Die Toten Hosen renewed its idyll with Argentina | The German band celebrated the 30th anniversary of its first Buenos Aires show at the Obras Stadium

On his third return to the stage, Campino appeared wearing the scarf of Liverpool FC, a team of which he is a fan, despite being German. Suddenly, he put it on his head, asking the audience to do the same with whatever he had on hand. Then he gave play to his phone, and shouted “This is Buenos Aires!”, To which the crowd reacted in an angry way, while he panned his camera. That souvenir was one of the many tests that on Friday night showed that the idyll between Die Toten Hosen and Argentina is still intact. Four years after their last recital in this part of the world, the quintet returned not only to renew their venue, but also to celebrate with that passionate audience the 30 years of his Buenos Aires debut. Although from that time at the mythical Halley nightclub to this Obras (the second function was scheduled for this Saturday) a lot of water ran under the bridge, this punk emblem knew how to preserve itself very well. As are his fans.

It was no accident that the group kicked off their show with their latest single, “Alles sagen das”, in which they demonstrated the validity of that diligent sound. This happened after Argentines and part of the German community established in the country turned the stadium’s beer garden into a kind of Oktoberfest. There the rumor spread that the German Ambassador in Argentina was on the premises, which gave the event an almost official character. After the novelty, those from Düsseldorf continued the repertoire with a representative song of the ceremony that had just begun: “Auswärtsspiel” (in Spanish it translates as “Game away from home”), a theme that titles their 2002 album. which was followed by “Altes fieber”, released ten years later, which (coincidence or causality) put several generational instances into dialogue that had as their starting point the year of the band’s first recital in this city.

Just behind the members of Die Toten Hosen, a curtain was raised alluding to the celebration, which took on greater meaning when Campino greeted his audience for the first time: “Everything okay?” he said in Spanish. “We miss you so much”. And, as a joke, he finished: “We are Coldplay, and my name is Chris Martin.” With the tribunero “Paradies”, the Hosen put their first classic into circulation, as well as one of the reasons that transformed them into a beautiful inexplicable phenomenon: the furious melodies of their songs have that Sunday flavor on the pitch, with the fans cheering. to the team. Just as it happened again when he unsheathed another of his hymns: the sharp “Bonnie & Clyde”. This paved the way for one of the significant passages of a recital that was taking the form of a party. “This is a special visit, the most special,” guitarist Breiti said in Spanish. “Our friend Pil Trafa is no more”. Next, they paid tribute to him with a cover of “Más tú del bien”.

But it was not the only moment of the two-hour show in which they paid tribute to the Argentine punk legend. Before they summoned him again, they tested the elasticity of his proposal with the hard rock “Cocaine”. Which was followed by that kind of spaghetti western “Niemals einer Meinung”, while they showed off their pop streak with “Das ist Der Moment”, and flirted with reggae in “Laune der Natur”. While they gave rein to one of the conscience-raising sections of their list of songs, in “Du lebst nur einmal” they unleashed a mega pogo. One of the many organized by the public that was in the field of the stadium. The same thing happened with “Halbstark, as much as with “Alles was war” they tried to lower a change. After making “Pushed Again”, Die Toten Hosen remembered Pil Chalar again with “Iván was a communist” and “One, two ultraviolent”. This tandem of songs was followed by the irate “Wünsch dis was” and “Hier kommt Alex”, to then say goodbye for the first time.

As a prelude to what was going to be the encore, the curtain fell to the ground alluding to this series of shows in Argentina (in addition to the Obras, on Tuesday Campino will present his book Hope Street at The Roxy, on Wednesday they will do a new date at La Trastienda and on October 28 they will play for the first time in Tandil), revealing its traditional emblem: the anarcho, caricatured and bony version of the heraldic eagle on the German flag. If before they had greeted the members of Los Violadores who were in the audience, this time The Hosen materialized their fraternity with Argentine punk by inviting Mosca, singer of 2 Minutes, to make the hit of his band: “Ya no sos equal”. What served so that the guitars of Kuddel and Breiti will surf with the speed of the song, supported by the impeccable rhythmic base made up of Vom (drums) and Andi (bass). And they stayed on that frequency with the wild “Opel Gang”, where the audience turned the mosh back on.

The block ended with “Freunde”, a song that well represents what was seen on stage: a group of friends wanting to have fun and that their art continues to transcend. “Learning Argentine: Lesson 30” is the title of this landing by the band, in which it never ceased to amaze how a language as foreign to the local culture as German has been appropriated in such a way. By phonetics or knowing what the lyrics say, the public did not stop singing in Goethe’s language from beginning to end. And for a new example of this were “Alles aus Liebe”, “Viva la Revolution” and the ramonero “Bis zum bitteren Ende”, which gave life to the group’s second appearance on stage. Faced with the insistence of their followers, the quintet went out again to play “Represion”, by Los Violadores, and they played yet another classic: “Eisgekühlter Bommerlunder”. Then came the embrace of the members, a gesture that later became collective. And there are loves that last forever.