Still blessed by Poison Idea the day before i returned to the Hafenklang to take in Off With Their Heads, a big miss on my personal “need to see” list to date. They have countless records out and many of these are just perfect harsh but still sing-a-long songs. As such i was keen to see them finally.
First on where Unfinshed Business from Hamburg and i think they had a tough slot – people where around for OWTH rather then Unfinished Business and anyway it was not a big turnout (my guess would be 75 folks). As much as i know that i won’t do them justice i have to admit that i listened to a few songs only, found them so “lala” (and that is to say sounding too much the same and too much like a willful attempt to sound like someone else) and took off to have a beer and chats outside. Sorry.
Next on Off With Their Head and they kicked off like this:
Oh oh, Ryan has a sore throat i’d say! He tried his best and i was pleasantly surprised that his voice did hold until the end of the show. What was strange though, at least for me, was that i had a subtle feeling that the songs did not work as great as they work for me when i listen to the records. And honestly, i have no clue why. Was it the voice? Was it the fact that OWTH is a studio band that when touring has ever changing members? Or was it the overall sound? The lights (too much red if you ask me)?
I think some of the more subtle sounds, breaks and musickal tricks from the recordings (i’d guess overdubs and the like) just did not come through live and as such i simply came with wrong perceptions. It was not bad, it was just that i was not as thrilled. Also it was a strange setting where only after 30 minutes the band did address the audience with some mumbled words – no interaction between band and audience does turn me down too.
They played i guess for 50 minutes, invited the audience over to the Gun Club to drink with them and left without an encore. As said, it was not bad and i am most likely complaining on a high level but something was missing. I did listen to the records the day after and blime me, they are still killer records!
And what about the cat shirt? The OWTH merch included a shirt with a picture that from far looked like our cat Toni but on close view did not – so i needed to let go. On the bonus side: The merch table was full of vinyl, so collectors should have been able to complement their collection!
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