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Tag: Spitfire Stevens

… the return of boozing and dancing in front of the stage – don’t let it stop here!
It has been a while (since i attended a show standing) and it took a while until our local government set the new rules under a higher (but not high enough) vaccination quota. And then it took a while for clubs, regulars and bands to get their head around it and come to a conclusion.

The Molotow decided for 2G, specifically as their backyards counts as “outdoor” and thus allowed for standing, drinking and … no masks. The only funny (or odd, if you will) item was that i could stand unconstrained with the lot in front of the stage but should we be in need of a pee we had to wear a mask, as the loo is indoors. But an easy price to pay for that time travel back almost two years!

First on THIAVV, who are not really from my circuit but in their little corner of the mu-sick-al universe are treated as hot shit. I have seen all bands they originate from (Plastic Propaganda, Cavity/Search, Violent Instinct) and was surprised that THIAVV is not just a blend of everything but something unique (though like fallen out of time, eg. straight from 1985).

What did i get? Pounding drums managed by the Animal. A driving bass with almost feminine vocals exercised by the towering Pablo Boredom. And across all of that an overtone of high pitched flirting guitar, i guess full of effects, delivered by Julian Human Capital.

See for yerself how it looked and sounded:

They came together in 2017, took stage in early 2020 with the intend to go strong … and got cut short by Covid. As they did not give in, they seem to be earnest with what they are doing and continued to practice and get new songs under their belt.

It is not exactly what i look for in mu-sick but as ever i do recognize effort and determination and for that they got my applause. Their little niche is a niche that i avoided post punk, whilst others took that path i took on H/C rather.
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THIAVV (Molotow, Hamburg, 21.09.2021 (c) gehkacken.de 2021)
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They played a crisp set, did not wander off into endless soundscapes and by the looks of it they had fun. I guess as much fun as the audience in front of the stage, where everyone enjoyed live mu-sick with maskless walking around, direct social interaction and drinking – be it booze or not.

On came the headliners and local heroes Spitfire Stevens. They still are at odds with a single mu-sick-al cupboard, the best i ever heard is that Luke and his vocals stretch them between Ian Curtis dark room and GG Allins hate chamber. Indeed – he is a kind of a personality. By the way one of the most charming and positive persons around and the only one i know that can do the gum-knee-dance.
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Spitfire Stevens (Molotow, Hamburg, 21.09.2021 (c) gehkacken.de 2021)
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They delivered all of their spread: From slow, post-punk and Joy Division like all they way to short crisp snotty punk smashers. Here is a rather mellow song from their 2017 10″ (and you got to love them for their preferred vinyl format choice):

They played much longer than i thought, though both myself and other noted a little bit of stretching within it. Where other bands go bang-bang-bang, they take their time and enjoy their breaks.
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Spitfire Stevens (Molotow, Hamburg, 21.09.2021 (c) gehkacken.de 2021)
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They had the audience anyway but given the circumstances the audience had an almost normal setting back and was thus super-duper happy. That said i would guess that for quite a while we will continue to enjoy local heroes rather than traveling bands, as touring across all the various patches of rules is almost impracticable.

At the end both band and fans where happy and the net result could be seen scattered around the Molotw backyard tables …

And whilst the first young folks entered the place for a Friday night out dancing to indie mu-sick the Oldpunk lot kept bragging, drinking and largely enjoying the evening.

Many of the lot got ready to see Sixteen Again, Kücken, Sheep On A Tree and Razors the day after outdoor in the Harburg Harbor, i had to turn to a family thingy and had to let that opportunity go by. My hangover on Saturday anyway asked for a break though that little sun that started growing again on Friday did warm my day.

Now i want more of these G2 gigs, it is the right way forward as far as i am concerned. Next Stop: Jam Today / Sixteen Again on the MS Hedi, who luckily also starts to set sail again. And, double lucky, the Hafenklang also is open again.

Happiness.
2021/09/19
… farewell “Old Erwin”!
Farwell Erwin “Old Erwin” Lieske (17.09.1962 – 29.07.2019)

This time it is just silent appreciation for someone that was an all-time asset of the Hamburg Punk scene and at least for me was always up there, on stage.

Running order at the Knust (thanks for hosting).

Erwin was with us all night, at the side of the stage.

