2022, the year the pandemie ended. True. But the grip on the live mu-sick circuit is still not gone – too many shows cancled or tours dropped. And my favorite clubs all lost regular customers and face reduced turn-outs. Damn.
At least i was able to see a bit more, but not as much as i liked:
| # of shows | # of bands | averange bands per show | |
| Hafenklang | 12 | 28 | 2 |
| Monkeys | 3 | 13 | 4 |
| Knust | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| MS Hedi | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Indra | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Drafthouse | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Faust | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Komet | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 21 | 53 | 2.5 |
More than doubled compared to 2021 but still a lot of misses, be it a dropped show, be it me not choosing to go or simply a great event always when i do holiday (Get Lost Festival that is).
And the best? Now that is a tough one – there where evenigs of great entertainment and there where single big surprises. Let’s try:
On a lonely August evening The Bollokos from Guadeloupe did not bother about low turnout at the Indra but gave the few 2+ hours of joy! Thanks Sam! At the Monkeys it was both the return of Kaleko Urdangak and the surprise of Complete Loss during the MOi!n It’s Hamburg Festival that provided the utmost entertainment. The sets of Good Riddance, Youth Avoiders and Career Suicide at the Booze Cruise Festival where also near perfect.
But show of the year was the K-Town Warm-Up with both an unbeaten diverese line-up and a near perfect mangy delivery – an absolut perfect blast of hardcore energy. Runner up only by a short margin where Lysol and Electric Chair upstairs at the Hafenklang just a couple of days earlier in almost the same territory.
On the book front i somehow did not find the time to go digging in my favorite bookstores. As a consequence my consumption dropped:
| # of books | # of pages | #of days | |
| Crime | 43 | 15.967 | 285 |
| Music | 6 | 1.915 | 91 |
| History | 3 | 1.375 | 26 |
| SciFi | 2 | 1.248 | 23 |
| 54 | 20.505 |
That is definitly less books read than 2021, also the average pages per day dropped dropped from 77 to 71. There where distractions, key one was a house move back into the city. I guess i will need to devote more time in 2023 again towards page turning.
The list is still topped by the Crime series of the Polar Verlag (12 books), followed by the stuff that Thomas Wörtche orchestrates for Suhrkamp (8 books).
Book of the year 2022? Not Crime per se but the Biography of Jerry A. Lang, the singer from Poison Idea. There is more than enough Drugs and Violence in those 3 books that it passes easily as Crime! Runner up from the real Crime Genre where Brachland, Blacktop Wasteland and Das Schnelle Leben. Extra shout out for Lightwood and Bobby March Forever, those books delivered some great laughter on top of a decent crime story.
And on the record front? Discogs tells me i added 54 records in 2022, so will go by that list:
Top 5, without any particular order:
Kinder Von Heute (Crazy) – great re-release of one of the finest Swizz Punk. Get it from Iffy at Static Shock (and get it like me even when you have the original one, it is worth it).
Intercity (Mess) – I took home the 2022 re-press straight from the show (together with all other Mess vinyl on offer). A raw beauty of UK82 all the way from Mexico. Get it from Mendeku Diskak.
Magnetic (Lucky Malice) – The vinly took two years to arrive (technically speaking the record was out in 2020 and i was lucky to get a signed edition. Great all-female Punk with stunning clever and to-the-point lyrics. A must have! Get it from Tonehjulet Kräftpest.
Barbies Don’t Bleed (Retrospective 1986 – 1990) (Barbie Army) – Many years ago i found “Take Down The Flag” on a tape someone gave me and ever since i was wandering if that band had any other songs out. Little did i know, little did i know. As some others had the same urge to get more everything came to light, but only in 2022. A gem of mid-80s girl Punk with a huge P like Pop and Melodies. Anything they ever recorded on this LP and 7″. Get it from Goodwill Records.
Vague Digitale (Sordid Ship) – Another French surprise and beauty, recorded in 2019 but only in 2022 released as single-sided 12″ with the backside being printed over. The 500 beauties are gone i understand, so get it digital from the band.
Whilst at it – this is one of the songs and it a sheer beauty!
Next to it i managed to get three more playlists completed, mixing new and old stuff. Just as a reminder, here they are – a whopping 541 Songs over 19 hours 34 minutes and 6 seconds:
