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Category: Shows

  • … and life goes on, you know, you know it ain’t easy, you know you never go wrong with Gerd!

    … and life goes on, you know, you know it ain’t easy, you know you never go wrong with Gerd!

    It’s been almost a month without live mu-sick and the urge definitely started to create itching. Thanks to the fine folks of Punk Rock Hamburg though i knew that i could not go wrong with my next experience: Gerd.

    They have graced the old clubhouse (which was my home as a football player for many many years) and now will also have the new clubhouse under their belt.

    It sure does have less rustic charm and it ain’t a go-to place per se. And it struggled to the point that my club had to shut it down. Thanks to a volunteer collective it has now been revived and gets a bit more life, including showcases.

    And frank, who else than the stadium superstars of Gerd, with songs bringing that missing rustic charm, would be a fit to help reviving a professionals football clubs clubhouse, located in a stadium?

    A whopping 33 songs awaited the lot, which by the normal set of Gerd was like a “best off”.

    Gerd – Setlist (FCSP Clubheim, Hamburg, 26.09.20126 (c) gehkacken.de)

    Gerd kicked off at 20:00 and finished it at 21:45, so a perfect football set. But again, they are stadium hardened stars, i would not expect less.

    From the opener they had the lot glued in front of the stage and starting to sing along, an easy task as Gerd only ever play hit on hit.

    Gerd (FCSP Clubheim, Hamburg, 26.09.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    Not sure if it was the cozy surrounding, the “all friends present” setting or simply a perfect Saturday – Gerd had a lot to say, a lot of banter to give and plenty of jokes to trade.

    Gerd (FCSP Clubheim, Hamburg, 26.09.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    Some have them down as an unstoppable party machine, i’d say they are just a perfect bunch of good people that enjoy these hits and like to share them out, up-tempo and in style. Make people dance. Make people sing-a-long.

    Gerd (FCSP Clubheim, Hamburg, 26.09.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    Luckily their ambition is way beyond perfect, so the set included false starts, wrong choruses and reprises and one and the other off chord.

    Did the lot care? Fuck not, the lot rather went into action!

    The sound was ok, albeit sure not the stadium volume (and bass push) they normally have – it was low key and just a tiny sound system. Sound anyway does not matter too much if both band and audience put all their heart, all their energy in.

    Gerd (FCSP Clubheim, Hamburg, 26.09.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    At the end Gerd pushed it over the final whistle with a classic sing-a-long that everybody knows who got his first rock mu-sick experience in the 70s. From where i sit anyway one of the best songs they ever penned (and sold to that largely unknown troupe in the UK called The Sweetshop):

    Sing-a-long:

    Fox on the run
    You scream and everybody comes a-running
    Take a run and hide yourself away
    Foxy on the run
    F-foxy
    Fox on the run
    And hide away

    Boy, what a great finish for a great set. And running over the finishing line they also had a maximum amount of folks dancing along. Puuurfect. Uplifting. Making me happy as a fuck (and, with a little push from a mate, i had too much booze and too much beer).

    On top i was once again lucky to capture the essence of the show in a single picture, give it a click! for a high-res version.

    Really big thanks to the Clubheim Kollektive and the Punk Rock Hamburg crew to make this happen, much appreciated. I stayed on until the doors came crashing down, listening to the fine DJ’ing of Dirk and chatting/drinking along with friends.

    When i came home, slightly loaded, the love of me life smiled at me and said “you seem to have had a great evening” and followed suit by “who can drink can get up early on Sunday for gardening work“.

    And yes, 247 early-blooming bulbs found the way into the soil. And then i took another rest, smiling and humming along to Gerd greatest hits.

  • … guitar galore: the raw garage sounds of Kassel and Tokyo!

    … guitar galore: the raw garage sounds of Kassel and Tokyo!

    … a variant of the headline could have been DIY galore: Both bands are DIY, Sound Of Subterrania is DIY and the whole setup this evening was DIY (with Gregor from Sound Of Subterrania doing tour, doors, merch and sound).

    Smokin’ Taters from sunny Kassel kicked off, a duo with just Vocals, Guitar and Drums. For my ears very American trash beat garage with a strong (and dominant) Guitar.

    Smokin’ Taters (Komet, Hamburg, 22.08.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    I liked them most when the guitar went a bit free wheeling and loose, paired with the vocals wandering about (again in a very American bluesy way as far as my mu-sick-al receptors work).

    Go and check them out for yourself:

    In a nutshell though the guitar sounded too much the same (a problem that slightly less dominant was true for Smallspeaker later too) and that somewhat made it a wee bit less enjoyable. They also had one instrumental and there the guitar excelled and carried the sound, so maybe it was just me again.

    Smallspeaker, all the way from Tokyo, needed a bit of encouragement by Gregor to get going (and onto the stage) and made an almost shy impression. But boy, once the Guitar started blaring and Bass & Drums provided the push, it turned much more offensive.

    Smallspeaker actually tie back to the Registrators, a Japanese band that i actually have 4 records of in my collection (and that is the highest scoring count from that country).

    I never did dig into 日本 deep but know from friends, who even traveled there, that it is home to a small and active scene, with clubs & shows being even more “small” then the cellar of the Komet.

