Hubert von Goisern is an Austrian musician, giving traditional folk music a harder, rockier edge.

It goes under the genre of Alpenrock – Alpine Rock.

Excellent live band, but nothing quite as memorable as the Mainz concert in 2008.

The tour started in Linz, his home town, and followed the Danube, Main and Rhine rivers to Amsterdam, picking up and dropping off musicians along the way.

On a barge which – at the same time – was the stage.

Backstory: Hubert von Goisern had been dragging a chest infection around with him for weeks and in Offenbach, it turned into full-blown pneumonia.

Hospital, 2 weeks enforced time-out.

One of the musicians they’d picked up along the track was Xavier Naidoo, a German Soul and R&B singer/songwriter and record producer.

He jumped in at the Offenbach concert to take the strain off Hubert von Goisern’s voice and did the same in Mainz.

Except that he had to learn the entire Goisern set.

And the band had to learn his music.

Within a day.

The film’s in German (no subtitles, more’s the pity…), the musicians talk about the risk of performing without a safety net but if you jump to 5:00, you’ll see musicians who are working waaaay outside their comfort zone and nailing it.

Still gives me (and a bunch of other folk)  goosebumps…

Heast as nit
wia die Zeit vergeht
Huidiei jodleiri Huidiridi

Gestern nu’
ham d’leut ganz anders g’redt
Huidiei jodleiri Huidiridi

Die Jungen san oid wordn
und dia oid’n san g’storbn
Duliei Jodleiridldudieiouri

Und Gestern is’ heit wordn
und heit is’ boid morgn
Huidiei jodleiri Huidiridi

Heast as nit
Heast as nit
Huidieridiri
Hollareiridiridldoueio hallouri

Heast as nit, wia die Zeit vergeht
Heast as nit, wia die Zeit vergeht….

Can’t you hear it
how the time flies?

Yesterday
people spoke differently

The young have grown old
and the old ones have gone

And yesterday has become today
and today will soon be tomorrow

Can’t you hear it?
Can’t you hear it?

Can’t you hear it, how the time flies?
Can’t you hear it, how the time flies?