Translation:  Uwe Nessler


Most members of the about 50-year-old generation can name the pertinent musicians in bands like the Beatles, Bee Gees, Genesis, and Rolling Stones. Yet one asks about the names of the voices of bands like Status Quo, Deep Purple or Uriah Heep, so one finds the answers often only by asking the inveterate fans of these bands. There is not much difference regarding Supertramp. Although soft rock hits with ear-warm character like "Dreamer," "Breakfast in America," and “Itīs Raining Again” catapulted the Rick Davies and Roger Hodgson-founded band in 1969 with their typical use/cue of the Wurlitzer e-piano and the clarinet to the forefront places of the charts, the names of both founders are widely unknown. When Roger Hodgson left Supertramp in 1983 to start a solo career, this quasi-heralded the end of worldwide popularity.  Our thinking was wrong, because the radio-suitable, melodic pop songs and melancholic ballads which Hodgson composed after his split from the band proved impressively how strongly he had formed the style of the band in the years of worldwide fame. Now, Roger Hodgson returned with old and new songs for a guest performance to the sold out Alte Oper in Frankfurt. The charity concert proved that the 57-year-old still can excite his fans. At this nearly two-hour show, where at the end almost 30 musicians stood on the stage and underlayed the hits with fat/full string sounds, one could have done without the seating, because the music carried away the listeners.