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Michael Zirnstein
More than 90,000 fans celebrated the Austrian pop singer Andreas Gabalier at his open-air concert on the grounds of the Munich Exhibition Center on Saturday evening. The first of three big concerts in Riem was, so to speak, a pilot project: is the Munich exhibition grounds suitable for such a cultural mega show? Helene Fischer and Robbie Williams will soon follow.
For the main character of the evening, Andreas Gabalier, it was of course “not just a superlative concert”. The Styrian musician saw his mission on Saturday evening as “sending an unforgettable sign of life from Munich out into the world”, as he called out to the crowd several times. Even for him “a dimension that has not yet been seen”.
The performance was actually planned as part of a “fan festival” in the summer of 2020, but was postponed twice due to restrictions caused by the corona pandemic. The supporting program was also reduced: the amusement park announced in 2019 was cancelled.
The visitors – many in dirndls and lederhosen – were still able to get to the site at 12 noon, where, among other things, a “food truck mile” was waiting. The highlight for her, however, was Gabalier’s concert in the evening – using a lot of light and pyrotechnics on the big stage.