Pure music & party under the stars of the Taubertal A story about mud, festivalians, judges and tons of music It was raining cats & dogs in the days before the Taubertal Openair Festival opened its doors and many people feared that the beautiful Taubertal will be flooded by water. But on Friday, just right on time, the sun won her fight against the clouds, what immediately started to bring good moods and positive vibes up to the visitors, people on charge and of course the musicians. In front of and behind our Emergenza-Stage the Atmosphere couldn’t have been better in these 3 days. The jury had perfect circumstances to do their job (watching each band closely and judge about their set) with happiness and satisfaction. The people in front of the stage too, there always was a whole bunch of them, supported the newcomers in the best way they could. After talking to all the bands (see article 5) it is time to catch some voices from the jury and the audience what they have to say about Emergenza. JURY Susanna Ott We have been talking with Susanna Ott from „Oh My Sweet Entertainment“ and asked her some questions about the festival and Emergenza. She is part of the jury. She cannot tell us anything yet about what her ideas of the level of the music are because she has heard half of the bands. Although she mentions that it is really mixed up with styles and different kinds of music. There are a lot of good technical bands and also a lot of bands with a quite good attitude, but she is still waiting for the big boom! “The atmosphere here in this beautiful town and valley is amazing. We’re really lucky with the weather, too. Nobody thought that it would be such a nice and dry weather. The atmosphere between the bands is also very good and friendly. You don’t feel like in a competition. They all try to make new friends and enjoy hanging around together. On each corner you can listen to different languages and you meet so many different cultures. It’s like you wish it should be.” “I am honored to be a part of the jury. It’s also because we work with newcomer bands and seeing all these young bands from the start making their first step on such a huge stage. A few of them may seem quite undone, but they have very valuable other qualities to present on stage.” As we asked the question what kind of criteria she handles she answer: “some take care that the band is tight and play a good show, but I’m looking out for other aspects. Like I said before, many of them have great qualities which come out on stage.” Eric Serrano Eric Serrano plays percussion with the „Offspring“. His domicile is in Los Angeles, USA and he is here for the three day final. It is the first time he has been at an Emergenza final. Emergenza contacted him a month ago and he really feels honored to be a member of the jury. We talked to him about the level of the music and he replied that the level is good. The music is of good quality, the bands are playing well and the musicians are relaxed. He does not have comparison with other years but he is amazed about what has been going on here in the Taubertal. His special attention goes to the good songs. These are songs that are memorable. Further points of his attention are the showmanship and the individual musicianship. Maybe one of the most important things is the interaction on stage between the band members. He writes down what the strong and weak points of every band are and at the end of the final he makes his conclusion. Ranking starts after he has heard all the bands. He is telling us that Emergenza has put down a well-organized and orchestrated festival. The schedule is right on time, enough to eat and drink and he is impressed by the relationship between the staff of Emergenza and the bands. It is a great opportunity for up & coming bands to play in places where they probably never played without the help of Emergenza. It is a great social event as well. Ralf Kotowski Today we spoke w