Kinche:
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Kinche (Knust, Hamburg, 24.08.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
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Hake (Guitar, Vocals), Britta (Vocals)

Early Birds:

Nessi (Guitar), (Drums), Schulze (Vocals), Bernhard (Bass)
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Early Birds (Knust, Hamburg, 24.08.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
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Spitfire Stevens:
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Spitfire Stevens (Knust, Hamburg, 24.08.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
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Luke (Guitar, Vocals), Jan (Drums), Doc (Bass), Timothy (Guitar)

Nasser Hund:

Jan (Guitar, Vocals), Arne (Bass, Vocals), Kai (Drums)
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Nasser Hund (Knust, Hamburg, 24.08.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
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Rudi with some very personal words:

Kotzbrocken:

Arne with a little story about his first bass and how that bass did meet Old Erwin:

Kotzbrocken (Knust, Hamburg, 24.08.2019 pic by Schaub – thanks)

Rudi (Guitar, Vocals), Meng (Drums), Votzer (Vocals), Arne (Bass)

The song “Aggressivität und 220 Volt” was the first ever song “Old Erwin” did write for his first band Kotzbrocken, somewhere in 1978. Needles to say that they played it without rehearsing a single minute.

C³I:
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C³I (Knust, Hamburg, 24.08.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
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Rudi (Guitar), Jens (Drums), Arne (Bass, Guitar)

“Old Erwin” – Last ever song of the Phantastix:

Unreleased video of a song by Erwin intended for the never completed Schwabe tribute LP.

Razors:

Intro banner for Erwin that was shown at the last St. Pauli home game.
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Razors (Knust, Hamburg, 24.08.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
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Witte (Guitar), Gott (Drums), Danker (Vocals), Christiane (Bass)

Note: Never to be repeated cover of Phantastix “Das Herz von St. Pauli”
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Razors (Knust, Hamburg, 24.08.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
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Thanks to all who made this possible, thanks to all who took care of Erwin personally and thanks to all those attending and celebrated Erwin.

Special thanks to those who had the deep and personal conversations about losses, death and how to deal with it with my humble self. Much appreciated!

Farewell Old Erwin!
2019/08/30
… kick-off at 20:15 should be the norm: Hamburgs finest with an early show and a failed Saturday wish!
It does not need to be bands from far to make them kids happy, sometimes it can also be some of our towns finest to get people out and into it. What was supposed to be Jam Today and Razors had to be changed to Spitfire Stevens and Razors, as Lui of Jam Today fame had to work abroad and could not make it.

And those Spitfires not only had to appear they also had to appear pretty early, 20:15 was supposed to kick-off time on stage. I thought of this as a perfect Friday as it meant to be able to finish early, get home early, get up early on Saturday and be done with weekend shopping with some good time to prepare for the home game of the magical FC (with an equally early 13:00 kick off, implying to be in the pub opposite the ground at 12:00).

But it was not only early for the Spitfires, it was also somehow early for a good sound. The drums felt a wee bit too loud (actually throughout the show) and for the first couple of songs everything sounded disjointed.
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Spitfire Stevens (Molotow, Hamburg, 15.09.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
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But the more they played, the better they sounded and the better they got together. First it was only the faster songs that sounded great – later it was also the slower parts that created not only sound but also magic. And whilst they got into the groove they also got great appreciation from the audience, though from the stage they where rather silent and nimble.

But a great set nevertheless and i am sure it is not far that we will see underwear being thrown onto the stage and signs “i want a child from you” are held up. Stars to come, trust my words.

And against that almost headlining the Razors had to claim the stage (and battle the sonic drums) and win back the audience. And winning back they did, digging deep into their almost 40 years of existence and into songs that made not only them famous but the times when they where young.

That love was, is and always will be mutual for the Hamburg lot and that love for punk rock has driven them throughout the years, any troubles and as driven them to subtle but steady change their sound into what is now a mighty force with an up2date sound and not attempting to bridge something from Hamburg 1979 into today.
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Razors (Molotow, Hamburg, 15.09.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
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Even one of my loveliest singles ever they transformed into something meaningful and sounding quite recent. For me it remains one of the greatest sing-a-long hits from Hamburg ever.

So what is it that makes the Razors still hitting it with so much force? My wild guess is that for all of them it ain’t a job and it ain’t a career but for all of them it is the love for the music. That simple.
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Razors (Molotow, Hamburg, 15.09.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
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And that love for the mu-sick makes allows them not to bother about cover songs but just take them and Razor-fy them big time. So in best tradition they take on not only “Because you’re young” from Cock Sparrer but also “YNWA” and blend it into a killer closing of the set (despite some minor out of tune guitar).

Whilst Klaus wished everybody a great dancing night and 3 points tomorrow it was the start of all my weekend plans to go astray:

I managed to get home early, i managed to get weekend shopping done early and then stupid me managed to get an LBP (or Lumbago) whilst trying to lift a crate of beer from the trunk of the car. So instead seeing the mighty FC at home i was tied to the sofa and painkillers (and my old mate Christian could take along someone on my season ticket).

And those in the stadium? They had to resort to liquid painkillers, as the our team managed to be down 0:4 at half time and there was not much change in the 2nd half. As someone put it “0:4 equals Beer” (it rhymes perfectly if you mix German with English).

So, in hindsight, the only good thing this weekend was … them Spitfires and them Razors and the fact that me love if a perfect doctor and nurse. Lovely!
2017/09/17