Editing Knorkator (section)

{{Short description|German band}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2013}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name                = Knorkator
| image               = Pressefoto knorkator 2011.jpg
| caption             = Stumpen, Buzz Dee, Alf Ator (from left)
| origin              = Berlin, Germany
| genre               = {{hlist|[[Heavy metal music|Heavy metal]]|[[Neue Deutsche Härte]]|[[comedy rock]]}}
| years_active        = 1994–2008, 2011–present
| label               = Tubareckorz, [[Nuclear Blast]]
| website             = {{URL|knorkator.de}}
| current_members     = {{unbulleted list|Gero Ivers|Alexander Thomas|Sebastian Baur|Rajko Gohlke|Philipp Schwab}}
| past_members        = {{unbulleted list|J. Kirk Thiele|Thomas Görsch|Christian Gerlach|Tim Schallenberg|Sebastian Meyer|Nicolaj Gogow}}
}}

'''Knorkator''' is a German band from Berlin that combines [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] with comical elements. They proclaim themselves to be "Germany's {{sic|hide=y|most}} band in the world" ({{langx|de|Deutschlands meiste Band der Welt}}), as the title "The best band in the world" was already taken by [[Die Ärzte]]. The name {{lang|de|Knorkator}} is a personification of {{lang|de|knorke}}, a dated adjective used in Berlin and the [[Ruhr (river)|Ruhr]] basin meaning "great" or "fabulous" (similar to the English slang word "swell"). The band was founded in 1994, but only played in the Berlin/[[Brandenburg]] area until 1998.
[[File:Knorkator Rockharz 2016 18.jpg|thumb|Singer Stumpen at Rockharz Open Air 2016]]
[[File:Knorkator Rockharz Open Air 2014 02.JPG|thumb|Keyboardist Alf Ator at Rockharz 2014]]
[[File:Knorkator Rockharz 2018 14.jpg|thumb|Rajko Gohlke and Buzz Dee at Rockharz Open Air 2018]]

Knorkator gained further fame (and some notoriety) in 2000 with their performance of {{lang|de|Ick wer zun Schwein}} (sic; literally, in Berlin dialect, "I'm turning into a pig") in the German national qualification for the [[Eurovision Song Contest]]. After the qualification show, German tabloid [[Bild]] notoriously headlined "{{lang|de|Wer ließ diese Irren ins Fernsehen?}}" ("Who let these lunatics on TV?").<ref>[http://www.berliner-zeitung.de/die-berliner-band-knorkator--die-beim-vorausscheid-nur-vierte-wurde--drueckt-ihrem-freund-und-konkurrenten-die-daumen-stefan-raab-gewinnt---oder--ick-wer-zun-schwein--16399672 Article in the newspaper "Berliner Zeitung", retrieved: November 21, 2016 (in German)]</ref>

Knorkator announced the end of the band in a MySpace bulletin on 14 June 2008, the last concert was played on 5 December that year in Berlin. The official reason given for the band's breakup was that Alf Ator wanted to leave Germany to start a new life in Thailand. In autumn 2010 a bulletin by Stumpen announced the bands' reunion. A first "small" tour followed in April 2011 as well as some concerts at well-known festivals like [[Wacken Open Air]]. The tour was called the "77 minutes tour", as the setlist was planned to be exactly 77 minutes long. A digital clock that counted down the minutes was placed on stage to make sure the time limit was not exceeded. Their new album {{lang|de|Es werde Nicht}} (translates to "Let there be Not" or "Let Not Be", a pun on {{lang|de|Es werde '''L'''icht}} – "Let there be Light") was in September 2011, followed by a big tour with concerts of regular length.