Fitting live mu-sick into me weekend plans normally is a piece of cake – a “just do it”. But there is one time in the year where this needs to be carefully balanced with another obsession that me love and myself have: Watching stars. And watching meteors. And meteor showers.
Say hello to comet Swift–Tuttle and his tails of debris and to the fact that the earth rotation around the sun crosses that tail on a very predictable course. So every August, around the 12th, there is this thing called “Perseids” and it will enable you (best with no moon and sure on a cloudless sky without light pollution) to see a lot of shooting stars.
And sure thing the best night to see them was Saturday, so all my hopes where on an early start of the show, so that i could bugger off quickly, hop into the car and drive away from the light doom that the city created.
To my dismay I found the planning of the Hafenklang and the bands to create some friction with my plans, both Küken and Gorilla Angreb where to take stage way later than planned. What also hampered the show was the fact that an early show by Swedens Baboon Show around the corner and in an open air setting was moved to later and further away at the Knust, so some people who would have enjoyed both shows in sequence would not make it.
Kick off was with Hamburgs own Küken and towards a rather empty space in front of the stage. So their blast of 16 songs in 26 minutes went largely into a void, though they got one of the Gorilla Angreb guys dancing. And the blast sounded like this:
Whatever you like in mu-sick you got to accept that they have found and perfected their little niche and that they have become rock solid. No frills, no cheap bargaining with the audience just blasting through the set with almost no breaks. I would think they somehow even underscore the Ramones as in their early days and that sure thing is a bonus, on all fronts.
And with Küken being done, i had to make a call towards stars rather than Gorilla Angreb. And luck we had, after some drive towards the north and some waiting for clouds to clear off we had a grand view and saw quite some meteors.
Moon 12.08.2017 ( (c) gehkacken.de 2017)
That moon though was quite bright, so whilst you could see a lot of stars it took away the option to see the Milky Way … but hey, that is complaining on a very high level.
Great to see Küken, sad to had to let go Gorilla Angreb and more than happy to have seen the Perseid (despite me love not being able to capture them on Photo but that is an art we still need to fully understand and learn).
Did i take the right (hard) choice? Yes, out with me love seeking stars!
Ever since my beloved football team resides in the 2nd League it has been a common fixture to see a Friday home game that kicks off at 18:30 followed by a show in one of my favourite clubs nearby starting somewhere after 21:00 – so a nice entry into a weekend with some great footie and some lovely mu-sick.
This Monday evening it was all upside down: The Haermorrhoids and Chixdiggit (a professional rock band from Calgary) where set to grace the MS Hedi (a tiny vessel orbiting the Hamburg Harbour) and Dynamo Dresden was set to face the mighty FCSP at the Millerntor in what was the first home game of the new season.
The MS Hedi would set sail at 19:00 and kick-off for the televised Monday Night Top Game was to be 20:30 and thus throwing me and some mates into difficulties. We decided to keep the route, though reversed and in consequence accepted a run from the riverside through St. Pauli to the stadium, knowing we would only make it to half time.
Support on the MS Hedi was by hometown heroes The Haermorrhoids who, by today logic, sport a rather old fashioned pop punk in US style. Currently they seem the play every slot they can go onto and playing so often has created a tight set. And indeed a tight set was delivered on the slippery planks of the MS Hedi.
The Haermorrhoids (MS Hedi, Hamburg, 07.08.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
They have their own songs, they have some clever (Dicks – Hate the Wasserschutzpolizei) and some less clever covers (Ramones – Havana Affair) but most of all they have drive, they have chorus and they have presence:
Much to my surprise I did dig them, either must have been the sunny surrounding or simply the fact that they were indeed solid. I guess I’ll soon have another chance to grab them and then will see if it also works in a dodgy, filthy and dark club.
With some short re-dock of the MS Hedi and some swap of equipment the party set sail for another journey and this time it was for Chixdiggit to accustom themselves to the non-existing stage, the ever moving floor and the fact that you just can’t swing around with your guitar neck out as you would hurt someone.
Without further ado KJ and his ever changing backing band took the floor, did little adjustments of the volume levels of the amps and questioned the audience if all sound great. It did and thus the show went ahead. And from the start it was “fun fun fun” and loads of smiles.
And as always KJ was the ever friendly and talkative frontman that kept the audience engaged and in sync. And because of the setting on the vessel he gave the song selection to the audience, seeking input and consent on what to play next.
Fun moment was when KJ got slightly distracted and his eyes went really big: Two huge Navy vessels came into very very close view (literally the tiny MS Hedi came to deliver a broadside of Mu-sick) and for a second KJ lost his plot. But then he was quick-witted to change the words of the song on the fly and put these nasty gray monsters into the flow.
Chixdiggit vs. Navy (MS Hedi, Hamburg, 07.08.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
And as this seemed to be a lucky day I was able to get my very personal favourite song done by simply throwing it in at the right point in time. So here is the ode to the famous Boston Bruins goalie, not played on ice but on the jucy waters of the river Elbe. Nevertheless, it’s a timeless beauty and one of the most perfect odes to a sports hero.
