Milene Weigert in Chengdu Bad Godesberg band celebrates success in China
Bad Godesberg · Milene Weigert travelled to Chengdu with her band at the city of Bonn’s suggestion and played two large concerts there. The 21-year-old singer is appearing at the Pantheon on 26 October.
The Godesberg singer Milene Weigert and her band have just stirred up the Bonner Harmonie with their mixture of funk, soul and pop alongside the singer Cynthia Nickschas, also from Godesberg. On 26 October, Milena and her band are playing at the Pantheon as part of the late night series LiveBeetz. “And recently we also even took our musical message to China,” says Weigert.
The 21-year-old student, who years ago swept the stage as the best solo artist in the songwriter competition “Xpress Yourself”, was invited to the International Sister Cities Youth Music Festival 2018 in partner city Chengdu at the suggestion of the Bonn Culture Office and its rock and pop representative, Hans-Joachim Over.
“We played two big concerts there. It was a really exciting experience,” enthuses the singer looking back. Her band appeared in a new formation: Niklas Scharge on guitar, Malte Viebahn on electric bass, Sergii Chernenko on saxophone, Dominic Anglano on keyboard and Nicolas Hartweg on drums.
A challenging journey
Milene shows photos of her and the boys in front of a grandiose backdrop with Chinese lettering. On others, the young artists from the Rhineland pose smiling in the country’s traditional costume. Before the trip, she was very nervous. But then they were all relatively relaxed on the huge stage and any stage fright was kept within limits, explains the singer.
However, the trip had several challenges: shortly before their appearance on the stage in Chengdu, their bass and guitar were suddenly missing. “We were able to borrow instruments from a nice Japanese band,” reports Milene. The audience was completely thrilled by their two appearances.
They made contacts through their German-speaking chaperone. Radio presenters approached them for interviews. The band also tried out traditional Chinese instruments. They drank delicious tea and tasted delicacies such as duck tongue and frog. “Yes, these were our first appearances abroad so far,” confirms Milene. But she is hoping China was just the start.
Original text: Ebba Hagenberg-Miliu. Translation: kc
