www.gehkacken.de

Blog

… relentless energy: No Problem!
I think it is the 4th time that No Problem graced Hamburg and boy was i eager to see this powerhouse yet again. Be it on record (with that heavy scent of dark wave or whatever you call that) or be it live (aka atomic explosion) they are just a force. And friendly folks on top.

So not only my humble self made it to the matinee show on typical April Sunday but also 5 of me elderly mates (and plenty of younger folks).

Support was from Bad Affair, who played their 2nd show ever and their first in their home town. A chord-strumming wild bass, a guitar that could also play in something more metal and a sturdy drummer paired with a female singer.
```
Bad Affair (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 28.04.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
```
It wasn’t particular my thingy, at times the rather brave vocals annoyed me, sometimes the guitar was just too … hairy. But at other moments their whole thing glued together well, specifically when the high vocals paired with a high and flirty guitar against the wild back line.

They only had a couple of songs but still played an encore: Whilst i do appreciate when a band does a hats-off to a legend it was very very cumbersome to list to Bad Affair slaughtering Civilisation’s Dying from the mighty Zero Boys. Not a good job, sorry. Paul Mahern will not be happy!

But by all means check them out for yerself:

<a href="http://badaffair.bandcamp.com/album/demo-2019">Demo 2019 by Bad Affair</a>

And with little changeover it was No Problem who took the stage. Their bass player could not make this time, so they had a girl filling in. And with quite some great soundscapes they kicked off:

Wham! They hit the audience indeed like an explosion and they take no prisoners. Against their marketing spiel they matched everything:
```
Attacking the crowd with catchy choruses, and dark brooding riffs, a No Problem performance will hypnotically pull every member out of the audience and into a war-dance like atmosphere. 

Taking a bit of a hiatus in 2017, No Problem are back with a new album Let God Sort’em Out scheduled for release on June 25th 2018 on Deranged Records and Taken By Surprise (Europe). 

With their most complex material to date, No Problem have created the perfect soundtrack to a world careening into madness. We’re standing on the precipice of a world circling the drain, let’s pray God sorts us out.
```
There ain’t no rest, there ain’t no holding back and still it is just not trashed out in speed but beautiful gems of songs and brilliant guitar work. Twin guitar work that is, some of the songs with the single guitar tended to sound imperfect (to my silly untrained ears).
```
No Problem (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 28.04.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
```
It was upstairs at the Hafenklang and about half full but No Problem had the crowd right at the stage and got loads of people moving. It took though one of the elderly to start a circle dance and get additional (and asynchronous) movements in.

I am sold on them. They have killer records out that stand the test of time and they are live just so full of relentless energy that i wonder what fuels them. It may be because they are from Edmonton (home of the mighty Oilers) out there in nowhere Alberta, Canada (and by my guess deep in Canadian redneck territory). They may not get a lot bands traveling through and they most likely get hassled big time day in day out.
```
No Problem (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 28.04.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
```
But here, over in Europe, they treated much better and so good that their short and relentless (can’t use the word on them often enough) set ended with a Viltones cover if it did make it out correctly:

Perfect! And though they only had little merch most of us got something: A missing record, a badge or myself a shirt. They deserved it. And some chatting, starting with my American Nightmare shirt being adored to discussing the great performance this season by Leon Draisaitl for the Oilers (105 Points make him the highest scoring German ever in the NHL). Did i ever note that i love Hockey and love playing Hockey?

Fun was also that me mate Riebe got carried away so much by No Problem that he dodged our “4” taunting (footie inside joke) and exclaimed that “ … us 5 are the last survivors“. This was hinting at the fact that all of us where attending shows together since like 1980 and at this occasion nobody else from those days was around.

That fun moment got some icing on the cake when we realized that one of us sported the original shirt whilst a younger comrade in front of the stage could only sport the copycat version (though the Night Birds have all rights to do so).
```
The Copycat Youth vs. The Instyle Elderly (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 28.04.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
```
Great show, good entertainment and an early end – some used that early ending to hop over to the Monkeys to see NYC H/C by Bold, i resorted back home for an early night. Age, you know?
2019/05/01
Bücher, schnell gelesen: Teil 1.382

Cloé Mehdi – Nichts ist verloren (Polar Verlag, 2018)

Gelesen: 19. – 26.04.2019, netto 330 Seiten

Ups, das war eine schwere Geburt: Nach 30 Seiten hatte ich das Buch eigentlich als hoffnungslosen Fall beiseite gelegt. Sowas ist mir bei Büchern des Polar Verlages noch nicht passiert.

