Olympiapark Rocks
Fakultät für Tourismus - Hochschule München - Digitales Marketing & Management Verified partner Explorers Choice
The Olympic Park has been making music history in Munich since 1973. Follow Mike and his family on the trail of rock and pop music in the Olympic Park Munich. The tour for the story you can find here.
Olympiapark Rocks - The Tour
Go on a musical journey through the Olympic Park, discover the numerous concert locations and experience the story of "Olympiapark Rocks" up close.Note
The story and all its characters are fictional. However, the narratives are based on actual events, primarily based on the book "Rock & Pop in the Olympic Park Munich" by Herbert Hauke and Arno Frank Eser, interviews with Herbert Hauke and Stefan Karpati, and own internet research.The individual chapters/stations of the story indicate the location and the songs on the "Olympiapark Rocks" Spotiy playlist.
Station 1 - Walk of Stars (song 1 to 3)
Should I stay or should I go?
If you say that you are mine
I'll be here 'til the end of time
So you got to let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
It's 12:00 in the morning. I'm lying in bed with The Clash blasting through my room at total volume. I need that to wake up. There's no other way. Forget coffee. If there's one thing I've learned with my sixteen years, it's that any day that doesn't start with music is going to be a damn lousy one.
My older sister Stella bangs on my bedroom door and carefully expresses - as a loving sister would - her discomfort with the volume of my music: "Mike, turn that SHIT down!" I sigh loudly, move very slowly toward the stereo and turn the volume up a bit. A few minutes later, I hear someone rumbling up the stairs, and my mom comes into my room without knocking. "Mike, come on down now we need to... Whew, the air is terrible in here." She steps over the clothes and guitars lying on my floor, sweepingly pulls open the curtains, and opens the window. I wince as the bright sunlight floods my room all at once and press my face into the pillow. "Mom, do you have to do that? Ever heard of privacy?" I muffle into my pillow. Undeterred, my mother walks over to my stereo and turns the music down. "How do you think I feel like my privacy is being violated when I have to listen to that racket every day. Get ready now."
The iconic bass line of 'Are You Gonna Be My Girl' accompanies me on my way to the bathroom, where I grumpily brush my teeth. I could think of better things to do today than spend the day with my family at the Olympic Park. It was my grandpa's birthday a few weeks ago, and he asked us to take him on a family trip to the Olympic Park. And that on a Saturday. I have absolutely nothing in common with my family and the only thing that can save me today are my headphones to subtly avoid annoying small talk.
As I come downstairs, I yawn loudly and make myself a bowl of cereal. "Having a hearing loss yet?" my sister asks me angrily. "Found your own place yet?" I retort provocatively. My sister is what people would call a perpetual student. For a while, she felt she had to make the world a better place and then decided to study law for a reason I can't figure out. Breaking news - the law does not equal justice. Then she was on a really wild trip for a while and studied philosophy. Just like any good philosophy student, she dropped out not once but twice. And after a very exhausting period of self-discovery for everyone involved, she now has dreadlocks and is studying social work. I wonder if that hairstyle was one of the admission criteria to get accepted to the program... Before my sister can response, my mother intervenes. "I can't have this today. Your Grandparents have been looking forward to this trip for weeks and you two are going to get your act together for once in your damn lives and at least pretend to like each other."
"Good pep talk, mom, you should be a motivational coach," I retort, earning a punishing look from my mother. My father enters the room. The man who manages to work as a suit in a bank without selling his soul and meticulously follows his job description as an embarrassing father with stupid sayings in any situation. "Good morning family, this is getting peaceful again like Woodstock." Stella snorts in annoyance. "Didn't someone die there of `an overdose?" I ask as I scoop up the last spoonful of cereal. "Nobody likes a smart-ass," he retorts, grabbing a piece of toast.
