The Berlin punk rock band “Die Ärzte” is taking a break – and is not yet revealing anything about their plans for the future. “We have played for three years in a row, made three records and now we need to take a breather,” said drummer Bela B (61) in the ARD podcast series “Diese eine Liebe”.
Last weekend, the fun punk trio rocked three times in a row on the Tempelhofer Feld, the site of the former airport. “Die Ärzte” sang for three hours each in front of a total of around 150,000 fans – and clearly had a lot of fun on stage.
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Guitarist Farin Urlaub (60) told radioeins presenter Marco Seiffert in the podcast: “There are actually no plans beyond Tempelhof because I want to travel extensively next year – ecologically, by the way. By bike and on foot. I have such awesome trips planned. The next seven months are completely planned.”
“Die Ärzte”: Only solo?
When asked whether the band, founded 42 years ago, will continue to exist, the musicians responded very cautiously: Bassist Rodrigo Gonzalez (56) said: “I’m definitely not going to tell you that!” Farin Urlaub said in an interview for the podcast before the start of the three Berlin performances: “We’ll see how the concerts are. And if we still like each other afterwards, the band will probably continue to exist.” He added: “I don’t know whether we’ll do anything else. But at least we’ll exist.” All three musicians have had solo projects for a long time.
Not the first break for the doctors
At the beginning of 2019, the self-proclaimed “Best Band in the World” had fueled weeks of rumors of a breakup with a tricky letter puzzle on their website, after not having toured Germany for six years.
“Die Ärzte” were officially founded in West Berlin in 1982 during the “New German Wave”. The band split up again in 1988. Then in 1993 they made a comeback – with a slightly different line-up. Bassist Gonzalez has been with the band ever since. The concerts are usually sold out quickly.