Und weil nicht sein kann was nicht sein darf habe ich nochmal neu angefangen. Und mehr oder weniger flüssig bin ich dann doch durch das Buch gekommen.

Das ganze beginnt als Familiengeschichte, bekommt eine sozialkritische Note und am Ende entblättert Cloé Mehdi sehr geschickt das die Geschichte des elfjährigen Mattia, seines Vormundes Zephyr und dessen Freundin Gabrielle doch ein veritable Krimi mit viel Tiefe und Poesie ist, es um Polizeiwillkür, Mord und kaputte Familien (und eine kaputte Gesellschaft) geht.

Aufwendig konzipiert und tatsächlich schwer zu lesen. Und dennoch hatte ich am Ende einen echten Aha-Effekt, jedoch anders als bei einem who-dunit Krimi. Wow – das war Überraschend!

Soundtrack dazu: Oberkampf – Couleurs Sur Paris, was sonst?

2019/04/29
… some good simple Ramonescore does away with Easter easily!
A long and sunny Easter weekend was followed with the most simple but yet successful receipt for fun: Some good simple Ramonescore. And how attractive that was i could see be the diverse number of friends that came out to see the package in the well filled Molotow.

Them Haermorrhoids, with their hot album just out, had the pleasure of getting on dead early, at 20:00 sharp. I guess they have been practicing like hell as they are now totally in it and can deliver a 17 song set in like 27 minutes.
```
The Haermorrhoids (Molotow, Hamburg, 23.04.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
```
There are next to no breaks or delays between songs and the “all vocals, all chorus” type of singing just works like a treat. I do hope that their support slot for Teenage Bootlerocket opens them additional avenues for success, they deserve it!

They finished their set with my favorite song, the sad ode to overdose.
```
You were your own worst enemy 
Now you're dead
```
Take it DeeD… er Nils:

If you like what you see and what you hear then make sure you buy the record. It is a perfect piece of DIY Ramonescore and it comes in a beautiful yellow cover. And it comes with 20 songs, so has a perfect balance in terms of money vs. what you get.

<a href="http://lapochettesurpriserecords.bandcamp.com/album/apparatus-of-the-ultimate-power">Apparatus Of The Ultimate Power by The Haermorrhoids</a>

Rumors have it that the next recording is just around the corner, i do hope that they are able to keep pace and quality, as i would love them to be successful beyond Hamburg and on bigger stages.

As such: Give them a chance. Please.

And whilst we had some drinks and chats in the backyard of the Molotow after the set someone asked if the next band was on. He got multiple replies “naa, listen, they are still spinning records” whilst Fat By The Gallon actually where already on the stage.
```
Fat By The Gallon (Molotow, Hamburg, 23.04.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
```
For me this was the my personal big problem with them: They sounded so perfect, so polished, so much like on a perfect studio production that i just could not relate to their light weight, fast paced pop punk. But as ever, #thereaintnuthinbetterthanlivemusic – even when the band does not work for you.

Make you own choice, i for myself won’t buy a record of them:

And that did lead to Teenage Bootlerocket, who have come a long way since 2000 and by now are playing “any size” with an emphasis on bigger places in the US and the occasional rather small place over here in Europe. And all that playing has made them an almost perfect entertainment machine with loads of professional (and semi-professional) gimmicks thrown into the live performance.
```
Teenage Bootlerocket (Molotow, Hamburg, 23.04.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
```
And a live performance that is, the sad loss of Brandon has not stopped them from just being a great band that knows how to carry the audience along and to emit energy from the stage. And, bonus, the twin guitars and the distinct different singing between Ray and Kody is a definite unique selling proposition.

Great set, delivered with precision and professionalism (and with a slight risk of being too perfect in showmanship) and thus the perfect finish for this early show with plenty of friends. And looking at the bright smiles across the packed audience of the Molotow also all the other people enjoyed it too.

The Haermorrhoids will enjoy a couple of more shows with Teenage Bootlerocket and be right back here with us in Hamburg soon.

Looking forward!
2019/04/29