We meet my grandparents at the Walk of Stars. My grandma waves at us wildly from afar while my grandpa taps impatiently on the ground with his walking stick. As with any family, mine always gets noisy when everyone meets up. From Kisses on the left cheek and Kisses right to "Oh, how you've grown up!" - everything is included. I always find these greetings extremely unpleasant. I never know where to leave my hands or where to look. The Walk of Stars is a small path where all the celebrities have their handprints immortalized like the Walk of Fame in LA. Dad, of course, immediately notices the picture of the Band Kiss on the exhibition board in front of the concrete prints. "I have just about every album by Kiss on CD at home." Stella rolls her eyes. "What do you want with CDs? You better listen to the 'Olympiapark Rocks' playlist on Spotify." Before Dad can ask who or what this Spotify is, Stella has already stuck her AirPods in his ear and presses play on her smartphone, which she bitterly regrets a few seconds later. As is so often the case, my father can't just behave normally but starts playing air guitar in the most conspicuous way imaginable and sticking his tongue out wide. To put an end to it all, Stella takes the headphones away from him again and presses her cell phone into his hand. "You better do the Walk of Star quiz Dad, that'll keep you busy.“
Munich Walk of Stars
Immortalizations of famous personalities around the Olympic lake
Station 2 - Olympic Hall East Entrance (Song 4 & 5)
Station 3 - Coubertinplatz (Song 6)
We walk past the hall and end up at Coubertinplatz. "We were part of Munich's music history too, weren't we, Stella?" my mother says, putting her arm around Stella's shoulder. "Yes! We saw Coldplay here in 2005." My sister smiles at the memory of that concert. Once again, the two of them exaggerate beyond measure. I have nothing against Coldplay, but to put this band on a par with Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple seems a bit megalomaniac to me. "What makes you think that Coldplay wrote music history here?" "Coldplay inaugurated this place back then. That was the first concert that took place here, and it was huge. I think around 10,000 people came at that time. It was such a beautiful July evening, and then they also played our favorite song, 'Clocks'. It almost brought tears to my eyes." My mother and Stella fall into each other's arms, and an emotional outburst of an exceptional kind begins. My father and I stand by a bit lost and look at each other in confusion. Women…
Station 4 - Olympic Hall West Entrance (Song 7 to 9)
Station 5 - Olympic stadium (Song 10 to 13)
"I'm telling you, you've never seen a show like this. The way she floated over the audience singing 'So What' - just awesome." My grandma looks at us, confused. "How do you mean floated?" "She was flying all over the stadium during the song attached to several ropes. Here look!" My sister picks out a video on YouTube and points out how Pink flies over a sea of people singing and somersaulting to the stunned crowd.
"We saw the Rolling Stones live here, and that was a great show, too. I'm telling you, my heart was beating up to my ears. That was the greatest thing for me to experience a guitar solo by Keith Richards live," my grandma tells us. "But the crowd couldn't contain themselves when the Stones were finally on stage. I've never seen people freak out like that," Grandma reports, shaking her head. "Oh, I can relate to that. I saw Michael Jackson in the stadium in 1997. People just idolized him. All around me women were crying," my mother reports in awe. She pulls out her cell phone and shows us a recording of 'Smooth Criminal'.
Station 6 - Theatron (Song 14)
Station 7 - Tollwood area (Song 15 & 16)
"I think the most beautiful thing about Tollwood are the concerts by local musicians. Hans Söllner and Claudia Koreck really rocked," my father recalls. My grandpa nods. He looks a happier again, and the thought of Bavarian music obviously triggers a surge of motivation in him. "We saw 'Biermösl Blosn' once at the Tollwood and Willy Michl. For me, they are simply part of Bavaria's cultural heritage. Just like the Spider Murphy Gang. Mix rock'n'roll with Bavarian dialect, and you get the most brilliant band in Munich." "The great thing about the festival is that it's so sustainable. There should definitely be more festivals like that. It even inspired me to write a sustainable packing list for all my concerts," Stella reflects. "But what Tollwood lacks is a signature look like the Coachella festival in California." She stands in front of the area and takes a selfie with an Instagram filter, decorating her face with glittering stones that are famous for the American music festival. She shows my parents and grandparents a few other filters. One with Kiss bassist Gene Simmons' makeup appearing on her own face and one with David Bowie's iconic lightning bolt. My family completely freaks out. Of course, now everyone wants to take a picture. My dad - how could it be differently - has Stella give him instructions on how to get the white and black paint on his face, my grandparents want a Bowie photo, and I get talked into taking one with my mom and sister. I would never admit it, of course, but the little photoshoot was almost fun... (Feel like taking a souvenir picture? You can find the filters on Instagram by typing "Olympiapark" or "Olympiapark Rocks" in the filter search).
Konzertlocations Olympiapark
Station 8 - Olympic Hill (Song 17 & 18)
This park is full of musical memories for my whole family. I honestly wouldn't have believed that I would find one thing that I have in common with these weirdos on this trip, of course, besides the fact that we are all related.
