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.
Skranefjell (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 18.04.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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.
.. 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.
Moving Targets (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 18.04.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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.
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.
Moving Targets (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 18.04.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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!
Moving Targets (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 18.04.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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).
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.
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