"Hello again": Howie sings at Schlager-Sommer in Upper Bavaria - and he's not the only star

Created: 01/03/2022, 11:37 AM

From: Peter Loder

A world star in Groebenzell: pop singer Howard Carpendale usually fills arenas and halls.

In July he played an almost familiar concert in front of 2,200 fans at the Schlager-Sommer on the Gröbenzeller floor.

© Jan Woitas / DPA

It is a real sensation for Schlager fans: Superstar and "Ti Amo" singer Howard Carpendale is due to appear at the Stockwerk-Schlager-Sommer in July.

Other stars also do the honors.

Gröbenzell

- Howard Caprpendale - also called Howie - in the Gröbenbach community - and it gets even better: The hit parade striker from South Africa is accompanied by Germany's hit queen Michelle and the former Voxxclub singer Julian David as moderator and heater.

The Gröbenzell open-air spectacle is topped by the solo evening with Vicky Leandros, the Greek catchy tune interpreter of millions of hits like “Theo, we drive to Lodz”.

Floor Schlager summer in Groebenzell: Howard Carpendale and Vicky Leandros on stage

But how did Stockwerk founder Thomas Breitenfellner even manage to lure these superstars, who actually fill arenas and halls with tens of thousands of visitors, onto his small summer stage on Gröbenbach?

“With tenacity and weeks of negotiations,” says the catering and media entrepreneur, who will celebrate his 40th birthday on April 1st next year.

Because at the same time his home community in Gröbenzell will be 70 years old in 2022 and the former mayor candidate had already organized the celebrations for the 60th founding party, Breitenfellner was certain: "Now we have to put a shovel on it and organize something that Gröbenzell has never seen."

Rounds off the Howie concert: Pop singer Michelle appears on the same evening.

© Sebastian Willnow / dpa

It should be a "homage to the decades".

So why not give Howard Carpendale a quick call?

Although almost twice as old, the 75-year-old Breitenfellner's great idol: “I think it's just great how he has reinvented himself again and again and inspires the fans across generations.” Okay, he hasn't (yet) personally with “Howie” telephoned, but after weeks of negotiations, Breitenfellner's manager convinced him that Gröbenzell's open-air summer was worth a trip.

Only 50 euros for “Howie” live in the first row - Stockwerk-Schlager-Sommer should attract fans

Before Carpendale appears there, he will start the “The Show of My Life” tour in February with stops in Dresden, Nuremberg, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Chemnitz, Hanover, Cologne, Hamburg, Leipzig and Vienna. Munich is not there, but Gröbenzell on July 23rd as an encore with additional treats: While the cheapest tickets in the back rows of the big city halls cost three-digit amounts, in Groebenzell you can get “Howie” live and in the first row for 50 euros. Including Michelle, who appeared on the same evening.

The pop singer will also be celebrating something well-rounded in 2022: The ex-wife of pop star Matthias Reim (“Damn I love you”) will be 50 years old in February and, like Vicky Leandros, who will be a guest at the Breitenfellner Festival on July 15, can look back on a career that once began at the ESC Grand Prix Festival.

And, what a coincidence: the Greek, who lives in Hamburg, is also celebrating a milestone birthday in 2022 and will be 70 years old (but only one month after the Gröbenzell appearance).

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Howard Carpendale in Groebenzell: ticket sales for Schlager summer are already running

In 2020, Thomas Breitenfellner started the open-air summer series in Gröbenzell in the wake of the Corona crisis and the indoor concerts that were prohibited at the time.

In addition to superstars from the German hit scene, the third edition of the festival, which runs from July 14 to August 6, will host the Spider-Murphy-Gang, the Brettl-Spitzen from cabaret artist Jürgen Kirner, who lives in the neighboring village of Lochhausen, as well as Willy Astor, Haindling and Konstantin Wecker be in Groebenzell.

The advance booking for all concerts has already started.

Since December 11th at 8:45 a.m., the lines for online sales of Carpendale tickets have also been activated.

"Two minutes later the first ticket was sold," says Breitenfeller.

It has probably not even occurred to him that in addition to the coincidences of the birthday, the highest possible number of visitors in the floor arena is an occasion for a strange number game: 2200 seats will be built for the 2022 festival.

On Christmas Eve, tickets for an unbelievable concert event were probably lying under the Christmas tree among many “Howie” fans in the district.

Tickets for the concerts of Howard Carpendale and Vicky Leandros are available online at www.kultur-ticketshop.de.