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… there ain’t no better way to kick-off for a tour, congrats Moving Targets!
It is not only me, also some friends around me have this little shiver whenever a Moving Targets show is being announced. The shiver is less driven from that they are top of the individuals personal list of “best records“, it is more a positive shiver steaming from that fact that they are exceptional friendly humans.

Exactly the type of guest you like to have in your living room (aka the Hafenklang).

With that in mind i was utmost happy that they started their month long run across Germany in Hamburg and just a day ahead of me buggering off to our second home up north in sunny Denmark.

Support was from Skranefjell outta Wilhelmshaven. The guitar player Robin was a known face to me, he did some guitar for the Moving Targets on their 2022 tour. His dad is behind the drums and an old scene veteran (infamous for his 80s Band Rudolfs Rache nowadays but back then a known fixture on the Deutsch Punk scene).

They claim to play Happy Pain & Pow Pow Pop-Punk and i am not sure if i would use such wording. On the good side the music relies pretty much on the guitar and that guitar provides a lot of variation.
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Skranefjell (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 18.04.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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On the not so good side half of the songs mingle around the Indie mark and that by definition puts me off. When they are to the point they have drive, umpf and are good. As ever, check it out for yerself.
<a href="https://skranefjell.bandcamp.com/album/angst-vor-blom-donner">Angst vor Blom & Donner by SKRANEFJELL</a>
.. and when they are not to the point then they smear Where Eagles Dare (Misfits) onto the street, piss on it and set it on fire. And that is what you should not do with that song. That cover was extremely painful to digest.

But the good thing is that this rant allows me to slot in this great cover of the same song:

My personal guess though is that outside my single minded mu-sick-al dictatorship Skranefjell actually do appeal to younger people today, so i wish them good luck.

The Moving Targets where quick to setup and with broad smiles kicked into the proceedings. And as ever the initial eye catcher was the relentless action by Ives on Bass, jumping around and always smiling.
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Moving Targets (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 18.04.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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Once initial sound problems with the Bass were solved the overall sound was near perfect. And fan boys that we are we knew what was coming our way, a nice mixture of old and new stuff.

Moving Targets – Setlist (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 19.04.2024)

Given that the Moving Targets are still a band wide apart (Ken in the US of A, Emile and Ives in sunny Montreal) and rarely rehearse in the same room it remains stunning that they kick off the first show of the tour, across the big pond, as a near perfect and tight outfit.

Within a couple of songs they had won over the audience, roughly 80 people made the effort to come out and most of them had broad smiles on their face.

It was double fun to note the stage setup: Ken not centered but pushed to the right, Emile way back and Ives demanding and commanding the rest of the stage up to and including the side part of the Hafenklang that is technically not stage anymore.

Give him room, he will roam.
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Moving Targets (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 18.04.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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The longer it went, the more joy came back from the audience. Plenty of people dancing, loads of sing-a-long and everybody glued to the stage.

It all culminated with the extra, Ken choose Dead Wrong from Bullet LaVolta (another cool Boston outfit he provided guitar duties for). There could not have been a better choice to get the audience completely going – well done both on and off the stage!
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Moving Targets (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 18.04.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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They graced the Hafenklang in their current incarnation in 2018, 2019 and 2022 – this show by far was the most convincing one counting all possible angles, they rocked the place (to use an old-fashioned and odd expression).

In my head it was simply the human energy that came down from the stage and was upped & mirrored back from a willing and thankful audience. That created the sound in everyone’s head and made the pre-synaptic neurons releasing their neurotransmitters across the synaptic cleft.

But the Moving Targets were not the only exceptional human in the room as you can see, also Luke falls into the same category (also both on and off the stage).

Luke – the only double Jever wizzard in the world!
There ain’t no better companionship at a show!

Within in minutes from leaving the stage Ken, Emile and Ives roamed the Hafenklang and, being indeed the exceptional friendly humans, mingled with the lot. And as always after a Moving Target show more people than normal stayed longer for another drink (and a chat), including me and me mates.

I wish them good luck for the “In The Dust” Tout. If they keep this form, if they keep this energy – then their run through Germany will an exceptional and well deserved success. And hopefully a platform for the next record and the next tour.

We’ll be there!

PS: Thanks to Frosch for the videos, i was so glued that i did not take one.
2024/04/19
… the fate of an April Wednesday!
April. Weather shenanigans. And thus keeping people at home. Though when i strolled down to the Hafenklang i was greeted with a stellar view towards the sunset in the West.

Sunset on a miserable Wednesday ( (c) gehkacken.de 2024)

But as empty as the streets the turnout at the Hafenklang would be. Next to a couple of friends of the Slanders it may have only been 30something good people. And half of them i knew by name. Pitty, as the rooster was an excellent one. Though definitely something that work so much better on a hot summer evening, best a Friday (or in Bergamo, i guess most of the Punk Rock Raduno regulars where at the Hafenklang).

