20th anniversary

Monti Beton and Hans Krankl live at the State Opera

Toni Matosic, Hans Krankl and Thomas Schreiber (from left) perform with Monti Beton at the Vienna State Opera to celebrate their 20th anniversary together.

(Bild: Alfred Weber)

Monti Beton and Hans Krankl promise a musical and humorous celebration in a class of its own when they celebrate their 20th anniversary together at the Vienna State Opera this summer. The "Krone" was able to see the successful and humorous short passing game between the protagonists for itself in advance.

To set the record straight right from the start: Monti Beton, the Austrian quasi-Monty Python, are of course not 20, but already more than 40 years old. But 20 years ago, none other than "Goleador" Hans Krankl joined the musical troupe and changed the face of the Viennese duo forever. The different yet similar tastes of Krankl and the two Monti-Beton heads Toni Matosic and Thomas Schreiber meant that today they can name the Beatles, the Kinks and Elvis Presley as the lowest common denominator for their own work. The "King Of Rock'n'Roll", who would have celebrated his 90th birthday on January 8th, was first introduced to Krankl by Schreiber. "I didn't realize it as a lad, but through my colleagues I increasingly grew into his sound."

In the best of company
Monti Beton and Johann K. are celebrating their 20th anniversary together in style this year. On July 5, they will be giving a concert at the Vienna State Opera, with a charity concert in New York City during Holy Week in preparation. The State Opera would be an obvious choice as an event location, laughs Matosic. "Vienna's second famous cover band, the Vienna Philharmonic, will be playing there alongside us. They perform world-class music by Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Schubert and Wagner, celebrating these composers who are no longer alive. We play the great hits of the old rock and pop bands that no longer exist for various reasons." Monti Beton have already performed in front of around 4,000 fans in Vienna's large Stadthalle, and the State Opera would now be the logical next step. "And the Happel Stadium was too expensive for us," winks the ringleader.

Just two weeks after Monti Beton at the State Opera, Seiler and Speer play their biggest career concert to date at Vienna's Ernst Happel Stadium. Krankl has great respect for the new Austropop heroes - including Wanda, Bilderbuch and co. - but there is a good reason why these acts are not suitable for the Monti Beton program: "They're all still around. It would be stupid if we played them. The artists of the songs we perform don't necessarily have to be dead, but we do play the old rags that inspire people." To mark the anniversary, fans can look forward to a colorful potpourri from the mixed oeuvre of the band's musical history. In addition to the aforementioned pop and rock greats, they can also look forward to old Austropop (all band members love Georg Danzer), Italo hits and Schlager. "Schlager and Italian hits come from Hans", emphasizes Matosic, "we wouldn't have played that in the past. But there are so many great artists and songs that he really opened up to us."

Musically colorful on the road
Monti Beton have already played in front of UN soldiers in the Golan, in the Stadthalle or at the Donauinselfest and are traditionally guests at the Metropol before Christmas. Schreiber says that they have worked with Krankl on around six different programs so far, and Country could be a seventh in the future. Krankl himself already has several musical careers behind him. In 1974, he ventured into shallower territory for the first time with his first singles "Ohne Ball'n und ohne Netz" and "Vor, vor noch ein Tor ...", and almost ten years later he achieved lasting success with Kottan's Kapelle and the song "Rostige Flügel". Lukas Resetarits still refers to Krankl as his musical discoverer today. The Viennese version of Paul Anka's "Lonely Boy" and "Der Bätmän bin i" followed, and he found a musical home with Monti Beton two decades ago.

Soccer and music connect both parties. "As a boy, I was about to sign a professional contract," laughs Matosic, "Hans probably said he was either going to be a footballer or John Lennon. For me, it was more likely to be a musician or a telecommunications engineer - and I'm a telecommunications engineer anyway". Monti Beton and Krankl can't do anything without banter, and everyone involved enjoys the communal, family-like feeling on stage. "Everyone involved is a fantastic musician", the "Goleador" gets serious for a moment, "everyone is an absolute professional and expert on their instrument. To be able to play everything so well, from Schlager to Italo to the Doors, is actually amazing and musicians know exactly what value that has." Matosic likes to use a soccer comparison for the band. "Real Madrid usually buy the best players in the whole world and are the 'Galactics'. But FC Barcelona play the better soccer, even though they are not as valuable as Real. The secret of our success is that we always found the right people on the instruments and the teamwork is unique."

Live at the Vienna State Opera
In addition to the love of music, the entertainment factor is of course an important part of the band's success and popularity. "The shared sense of humor and the energy we draw from it - that jumps straight to the audience." Krankl as a prominent and popular frontman would have been the missing ingredient for success, adds Schreiber: "We were basically playing in the minor leagues until we signed a top man." Despite a rough plan, there is always plenty of room for spontaneity live on stage. "That's often at my expense," Krankl smiles, "because the gentlemen then play something I didn't know about. But we have a lot of fun and the audience likes it too." Guaranteed to be at the Vienna State Opera for the big anniversary performance on July 5. Tickets and further information are still available at www.oeticket.com.