Hamburg seem to have gone from heat wave to rain season, this weekend those who went to see Madness open air got nicely soaked, i was lucky that i choose this small DIY show out by the Airport, it started when the rain almost was gone.
The setting i ran into was utmost strange: Out in Groß-Borstel (always good for a Sham joke aka “Borstel Breakout”) is this very traditional pub (founded at the location 1905) and the owners every once in a while offer their 2nd room for live music.
Frox On The Run seem to play there annually and – given life long connection of individuals – invite friends from Berlin to support. This occasion as such was not the first one, but the first i could attend.
fröshead (an incarnation of what was Third Uncle) from Berlin funnily sport 2 ex-Hamburgers and are all people i know.
Hardy (Guitar) was busy with HH-Milch and Säurekeller before he went to bigger musical ventures and Berlin, Archie (Drums) is also ex-Hamburg and we share friends and Knut (Bass, played in The Marplots in the early 80s) is someone i knew from back of the mid-80s when i did spend regular times with people from and in Berlin.
As Third Uncle Hardy & Knut (plus a different drummer) had a great power pop single in 2016 with an A-Side that to me is definite little master piece (produced by Christian Meves).
When i arrived somewhat late they already had taken the small stage area and kicked it off with Brickfield Nights. And followed suit with the Third Uncle hit single:
To me still a great tune, though i could sense that it wasn’t all hand-in-glove and super rehearsed, it was purely for fun and to emit fun to the audience.
fröshead (Drei Eichen, Hamburg, 04.07.2026)
(c) gehkacken.de 2026
The audience was definitively something different, either very young (i guess 12-17) or very old (end of the 50s and above). I was surprised how much the young ones seemed to take a liking in amplified guitar music (in my ignorant head they all only speed skip through electronic music on eg. Spotify on their mobile).
As such i concentrated more on the effect of the covers and what would get the young ones most in motion. Surprisingly that was Teenage Kicks, though that redemption had a slight slaughtering touch to it. But it proved that great songs work across generations.
fröshead (Drei Eichen, Hamburg, 04.07.2026)
(c) gehkacken.de 2026
Towards the end they where better together, sounded slicker and generally had more fun themselves. Nice start and nice to see Hardy on stage again after all these years. And to bump into Knut again (after even more years).
Next the headliner: Frox On The Run (formerly also known in a different incarnation as Frogger). They not only had the house packed (i make a wild guess: Friends & Family) but also had, given their much more Brit Pop & Kids Fun sound, the lot even more going.
Frox On The Run (Drei Eichen, Hamburg, 04.07.2026)
(c) gehkacken.de 2026
I have to be frank: I did not watch all their set but rather had a long chat (and some beers) with Knut, talking about music, travelling for music and “back then“.
Nonetheless i could hear the music from the other room and it sound actually well, including expert choice of covers like Know Your Product (Saints). And on some Fehlfarben covers they even got support from Thomas Schwebel on stage.
As a grand finale and way beyond allowed time they got 2/3 of Third Uncle back on stage and gave a joint cover that as well could anyway have been the signature song of the evening:
Harmony in my head (Buzzcocks):
Yet again, great tunes work across generations and the rather youthful crowd went bananas. Really.
Fun evening way off the beaten track and with an extra fun option to bump into old friends. And indeed thanks to Nico for setting it up and preaching my reasoning:
Whatever your are as a band, however good you are as a musician – together on stage you must end a song jointly and on a single chord or beat.
Period.
And if you can, you sure dress for the occasion.
