… return of the Punks (May better beware)!

When i covered last years edition of Dance into May i left the plea:

So a great choice for this little fun thingy, lets beg for it being back in 2026, maybe with Demolition Girls. And a surprise.

Youth Of Altona met that plea in parts: A surprise kicked off the night indeed but Demolition Girls was not on the menue – Part Time Punks graced the Ballroom.

Andro Dyson & Untamed Tamers. A mouthful of a name. And then 4 distinct different stage personas, from undressed, strange jackets to dressed for the occasion they presented everything (but not a stage uniform).

Andro Dyson & Untamed Tamers (Marias Ballroom, Hamburg, 30.04.2026)
(c) gehkacken.de 2026

They claim to deliver raw, electrifying twang and reverb attacks paired with primal Mo Tucker-esque beats. Each song is a testament to their influences while fucking up the boundaries of the garage punk genre (from their webpage).

Indeed they venture broad, specifically the guy on the electrified guitar (with a neat Pissed Jeans T-Shirt) carried the sound from everywhere to almost anywhere – very gifted guitar work!

How did it sound? Here is one, more on the Power Pop side of things rather than … Garage.

It’s called 24/7 Sleeper and it’s from one of their tapes:

I gotta say i was surprised to the max! Often bands pack too much into their songs/sets and fail – here i really got by far the biggest spread of styles mixed in a while and it worked well. They rightfully got plenty of applause at the end.

Many of me mates where equally surprised, up to and including feeling the urge to spend hard earned cash (for merch in the form of a tape). I’d like to see them again, definitley!

Part Time Punks next and immediately i was thinking i knew two of them. Only after the show it did strike me that they did play in Mondial (of Bergedorf and Waterkant Hits fame). Long time no see (on stage)!

Their opening song, September Part 1 (into on Mating Sounds LP from P&TTB, 1983), hinted already at expert choices for covers. The remainder of the set was equally well chosen but, sorry to say, only more or less well done.

Part Time Punks (Marias Ballroom, Hamburg, 30.04.2026)
(c) gehkacken.de 2026

Too many breaks between songs (and too many T-Shirt changes by the drummer) and sometimes to weak singing (as in not having enough volume in the voice) made that excellent choice of old favorites less joyful on the receptive side.

The Hertha BSC shirt of the drummer though sparked the discussion of a footie theorem with a happy birthday Boy from Stuttgart who happend to be next to me:

Why is it that the other team in the city is always Blue?

Once discussing, we got damn sure that we were on the path to find a major…

… conspiracy theory!

Union Berlin -> Hertha BSC (Blue!)
FC St. Pauli -> Hamburger SV (Blue!)
Bayern München -> 1860 München (Blue!)
VfB Stuttgart -> Kickers Stuttgart (Blue!)
Wattenscheid 09 – VfL Bochum (Blue!)
Celtic Glasgow -> Glasgow Rangers (Blue!)
Liverpool FC -> Everton FC (Blue!)
United -> City (Blue!)
Arsenal -> Chelsea (Blue!)
AC Milan -> Inter Milan (Blue!)
AS Rom -> Lazio Rom (Blue!)
… more?

With that expert discussion out of the way it was time for the hosts of night … who greeted guests on the front door with their typical enthusiastic smile.

But it wasn’t all black’n’bleak, the set list had the outlook of something new: A cover of a Wipers cover and a newly rehearsed song (the closing song from Is This Real?)

This time round they kicked off with Over The Edge:

Sing-a-long galore plus a start-to-finish air guitarist in front of the stage, enjoying it as much as the lot did. And he continued strumming along for the rest of the set, well done!

The lights this time round where a bit shitty (if you ask me), the sound – as almost all of the time at the Ballroom – was near perfect.

Youth Of Altona (Marias Ballroom, Hamburg, 30.04.2026)
(c) gehkacken.de 2026

Youth Of Altona pushed forward relentlessly, not much fuzz between songs and almost no hickups. From where i stand the most relevant Wipers redemption nowadays you can think off.

And, for my personal enjoyment, the Karl Alvarez intro also had its heyday:

And the cover of a Wipers cover? I guess first time ever they did a song in German, covering Kaltfront. Kaltfronts own version of Better Off Dead (from the first Wipers single in 1978) with fitting German lyrics is just class:

Youth Of Altona kept going, overcame some mishap on the new rehearsed (and complicated) song and just prior to midnight called it a day, to much cheers of the packed Ballroom.

Perfect night out south of the mighty river Elbe, allowing me to overcome the sorrow of palliative care for a loved one and to have a glass (and two more) with mates from near and far.

Just Luke’s offer to have another one at his flat i had to let go, Friday was care day again.

Will there be a 6th edition? I hope so, it is always a cozy and entertaining show down there for us Northerners (that are still afraid of the last train leaving Harburg Station).

Bring it on!