German Youngsters Invade France

French promoter Salomon Hazot says he’s never seen anything like it and Le Monde has spent a double-page feature trying to explain the phenomenal French success of German pop rock act Tokio Hotel.

"Why Tokio Hotel?" read the headline as the country’s major newspaper tried to explain how the act has managed to hold what seems like an entire generation in its grip.

The glamorous four-piece from Magdeburg, which has sold more than 3 million records at home, has caused early-teens to have such an interest in Germany and all things German that it’s causing a minor crisis in the French education system.

"So many children now want to learn German as their second language that there aren’t enough qualified German teachers to go round," Hazot explained.

The Paris-based promoter believes the band could sell out a stadium in as many French cities and towns that have one. The mayors of Nantes, Lille and Strasbourg have all let Hazot know they’d be pleased to welcome the act to their patches.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy requested Tokio Hotel to be among the acts to appear at this year’s Bastille Day, which resulted in it playing to 500,000 people at the July 14 show at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

Alex Richter of Four Artists, Tokio Hotel’s German-based management company, doesn’t have an explanation for what France’s leading newspaper referred to as "this social phenomenon."

"It’s unbelievable and I have no idea what it is, but I hope it continues in Spain, Portugal and the rest of Europe," said Richter, whose Berlin- and Stuttgart-based company reps more than three dozen German acts including Die Fantastichen Vier, Seeed and Nena.

The band’s next tour will include Spanish and Portuguese shows promoted by Planet Events and Everything Is New respectively, but the early indications in other territories suggest Tokio Hotel is quickly becoming a pan-European "social phenomenon."

For Hazot it’s also a ticket-selling phenomenon that tops anything he’s ever seen from major international rock acts to such huge French megastars as Johnny Halliday.

"When the last tour was advertised it took 3 million hits on ticket Web sites within days and it seems as if every French child of around 12 or 13 years of age wants to see Tokio Hotel," he explained.

"Each child will come to the show with a friend and there will also be at least one parent. In smaller places the act could still play a stadium-sized venue because I think the whole town would turn out."