Welcome to the Cabaret

With UMS offices on Liberty Street,  lab cafe has become a favorite go-to spot for our caffeinated indulgences. (Seriously, a fair amount of our emails, program books, and community engagement activities are fueled by that coffee!) Tobias Wacker, owner of lab, has been talking to us about Max Raabe ever since we announced the 11/12 season. Toby’s enthusiasm is so infectious that we felt it would be a true disservice to keep it to ourselves. So here it is, in his own words for your reading enjoyment.

Growing up in Villingen-Schwenningen, my German parents loved Max Raabe. Parties were not really parties without some Max and his Palast Orchester. Things got even better once we had a VCR and were able to watch his performances on TV. Frankly, the whole thing seemed rather strange to me at the time. Why are we listing to old timey tunes with silly lyrics like “my little green cactus is sitting outside on the balcony?” Why are they performing inside a circus tent? Long before the 1920s became the decade of choice for hip kids, Max Raabe transported you back to roaring pre-war Berlin, a city saturated with cabaret and absinth where the good times never seemed to stop. His infectious mix of classics, original material, and pop music covers achieves the rare state of making music for our era while preserving the authenticity of its vintage roots. And the grown-up me can’t wait to see it live for the first time. Welcome to the cabaret – it’s going to be a wild night!

Max Raabe shows off his cabaret glam in his rendition of Beir Mir Bist du Schoen.

Max Raabe’s latest single, One Cannot Kiss Alone. (Click image to watch.)

Looking for more Max Raabe fun-facts? Check out this article by Franziska Schwarz for the Goethe Institute.

— Growing up in Germany and Los Angeles, Tobias Wacker  is obsessed with making cities more livable through small shops and culture. He deeply believes in the power of innovation and just started getdapp.com, a website dedicated to modern goods made using traditional techniques and materials.