Tabasco meets Momo - Live 2026

Momo und die grauen Herren

Since their debut album Nu Funk in Town, the thoroughbred musicians of MOMO und die grauen Herren have been unleashing new, handmade and powerful songs on the city time and time again. Cheerful and unique good-mood funk alternates with deep and wide soul ballads. The original compositions draw on a broad spectrum of funk, soul, jazz and hip-hop, but are neither too profane nor too cerebral. The result is a varied mixture of hip-swaying, amazement, head-nodding and dreaming. One thing runs through it like a red thread: It is the pure joy and passion for authentic live music that you can see directly in the "MOMOs" on stage.

What began with crazy gigs in shared flats and canteen parties has been a permanent fixture at festivals and clubs in the region since 2018 at the latest. MOMO and the gray gentlemen have already been able to infect the audience at the Zelt Musik Festival in Freiburg several times with their energy and joy of playing. And now in July 2025 at the popular Pinot and Rock Festival in Breisach. The band previously won the Pinot and Rock Festival talent contest, impressing both the fans in the online voting and the renowned jury of experts from the music and event industry.

The band of up to 9 members has existed for several years with hardly any line-up changes. "die MOMOs" transfer this cohesion directly from the stage to the dance floor and take the audience on a journey through perfectly timed arrangements, wild solos and emotional ballads. At the latest when the MC belts out his lines across the stage, carried by the honest sound of real instruments, even the last ones are carried away and convinced: Funk & Soul is not a relic of the 60s & 70s. It's today and it's authentic, it's bold, it's fresh, it's energy, dance and joy. That's MOMO and the Gray Gentlemen from Freiburg.

Tabasco

In November 1973, the student housing estate on Lake Flückiger wasn't even ready for occupancy, but already a bass was pumping in a tiny basement room, a drum kit was swirling, two saxophones, a guitar and an electric piano were scraping against the fresh walls. A few students - long-haired and bearded - were trying their hand at music that was called progressive in the jargon of the time: rock-jazz. Chicago, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Herbie Hancock and Peter Herbolzheimer were leading the way.

Heavy funk grooves, plenty of freedom for playful soloists, roasty brass sections as a trademark soon made TABASCO well-known and popular in Freiburg. The basement concerts in the "Roter Punkt" on Münsterplatz and in the "Halifax" were legendary. The band was definitely a regional sensation. In 1976, TABASCO won 2nd prize at the state youth jazz competition in Stuttgart. This was followed in the same year by appearances at the International Jazz Festivals in Frankfurt, Basel and Constance, and later as the support band for Jan Garbarek, Pork Pie with Charlie Mariano, Michael Brecker with Peter Erskine, Joe Pass and Supercharge. Such an appreciation was no coincidence; the band never limited itself to simply replaying songs. From the very beginning, original compositions also determined the repertoire and sound of the ambitious musicians.

"A rousing power group and sometimes just a rocking, limping poltergeist on duty" wrote the well-known jazz critic Klaus-Robert Bachmann in the BZ newspaper on the band's tenth anniversary in 1983. Since the 90s, legendary frontman Kai Kienast has shaped the face of the band. For a few years now, he has been accompanied and supported by Silke Wehrle. With her soulful and powerful voice, the repertoire goes back to the roots with songs by Tower of Power, Sting and Amy Winehouse and legendary titles by Otis Redding and Janis Joplin. From tender to hard, from goosebumps to dancing legs. For the anniversary year, all of the 40 musicians who have been part of TABASCO over the years and many line-up changes will be contacted to perform live as guest musicians. These include well-known names such as Mike Schweizer, Ali Haaf, Gio de Gregorio, Werner Englert, Lukas Heidepriem, Claudia Moehrke, Rolf Kilchling, Torsten Neumaier and Daniel Mudrack.

It's hard to believe that TABASCO has been around for 50 years - and we're celebrating!!!