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Category: Shows

  • … return of the Punks (May better beware)!

    … return of the Punks (May better beware)!

    When i covered last years edition of Dance into May i left the plea:

    So a great choice for this little fun thingy, lets beg for it being back in 2026, maybe with Demolition Girls. And a surprise.

    Youth Of Altona met that plea in parts: A surprise kicked off the night indeed but Demolition Girls was not on the menue – Part Time Punks graced the Ballroom.

    Andro Dyson & Untamed Tamers. A mouthful of a name. And then 4 distinct different stage personas, from undressed, strange jackets to dressed for the occasion they presented everything (but not a stage uniform).

    Andro Dyson & Untamed Tamers (Marias Ballroom, Hamburg, 30.04.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    They claim to deliver raw, electrifying twang and reverb attacks paired with primal Mo Tucker-esque beats. Each song is a testament to their influences while fucking up the boundaries of the garage punk genre (from their webpage).

    Indeed they venture broad, specifically the guy on the electrified guitar (with a neat Pissed Jeans T-Shirt) carried the sound from everywhere to almost anywhere – very gifted guitar work!

    How did it sound? Here is one, more on the Power Pop side of things rather than … Garage.

    It’s called 24/7 Sleeper and it’s from one of their tapes:

    I gotta say i was surprised to the max! Often bands pack too much into their songs/sets and fail – here i really got by far the biggest spread of styles mixed in a while and it worked well. They rightfully got plenty of applause at the end.

    Many of me mates where equally surprised, up to and including feeling the urge to spend hard earned cash (for merch in the form of a tape). I’d like to see them again, definitley!

    Part Time Punks next and immediately i was thinking i knew two of them. Only after the show it did strike me that they did play in Mondial (of Bergedorf and Waterkant Hits fame). Long time no see (on stage)!

    Their opening song, September Part 1 (into on Mating Sounds LP from P&TTB, 1983), hinted already at expert choices for covers. The remainder of the set was equally well chosen but, sorry to say, only more or less well done.

    Part Time Punks (Marias Ballroom, Hamburg, 30.04.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    Too many breaks between songs (and too many T-Shirt changes by the drummer) and sometimes to weak singing (as in not having enough volume in the voice) made that excellent choice of old favorites less joyful on the receptive side.

    The Hertha BSC shirt of the drummer though sparked the discussion of a footie theorem with a happy birthday Boy from Stuttgart who happend to be next to me:

    Why is it that the other team in the city is always Blue?

    Once discussing, we got damn sure that we were on the path to find a major…

    … conspiracy theory!

    Union Berlin -> Hertha BSC (Blue!)
    FC St. Pauli -> Hamburger SV (Blue!)
    Bayern München -> 1860 München (Blue!)
    VfB Stuttgart -> Kickers Stuttgart (Blue!)
    Wattenscheid 09 – VfL Bochum (Blue!)
    Celtic Glasgow -> Glasgow Rangers (Blue!)
    Liverpool FC -> Everton FC (Blue!)
    United -> City (Blue!)
    Arsenal -> Chelsea (Blue!)
    AC Milan -> Inter Milan (Blue!)
    AS Rom -> Lazio Rom (Blue!)
    … more?

    With that expert discussion out of the way it was time for the hosts of night … who greeted guests on the front door with their typical enthusiastic smile.

    Youth Of Altona (Punk in den Mai #5, Marias Ballroom, Hamburg, 30.04.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    But it wasn’t all black’n’bleak, the set list had the outlook of something new: A cover of a Wipers cover and a newly rehearsed song (the closing song from Is This Real?)

    Youth Of Altona – Setlist (Marias Ballroom, Hamburg, 30.04.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    This time round they kicked off with Over The Edge:

    Sing-a-long galore plus a start-to-finish air guitarist in front of the stage, enjoying it as much as the lot did. And he continued strumming along for the rest of the set, well done!

    The lights this time round where a bit shitty (if you ask me), the sound – as almost all of the time at the Ballroom – was near perfect.

    Youth Of Altona (Marias Ballroom, Hamburg, 30.04.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    Youth Of Altona pushed forward relentlessly, not much fuzz between songs and almost no hickups. From where i stand the most relevant Wipers redemption nowadays you can think off.

    And, for my personal enjoyment, the Karl Alvarez intro also had its heyday:

    And the cover of a Wipers cover? I guess first time ever they did a song in German, covering Kaltfront. Kaltfronts own version of Better Off Dead (from the first Wipers single in 1978) with fitting German lyrics is just class:

    Youth Of Altona kept going, overcame some mishap on the new rehearsed (and complicated) song and just prior to midnight called it a day, to much cheers of the packed Ballroom.

    Perfect night out south of the mighty river Elbe, allowing me to overcome the sorrow of palliative care for a loved one and to have a glass (and two more) with mates from near and far.

    Just Luke’s offer to have another one at his flat i had to let go, Friday was care day again.

    Will there be a 6th edition? I hope so, it is always a cozy and entertaining show down there for us Northerners (that are still afraid of the last train leaving Harburg Station).

    Bring it on!

  • … a perfect Ramonescore cruise: Manarovs with The Haermorrhoids!

    … a perfect Ramonescore cruise: Manarovs with The Haermorrhoids!

    A near perfect package for a rather calm and almost sunny ride on the mighty river Elbe: All the way from Savannah, Georgia (in the US of A), came the Manarovs and they were aptly paired with their like minded mu-sick-al friends of The Haermorrhoids.

    Ramonescore into the sunset. And thus sold out very quickly.

    The Manarovs already surprised with the setlist: Break only after 7 songs. By the looks some high speed entertainment!