Sharp at 21:00 Slanders kicked off with their very own Pop Punk, deeply grounded into the US of A, 1990’s and … on Lookout Records. Screeching Weasel anyone?
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Slanders (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 17.04.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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Their stance on stage remains feet wide, strings low. And this night it was quite fun to see two of the members sporting a shirt of The Haermorrhoids. Who just finished a very successful short tour. And where Greg plays and sings too.

Nice appreciation (or simply cheap shirts). How did it sound? It sounded like this:

Pleasant indeed, the speed, the dual vocals – it all works well. The songs are crisp and short (more or less) but the sound overall does not carry too many variations, they tend not to break out of their style a single note.

I dig them, though that lack of variation sometimes annoys my single-minded mu-sick-al brain.

The Yum Yums took the stage next and despite the fact that it was feeling a wee bit empty upstairs at the Hafenklang they did smile from the start. And that is the upbeat feeling of their songs anyway, singing about love, girls and everything that goes with it.
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The Yum Yums (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 17.04.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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On stage they are much more active compared to Slanders, though Morten stood center stage like a rock and did not move at all.

The amount of variation i missed with Slanders was there but somewhat it was all covered in a layer of sugar. Even up to the point that it was too sweet.

They played quite long, did throw in a couple of extras (but not all from the setlist) and took a rest. Well deserved. In all honesty a shorter (and crisper) set would have worked too.

As they had their brand new LP with them i scored it (on red vinyl, pitiful #recordcollectorsarepretentiousareseholes me), also the repress of their first LP now finally sits in my shelf.

The Yum Yums – Sweet As Candy
(Norske Albumklassikere, 2022 reissue)

The Yum Yums – Poppin’ Up Again
(Screaming Apple, Red Vinyl, 2024)

Relaxed evening surrounded by largely friends (and friendly people), just a tad bit too empty.

Still, that is how music should be enjoyed.
2024/04/19
Bücher, schnell gelesen: 1.696

Frauke Buchholz – Skalpjagd (Pendragon, 2024)

Gelesen: 07. – 12.04.2024 (netto 278 Seiten)

Manchmal kaufe ich ungeplant bzw. nehme etwas im Buchladen meines Vertrauen mit das in mein Blickfeld fällt und im Kopf etwas tickt.

Hier: Nordlichter, Tippi = Kanada plus Pendragon Verlag. Und eine Autorin mit Nachnamen Buchholz. Also mitgenommen und erstmal frustriert festgestellt das es Band 3 ist, ich also mal wieder ein Reihenfolgeversagen vor mir habe …

Das Setting ist tatsächlich Kanada und die Autorin ist offensichtlich durch Studium und Leben “Indigenaffin” (boah, was für ein gruseliges Wort), sprich sie kennt sich vor Ort und mit der Kultur aus.

Held ihrer Bücher ist Ted Garner, der Psychologe arbeitet als Profiler für die RCMP. Und der Fall im letzten Buch (Reihenfolgeversagen, here i come) hat ihn so fertig gemacht, dass er seinen Job hinschmeißen will. Und irgendwie gerät er bei einem Kongress in Vancouver an eine Esoterikerin aus Österreich, lässt sich im Suff überreden an einem Indigenen Ritual (inkl. pflanzlicher Drogen) teilzunehmen und wacht am nächsten Morgen in einem Tippi auf, mit einem blutigem Messer in der Hand, und einer toten und skalpierten Österreicherin neben sich.

Und denkt – das hab ich im Drogenrausch gemacht.

Und flieht deswegen. Auf der Suche nach dem Medizinmann, der das Ritual gemacht hat.

Der zweite Blickwinkel auf diesen Fall kommt von den Cops, ein ungleiches Paar versucht den Fall zu lösen. Und sucht irgendwann Ted, den sie auch unter Opfer einordnen.

Bis eine zweite skalpierte Leiche auftaucht und wieder Fingerabdrücke von Ted gefunden werden. Und damit ist er nicht mehr vermisstes Opfer sondern potentieller Täter.

Zwei spannende Verfolgungsjagden in einem Buch, dazu zweimal auf eigene Faust ermitteln. Und eine persönliche Tragödie als Zugabe.

Der Anfang fühlte sich zäh an, aber als die Geschichte ins Laufen kam passte das dann wieder. Vor allem die zwei Verfolgungsjagden (wobei die Cops im zweiten Pulk hinterherlaufen) sind spannend angelegt und geben der Geschichte ordentlich Tempo.

Dazu ein guter Schuss an Indigener Kultur, an Verbrechen der Kanadischen Nation an den Indigenen und …

… wird nicht verraten.

Solider Krimi, ich kaufe dann mal Band 1 und Band 2.

Soundtrack dazu: Brutal Chérie – Antisocial et brutal, was sonst?

2024/04/13