… listen to friends and you do get to see surprises (even at odd places)!

As i don’t want to be bogged down in only historic mu-sick i tend to listen to advice when it comes to discovering new stuff. My pal Nickel did sing hymns of praise for Christmas so i checked them out on Bandcamp. I did like what i heard and i did like what i read:

Everything was better in the old the days. Everything but CHRISTMAS, whom became more unstoppable from year to year. While other bands pop up and quickly burn again, CHRISTMAS have decided to simply survive all assholes.

Sold. And as Rudi (of Meine Schuppen fame) graced Hamburg with his presence and was looking for some entertainment too there was even more company.

It was early and it was at a place that i would normally not touch with a bargepole, bang on the Hans-Albers Platz and where the restless youth goes to “make party” (a term that evades me anyway). Never mind, we decided to go commando, ie. jump in, listen, drop back out quickly and leave the Reeperbahn for good.

First on where Drunken Swallows from Oldenburg in Holstein and they got the … pain of playing an empty place with about 15 of their friends/fans. Plus some who where there for Christmas.

Drunken Swallows (Drafthouse, Hamburg, 25.03.2022 (c) gehkacken.de 2022)

Those who give this shit a regular read know that i do give any band a chance to convince me, unfortunately Drunken Swallows did not. Too much mid-tempo Rock. Too much – for my liking – professional run down of a set. And the worst: As an encore they put out an abysmal version of a Ramones song. Puh, that was a tough one to stand. I wish them good luck but they will not find me in front of their stages.

During the short switchover even more abysmal Rock was played on the PA, even louder than the band did play. Boy, where was I?

Luckily Christmas came quick and they immediately took ownership of the place. Those yearning for deutschsprachigen Rock where driven out, the few that wanted sleaze, speed and wanted it in your face stayed on (i guess another 15 odd folks).

Christmas (Drafthouse, Hamburg, 25.03.2022 (c) gehkacken.de 2022)

What did we get? The little Brother of the Bronx Singer on Vocals. A small but energetic Drummer. A wizard on the Guitar and a young madman on Bass. And without large pedal boards and other nonsense they unleashed short but precise killer songs like “You Bore Me”:

Yep, that is what i need to cheer me up though it happened simply at the wrong place, wrong time and in the wrong context. I hope sometime in the near future they can come back to eg. the Hafenklang and get paired with some out of country H/C. And then they deserve 100+ folks, if not a packed house.

I needed to look at the setlist, as with every new song they played a yearn for Vinyl was created within me – so i had to make sure i pick records that featured these songs.

But they also can do more complex, longer songs. “Good Times, High Fives” is also from their 2018 effort with the cool name “Scum As You Are”. And you can see how much joy they actually had on stage and how that is being emitted down into the void in front of the stage.

And whilst they pressed ahead the striking difference between Drunken Swallows (a horse cart passing by outside) and Christmas (a JR-Maglev Shinkansen at 600 KM/H passing through your living room) became so apparent.

I have no clue where the have hidden from my view so far, but there is no looking back – one more down on my “they convinced me live” list. And all of the poses they did throw, they all came natural and fitted into the song – you could see that eventually this band is on the cruise for quite some time.

Christmas (Drafthouse, Hamburg, 25.03.2022 (c) gehkacken.de 2022)

Well done lads, as a mate pointed out on the spot: “That was international quality“. And right he was. Nickel also pointed out that he had seen the singer before, over in Blackpool, when he was filling in on European dates for Reagan Youth. Noted Matthias, noted.

A band that sells these beauties as merch … can not be bad.

I took home two records, both with Raymond Pettibon memorial covers. They sported hand made covers, each a large booklet, a CD and a download code. One was white, the other black. My #recordcollectorsarepretentiousarseholes self was happy as a fuck.

Some more chatting with the band and off we went, through way to many youngsters crowding the street and looking for enjoyment. A quick hop into the S-Bahn and like 42 years back i parted with Rudi and Frosch in Barmbek.

Whatever it takes, please all take the effort to allow yourself inspiration from friends when it comes to discover new stuff. I did and i did hit jackpot.