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  • … back home, double count: Sold out Hafenklang welcomes Subhumans.

    … back home, double count: Sold out Hafenklang welcomes Subhumans.

    Finally – next to Knust, Molotow, MS Hedi and Monkeys also the Hafenklang is back with live shows. As much as all the other clubs they have adopted what in Hamburg is dubbed 2G (proven recovered and proven vaccinated people only – audience, staff and bands) which would allow Clubs to run events unconstrained (capacity, no masks), only requiring contact tracing.

    The Hafenklang took a cautious route, not filling capacity at full. As such the show was sold out with 150 folks, where this pre-Covid would have been around 200. Actually it was no surprise that it was sold out, as with the Subhumans coming over from the UK the show had a near perfect headliner and they enjoy loads of credits in Hamburg.

    Support was local, Crackmeier took the challenge and the pairing with Subhumans indeed was a fit for the evening. They are not really my deal, in good moments their twin guitar, driving bass and pounding drums made almost a solid wall pushing forward but more often to it was rather on the brink of sounding metal like.

    Crackmeier (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 29.10.2021 (c) gehkacken.de 2021)

    Their singer choose to roam in front of the stage and he also choose to hand out insults towards the audience, not sure if that one was for real or just as part of the show. As the did have some fans in the audience their rather full set got a share of applause and audience reception. And that is how it should be, even if it does not make click with myself.

    Next on Dick Lucas and the Subhumans, who have been around all the time since 1980 with some hiatus in between. And they are also the same faces since all the years which i find particularly enjoyable.

    They had actually finished a new record when the pandemic did strike in 2019, now it is 2021 and they are taking that record on the road (and hopefully sell loads). Unpretentious as ever they took the stage and they took the Hafenklang by storm.

    What did strike me most was that they actually attracted a rather young crowd and that the dancing area in front of the stage was almost exclusively young and female. And hell yeah, that is how it should be!

    Subhumans (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 29.10.2021 (c) gehkacken.de 2021)

    I have to admit that i have zero vinyl in my collection from the Subhumans (though plenty from the Canadian Subhumans) but still recognize their sound, which over the years they have almost perfected: It ain’t full of Anarcho-Noise, it always had a deep grounding in the mu-sick-al capabilities of the band and decent song structures.

    A neat wall of sound leaving enough space for Dick to get his voice and his excellent lyrics across. In that context i was more than surprised that plenty of the audience was able to sing-a-long, even the younger ones. As said, they have a lot of credits over here.

    What did not get resolved was the itch around the question when i saw them first: My fading memory puts that 1983 and towards JUZ Korachstraße but plenty of me mates pointed out that is a wrong setting. It is really a personal letdown of my humble self that i never kept an accurate tally of whom i saw when and where…

    The Subhumans came back for some encore and provide a nice add one: A Happy Birthday redemption for Jock McCurdy of the (English, not German) A-Heads. Here we go:

    Perfect! A great Friday night back at the Hafenklang, chats and drinks with friends and all of that in safe and almost back-to-normal setting. I am ready for more and i continue to struggle with those who call that setting “inhuman”, “not inclusive” and “un-punk”.

    Sorry, somehow your radar got offset during the pandemic.

  • Bücher, schnell gelesen: Teil 1.554

    Bücher, schnell gelesen: Teil 1.554

    Felicity McLean – Cordie (Polar Verlag, 2021)

    Gelesen: 20. – 28.10.2021, netto 360 Seiten

    Wow, das ist ein cleveres Buch. Über weite Strecken ein “Kinderbuch”, erzählt aus der unschuldigen (aber auch für ihr Alter sehr aufmerksamen) Sicht einer 11-Jährigen und für kurze Momente ein Krimi im hier und jetzt, aus der Sicht der erwachsenen Frau.

    Die Erwachsene Tikka kommt aus Amerika zurück zu ihren Eltern, da bei ihrer Schwester Krebs festgestellt wurde. Sie sieht überall ihre verschwundene Freundin Crodie, die vor 20 Jahren aus ihrem kleinen Dorf verschwunden ist.

    Die 11-jährige Tikka und ihre Schwester leben unbeschwert irgendwo in Australien, genießen die Tage mit ihren Freundinnen am Pool und machen sich … Kindersorgen. Beobachten die Welt der Erwachsenen mit Kinderaugen.

