Ballermann songs are currently storming the charts. “Dicht im Flieger” singer Julian Sommer also has a full tour schedule. Instead of drunk on the plane, however, he usually sits sober in the car for a long time.
Small, tired eyes, but a big grin: at 2.35 a.m., party singer Julian Sommer is standing in front of a photo wall in the “Alpenmax” in Göttingen. The disco near the university (slogan: “The peak of pleasure”) is well filled on this Sunday morning.
Teenagers in sweaty shirts or skimpy skirts are queuing to get a photo with the 24-year-old from the village of Hausten in the Vordereifel. He smiles patiently into every mobile phone camera. For him, it’s the last minutes of a long day’s work – which began 18 hours earlier.
Shooting star of the Ballermann scene
The Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the shooting stars of the Ballermann scene, which is experiencing a real boom after two years of Corona. Everyone knows the controversial party hit “Layla” by now. Sommer, who used to like to celebrate in the “Bierkönig” himself, has been releasing songs since 2020. In the spring he landed a hit with “Dicht im Flieger” that made it to number seven in the charts.
“Of course, life has changed completely, from 0 to 100,” says the newcomer, who worked for a car dealership before rising to the top. “During the pandemic, no performances were possible, now I’m on the road every weekend. That’s a big change, of course, but it’s super fun.” There are 30 live performances in August, from the “Bierkönig” on Playa de Palma in Mallorca to the fair in Herne in the Ruhr area.
Appearance follows appearance
This Saturday there are three live gigs in Germany on the tour schedule before the weekly “Bierkönig” performance in Mallorca on Sunday. The first at the Hartenholm airfield in Schleswig-Holstein. He arrives there at 4:30 p.m. with his one-year-old brother Max, who drives him to performances – after an eight-hour drive. It started in the morning in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, where Sommer had been on stage in a club the night before.
Slightly annoyed by traffic jams and a motorway closure, Sommer pushes his trolley case into a makeshift changing room and a little later stands at the edge of the stage at the “Olé Party” in branded clothes (T-shirt, shorts and tennis socks).
Max puts the USB stick with the playback into the DJ desk, he takes care of the technology and films for social media. Manager Robin is also on site. At 5:28 p.m., Malle star Sommer walked onto the stage with a yellow towel. “Dicht im Flieger”, his biggest hit, is the beginning.
“Where are the single ladies?”
Questions to the bellowing and clapping party people: “Who has already been to Mallorca this year?”, “Who still drinks alcohol here today?”, “Where are the single ladies?” All three questions are appropriately answered with a thunderous “Uahhhhhhhhaaaaa”.
“Mallorca fanatics”, “Break your limit” and the current single “Morgen kickt der Kater” are still on the program. Sommer sings his songs live over the playback. It’s mainly about alcohol and partying (“Sangria, vodka, wine, we’ll bang it all up. Because we only want one thing: to be drunk.”). One looks in vain for polarizing lines of text such as in the Malle chart hits “Layla”, “Olivia” or “Lea” on the newcomer (so far).
“He’s just great. The mood is right, the name says it all. Everything’s fine,” says a young fan from Hamburg. After around 20 minutes and a “Dicht im Flieger” encore, Sommer says goodbye.
It goes on, back on the A7
The sat nav indicates: It will be close to the next performance in Esterwegen in Lower Saxony. In three hours he should be there on the stage. In front of Hamburg’s Elbe Tunnel, the motto is: stop and go. “Traffic jams basically annoy me. Everything is very tightly timed with us at the moment, so we don’t really have a buffer at all.”
It will soon be moving much faster. But a few hundred meters from Lake Erika, where the Mallorca party is taking place, the next stop: the singer’s car is stopped in a residential area. Fans recognized him. A couple is celebrating their wedding in a garden tent – beer seems to have flowed in abundance.
“We’re already very, very late,” says the stress-tested singer – to congratulate Ingrid and Martin after all. Less than a minute later he is back in the passenger seat.
Plenty of corn is drunk
The event resembles a country youth party. It is still early. Most of the guests are still at the beer stands, drinking plenty of schnapps. There is no toilet behind the stage, the buffet consists of two bags of gummy bears, a fruit plate, five rolls and two tubes of mustard. “I’ve experienced much worse,” says Sommer – and sprints at 9:30 p.m. onto the stage, which is decorated with artificial palm trees.
“Esterwegen, you guys are amazing,” he roars. That matters. The crowd shifts. In the front rows, teenagers in particular hold up their hands and mobile phones. girls scream. “Who still drinks alcohol here today?” “Uahhhhhhhhaaaaa.” Good mood. Happy faces.
At 10:00 p.m., summer says goodbye again. On the way to the car, there are a few selfies and a hug with colleague Tim Toupet (“Island ban”), who has just come from the parking lot. He appears next.
Summer needs some sleep
This time summer gets on behind. He wants to sleep later. It’s going to Goettingen now. Again it is around 200 minutes by car. The gig at the “Alpenmax” club is scheduled for 1.15 a.m.
“After such an exhausting day, it’s always difficult to step on the gas again. I sleep a lot in the car when I can. On stage you flip a switch, and then there’s the adrenaline. Then it fits,” says the 24- year old who has been up for 14 hours.
The nocturnal journey through Lower Saxony is largely calm. During a short refueling stop on the autobahn, Sommer eats a bockwurst. It is the first meal after breakfast at the hotel. But he’s not really hungry, as he says.
He would like to be in the audience himself
A short time later Max announces that he is tired. driver change. Once again it goes down from the A7 because of a blockage. How does he feel about his newfound fame? “Every now and then I would like to be in the audience and have a drink myself, but that’s just not possible at the moment.”
He keeps getting messages about how easy his job is: briefly on the stage, then celebrate yourself. “But nobody sees these many hours in the car.” There is also no alcohol in the workload. Sober in the car instead of on the plane.
At around 1:30 a.m. the singer, who is already a bit struggling, parks next to the club. “Julian, give it your all,” a drunken guest calls out to him a little later. Then it’s back on stage. The audience: even younger and more female. A black bra flies summer too. He picks it up, somewhat embarrassed. At 2.20 a.m. performance number three is over.
And then on Mallorca
After countless fan photos, Sommer packs up his things in the club’s office. What is his conclusion? “Except for the long journeys with full closures and traffic jams, things went quite well. There were three great events.” Then he looks at the clock. Brother Max is nervous. Because there is still one last drive to go.
“Quarter to three. We’re going to the airport in Paderborn, at five o’clock I’ll fly to Mallorca, 8 p.m. “Bierkönig” and home again on Monday,” says Sommer with a smile.
Chart course Julian Sommer “Dicht im Flieger”