ABBA and ASTRID on the Rhein

"Diddleya daa dam dam, skibbeliyada diddleyada daa dam"!
The cosy sleep after a full and delicious meal was not to be. Stef Sigfalk, singer and lead guitarist of the band Bow Triplets abruptly woke the guests in the two completely packed halls and the bar lounge of restaurant "Thiergarten"with a so called "tounge song". 
"This is what you do in an Irish pub if you want to play dance tunes and have no instruments with you" explains the Swedish born, in Switzerland living Stef. 
Certainly a "Brittish" understatement, not only had Stef, his wife Heidi and the percussionist Andreas Aeppli brought heaps of instruments (fiddles, viola, guitars, concertina, mandolin and numerous percussion instruments), they had also kindly installed three PAs (power amplifiers) with loudspeakers for the three different rooms of the restaurant.No corner was without full sound and that was a fortunate thing for everybody.

The trio Bow Triplets, the name originating from a typical Irish fiddle ornamentation, presents itself as a "having fun" formation, however, with Heidi, Stef and Andreas the "having fun" refers to their music making on stage and not to their musical level and abilities of playing.
All three have to do with music in their daily, professional lives, as teachers of music and playing in various formations and orchestras. Hence they never play near the limit of their playing abilities but apart from displaying superiour use of their voices and instruments also find time for humourous and interesting comments.

Stef is the compère who explains the backgrounds of the ballads, the rhythms of the different dances and comments on his own compositions and Heidi holds the musical threads together with calm hands.  Fast instrumentals with fiddle, guitar and the Irish drum bodhran (some with origine in the16^th century) interchange with songs that Stef wrote in a Swedish cottage.  These tell tales of fishermen's romance, of a flying white horse in a story by Astrid Lindgren and with twin fiddles, they even display something of ABBA's folkloristic soul.
Within jus a few minutes, centuries and continents melt to one and the music changes from easy flowing, light folkmusic to rough liveliness as we knew it from the "Pogues".

The loveliest moments of the three set concert were the duo vocals with Heidi and Stef and the choruses with Andreas and Stef.  Highly masterly the way tempo changes, dynamics and phrasings had been polished. The audience thanked the band with full attention during the whole evening and spontaneous dance interludes.

Like Bow Triplets' first Thiergarten concert one year ago, this event was sold out well ahead.
It feels as if one would gladly repeat this musical journey from river Rhein to river Shannon as early as tomorrow.

Susanne Loacker, journalist "Zueritip"