Annett Louisan: 20 Jahre Bohème – das Jubiläumskonzert

In the organizer's words:

2024 marks the 20th anniversary of Annett Louisan's debut album "Bohème". Reason enough for the artist to celebrate this work and everything it has set in motion. After the anniversary concert in Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie next March was completely sold out within a very short time, she is now announcing further concerts in selected venues throughout Germany to take visitors on a special journey through time.

Every beginning has its own magic, this one in particular. "That you are no longer what you once were": this was the line that began "Das Spiel", the first song from Hamburg musician Annett Louisan's first album, in October 2004. This song and the album "Bohème" changed everything overnight in the life of the then 27-year-old art student and studio musician. "Bohème" sold over 500,000 copies, lifted the previously unknown singer into the pop Olympus and laid the foundation for a unique career that continues to this day.

That will soon be twenty years ago - an anniversary that Annett Louisan will be celebrating with a 2024 tour in addition to her concert on March 27, 2024 in Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie.

2004, we remember: the biggest hits came from Yvonne Catterfeld, the Black Eyed Peas and Usher, the radio played indie rock, R&B or German rock, the most successful mainstream albums came from Robbie Williams, Anastacia and Norah Jones. Annett Louisan simply crashed into it with "Bohème". With playful ease, she brought together chanson, jazz and pop, didn't seem to fit in anywhere - and yet was heard everywhere. "Annett's raunchy songs stick to you like Pattex", wrote "Stern" - it was a compliment, it was the truth.

In a total of ten studio albums since then, Annett Louisan has continued to develop her great, always seemingly dabbed-on art, painted the edges and developed into one of the most important German pop artists of all time. She has been awarded numerous gold and platinum albums and her latest album, "Babyblue", which was released at the beginning of the year, has once again entered the top 10 of the German charts at the first attempt.

So how does she look today at the album that started it all for her? With the distance of the life-experienced mother and mature artist that she has long since become? "The songs don't get old," says Annett Louisan, "I still love singing them. Back then, a door opened through which all these songs suddenly came to us. You can still hear the art of lightness and naivety in this music today. 'Bohème' is one of my favorite albums, an all-time favorite."

Annett Louisan is very much looking forward to playing the first anniversary concert in the sold-out Elbphilharmonie: "The evenings in the Elbphilharmonie are something special, they have a beauty and a grace. I just think they could add a bar. And a balcony for smokers." A bar on the stage would also be helpful at next year's concerts, as they might well go on a little longer. Annett Louisan will enter into a musical dialog with her younger self on the evenings. From today's perspective, she would wish the pop Lolita of yesteryear less fear. More courage to be able to enjoy her success. "I have a much better feeling for Annett Louisan now and wouldn't let her talk me into so much," she says. "Making women look small from behind so that you could then manipulate or rip them off was much more common in the music industry than it is today."

Not everyone at the time understood the pioneering musical achievement that Louisan achieved with "Bohème". In a country where music is usually supposed to be either lead-heavy or particularly light, she showed that emotional pop music with German lyrics can go deep in a similar way and at the same time be of a shimmering lightness that we otherwise only know from the French chanson tradition. An achievement for which Louisan is revered by younger female colleagues today.

Of course, she is no longer "what she once was" - and yet she has remained the same. "I carry the longing within me, and it won't stop," says Louisan. "I'm looking forward to singing a song like 'Die Dinge' as an older woman at 70."

Annett Louisan has made her way. 20 years of "Bohème" - it will be an unforgettable evening!

Price information:

St. Pauli Theater ticket hotline: 040 / 4711 0 666, st-pauli-theater.de and at all known advance booking offices