Waiting is often bound to patience. And patience people needed indeed, as the sold out show from October 2020 (which sold out way prior to Covid restrictions forced a Show shutdown) was moved, moved and moved to July 2023. And – hats off to Bad Cop/Bad Cop – it remained a sold out show.
Local support was from Shellycoat, a band i have not seen before. The name thought is tempting, as it refers to a northern English spirit:
In Scottish and Northern English folklore, a Shellycoat is a type of bogeyman that haunts rivers and streams. Shellycoats are considered to be relatively harmless; they may mislead wanderers, particularly those they think are trespassing upon the creature's territory, but without malice. A common tactic of a Shellycoat would be to cry out as if drowning and then laugh at the distracted victim.
Mu-sick-ally the where far off from folk or something like that, to me single-minded musical ears it was more like … err … Emo (with a scent of Rock). Not really up my alley at all and most of the times something that drives me away from the stage.
Shellycoat (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 27.07.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)
That said, they did have an asset in the voice of the singer, absolutely stunning vocal abilities between soft and harsh, silent and loud and with a wide variety across the vocal ladder. Wow!
Downside for me was the pedal board of the one guitar (why would you need ~16 devices to channel your sound through?) and somehow the too hard drumming (says the amateur and learned it was a fill in drummer that could only rehearse twice with the band). Not my thingy but check them out for yourself!
With a bit of changeover it was time for all female: The Venomous Pinks (a near perfect band name, btw) from sunny Phoenix, Arizona, in the US of A. And what was “Emo” just a couple of minutes ago became sleazy, dirty, fast and raunchous.
The self-acclaim is …
These ladies will rock your world in every room of the house, clear out to the parking lot. While their energetic stage performance exhibits a "party hard & play harder" mentality, this tight, punchy three-piece unapologetic style will ravage your ears with their mix of punk and rowdy rock n' roll.
… and they meet every ounce of that promise. Rather dark and more raging through (in German we would call it knüppeln) than giving us depth, variety and span. And guess what? I liked it!
The Venomous Pinks (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 27.07.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)
They have a hard hitting drummer, a bass that brushes chords rather than picking a tone and a rock solid guitar with perfect vocals for the occasion. They would even fit Schweinerock shows near perfect and they deliver all of that with the right Fuck You attitude.
You don’t believe my words? Here is proof:
Yep, they where loud and they where less loudmouth but with some strong message from the female side of the room.
Go and check them out, best live! They will chew you up, they will spit you out and you will begging…
Gimme, gimme, gimme - I need some more Gimme, gimme, gimme - Don't ask what for One, two, three, four
It took some lengthy setup and waiting time before Bad Cop/Bad Cop finally hit the stage around 22:50 facing a now crowded house.
Sold out, remember? With them the sound went yet again into a different direction, perfectly rounding off the evening. Less harsh but punchy, more harmony choruses.
Bad Cop/Bad Cop (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 27.07.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)
I have been listening to Bad Cop/Bad Cop only few times and i never bought a record of them. What did i get?
A very outspoken power plant in Linh Le on Bass, an equally outspoken singer (with guitar) in Stacey Dee and a sturdy drummer in Myra Gallarza. No more in the band is Jennie Cotterill, her guitar duties are being taken by a perfectly fitting young recruit named Alex Windsor.
From the first chord it was loads of energy, multi-vocal singing/chorus and indeed plenty of punch whilst maintaining melodies.
And boy, they know how to throw a show (and yes, sure half of it is like rehearsed but it comes across unpretentious and truthful). On top they are not afraid to talk about own weaknesses and remind people that togetherness builds strength. Against all odds and down turns from out there.
Bad Cop/Bad Cop (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 27.07.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)
Fun moment for me and a fellow old creep was when Stacey announced a song as oldschool and it was … very 90s rather. We are old and have seen too much. As one near us pointed out it was about time to shove us old cunts back home to the retirement home (as around us was loads of dancing and sing-a-long and we … just nodded in the rhythm).
They gave the lot about an hour and came back for some encore, once the show was over i noted plenty of happy people – i guess those who came as fans got what the wanted. I got what i wanted as in #thereaintnuthinbetterthanlivemusic.
Where i was too tired on Tuesday to see them Rumkicks from South-Korea at the Hafenklang, having done the few 100 meters downhill to see this more female than male lot was the right thing to do.
Same for me mate Kent, who came down knowing he had to stage a six o’clock flight next morning (by today’s efficiency a the airport that means showing up at 04:30, damn).
Did i buy a record? No, but i got me love a great shirt from the great Venomous Pinks (and guess what, me love luuuved it):
PS: The only downside was that a regular fixture at the Hafenklang was absent, still patiently battling health in hospital. My heart was with you mate – hope you get through the pain of subsequent operations eventually and come back healthy (and alive).
Big hugs big man, these evenings are your evenings!
PPS: I have never attended a show that was late by 24.072 hours (or 1.003 days)…
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