Seven at Bierhübeli: A day to celebrate

Today is a day to celebrate! Today, after about 2 years, the Federal Council is lifting all the Corona restrictions. That means concerts again for EVERYONE! Concerts without any mask requirements, without showing certificates and otherwise there are no longer any restrictions from today. What do I do? Of course, check immediately which concerts can be attended on this Thursday evening, 17 February 2022. And what a stroke of luck: soul singer Seven is playing the first of two Bierhübeli concerts in Bern. He’s also celebrating an anniversary. It promises to be a great evening. So lets go!

Quiet start in a living room atmosphere

A white curtain blocks the view to the stage. With good reason, so it won’t distract the first part of the concert. Together with pianist Rose Ann Dimalanta, Seven is seated to the left of the stage, directly at the side entrance. Lighting up the room in sparse, warm light, there is a homely living room atmosphere. With calm and gentle sounds, Seven and Rose start the concert evening together.

“Golden Stairs” is the first song. It continues with “City Of Gold”. When guitarist Raphael and the two background singers Jizelle and Seven’s brother Micha join for “Yes”, “The Art Is King” and “Go Slow”. It’s super quiet at the Bierhübeli. The audience listens and enjoys.

As started Seven and Rose end this first short set with “Father” as a duo again.

Like new born

The scene changes and luckily I got a seat on the very edge. The intro starts with a lightning storm. When the white curtain falls, the German “Brandneu” really gets going, energetic and full of power. Sitting down is almost impossible. During the show, more and more people get up from their seats and sneak to the edge of the room so as not to disturb the others while dancing. You just have to move to Seven.

“Today I feel like I’ve been born again…” sings Seven in the German song and grins broadly. You can hardly understand these lyrics any day better than today. After 2 years of pandemic, Seven can finally look into the faces of the concert visitors again. He can finally perceive and interpret the reactions and emotions of his audience again. Plus finally there is a reason for dental hygiene again, Seven laughs. He apologizes for the sometimes better, sometimes worse jokes. He just comes from the same village as the comedian Peach Weber. But also otherwise it just bubbles out of him the whole evening. He knows a lot to tell. His good mood is simply contagious.

20 years of Seven

Released his debut in 2002 with “Dedicated To…”, Jan Dettwyler, as is Seven’s real name, celebrates his 20th stage anniversary. That’s meanwhile 11 studio albums, two compilations, four live albums, over 1000 headliner shows and countless collaborations. Right at the beginning of his career, Seven appears as a support act for Destiny’s Child (Beyoncé) at the Hallenstadion in Zurich. Later he is also a support act for Lionel Richie or die Fantastischen Vier.

In 2016, at the invitation of Xavier Naidoo, Seven was the first Swiss musician to take a seat on the sofa of the German “Sing meinen Song” show. In the meantime he has even hosted the Swiss version for the third time. So tonight there is also Seven’s version of Adrian Stern’s “Amerika”. With this version, I really like the song again. I think a dialect album would suit the singer really well too. Don’t you agree?

Seven is certain

But currently Seven is touring with his new, first completely German album “Ich bin mir sicher!”( “I’m certain!”). On it you can find “Unser kleines Wunder”, which he sings with his wife Zahra. “Geh mach Erinnerung” became one of my favorites that evening. It’s just the perfect anthem for this evening. Representing an entire industry, we are celebrating freedom with the soul musician today and making new memories.

Seven can simply express himself better in the German language. Personal feelings can be described better, says the Aargau musician in interviews. So he also admits that evening that he is not so much the type who shows his fear. But the pandemic also gave him worries and headaches. Brought so many uncertainties into his life. He is now processing these two years of pandemic with “Ich fürchte mich”.

With everything else, after 20 years and despite the pandemic, Seven is more certain than ever: his family, his long-standing band, his calling and his path… Even after 20 years, he still loves what he’s doing. You can tell that with every minute he stands on this stage. With every song he presents to his audience.

Varied concert evening

It is once again a super varied concert evening. Sometimes calm and relaxed, sometimes energetic and powerful. Sometimes soulful and super emotional, then again rocking with wild drums and bass solos. Seven is also close to the audience. Stands on the balcony for “Walking With You” and then happily takes his way back to stage through the location.

Finally there follows a “Kelly Family” version of “Anymore”. The 7 members band sits down in the middle of the stage for an acoustic version. Looks like he saw the Kellys live on the last tour, or how does he come up with the comparison? However, he assures that he has nothing against the Kelly Family and that the statement was not meant to be derogatory at all. Better be it 😉

Either way, our “Freedom Day” can be perfectly celebrated together with Seven and his talented band. The audience would have danced and sung with them even longer after the last encore of “Asche im Wind”. Even drummer Massimo didn’t seem to want to leave the stage anymore. But even the best moments come to an end. At least until next time!