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Tag: Knust

… warming up for Rebellion 2023 and finishing with a perfect punk rock opera!
It is this time of the year: Plenty of bands from the US play Hamburg left and right of Rebellion Festival and plenty (actually many) of the Hamburg lot take the pilgrimage to Blackpool.

The good folks behind Punk Rock Hamburg and the Knust teamed up to provide the two bands from Hamburg playing there this year with a warm-up opportunity. To round off the feeling of Festival they paired them with the mighty Wonk Unit, who are kinda special love affair for the Hamburg lot.

First on and very early the Harbour Rebels. Actually like 20:10 – fitting for the age group expected as the audience, thank you very much. I guess they played their to-be Rebellion set, short and crisp and with their music being more on the mid-tempo melodic side.
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Harbour Rebels (Knust, Hamburg, 21.07.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)
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It is not too much up my alley, in good moments it is catchy, sing-a-long and with great female vocals – in bad moments my brain deducted “Deutsch Rock” rather. I think you got to check them out for yourself, my single minded mu-sick-al mind might not be the best advisor . For Blackpool and the audience there i can see how they fit, they will play on Friday 4th of August 21:30-22:00 After Dark in the Arena.

Back to the Knust and already at 21:00 the Razors entered like this:

I guess they also tested their Rebellion set and this is indeed a perfect and catchy lead into playing for well aged punk connoisseurs (actually Friday 4th of August 18:30 – 19:05 at the Pavilion).

It took a bit of time to lure people from the outside and from the bar towards the front of the stage, i guess around 200+ folks filled the Knust (and that makes it only half-full, unfortuneatly).
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Razors (Knust, Hamburg, 21.07.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)
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With their wide variety of songs it most likely is hard to make a call what fits towards Rebellion, for me they took the right choice to cut out most of the local Hamburg favorites (be it Tommys Gang or Law) and focus a wee bit more international.

Like their redemption of Heroes:

With every word you can feel how much Klaus is into this, how much he loves to pay tribute to David Bowie. And the musical uplift the rest of the band provides makes it more than a worthwhile sing-a-long, it is actually one of the songs that gets the audience going.
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Razors (Knust, Hamburg, 21.07.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)
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But the Razors not only look back and take their inspiration from back then – they also take inspiration from today’s Hardcore scene: “No Brains” form their first LP back in 1980 has been transformed into a less than 30 seconds assault, up to and including fitting new words:

My take: The Razors are well rehearsed and ready for Rebellion, lets hope they got plenty of folks enjoying them – as ever they are worth it!

Once the Razors where done there was a bit more of a setup for Wonk Unit, 6 people and as keyboard needed to fit the stage. Came 22:10 and Alex and his troops where ready … and boy where they ready:

The setlist was 40+ songs and they where not limited, as they did not have to warm-up for Rebellion as they will not play (they got Wonk Fest lined up for 29th of June rather).

Wonk Unit – Setlist (Knust, Hamburg, 21.07.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

And believe it or not, they played – my wild guess – all of these and they would finish up only two hours later, just ahead of midnight.

It was the can’t remember how many time they played Hamburg but they where never that tight, that together and that brilliant. And it was simply like this beauty, all fun, all dancing and all sing-a-long:

Where The Adicts throw a sing-a-long kids party it is Wonk Unit who throw more of an adult party, sans drugs but with plain good clean fun. And in brilliant moments they even sounded like The Dickies (a view a mate levied upon me and i have to say that i agreed on the spot).
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Wonk Unit (Knust, Hamburg, 21.07.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)
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A party they indeed got started, plenty of dancing, plenty of sing-along in the audience and plenty of tongue-in-check banter by Alex between the songs.

His lengthy into to one of the all time faves included a more detailed then needed advise that it was time to piss on your friend or your girlfriend and be pissed on too. Time to enjoy the experience.

Lewisham, of all places:

Just puuuurfect.

They not only played plenty of great songs, they also where incredibly busy on stage – moving around, changing position and trying to guess what song Alex desired next, rarely he gave away more than an indirect clue whilst chatting to the audience.
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Wonk Unit (Knust, Hamburg, 21.07.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)
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They played and played and then came back for plenty of encore, kicking off the add-on part like this:

Even down from the large stage of the Knust they where one with the audience, had people dancing on & off stage. With Alex commandeering the troops on and off stage, even something irrelevant like stage diving was converted into a family thingy providing additional joy.
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Wonk Unit & Family (Knust, Hamburg, 21.07.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)
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After almost two hours of fun, fun and fun they closed it down with a big hats off to the Punk Rock Hamburg Family, to which they most likely by now are adopted from the island yonder.

Thanks Alex, thanks Vez, thanks Max, thanks Pwosion, thanks AJ and thanks Jude. This was the best ever show you gave the Hamburg lot! It felt like a double album, gatefold cover damn fucking Punk Rock Opera without any break.

