Krokodil Tour Dates and Upcoming Concerts

There's more than one band called "Krokodil": a Swiss Krautrock group from the 70s and a Swedish jazz duo. The first group consists of three musicians, two of them from Zurich, Switzerland and an Englishman - Krokodil were an early 70's Swiss-Krautrock group who mixed blues based jam music with psychedelic Indian sitar and tablas. Drummer Dude Durst had been in the popular Swiss 60's beat band Les Sauterelles. Guitarist Walty Anselmo had been playing in rock groups for several years and he and Durst found English bassist Terry Stevens and started the band at the height of late 60's "Flower Power". They originally were fronted by pop singer Hardy Hepp who had a more mellow folk/blues side as displayed on the debut LP 'Krokodil'(1969) and the heavier more psych-based 'Swamp'(1970). Hepp departed and singer/harmonica player Mojo Weideli joined. The band really began to take off after they released the great 'An Invisible World Revealed' in 1971. Engineered by Dieter Dierks(later of Scorpions fame), the band had by now created a unique sound and began to make a name for itself on tour throughout Europe. Often unfairly lumped in with the "Krautrock" genre, Krokodil set themselves apart from their German counterparts with a mixture of blues heavy rock, "prog-psychedelic", and ethnic styles. This being in common with other Swiss bands of the time(Brainticket, The Shiver, Ertlif, et al.). Their record label(UA)marketed them more to the Krautrock genre, and they grew restless, eventually switching to a smaller label. 'Getting Up For the Morning'(1972) followed as an attempt to make the songs more conventional and pop-oriented. By the time of the fourth release, the bluesier '73 double LP 'Sweat and Swim', their style of music began to fade and the band folded around 1977. They still remain one of the better bands from the Swiss-Krautrock scene in the 70s. In 2005, a collection of unreleased demos and live material from 1970-72 called "The Psychedelic Tapes" was released on the German label Second Battle. Today, drummer Dude Durst is a commercial artist and he still produces other Swiss musicians such as Hardy Hepp, Andreas Vollenweider, and Dodo Hug. Another group, using the name "Krokodil", is a Swedish jazz-duo, involving guitarist Klas Gullbrand and bassplayer Palle Sollinger. More information on the latter band can be found from www.myspace.com/krokodilband