Die Roten Punkte: Otto & Astrid Play The Greatest Rock‘n’Roll Concert You’ve Ever Seen! ~ Adelaide Cabaret Festival 2022 Review

[CABARET/Comedy/Rock ~ WORLD PREMIERE ~ DEU/AUS] The Famous Spiegeltent, Festival Plaza, Thu 23 Jun. The long-awaited return of punk rock cabaret brother and sister team of Astrid & Otto a.k.a. Die Roten Punkte (translation: The Red Dot) has taken way too long in my view. It’s been six years or so far too long between rock bangs! Musical comedy is near and dear to my heart, but some acts hit closer to my heart than others. They have to have their comedy material be top notch and the musical chops to make it convincing. So while some people are content to consume musical comedy in 30 second TikToks, for me acts like Flight Of The Conchords, Weird Al Yankovic, Tripod, DAAS, Axis Of Awesome, Rubberbandits, Dead Cat Bounce and Die Roten Punkte are held in the same esteem as anything else in my music library. The siblings from Berlin (via Melbourne) mash up punk rock guitars, ‘80s synths, a love of The Pixies and Bowie with songs about plastic dinosaurs, teaching aliens to dance and taking care of your fruit. They are punky power pop, like a comedy White Stripes. While Otto is a shy Vegan romantic with Robert Smith make-up, Astrid is more interested in sex and booze and taking charge of Otto. The sibling squabbling and confusion when equipment fails is terrifically well played and they make a great racket for a two-piece outfit. The set list if all aces – Burger Store Dinosaur, The Situation (Get Your Finger Out Of My Arse), the lust driven Second Best Friend and the dance-tastic Do You Speak Dance? Are all great fun. Otto sneaks in a couple of his solo numbers (against Astrid’s express instruction) the hilarious Try Not To Die and Automatic Door. When she returns the pendulum swings with everybody on their feet for Astrid’s Drinking Song. For those of us that embraced these delightful faux Germans a long time ago, finishing their all too brief set with the wonderful Ich Bin Nicht Roboter (I Am A Lion) a synth pop banger and the indie rock killer Rock Bang, was a forgone conclusion. Do yourself a great favour that you won’t regret – as well as a service to international relations – by getting yourself along to an evening with Otto & Astrid/Die Roten Punkte. 4.5 stars Ian bell Die Roten Punkte: Otto & Astrid Play The Greatest Rock‘n’Roll Concert You’ve Ever Seen! continues at The Famous Spiegeltent, Festival Plaza, Adelaide Festival Centre, from 8.25pm until Sat 25 Jun. Book at Ticketek. Click HERE to purchase your tickets. #TheClothesline #AdCabFest #AdelaideFesCent