It was a blow to the community last year, when the news crept through social media that Martin Witte passed away. He had his song writing & guitar playing fingers in so many bands plus he also had his fingers on the mixing desk for so many bands.
In short, he was a mainstay.
Following a short and intimate farewell at the Pretty Vacant HQ already last year close friends setup a rather big tribute night at The Hafenklang, with 8 bands taking a deep bow.
And to no surprise it was sold out in record time.
The audience was greeted by this lovely picture, wall size.
For me Witte was always up there on stage (or in my record collection). The first time i really took note was when i saw Napalm at the Graffiti on 09.09.1982, supporting The Insane. I already was sold on their “It’s a warning” EP (and i had both the Punkenstein EP and the first Napalm EP with the novelty song “Tolle”).
And the reason another trustworthy source has determined exactly right:
Keine andere deutsche Punkband hatte damals den knackigen Gitarrensound der Cockney Rejects so gut drauf wie Napalm. Kein Wunder, dass auch John Peel die zweite EP »It’s a Warning« in seiner Radioendung spielte, wo ich sie praktischerweise auch gleich auf Kassette mitschnitt. Ein Erwerb der Platte war also nicht nötig, sie in die Finger zu bekommen, wäre auch nicht leicht gewesen. Später wurden beide Napalm-Platten teure Sammlerstücke.
Andreas Michalke
They sounded so perfect like an English band (though, Lui’s accent on the vocals gives away that they ain’t).
Over at my other page i have two picture from the show, they look less impressing than i have it in my memory i gotta admit.
Summing all the bands up is too much, from the top of my head i would think of Screamer, Punkenstein, Napalm, Torpedo Moskau, Noise Annoys, Ramones Revival Bands / Ramonez 77 and sure later Razors. And his own venture, Witte XP. I am more than happy to have seen most of these live.
Out of that rooster of long lasting friends and collaborators both this show and the setup came about, trying to max many sides of music and Witte into a single rooster.
Tribut to Witte (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 29.01.2026)
(c) gehkacken.de 2026
Östro 430 started and gave a short but deep from the heart acoustic set, including a Witte XP cover. Zusy Jones, self proclaimed maritime cartilage core with a geriatric drive, put up a nice out-of-town surprise as the 2nd band.
But not as big as Yacøpsæ. Their powerviolence/grindcore might have been pain to some ears (that are not accustomed) but boy, did they hit hard. And fast. And precise.
Also they put a nod forward to Witte, they covered a Torpedo Moskau song and got Stephan and Arne to sing:
Mahler/Fondermann and The Beast then gave the audience some relaxation with something that ventured more on the Power Pop side than on fast grind. And, surprise, it was their first ever live show. Check them out, next chance is 28.02.2026 at the Cafe Treibeis in Altona.
C³I grounded it back into clear cut guitar driven Punk and Scholle from Platzangst sang a Torpedo Moskau song with them, a double cool reference to Witte.
Die Augen next with some Guitar/Vocals Punk covers before Antikörper took the stage for their final ever show, hitting a large part of the audience up for dancing along.
Blut + Eisen i needed drop in favor for the long ride home, the planed timeline at that point in time was some 30+ minutes behind schedule already.
It was really cool to see all of the little nods and reference to Witte, he indeed had a lasting impact on many in Hamburg and beyond.
Here is a great Radio feature on Achim’s London Calling show, it carries plenty of Wittes own words:
Big thanks to those who made the evening possible (i believe Ritchy Fondermann and Arne Wagner) and provided the opportunity for a very touching farewell. And as ever, we need to keep the names mentioned, then those who left these shores are not yet gone as long as we do.
I was somewhat lucky to capture the energy in the room on a single picture – click for high-res download:
nb: My lovelist song with Witte? Thats “Window” by Noise Annoys, for both lyrics and guitar work actually.
Here is it as great live action – you need to head over to Youtube for that.
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