Simply a perfect evening with perfect companionship on and off the stage. Could i ask for any more?

Yes, Repeat.
2023/07/23
…3 bands with 9 artists meet 14 consumers – that’s SCI-FI math to work out!
First off, i hope it wasn’t me! I sincerely hope that me was not the jinx, as i have been pestering me mate at the Knust for ages to put more Surf onto the rooster and i specifically named The Razorblades as a great addition for such an event. I am sure though that i also asked also for some other highlights, if my memory serves me well it was like Phantom Surfers, Huevos Rancheros, Satan’s Pilgrims, The Vulcanos and sure Man or Astro-Man? that i was suggesting.

So much to my fright i was hit with a particular empty Knust on a cold Friday evening and right away i had the feeling this will be an empty show. When i paid i think i was paying guest number four.

… it felt empty early on at the Knust!

And it stayed like that, the Knust has a capacity of 450 if it stretches and i think barely 14 people paid and at max there where like 30something people in front of the big stage. So it was for Los Apollos from Berlin to kick it off against a large nothing.

Los Apollos (Knust, Hamburg, 17.11.2017 (c) gehkacken.de 2017)

They do traditional Surf i’d say (and i am far from an expert) and at times the guitar sound reminded me of Mark Broadie & The Beaver Patrol. They where relaxed and grooved themselves into it, despite the empty void in front of them.

Yes, i did dig them but in that large setting on that large stage it sure just did not work out. The one fun thing though was that the empty hall (paired with the excellent PA) created a perfect echo chamber for the guitar reverb to gain on. So something bad turned into a bonus – you always got to see the positive things in life!

Next on The Splashdowns from Hamburg and they where easy to make out: They are Sci-Fi Astro-Surf. And that not only because they had the story of the flight to the moon on the backdrop behind the stage as a mix of animation and real movie snipets but they also gave away some great astro infos between the songs.

The Splashdowns (Knust, Hamburg, 17.11.2017 (c) gehkacken.de 2017)

They had a wee bit more twang and they had a different kind of charm in their songs. And they had a guitar player who kept standing on his heels and moving around on them – with a strange grin on the face. And, as all other bands of the evening, they had a stage uniform, something that i forever dig.

They had by far the most people in front of the stage, sure thing as they are local plus mathematically it will always work out like that if you play in the middle. The most though is an euphemism, as it was still less than 10% of the capacity. Bugger.

And that finally got us The Razorblades and they kicked off like that (following a short intro song):

I am actually sold on them, especially when they venture into “hard & fast” territory and i have to admit that i am blown away by the sounds that Rob Razorblade get’s out of his guitar. And the speed by which he moves from one sound to the other – just stunning.
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The Razorblades (knust, Hamburg, 17.11.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
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They had to face a declining audience and they had to play every entertainment trick to get remaining people further to the front. Still, whilst all the effort, they did not get a front row together for the set. But i think they loved the big stage for being able to move around a lot and they did also benefit from the empty hall in terms of the acoustics. Loose some, win some – eh?

And they finished their set with speed and a nod off to where the sun is warm, the water is cold and the surf is up:

And in the end i think they even sold a T-Shirt and a record, poor fellas. I’d love to see them as support for say Descendents. Or play the Hafengeburtstag in bright sunshine. But never again lure them to Hamburg on a cold November Friday please!

So something did not work out, if i created a share of that misery then i am so sorry – i was obviously completely wrong in assuming that Hamburg would be ready for some reverb and some surf. Damn was i wrong!

Something was not right with the audience count!
2017/11/19
… this is Hamburg, not G20! FCK G20!
Oh boy, what a fucking weekend. Riots, peaceful G20 protest, 24×7 helicopter terror and a 20.000 strong police force under odd management to protect a bunch of people most inhabitants did not want to have in town in the first place.

Next to the chaos during the days it was also party, mu-sick and fun in the night.

First on upstairs at the Hafenklang was Christianes Birthday Bash, a party that was fuelled by two live acts. And a party that provided the charming bass player of Hamburgs rock legends GERD with plenty of gifts and that emitted loads of love.
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Henry Cluney (Hafenklang, Goldener Salon, Hamburg, 08.07.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
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Surprise guest number one was Henry Cluney of Stiff Little Fingers fame who gave one of his acoustic solo shows – ie. strumming great sing-a-long songs (and sing-a-long the party people did with loud voices) and throwing in some nice jokes. And as a lot of the great sing-a-long hits of SLF where pinned in the late 70 and early 80s under the sound of helicopter rotors during “the troubles” he must have felt home in Hamburg that weekend!

