WOLFGANG AMBROS – Ambros Pure VII

An "unplugged" musical journey with the Austrian singer-songwriter legend Wolfgang Ambros (vocals, guitar, harmonica) and Günter Dzikowski (keys and vocals) and Roland Vogl (guitar, bass, and vocals). It is undisputed that Wolfgang Ambros's music has soul. Experiencing him in this way – musically reduced to the acoustic guitar, complemented by Günter Dzikowski's playing on the keyboard instruments and Roland Vogl on bass – has a special fascination. For over a decade, Ambros has been captivating audiences in this form as well. It is a unique concert experience in exclusive theaters and smaller venues.

The renaissance of one of the most important musicians and singers ever, the great Johnny Cash, was triggered by the fundamentally obvious idea of simply sitting him down with an acoustic guitar and letting him play. Completely without "unplugged" pretensions: the reduction to the essentials, the search for the essence of their music has benefited many artists, provided their music indeed has an essence, a soul. That Wolfgang Ambros's music has soul is beyond doubt. Perhaps a rough soul, but certainly a great one. The musical merits of this man are legion; hardly anyone has sung such words about quintessential Viennese and Austrian sentiments as he has, so aptly that they endure for decades as comments on a world that, at its core, remains the same. Hardly anyone has combined existential themes (love, death, and everything else) with lightness and full-bodied "Schmäh" as he has; just think of "Es lebe der Zentralfriedhof" as one of countless examples. And no one has engaged with the works of great artists like Bob Dylan, Hans Moser, Tom Waits, or Neil Young as he has, without ever producing awkward moments or leaving the stale feeling of standing on the shoulders of giants.

It is a treasure chest that creaks open and gradually reveals its treasures when Wolfgang Ambros is placed on stage, "only" with his voice, a guitar, and the musicians Günter Dzikowski and Roland Vogl by his side. Dzikowski, a long-time musician of the No. 1 from Wienerwald, and Roland Vogl, who has been touring with Ambros for years, know the extensive Ambros song catalog (almost) as well as their "boss," and yet it is also an inspiring journey of discovery for the three performers to rediscover many of these songs anew in an intimate setting. "Even big numbers like 'Zentralfriedhof' or 'Heit drah I mi ham' suddenly become very tangible again," Ambros shares.

The audience and critics have responded enthusiastically to the previous Ambros pur! evenings; when else do you have the opportunity to be so close to a giant of the local pop music scene like Wolfgang Ambros and his songs, many of which have long become folk songs of a different kind?