The new Bräurosl landlords at the Oktoberfest wanted a return to Bavarian tradition, and the audience in the evenings preferred party music to brass band music. Like the rest of Festzelt-Bayern, by the way.
Erwin and the tail fins from Regensburg should now fix it. The festival tent-tested party band now supports the Josef Menzl band at the Oktoberfest every day from 8 p.m., which apparently did not play enough DJ Ötzi songs for the Bräurosl audience, which could have something to do with the fact that the Josef Menzl band specializes in old Bavarian brass music and “Hey Baby” isn’t old Bavarian brass music.
That’s exactly what the new Bräurosl innkeepers wanted: only brass band music, as a kind of return to Bavarian traditions. The Josef Menzl band from the district of Regensburg and their repertoire are indeed rich in tradition. Otherwise, the people in charge of the Bräurosl may have had a misunderstanding, namely a wrong understanding of Bavarian beer tent culture. Of course, this includes brass music, of course. But not only. The mix makes it. Banal but true.
In order to prevent the debacle in the Bräurosl, it would have been good to take a look at the festival tents on the other side of Munich, not only with regard to the expected corona effects. At the Wiesn, every second marquee visitor remembers that Munich is in Bavaria. People who would otherwise not even put out a “gell” suddenly fall into fantasy Bavarian.
So what was played in real Bavaria during the past folk festival season? Let’s take the Gäubodenvolksfest in Straubing in August, the more authentic little brother of the Wiesn. Musicians and brass bands played in the tents until the afternoon. After that, however, structures with names like Casplat rocker, Frog Knuckle Express or Dirndl cracker off – and also Erwin’s tail fins. At the Herbstdult in Regensburg, they changed hands Old Bavarian sheet metal and Trixi and the party animals away.
Perhaps with the new Bräurosl they were simply more papal than the Pope with their plan to put a stop to the Ballermannization of the Wiesn by putting brass music on the program throughout. Ironically, in the Bräurosl, a designated party tent. By the way, Ballermann is celebrating his 50th birthday this year and things are not going well for him. Most Bavarian folk festivals have a few more years under their belts. So far they have survived both polka and hits quite well.