And thus here is one of these signature songs, try yerself:
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He joined up to get a job
And show he wasn't scared
Swapped boy scout hat for army cap
He thought he'd be prepared
At the age of 17 he was forced to choose
Now at the age of 21 he's in Catch 22

He joined up for just three years
It seemed a small amount
But they didn't tell him
That the first two didn't count
At the age of 17 how was he to know
That at the age of 21 he'd still have one to go?

Written by Ogilvie/Fingers
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Listen up youth:

That was great stuff with no question on street credibility. He was there, we not! What did stun people too was his guitar which was largely … without a body. Someone suggest it is like one of the folding bikes to enable Henry to fly hand luggage only and that it actually can fold it into a small bag. I guess that one is true. Great stuff and flying start into party and booze!

To take the lot further any Undertones, Descendents or Ramones would have suited, Christiane choose the Melones and thus choose Tommy, DeeDee, Johnny and Joey.

Someone very sceptical in the crowd noted “but they are wearin’ fuckin’ wigs” but he did not dare to test it. It was simply full on Ramones blasting from the stage and light years better than what the Hamburg Ramönes provided 6 weeks back on the same stage.
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Melones (Hafenklang, Goldener Salon, Hamburg, 08.07.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
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And it was all in style – though my critical eye noted that two minor details where handled slightly wrong: The joint “forward – backward” movements of Johnny and DeeDee where not copied correctly and not executed to the required level of precission and Tommy did drum in a slightly different style. But hey, who am i to complain?

And that happy family then took the party to the next level with DJ Starry Eyes providing the dance muzak. The (cheap) booze plus the will to give Christiane a great night and leave outside the non-sense happening on the streets did drive them kids into extra laps and overtime. I was home late and knackered (and me love noted i stink of booze next morning), others had similar stories – what a great birthday bash!

So with some hangover me and others on Sunday eagerly prepared for the return of Rocket From The Crypt. A band that in 1996 and 1997 took us all by surprise and – i won’t stop mentioning it – gave us the future of rock’n’roll. At their 2nd show at the Logo me and me mates all got us RFTC bowling shirts and we wore them until they faded away. I kept mine in good condition so i could – as a first in my life – void golden rule not to wear a shirt of the band that is playing.

Speedo was somehow irritated at the start of the show, as he did remember they played the Knust in 1996 but could not fit the visual in front of his stage with old pictures in his head (no surprise, the old Knust was a cellar in a different part of town and so much smaller).

And like any great showman he took time to direct the lights to his liking:

And once the light was set and the amps on full steam ahead they kicked into the show like this:

Rocket From The Fucking Crypt are back and they are back for good. And better. And it feels like they have not been away (and, technically speaking, they haven’t – they just had few shows over the years due to the endless amount of side projects).

The Knust was well filled (but sure not sold out) and the audience took RFTC straight into their arms (and hearts). A lot of people where sure thing leaning to the older side but that would only ever change if RFTC release something new and return to the touring life – something that i do not anticipate in real.

For me it was just great – it felt like they never actually disappeared. Me mate Frosch, most likely hardcore as a fan, did travel over the years to the rare RFTC shows around the world and not only kept spreading the message but also enlarging his RFTC tattoo (a pity that it no longer gets you free admittance).
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Rocket From The Crypt (Knust, Hamburg, 09.07.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
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They where so much together and so well oiled, it was stunning. The only item that was odd was that the stage of the Knust is big but not that wide, so the horn section somehow was placed to the backside (and mostly out of view for my preferred show position on the left). But all of that was made up by the full visual of the glittery backdrop and the stage dresses: A rock’n’roll show like a rock’n’roll show should be – with a capital S for show.

And by now RFTC have accustomed to the European demand for encores, so they stroll off the stage, come back on and mock fans up about that artificial awol. I’d say it is always the bands choice – if they have more to give or a surprise then by all means go for it. If they are done, then be done.

So RFTC gave us the extra, the bonus, the encore:

Stunning. Just stunning. And just perfect. I do know why i have so many records of them (though within that, there are some songs that are … err … let’s agree on complicated) and i do love them. And that love has just been renewed. And i do understand why me mate Frosch travels to all German shows to see them over and over again – there is something in it!

… a happy Frosch! ( (c) gehkacken.de 2017)

And what did that G20 long weekend now provide? Fuck nothing! Lack of proper policing, lack of sympathy for them cops, lack of sympathy for them riot-hipsters and lack of sympathy for them politicians. But all love and sympathy for those throwing great parties for friends, those who book great bands and sure those bands who go on stage and just deliver (even after a long drive from Paris to Hamburg, a drive that included 5 hours of traffic jam).

And sure thing for those who got out on the street and said NO G20 and FCK G20.

And if you like reading with a backdrop of helicopter rotors and them troubles – why not try a book by Adrian McKinty?
2017/07/13