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Category: Shows

  • … down south, over the river: Away day into May!

    … down south, over the river: Away day into May!

    “Dance into May” is an old German tradition dating back to pagan days. It tends to happen in small villages in the countryside and involves too much drinks and fist fights of drunken man at any age. Not my type of fun.

    But down south, right across the mighty river Elbe, Marias Ballroom was throwing a “Punk into May” showcase that included the reformed Youth Of Altona and that would lack dancing around a Maypole luckily. A quick train ride south and a short walk got us there, a first for me. Face value a small local pub in an old house named “Bei Maria” that has a secret hidden in the back: A Ballroom, capacity i guess 100 folks, with a professional stage, a professional sound and lightning system. Wow.

    This was the 3rd Edition of “Punk into May” and local custom seems to be that The Barrytown Wheelies kick off the proceedings. Old punks of i guess my age covering older and newer songs.

    The Barrytown Wheelies (Marias Ballroom, Harburg, 30.04.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    Their covers ranged actually wide, from Saints to Ramones but also some lesser known stuff thrown in. And a surprise Descendents cover. On all songs they applied their own twist, hard to guess if knowingly or because they just did not get around to get a 1:1 cover done. On few songs that worked for me, on most it did not.

    Biggest minus: They did not manage to finish a single song as a team, on a precise stroke. The locals gave them some applause, for me it was falling short of expectation.

    Next inPUNKto and quite a drop in years and a change in style. Young lads, upright political stance and fast forward Deutsch Punk.

    inPUNKto (Marias Ballroom, Harburg, 30.04.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    Whilst they had some seconds of nicely bashed out songs structures, largely when the bass was frenetically strumming it down, they where way off my personal liking. It may also have been because they triggered off some cliches in my single-minded grumpy old head.

    Go and check them out for yourself, i am almost sure i will let them go should i face them on stage again. One of me mates even went all alone outside of Marias because he could not bare them …

    And that gave way to Youth Of Altona: Janny assembled a new crew to emit his love for the Wipers from the stage … here is how they kicked off:

    And the new faces are familiar faces: Christiane of Gerd fame on Bass, Lorenz of Blanker Hohn fame on drums … but he will only be able to join live for the support slot for D.I. at the Hafenklang. So for this show Timo from Bond Girl jumped in.

    And this what they took on to deliver:

    Youth Of Altona – Setlist (Marias Ballroom, Harburg, 30.04.2023 (c) gehkacken.de)

    It looked much more like a band (eg. following rule #1 of orchestrated stage attire), it sounded more like a band and – self chosen bonus – the songs are all great stuff (thanks to Greg Sage).

    Youth Of Altona (Marias Ballroom, Harburg, 30.04.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    Although this was only the 2nd show in this new line up you could already sense how much the solid rhythm section will support Janny. They allow him the freedom to wander off, improvise and making the songs – here Alien Boy – even more worthwhile.

    Sure there where parts not really glued together and song parts not yet rehearsed to perfection but where the covers of them Barrytown Wheelies where somehow off Youth Of Altona delivered them spot on.

    Youth Of Altona (Marias Ballroom, Harburg, 30.04.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    They got a fair share of applause, plenty of smiles and on hits like Over The Edge they even got loads of sing-a-long:

    What was also apparent was that stage, light and sound in that tiny Ballroom where near perfect, looking at the equipment to me i looked like someone simply fulfilled his life long dream to have a cozy small place for live mu-sick.

    Youth Of Altona (Marias Ballroom, Harburg, 30.04.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    At the end they were forced to play some extras, tongue-in-check Janny proposed to just play songs from the start again, as they lacked some precision initially (at least according to him). So here is Return Of The Rats again:

    For me a perfect set and a neat rescue of the mu-sick-al side of the evening. And as ever when a band convinces me live i did buy some merch, the love of me life now sports a nice black Youth Of Altona T-Shirt – very fitting as a) she is younger than me and b) we live in Altona (Altona-Altstadt to be precise).

    Nice place, nice chats with friends from north and south of the river and a quick train ride home with perfect companionship, so all in all still a good night out – remember #thereaintnuthinbetterthanlivemusic!

  • … rainy Mondays can still be fun: Pkew x3 minus 1!

    … rainy Mondays can still be fun: Pkew x3 minus 1!

    Monday evening upstairs at the Hafenklang is a fixture for Punk Rock, Table Tennis with a DJ – on this rainy evening it was Pkew Pkew Pkew (or Pkew x3 in short) from Toronto with The Muttnicks as surprising local support.

    When i arrived rather early The Muttnicks where already on stage and about to kick into their short (20 min i guess) set. I never came across them prior, so a neat surprise. They play a very american style, somewhere between Pop Punk and eg. Bad Religion style of Hardcore.

    For me the guitar is their main asset, next to be actually being very tight together. The singer is a bit of a a bad joke man, i had “oh yeah, loudmouth” more than once in my head.