    Manarovs – Setlist (MS Hedi, Hamburg, 08.04.2026)

    They kept the lot waiting a wee bit, jokes were already traded that we are not on the Hedi but on the Line 62, which is the public transport ferry to Finkenwerder.

    But once they took the stage (warning, euphemism when it comes to the MS Hedi) they had steady feet from the start. Two guitars, a bass player with a very strange bass and a drummer that chooses to hold the sticks the wrong way round.

    Manarovs (MS Hedi, Hamburg, 08.04.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    I consciously did not check a performance of them via the internet (damn internet, never forgets!) prior to the show and i only knew few songs that i came across (eg. on Punk Rock Raduno Volume 6) – i wanted to be sedated … errrr surprised.

    The lot got perfect dual vocals singing, great & driving Ramonescore songs and a near perfect sound. Plus: Playing hand-in-glove and making a well rehearsed impression.

    How did it sound? It sounded like this:

    For them it was a first, they have never played on a boat prior (and they have never been to Hamburg i take). They got plenty of positive reception, plenty of cheers and the lot scammed an extra-extra out of them.

    Great set, i’ll be happy to have them again in Hamburg, maybe not in …

    A cruise with a view … on our $$$m Opera House

    … but who knows?

    The Hedi did not return to the landing bridge for the changeover, they had enough beer taken into the storage.

    So with a quick changeover The Haermorrhoids took the stage and simply took the baton … and speeded things up a wee bit.

    They started the year with two support slots for Teenage Bootlerocket, now they run a couple of shows with the Manarovs.

    The Haermorrhoids (MS Hedi, Hamburg, 08.04.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    They kept their set to blocks of 4 songs and played many more songs than the Manarovs – newer ones and old favorites like this one:

    Also their sound was near perfect and even more so than the Manarovs they had the lot moving and partly also singing along. And thus guided the lot into the sunset over the mighty river Elbe.

    I am keen to see them putting together the next album, penning even more hits and getting them recorded. Lets see when that desire gets fulfilled.

    Two great sets, a great ride on the river among friends and a perfect uplift for me (still spending much of my time supporting a love one).

    As ever when a band convinces me live i got to score something, the Manarovs had plenty of merch aboard (as it was the first show of the tour). So i scored both LPs, as i could not finalize a choice.

    You can get both on Moms Basement Records:

    Check it out for yourself:

    Fun moment at the merch: The Manarovs singer/guitar looked at Uli who wanted to check out records and said “I know you from Raduno…” – the Ramonescore world is a small and friendly world indeed.

    Perfect!

  • … fun friday with The Snouters and Wonk Unit!

    … fun friday with The Snouters and Wonk Unit!

    I had a bad week: First off sick, in parallel palliative care for a loved one and some tough work related items. I was basically yearning for a mind change. The promise of Wonk Unit returning to Hamburg and a Friday evening thus was too good to be missed.

    Support was from The Snouters, a name that i had not heard before. One of me mates guessed them towards Dutchistan, when they entered the stage they looked much more southern and quickly revealed that they are from Italy.

    The Snouters (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 27.03.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    They play Ska with some scent of Rock (too many solos by the Guitar) and a good dose of Surf (too few surf reverbs by the Guitar). And have a girl singing.

    In good moments it was energetic, uplifting and inspiring the lot to move, in not so good moments it was a wee bit too much show (but that is a typical stoic northern complaint).

    The Snouters (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 27.03.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    Some folks compared them to The Interrupters but that would a too simplistic match, they where not even half as annoying with their live performance – i did dig them, they where entertaining and emitted joy from the stage.

    And they had a great Ghost Town cover, well done.

    If you like Ska, go and check them out:

    Next Wonk Unit, in a slightly adjusted fashion: Only one guitar and the original drummer back behind the kit. According to Alex the best incarnation in a while.

    The last time they graced Hamburg was in 2023 at the Knust, that one was for me like the best ever Wonk Unit set at our shores.

    Three years on at the Monkeys it was less full than i expected, i take too many other shows on the same night.

    It did not deter Alex, always the entertainer and giving it all, nor the band as they rushed through their quite large set list (that would carry the lot across all of their nine albums from 2009 to 2024).

    Wonk Unit (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 27.03.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    In between they simply left it to the audience to pick and choose and finished off with plenty of sing-a-longs like Je M’appelle Alex:

    Sing-a-long:

    
Do I look Rich? Do I look Rich?
And I would love to indulge your ego
But suddenly, you appear dead to me
And I would love to indulge your ego
But suddenly, you appear dead to me

    That one is an at par (if not even better) ode to the infamous Guest List already referenced by P&TTB. The one that you should never need to or dare to ask to be on!

    And remember that Alex has more good choices and advice ready! BIN HIM!

    Dare to sing-a-long:

    
Bin him before you end up in a bin
In a bin

Oh god he's gonna hit me
Oh god he's gonna hit, gonna hit me

Like fuck are you gonna hit me
Fuck are you gonna hit, gonna hit me

    I guess they played 1,5 hours and had the lot going non-stop. They are just fun to watch when they banter on stage, they are fun to listen to live and they are simply uplifting.

    To that extend the promise by Alex prior to the show was met, my fucked up week was done with with the help of The Snouters, even more help from Wonk Unit and some help of mates (up to and including some pints of Guinness).

    And as ever when a band convinces me live i need to buy something off them, my choice was the neat Black Flag themed Wonk Unit shirt!

    Good evening, though they should have gotten a larger installment of good people in front of the bar & stage.

    From where i sit they can come back on a more regular basis, it is always worthwhile to speak to Alex and listen to Wonk Unit.

    And the best? A quick lift by a mate all the way home.

    Purrfect and fun Friday evening!