    Smallspeaker (Komet, Hamburg, 22.08.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    Smallspeaker had definitely more umpf than Smokin’ Taters, sure largely by the addition of the Bass. But also sound wise they ventured much wider – slower stuff, fast banger and even pure raw Punk songs.

    They played the setlist and then where forced to play 3 to 4 more songs, with a reluctant smile they actually gave in on that urge from the rather small crowd.

    Smallspeaker – Setlist (Komet, Hamburg, 22.08.2026 (c) gehkacken.de)

    I liked it, a great raw set. But did i like it enough to score the LP? I got to admit … not yet. I will give it a bit of time and listening online to make that call.

    If you want to score it, hop over to our trusted local dealer Sounds Of Subterrania:

    Smallspeaker – This Record Kills All Trend Scums
    (Sounds Of Subterrania SOS 258, 2026)

    On the bonus side the words put against that record are just to the point:

    Punk isn’t seen as a mere extension of rock or a supposedly political playground for more or less well-intentioned ideologies, but rather as a nihilistic social corrective. This approach catapults Smallspeaker to the forefathers and thus the beginnings of every relevant youth culture that rebelled and questioned the system in its entirety.

    And that’s exactly how their music sounds. Raw, snotty, pissed off, it creaks and groans, practically screaming at you: Fuck off if you can’t handle this!

    Smallspeaker are to today’s punk what the Monks were to the beat of the 60s. They are both a disruptive force and a catalyst. Their temple is the garage, which they immediately demolish again in the spirit of the old “Killed by Death” tradition.

    If someone were to ask me what’s left of 50 years of punk, I would answer: Smallspeaker, the rest is a museum.

    On that account i agree, Smallspeaker live was just not museum. It was very real. And would have warranted a bigger turnout!

  • … just another (electronic) Rock’n’Roll Freitag!

    … just another (electronic) Rock’n’Roll Freitag!

    My workweek was a tad bit annoying, loads of little items to take care of and plenty of derailing of my own priorities by others, leading to a Friday where i felt like it wasn’t fun. As such i took the next best thingy to get my head clear and that would be getting blasted by mu-sick.

    Luckily my favorite haunt down at the harbor was having just another Rock’n’Roll Friday full of bands & mu-sick off the beaten track and unknown to me. But the outlook of Synth Punk, Nintendo Core and Nature Hardcore was just too tempting to resist!

    On the subway down to the City i was thinking “who the heck would go and see these bands” and thought of a small turnout. Boy, i was wrong. From my normal circuit there was only Thomas (but he is anyway having a season ticket like myself) and rest was young folks, most of them with eager dancing feet.

    Katzenschlacht from sunny Münster (location of the Anabaptist rebellion, self-proclaimed bicycle capital and supposedly a Großstadt) kicked off, a guy and a girl behind plenty of synth equipment.

    Plus holding on to Guitar and Bass.

    Katzenschlacht (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 14.08.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    Their sound triggered early 80s memories and ventured between kids harmonies, yelled vocals and quite interesting soundscapes. And the songs itself where brief.

    In short they offered a refreshing take on something i had not heard ever since visiting some of the ZickZack evenings at the Markthalle in early 80s. Think Geniale Dilletanten.

    I suggest you check them out for yourself, they had the front row already dancing and got plenty of applause for their completely honest and innocent set. Quite a surprise for the start.

    Next Kostenfalle from Hamburg, another Duo. Two guys, Bass and Synthie, Sequencer and other electronics, albeit not that much as with Katzenschlacht.

    Kostenfalle (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 14.08.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    Their sound turned out as extremely danceable with the Bass providing a low fuzz drive and then plenty of electronic beats. Again it took me back to the early 80s and the Markthalle – if there would have been drums involved it could have been 03.06.1981.

    They had more than the front row frantically dancing and got most likely the biggest share of applause. Also for me they worked well, both in terms of drive and using the electronics to create soundscapes.

    I’d recommend you check them out, their live performance though to me feels way better than the recorded & released output (no clue why, maybe again my stupid mu-sick-all receptors in me brain).

    Where both Katzenschlacht and Kostenfalle rooted in electronic music, Raubwürger (Great Grey Shrike) took it into Hardcore (sans Bass).

    And a simple theme: Nature. And their mantra is simple:

    Three eccentric characters from Scharhörn are championing nature with brutal environmental hardcore. Ornithology is not a hobby (but a mindset!), a way of breathing, living, fighting. For nature, for freedom, for truth, and for birds!

    Raubwürger (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 14.08.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    They unfortunately had to face a slightly more empty upstairs at the Hafenklang, i guess that was because their sound somewhat did not fit the other two bands exactly.

    For me it all made sense, up to and including taking binoculars along when having a walk in nature (too see all the birds close up and in their beauty).

    Bang! Heavy stuff and sure thing, due to the virtue of a hard hitting drummer, fast forward. They are more than worth checking out, go and see them!

    The cover for their download only LP is just class and worth a showcase:

    And remember, the great grey shrike is a large and predatory songbird!

    I achieved what i wanted: Got out, got my ears blasted with something new and had fun all along the way. And got to learn where all the young folks hide and that their approach to Punk, Hardcore and alike seems much more open & wide than the oldpunk circuit.

    But, as my favorite booker ensured me, we old farts generate much more bar turnover.

    Prost!