The Start Of The Affair
Around this time two years ago a good friend of mine sent a link to a YouTube clip that he thought I might enjoy. I clicked on the link and was immediately transported to a snowy alpine scene and a wooden stage upon which six strapping chaps in lederhosen began cavorting their way through a very catchy, typically Bavarian sounding schlager.
That song was ‘Voll Ma Tanzn Gehn and the group went by the name of voXXclub – the non-capital “v” and the double-capital “XX” I later discovered are essential to the brand (it’s also another act this year with capital letters in the middle, oh brilliant… – .ed). I was immediately captivated by the engaging performance, which featured much traditional leg and foot slapping as the chaps danced their way through the expertly choreographed song. These boys were having fun, and it showed!
Before the song even finished I was browsing down the right-hand side of the page to see what other delights that guys could offer. There were links to a large number of videos and live performances and within no time at all I was headlong into a full-on avalanche of lederhosen enhanced volksmusik.
The song which had the highest number of hits (currently sitting at over twenty million!) was ‘Rock Mi‘. From the opening bars, which resemble Queen’s anthemic ‘We Will Rock You‘, I knew I had discovered something amazing… The song was insanely catchy, the choreography was slick, the positive vibe that shone through the whole thing was infectious and then there was the fact that the whole package was being delivered by six hunky grown men in lederhosen! What more could a red blooded male who was more than acquainted with Dorothy ask?
After a bit of research, I found out that the band had been formed in Munich in 2012 to cash in on the growing German/Swiss/Austrian volksmusik movement. Korbinian (Bini), Michael, Florian, Christian, Stefan and Julian were launched onto the music scene with a more folksy and gentle version of ‘Rock Mi‘ which failed to do much in the charts. That was followed by a couple of other singles before a decision was taken to oompa-up ‘Rock Mi’ and relaunch the boys with a poppier, more current sound. The remixed version stormed the charts in all three home territories (the guys are a mix of German, Swiss and Austrian themselves) and the voXXclub phenomenon had arrived.
Building The Brand
Over the next few years the boys toured their first three albums and were regularly seen on pop, schlager and volksmusik TV shows across all three countries. They honed flashmob performances of their singles into a fine art and could regularly be found doing impromptu performances in shopping centres, on buses, trains and even in planes.
In 2015 Julian left the group, leaving them as a five piece, but the fun and camaraderie seems to have been unaffected and if anything, the guys perform even better now in their more compact form.
Time To Fly The Flag
I’ve spent the past couple of years enjoying their joyful sound and can regularly be found slapping my thighs to their dulcet tones, so you can imagine my unconfined delight when NDR announced in December that “My voXXclub” are one of the acts that have been shortlisted to compete in February’s “Unser Lied Fur Lissabon”, where the German entry for Lisbon will be selected.
Their most recent album, ‘Donnawedda‘, was released on 29 December and whilst there are a few tracks on it which would have made great entries in their own right, but the guys have be working with a team of specially selected song writers to come up with their song for the German final.
You can bet your bottom Euro that they have my full support as they set down the lederhosen-clad gauntlet to get Germany back on the left hand side of the scoreboard in May. I won’t deny that was hoping for ‘Rock Mi Mark Two‘ with all the fun and spectacle that a similar song could bring to the competition. Did I get it?
You tell me…