2021” project will follow this weekend:

Thurs, 25.02.2021 with Brugg’s Indie-Popband Ellas & Zurich based musician Nickless

Fri, 27.02.2021 with siblings Zibbz & musician Kunz. 

A List of all events you can find here: Eventtipp Next Generation 2021 .Die Tickets you can get at Ticketcorner. 

Maybe see you in the zoom chat ?!

you can find more information about event & bands here:
www.nextgeneration2021.ch
www.megawattmusig.ch
www.mundart.li