Today is a very special day to me: Weird Al Yankovic is playing is first-ever concert in Germany tonight, at the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg. Somehow also sad for me, as it is already the eighth show of this tour for me – and after Hamburg, there are just two more to follow. The more, I am happy that the same place (with its smaller venue, though) will host one of the protagonists again: Al’s guitarist Jim “Kimo” West will return to Germany in fall, playing the Nacht der Gitarren (“Night of the Guitars”).
The booking is (obviously) not yet completed, but as some venues already sell tickets, I felt it is the perfect day to introduce you to the tour. I will update the list of shows periodically.
Jim “Kimo” West – About The Artist
Jim Kimo West is a Canadian artist, who was born in 1953 in Toronto. Nowadays, he is living in Los Angeles and Hawaii. Together with bassist Stephen Jay, he joined the band of Weird Al Yankovic in 1983 and works with the artist ever since. However, since his 1999 debut Coconut Hat, he is also releasing solo albums. His career grew steadily over the years with an increased fan base. His 2018 album Moku Maluhia: Peaceful Island lead to a Grammy Nomination in 2019 for the first time (Best New Age Album). In 2021, West finally won the same category with the following release, More Guitar Stories. He played the International Guitar Night, which is the North American equivalent to the Nacht der Gitarren, in 2022. Thereby, he is majorly representing the slack key guitar style.
Nacht der Gitarren – About The Event
Brian Gore is the head behind the Nacht der Gitarren (and the International Guitar Night). He is regarded to be an excellent guitar player himself and it typically called the Guitar Poet. Each year, the San Francisco-based musician gathers four excellent guitarists of all kinds of genre, who present their music to an audience, similar to a songwriters round.
Nacht der Gitarren 2023 – The (Other) Artists
Apart from West, there are three other artists on stage. Lulo Reinhardt, born in 1961 in Koblenz South of Bonn, is taking the role of the “local guy”. The German artist is having a Sinti background, which is also influencing his music. His discography features more than ten albums already. The second artist is Thu Le, a classic guitarist from Vietnam. She is currently living in Bahrain. She is mostly doing classical music from baroque to modern sounds, but also Latin American music. Last, but not least, there is Josephine Alexandra, who was born and raised in Jakarta, Indonesia. The young artist is very active in YouTube and gained quite a large number of followers there. Regardless of her age, she also had short study breaks at the Berklee College in Boston.
Nacht der Gitarren – Dates 2023
Here are all Nacht der Gitarren shows I found so far. If they are listed below, they are on sale already. Unless other stated, the cities are in Germany. To have a rough idea about the final booking: the 2022 tour had 24 tour stages.
Fr 13.10.2023 | Lahr – Parktheater | |
Sa 14.10.2023 | Reutlingen – Kutlurzentrum franz.K | |
Su 15.10.2023 | Koblenz – Cafe Hahn | |
Mo 16.10.2023 | Kassel – Theaterstübchen | |
Tu 17.10.2023 | Rüsselsheim – Theater | |
We 18.10.2023 | Remchingen – Kulturhalle | |
Th 19.10.2023 | Fulda – Kulturkeller | |
Fr 20.10.2023 | Bad Neustadt (Saale) – Stadthalle | |
Su 22.10.2023 | Bonn – Harmonie | |
Tu 24.10.2023 | Steinegg (Italy) – Kulturhaus | |
We 25.10.2023 | Augsburg (Germany) – Spectrum Club | |
Th 26.10.2023 | Kufstein (Austria) – Kultur Quartier | |
Fr 27.10.2023 | Hard – Kammgarn | |
Mo 30.10.2023 | Bochum (Germany) – Christuskirche | |
We 01.11.2023 | Wilhelmshaven – Pumpwerk | |
Th 02.11.2023 | Celle – Halle 16 | |
Fr 03.11.2023 | Stadthagen – Alte Polizei | |
Sa 04.11.2023 | Dresden – Ostra Studios | |
So 05.11.2023 | Ingolstadt – eventhalle Westpark | |
Tu 07.11.2023 | Jena – Volksbad | |
We 08.11.2023 | Potsdam – Lindenpark | |
Th 09.11.2023 | Hamburg – Laeiszhalle (small venue) | |
Fr 10.11.2023 | Schwerin – Der Speicher | |
Sa 11.11.2023 | Fehmarn – St. Johannis in Petersdorf | |
Su 12.11.2023 | Flensburg – Kühlhaus | |
We 15.11.2023 | Marburg – Kulturladen KfZ | |
Fr 17.11.2023 | Hoofdorf (Netherlands) – Duckyer |
Title picture: Jim Kimo West at a Weird Al concert in Tilburg, Netherlands
Nacht der Gitarren logo / artist pictures copyrighted by the organizer / artist.
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