    Mit extrem geschickten Zeitschnitten bringt Felicity McLean ohne große Worte eine Dunkle Wolke in die Geschichte der 11-jährigen Tikka. Mit extrem feiner Sprache bringt Felicity dabei die Geschichte auf den Blickwinkel und auf den Verstandlevel einer 11-Järhigen. Sachen die sie sieht sind komisch, aber sie kann sich das nicht erklären.

    Die Erwachsene Tikka kann das schon: Was sie sieht ist Gewalt durch den Vater im extrem christlich geprägten Elternhaus ihrer Freundinnen. Was sie mitbekommt ist eine Lehrer, der sich irgendwie komisch verhält. Was sie spürt ist Verlust. Was sie irritiert, ist das ihre Eltern vor 20 Jahren mehr wussten als sie ihren Kindern anvertraut haben.

    Ein sehr geschickter Suspense Thriller, der harmlos wie ein Kinderbuch daherkommt und dieses auch durchhält. Kein Blut, aber zwei Leichen. Kaum Polizei. Aber ganz viel Raum für kindliche Wahrnehmung. Und ganz viel Unbehagen, das sich langsam ausbreitet und festsetzt.

    Wow, das hat gesessen! Tolles Buch!

    Soundtrack dazu: The Chats – Ross River, was sonst?

    PS: Bei Polar erscheint dieses Buch in der Dark Places Reihe und im passenden schwarzen Design. Das S/W Bild zeigt aber schon das es eigentlich ein kindlich-sonniges Buch ist. Insofern ist die englische Cover Variante passender …. wenn auch fast zu verräterisch.

    Felicity McLean – The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone (HarperCollins, 2019)

    PPS: Und wieder ein “Trailer”

    PPPS: Und Felicity so?

  • … come storm or high tide: Power Pop sets sail (Sixteen) Again!

    … come storm or high tide: Power Pop sets sail (Sixteen) Again!

    Now that shows are less constrained once a venue has decided for what is in Germany called 2G (attendees and participants on the band and venue side need to be either be proven recovered from Covid or vaccinated ) also the smaller venues come back: Be it Hafenklang or MS Hedi.

    What under normal circumstances would have been a nice boat ride into the sunset turned out in late October as a battle vs. storm Ignatz, who provided both wind, waves and a high tide leading to some flooding in the harbor area.

    Some 60something folks set foot on the MS Hedi and where greeted by some groovy Brit Pop singles put on by DJ Helge.

    Whilst his choice of music was good i have to admit his handling of precious singles was less: Don’t touch the vinyl is a ground rule that we #recordcollectorsrepretentiousassholes should always maintain!

    Everybody on board was quite happy (and chatty) that live-mu-sick now comes back also beyond local bands, everybody starts to buy tickets again, all the way up to March next year.

    Eventually DJing stopped and Sixteen Again took the floor (due to lack off a stage on the MS Hedi). As the stormy weather was still difficult it was decided to have the first set moored at dock.

    Sixteen Again – Setlist (MS Hedi, Hamburg, 21.10.2021 (c) gehkacken.de)

    The first set was solely dedicated to the Œuvre of Esquires Shelly and Diggle, all those juvenile love or teenage angst songs we all can sing-a-long, day or night. And singing-a-long and dancing (as much as possible) did the connoisseurs whilst the band tried to keep their posture … even moored there was enough movement of the floor.

    Sixteen Again (MS Hedi, Hamburg, 21.10.2021 (c) gehkacken.de 2021)

    Sixteen Again plowed through the set with both energy and fun and you could sense that they have managed to to fully get themselves into these songs. What sure also helps is that singing duties are split, giving the songs the different variations that are needed.

    For the 2nd set the Captain of the MS Hedi decided to set sail, the low frequency feel of the engine did climb up our feet. It was to be a cautions route though, no too much into the open waters of the river Elbe, where wind and waves still rules the water.

    Sixteen Again (MS Hedi, Hamburg, 21.10.2021 (c) gehkacken.de 2021)

    The 2nd set was dedicated to other British Power Pop, some of these songs worked surprisingly good, others where impacted by the much more wobbly waters. Unfortunately my own favorite one (Ghosts Of Princess In Towers) was totally slaughtered – both their redemption did not work and the waves did impact the play.

    In the end two and a half hours of good entertainment with friends on the road back to normal. Given the Covid numbers still a long road, but i guess we are getting there.

    What still frustrates the hell out of me though are people that moan about venues that for themselves (and their staff) decide for 2G, i really do not see how can ask for everything from anybody but yourself puts noting in for somebody.

    Whatever, lets crack on: Next stop Hafenklang. Looking forward.