Live report RONNIE ATKINS & LESSMANN/VOSS, Fabrik, Hamburg – November 10th, 2023

When Ronnie Atkins comes to town to play a show, the date should be marked in red in your calendar. That’s why November 10 is circled in red in my agenda. The Pretty Maids singer performs a solo show in Hamburg’s Fabrik on this day and shares the stage with Lessmann/Voss; two greats when it comes to rock and metal from Germany.

Thanks to the Hamburg public transport company HVV and various timetable adjustments, I arrive at the Fabrik shortly after 8pm. Lessmann/Voss have already started their set at this point and anyone expecting a rocking presentation of their ‘Rock is Our Religion’ album will be proven wrong. Instead, the two musicians sit at the edge of the stage with their acoustic guitars and the whole thing is more like a living room performance.

Claus Lessmann and Michael Voss have decided not to play a typical setlist tonight. They agreed on the songs they wanted to play in advance. These include ‘Hollywood Angel’ by Casanova as well as hits from the Bonfire era, the band Lessmann is forced to refer to as his “ex-band”. ‘Sweet Obsession’, ‘Who’s Foolin’ Who’ and ‘You Make Me Feel’ were gratefully received by fans and one or two extra songs would certainly have gone down well.

However, the two also lose themselves in longer stories in which Lessmann talks about his journey to Hamburg and the related experiences with Deutsche Bahn. He also talks about performing with Cacumen in Hamburg almost four decades ago (It was in spring 1984 at Sounds, if I remember right). Voss also tells the story of the call he received at the end of the 80s to go on tour with Bonfire. Another thing that was mentioned several times was the lack of a table on stage where you could put your beer glass down. So the time passed by relatively quickly, even if the walk on the memory lane was a bit too extended.

The performance by Ronnie Atkins is a different story. What else can be said about the singer that hasn’t already been said or written before. Ronnie Atkins is an icon of melodic heavy metal. Having made his name as the frontman of Pretty Maids, Atkins also managed to gain a large followership with his solo albums. Not to forget the albums of Nordic Union and his contributions to Avantasia. He is a really big name and that is also evident tonight.

In contrast to Lessmann/Voss, the next 85 minutes are all about rocking. With ‘Rising Tide’ and ‘I Prophesize’, the start is also very strong. Atkins storms onto the stage and the fans go wild. There is no sign of Atkins’ health problems. The singer seems to be in very good shape and his voice is fabulous.
With ‘Rodeo’, the first Pretty Maids song comes right at the beginning of the set and it shouldn’t be the only one.

With 19 songs, the setlist is relatively long and is made up of songs from his solo albums and Pretty Maids classics. Whether it’s the new songs like ‘Trinity’ and ‘One Shot’ or the Pretty Maids hits like ‘Future World’ and ‘Back to Back’, it’s simply a pleasure to experience these songs performed live. And you can’t imagine these songs without the voice of Ronnie Atkins.

When ‘Little Drops of Heaven’, the last song of the evening, starts, all those present have a successful trip back in time behind them. The 80s were noticeably close and even if the solo songs are more recent, they too have their roots in the heydays of melodic rock/metal. All in all, a very pleasant evening comes to an end and it will be interesting to see what Pretty Maids come up with, as the band will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of their ‘Red, Hot and Heavy’ debut next year.