Sonny Vincent had left a lasting impression on Hamburg, ever since eg. Shotgun Rationale graced our shores in the 1990s and he choose to put eg. records out via Hamburgs own Vince Lombardy Highschool Records. And he graced the Hafenklang more than once, last if i recall correctly 2011.
But fate came across his touring life around the world, homebased in the Netherlands. Disaster struck 02.01.2016 and his life as a musician more or less ended right there.
With quite some cheer the lot in Hamburg (and beyond) took note that almost 10 years on he choose to return and selected Hamburg for it.
The show was sold out in record time, also because it was upstairs in the smaller room. And Sonny was a tad bit nervous and afraid of people:
I take it a lot of people took some extra effort to make it happen, up to and including the support (the Spitfire Stevens for some time have a Sonny Vincent cover in their setlist).
Luke and his band took the stage early and kicked off rather mellow:
And then directly moved into one of their signature songs:
From the start they where tight, together and had an almost perfect sound (the only complaint: the guitar on the left was a tad bit too loud for the overall sound).
And whilst they started slow, they also took their faster songs to the stage and overall had a great, balanced, setlist.
Spitfire Stevens (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 25.10.2025)
(c) gehkacken.de 2025
As almost all the time when i get to see them they made a very humble, almost shy stage appearance. Not too much banter, focused on the delivery.
Spitfire Stevens (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 25.10.2025)
(c) gehkacken.de 2025
Applause from the already packed house was there, a number of people also silently moved along to the sound. I had to miss their last show at the Hafenbahnhof a couple of weeks ago but got word that it was also a near perfect set & sound.
They are getting there it looks, i guess it is time for a 3rd 10″ with some new songs!
Sonny Vincent took the stage soon after and he kicked of like this:
Bäng!
Different territory than Spitfire Stevens and heavy, fast and raunchy! And a very modern sound!
That was My Guitar from 2002 and i guess the whole set was more on the faster side, the fan favorite side of things.
Whilst there may have been a tad bit of a reservation with Sonny before hitting the stage it felt like him being fully back and fully self assured with guitar play, in front of people.
Sonny Vincent (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 25.10.2025)
(c) gehkacken.de 2025
Rather, he came for the lot like a Tiger:
Come For You from 2004 that was.
Where Sonny took the center, the rest of the band supporting him stood slightly back and simply proved that they are utmost professional musicians:
Be it Frank Ferrer on drums (with earned badges for a number of bands, most notable Guns’n’Roses), be it Nils Finkeisen with his guitar (a notable stint with Die Krupps but further more co-owner of a well respect Guitar & Amp Retail Store in Hamburg) or be it Christoph Lubrich (Bass in Sidek!ck and long time collaborator with Sonny Vincent under the nickname Billy The Kid).
Sonny Vincent (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 25.10.2025)
(c) gehkacken.de 2025
Apparently they had two rehearsal sessions together in Hamburg only and boy, the net result was almost hand-in-glove.
The longer they played, the more the audience was taken along and away, plenty of dancing, plenty of cheers and plenty of beer flying through air!
The encore included Let’s Get Zooed Out:
That’s a song dating back to 1976, the Testors and Sonny playing with them all the early spots in NYC: Max’s Kansas City, CBGB – you name it.
And it is full circle back actually: Sonny always played high octane slash and burn Rock and fucking Roll. And that is what he is hopefully continuing to do (in whatever setup and form).
(c) gehkacken.de
Time being the show looks like a once-off, for the occasion and also for a new movie project by Danny Garcia on Sonny Vincent. He is the film maker that already gave us Nightclubbing – The Birth Of Punk Rock in NYC:
Looking forward to that project too!
It was really an almost magical return with Sonny hitting a yearning audience (and having the most professional backing band you could dream off).
If you want to wander beyond the music i recommend Sonnys small book Snake Pit Theraphy from 2021.
As the upstairs of the Hafenklang was needed for something else later the wind-down was rather fast and those who desired took their feet to the after show party.
Being off sick for some days earlier the week i choose to take off to home, i hope Sonny got a few more cheers (and drinks) at the party!
Thank You, Sonny!
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