Cologne (dpa/lnw) - Die Toten Hosen start their 40th tour in the 40th band year this Friday in front of 40,000 spectators in the sold-out Cologne stadium. "We have great respect for the people of Cologne," said singer Campino (59) on Thursday. "Nevertheless, we obviously expect to be able to get three points here."
The band leader set the tactical direction: "We'll play forward. You have to run, you have to fight. Hopefully it won't get too chaotic." 610,000 tickets have already been sold for the 18 concerts.
"Evenings like this are something very special. The fact that we're still here at all is becoming more and more special," said Campino. He appealed to the audience: "Please go full throttle. We need you. Otherwise the ball won't get rolling. But most of them are already aware of that."
For the first time, the Düsseldorf band begins a tour in the rival neighboring city of Cologne. "You always catch yourself on the way to Cologne," said bandmate Breiti. "We'll definitely find the quarter of an hour to really look at Cologne again, since we're already here," said Campino.
The selection of the pieces is "a ride through our history". The stage design is a collage of 40 years of artwork from Hosen albums. According to Campino, the tour with 18 concerts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland is fraught with uncertainty. The corona virus keeps causing failures.
"Corona is still haunting the room as a ghost and is also very noticeable. You can see that in the crew and in the colleagues - in Herbert Grönemeyer, the doctors and the broilers, who had to reorganize their team. The bands help each other logistically each other as much as possible," said Campino. Another uncertainty factor is the war in Ukraine.
"The freedom in which we have lived for so many years is not something that can be taken for granted. We are much more aware of that and that is why these evenings will be special this summer," said Campino.
At the start of the tour in Cologne alone, 1,000 employees were involved, and the entourage that then goes on tour is 113 people strong. "Everything out of love - 40 years of the Toten Hosen" is the name of the tour.