Grandpa and Dad want to grab a cold beer at the Olympia Alm. So while my parents get drinks and some giant pretzels for everyone, and I lay down with my sister and grandparents on the big lawn in front of the beer garden. While I close my eyes and take a relaxing breath, Stella lies down next to me, puts one of her headphones in my ear, and we listen to Queen's 'Don't stop me now' together.
Olympic Hill
The Olympiaberg is the highest "mountain" in Munich. From there you have on one side a view over the ...
Station 9 - Rock Museum & Olympic Tower (Song 19)
After our very relaxing break, we head back down the hill, and a short time later, we are standing in front of the massive Olympic Tower. The rain clouds from earlier have cleared, so my mom suggests we drive up the tower and visit the Rock Museum. I like the elevator ride. It reminds me of when my grandma took me up once as a kid, and I felt weightless for a second, followed by a bit of uncomfortable pressure on my ears. Once we reache the top, we take a walk around the rock museum. A piece of rock history was really captured here. Among all the signed posters and guitars, a sparkling piano stands out. My sister freaks out when she sees who it's from. "ELTON JOHN!!!" she yells, dragging my parents in front of it. I feel like my dad is on drugs because he reaches out for it like he's hypnotized. My mother reacts in a flash and slaps his hand away. "Just look, don't touch."
Of course, we also go out onto the observation deck. I let my gaze wander over the massive city. "What a beautiful day with you guys," Grandma says. "With all the memories of the concerts I went to with your grandpa, I got to be twenty again. I really saw many bands live, but the most intense I felt were the concerts where I was as young as you two." Stella nestles her shoulder. "I love that we're all such music geeks."
"Every family is, after all, music knows no age. If you ask me the band that really brings all generations together is the Beatles," my grandma says enthusiastically. "They don't have a song called 'Come together' for nothing," I join in and am happy to see my grandma smile.
I walk into my room. Everything is still in place. My clothes cover the dusty floor, while my guitars are well padded on some pants and sweaters. I pick up one of the guitars from the floor and look at it. For a long time. It's a light brown 1960 Gipson Les Paul Standard, given to me by my dad, and he got it from Grandpa. I didn't realize the significance it had for me until now. It makes me smile. It's almost like a reflex that can't be suppressed. I let myself fall on my bed, put the guitar on my belly, and start to play. I sing softly to myself.
Darlin' you got to let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
If you say that you are mine
I'll be here 'til the end of time
So you got to let me know
Should I stay or should I go?
Olympic Tower & Rock Museum
Experience a piece of Munich rock history in the Rock Museum on the Olympic Tower and enjoy the view over the city at a height of 181 meters from the observation deck of the Olympic Tower.Sources
Book:Hauke, H., Eser A. F. (2014): Rock & Pop im Olympiapark München, Münchner Verlag: Munich.
Movie:
Wadleigh, M.: Woodstock - 3 Days of Peace & Music (1970).
Internet sources:
- Schwenger, D. (2005): Coldplay inaugurated Coubertinplatz in Munich on WWW, https://beta.musikwoche.de/details/183092 (accessed: 28.05.2021)
- Moises, J. (2017): Back in the jungle on the WWW, https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/hardrock-zurueck-im-dschungel-1.3537574 (accessed: 30.05.2021)
- Schrimm, E. (2010): What a fuss on the WWW, https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/drei-stars-in-muenchen-was-fuer-ein-theater-1.670908 (accessed: 23.04.2021)
Interviews:
- Hauke, H., telephone interview, Mering, 05.05.2021
- Karpati, S., telephone interview, Mering, 10.05.2021
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Keywords
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The Olympic Tower, also called television tower, was built in the course of the 1972 Olympic Games ...
The Rockmuseum is located directly on the visitor platform of the 181-meter-high Munich Olympic ...
Immortalizations of famous personalities around the Olympic lake
The Olympiaberg is the highest "mountain" in Munich. From there you have on one side a view over the ...
As the second largest venue after the Olympic Stadium, the Olympic Hall today serves to host ...
The Coubertinplatz, named after Pierre de Coubertin, a famous Frenchman, is located between the ...
Built like a classical amphitheatre, the peninsula of the Theatron offers a stage for various events. ...
Tollwood is a Munich cultural and environmental festival that takes place every six months in the ...
At that time one of the most important venues of the Olympic Games. Today a versatile venue for ...
Explore the places where Munich's music history was written. Enjoy the leisurely walk through the Olympiapark, past many different concert ...
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