    The Muttnicks (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 24.04.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    What they do they do very good, not 100% up my mu-sick-al alley but as noted, very tight. Check them out for yourself, within that they even have a veritable banger (that also came across live absolutely great):

    With excellent lyrics to sing-a-long:

    you gotta man up, be tough, don't you fucking cry
I cry in public if it bothers you just get in line

you fruity faggot, you queer, you look fucking gay
your words might hurt me now but I won't change anything

my decision, it's my decision
you want a piece of me
you won't make my decision for me
my decision, it's my decision
you want a piece of me
you can't make my decision for me

you gotta get in line, shut up and never flinch
I demand everything for everyone, I won't shut up

you know the way you act you'll pay a fucking price
I don't care what it costs, I maintain against the grain

my decision, it's my decision
you want a piece of me
you won't make my decision for me
my decision, it's my decision
you want a piece of me
you can't make my decision for me

    If they come across again i will definitely have another look at them.

    Next Pkew Pkew Pkew, this time round as “Pkew x3 minus 1”. My mate with me that night had seen them as a 4 piece at the Booze Cruise Festival and was full of praise for them: Energy, drive, humor and all of that paired with enjoyable songs and multi-vocal singing.

    How did it sound as a 3 piece? Like this:

    Where The Muttnicks where tight, Pkew where actually hand-in-glove. Their sound is full of breaks, speed variations and a zillion other tricks paired with multi-vocal singing and … harmonies. Plenty of harmonies.

    Pkew Pkew Pkew (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 24.04.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    Looking up some of their stuff i make a wild claim that they sing about Pizza, Beer and Skateboarding but that may just me too short sighted. They also have some wider themes, even down to outright poetry in the song title: “Let The Bridges We Burn Light The Way“.

    They played for like 45 Minutes and then prepared for table tennis with this encore:

    Nice one, making that Monday fixture yet again of value. And frank, me mate was not wrong, i can see how they can give a Pizza and Beer loaded Booze Cruise audience a great moment!

  • … Spitfire Stevens & Nasser Hund: All local, all in!

    … Spitfire Stevens & Nasser Hund: All local, all in!

    This was to happen ages ago at the Molotow but was pulled during the end of Covid due to lack of advanced tickets sold if i am not mistaken. So both bands took it down the Große Freiheit to the Indra where they double headlined a “local for the locals” show.

    First on Spitfire Stevens with their unique Spit Punk. I somehow sensed they where somewhat nervous and frank the first couple of songs where not fully on the mark. Here is one example, Here And Back Again from their 2017 10″ (still the coolest format around):

    The more they played, the more self assured they got – also because they got their share of support from the audience (that was anyway 100% local friends). Still, at some times i had the feeling that especially the drummer drifted away (either into his own world or into sleep).

    Spitfire Stevens (Indra, Hamburg, 31.03.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    Towards the 2nd half of the set they where in full swing, only the sound and light was not fully optimal (light actually was not ok at all but as far as i understood nobody was really looking after it anyway).

    They also inserted something untypical that was meant as a nod to Sonny Vincent – much appreciated actually:

    Whilst Spitfire Stevens are sure not the most customer (consumer?) engaging entity and their sound is also not too much ear pleasing for the average Tom, Dick or Harry i stay by the fact that they have something. On this occasion though it did not shine through all the time, but i was more than happy to see Luke and his comrades again on stage.

    With a quick changeover Nasser Hund took the stage and Arne strummed them with his signature bass sound into Alle Erbsen Sind Gezählt:

    Is your view blurry? Get new glasses… Not. My bad, i somehow de-focused that song.

    From the start their songs where more upbeat and had more speed than Spitfire Stevens. And where Spitfire Stevens cover a wide spectrum, Nasser Hund nail it down as perfect Power Pop with a deep grounding in Punk Rock.

    Plus: Almost all of their songs feature great storytelling and all of their lyrics are worth to listen into.

    Nasser Hund (Indra, Hamburg, 31.03.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    In addition all three are near perfect musicians on their instruments, allowing them to also throw in random differences (licks, breaks, chords – you name it) that give the songs so much more life on stage.

    Here a perfect live version of Sie Lächeln Nur Auf Fotos:

    Throughout the set they even enlisted the big voice of Barbro (Demolition Girls) to give two songs some extra Chorus-umpf, not sure if it was rehearsed or an on the spot idea. But it gave the whole presentation some additional and welcome strength – maybe an idea that can be extend further?

    They got loads of applause and had many smiling faces in front of the stage, though further back the Indra felt a wee bit empty.

    But good to see that local bands still get locals out and that it does not always have to be a support slot. Around midnight it was over and thus time for gentle stroll home, as #nineinarow was waiting around noon on Saturday.

    Great entertainment surrounded by friends. Perfect setting and another show where i stayed away from booze – works!