Ever since i stumbled upon them in 2021 through their video for “Caribbean Dream” i was convinced that i must see them live. Some good people around me where in the same mood and took the chance to see them at Rebellion 2022. I had hopes that whilst in Europe they would grab the opportunity to come to mainland Europe like many other bands from Oversea doing a Rebellion stint .. and lucky i was!
They are the first Punk band from Guadeloupe and they set the scene themselves like this:
The Bolokos is a Punk band formed in 2009 in Goyave, Guadeloupe (French West Indies). Pioneers of the genre in their island, their sound is a blend of Punk, Rock, Ska, Country and influences from Creole and Celtic Music. Their self-titled first album was produced by the Martinican artist Kali. Since they continue to tour the Caribbean and overseas (England, France…)
I was really keen to see them and Sam from the Indra made it happen (and was surprised that the band trusted him after just two emails and a phone call). Unfortunately on that Friday there was loads of other live mu-sick opportunities around so only ever 30+ people made it to the Indra. Damn. Not a good turnout Hamburg!
This is how The Bolokos kicked off at 21:30 sharp:
It is worth to note that somehow their drummer could not travel and they picked up a stand-in in Europe, with just a couple of practices and two shows together. It worked quite well and you could see throughout the set that drummer and guitar kept eye contact for guidance.
Their look against the simple black backdrop of the Indra also was an absolute fit, black trousers, white shirts and their makeup – all in all a great visual (and pleasing my selfish viewpoint that bands should dress for the occasion).
The Bolokos (Indra Music Club, Hamburg, 19.08.2022 (c) gehkacken.de 2022)
From the first songs onward you had a clear felling that the lack of audience did not hamper them, they rather emitted a lot of joy from the stage and took an easy approach towards errors, failures or wrong chords (though there weren’t many)
Their songs generally do not break any speed record (and with a stand-in drummer mid-tempo anyway is a safer road) but they are indeed as broad mu-sick-ally as their claim of influences.
And many eventually land in sing-a-long territory, even when you do not get the lyrics. What they did not expect (not knowing the persistence of the Hamburg lot) was then when invited to sing-a-long then Hamburg sometimes plays back at you.
And that what the lot did, invited to provide a “la-lala-la” like chorus it did not stop when the song ended, upon the last chord the lot carried on, the band had to restart. Once. And again. Thought they would get away with it. Nope – yet again. After the 4th reprise the singer just gave up, fell back to the amp and declared “You got us done now”.
The Bolokos (Indra Music Club, Hamburg, 19.08.2022 (c) gehkacken.de 2022)
And they simply just did not stop, though – upon advice from the audience – they put a 30 minute break in for a smoke, a chat and a drink in the beer garden of the Indra. Only ever to come out and requesting presence in front of the stage again.
And back inside they gave us what i consider their signature song:
Class, just class.
I was happy throughout, the people around me where happy too and best thing, the band was also in a happy mood, very humble and enjoying every minute. Sure some “what-if” came to mind, eg. could they have been paired at the Monkeys with The Movement and thus had a bigger audience?
The Bolokos (Indra Music Club, Hamburg, 19.08.2022 (c) gehkacken.de 2022)
Nevermind, a great show by a band from far away, from a tiny sunny island, having sat in a car to drive to Hamburg from Düsseldorf (and knowing they got to drive back in the night) and pushing 22 songs onto the lot. Wow!
They played for what felt like another 45 minutes and invited everybody onto the stage for a final sing-a-long to “If The Kids Are United”, something that most likely everybody in the audience can sing verse by verse.
The Bolokos (Indra Music Club, Hamburg, 19.08.2022 (c) gehkacken.de 2022)
Remember the start at 21:30 sharp? They played until 23:50, relentlessly and without showing signs of exhaustion. As they said later “We’ll sleep well enough when we’re dead”. Point made!
And after the show they sat at the bar, chatting, helped their family to sell merch, signed records and generally where just friendly, approachable people from far interested in those who came out to see them.
Lets hope they come back soon and lets ensure they play a crowed, wild and sweaty house in a hot summer (anything below 28° is cold for them).
PS: Unfortunately the liquid merch was not available at the Indra, i will now try hard to find some of their rum via my trusted sources.
PPS: And they have a song about the local signature dish, a fried sandwich called Bokit (“The Soul Of Guadeloupe In A Sandwich“). I will try that one too, looks nice.
PPPS: I do not speak French, hence thanks to an online translator for the headline, if it does not make sense at all please let me know (and if someone volunteers to translate all of this to French then please be my guest).
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