And they kept playing, KJ kept informing fans (many came from abroad for this very special charter cruise) about the things to see riverside (like our fucking expensive Opera House) and they just could not stop playing. Even as the captain turned the MS Hedi back to the landing bridge they blasted another one only to try to do a final song when the vessel was already moored (something that technically wasn’t allowed).
Great show, loads of fun and with a perfect sunset. Me mate Frosch got all exited that he wanted a memory but he spoiled it by telling KJ that he has a ticket for footie and no spare for Chixdiggit (who were interested too). Bad move mate, bad move!
And then we had to hurry, already knowing that we missed two goals (unfortunately it was 1:1 rather than a joyful 2:0). I arrived on my seat just when the half time whistle was blown.
Me love and me friends reported “soso” for the first half and noted that we gave away a rather easy goal. Starting into he 2nd half FCSP got the better of it and was able to turn the almost perfect tactical set visualised below into quick attacks, scoring another goal by Buchtmann and almost scoring a 3rd one (offside by inches).
Millerntor (07.08.2017 21:44 (c) gehkacken.de)
But then again a tiny miss in the defense gave away another goal and then Dresden did shut down and the mighty FCSP never got back into danger territory.
And just seeing one half was strange, so i never really got into it in the same way i usually do. Still, unbeaten and looking up rather than down – that’s a good start into the season and valued by the fans.
Millerntor (07.08.2017 22:28 (c) gehkacken.de)
And as the evening started with singing it also closed with the crowd singing for the team.
And fun thing: All goals for FCSP this season scored so far by Buchtmann! Every “Team of the week” of the German footie paper Kicker included … Buchtmann! Great to see him excel this season!
Forza FCSP! And thanks Chixdiggit for ensuring my upsidedown Monday evening did work out.
It’s been a while since Face To Face made it to Hamburg (i think it dates back to August 2013) thus this club show was sure a must. And it turned out to be a must on a miserable rainy Tuesday and that grim setting normally would lead to low turnout. But old and new fans of Face To Face had been loyal and they packed the Monkeys: A great turnout for a damned Tuesday.
Support stint went to the Spoilers from Cunt … er Canterbury and with them the US (and CA) branch of UK Punk graced the stage of the Monkeys, something that did not happen that lot prior. 4 young lads and fast paced sound (with a wee bit too loud drumming if i may say).
Spoilers (Monkeys Music Club, Hamburg, 25.07.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
They had fun, disliked Berlin (extra round of applause from some in audience) and told us of the mystery of the Canterbury Ring Road (something that happens to exist by the virtue of the Canterbury City Walls which date back to the Romans if i am not mistaken). I did not get the argument about round-a-bouts but they had a neat song on them Kreisverkehre!
They got quite some feedback from the audience and their fair share of applause. With a little tale about the band (toss that birthday cake mate and play on!), how nice Face To Face are (actually we knew that mate) they stormed into their final song … and that goes like this:
That was not bad and a wee bit of a surprise, i think i’d like to see them again and headlining. Well done lads!
With little changeover but some waiting time Face To Face came on and kicked off like this:
Wops, that’s another one for my little series of “band comes on stage and somethin’ goes wrong“: The rest of the band could hardly stop laughing upon Trevor Keith picking up his guitar and storming into the song just to realise there ain’t no sound. And missing that he just did not plug in. Luv it, even professional musician sometimes are so relaxed that they miss the obvious step.
Face To Face (Monkeys Music Club, Hamburg, 25.07.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
From the first chords and the first “whooohoo” refrain it was Face To Face and it was Face To Face with full energy and loads of fun. And that fun was transported from the stage down to the packed floor, which had a surprising large number of rather young (from my pensioner perspective) female fans in the front, all fanatically singing along to every single song. It provided a healthy mix in the audience that i’d love to see so much more.
Halfway through the set and with Trevor quoting that he rarely had so much fun on a rainy Tuesday night the ultimate AAA-Rating for both the club, the audience and the band happened: Sweat started to condensate on the stage rig and the ceiling and dripped back down on the band and the audience (or the Monkeys roof surrendered to the torrential rain coming down on Hamburg).
Face To Face (Monkeys Music Club, Hamburg, 25.07.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
What was also noticeable was that sometimes only a look or an initial chord united the band onto the next song, they worked together hand-in-glove and gave the audience a wide range of songs from all their records. And all of that with their distinct backing vocals that carry a lot of the sing-a-long feel of the songs.
They played for more than an hour and then took a rest. And from that rest they came back and gave the demanding audience more songs, more time to dance and more time to sweat.
Great stuff and really turning the Monkeys into a centre of fun and enjoyment, all around. Sure thing that Californian-style H/C would have worked so much better on a warm summer night but Face To Face gave their best to replace the sun and emit fun down from the stage.
And the audience? The audience had maximum fun in front of the stage!
Spoilers / Face To Face (Monkeys Music Club, Hamburg (c) gehkacken.de 2017)
Yep, that was a near perfect show! A lot of smiling customers and hopefully two more bands that dig this place and consider it for the future. I did see Face To Face in large settings (4 digits numbers in the audience) and i have to admit that the smaller setting is so much better (as always). With a broad smile if faced the bike ride home, which turned the rest of me into full wet look (as the rain just did not stop).
