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… they get you, no matter what. Ruts DC mean it and they are here to stay!
A leisure Sunday, sunny and hot, crowned by Ruts DC returning to the Hafenklang and against all odds a second week of leave @home for me. An almost perfect setting though the expectation was a small turnout: A sunny Sunday on the back of a long weekend ain’t gonna lure people down to the harbour when they face a back to work alarm clock on Monday.

Still about 120 odd people showed up, most of them of age, and gave them Ruts a warm welcome, as always in Hamburg (up to and including some gifts from friendly members of the audience).

There where even some who mentioned “never saw them before” and for those it must have been quite a surprise as they would get all of the Ruts/RutsDC: The sing-a-long classics from 1979, the Dub-Fusion from the 80s/90s and new stuff just released.

A classic sing-a-long for sure got the crowd moving:

But they mixed their set in a nice way between their distinct different output and given the sunny and warm weekend in Hamburg most of the Reggae/Dub stuff (including the all time classic Jah War) got the crowd into real dancing.
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Ruts DC (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 28.05.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
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It remains one of my biggest pain points that i missed their January 1980 show at the Markthalle (i was a 15 year old school boy who was not really in control of his agenda yet and short of money) and it remains one of my biggest mysteries why they did not break big and i mean really big – they had it all and they had it all beyond punk. Damn smack!

Here is one more from the later output:

Because it was Hamburg they actually played an extended set, we got to get so much more also because their next date was opening for Die Toten Hosen in a stadium show in Magdeburg, something that only ever get’s them a 30 minute set (but hopefully some dough). So they played on, got the crowed dancing, sweating and drinking and even lured the audience into serving them some beer.

They played an encore and left for good, only to be cheered back onto stage again to end the set with a furious smasher:

Them Ruts: Loved as The Ruts in 1980, safe bets on party hits (Babylons Burning, Staring at the Rude Boys and and and), initial disliked as Ruts DC but soon converted to love their Dub output and today just a great band that is able to draw on a wide range of songs and styles. In within that, i feel back to 1980 when i first heard The Crack and was stunned by the variety of styles on that record.

And for those who want more – go and score the book. Heartbreaking but essential to understand why they did not reach the top. And make sure all Ruts records and all Ruts DC output is in your collection. It is worth it.

Responsible disclosure: I pledged for their book, i pledged for their last LP and 7″ and thus i must have been very biased. And guess what? I feel good about it, it is a worthy cause for musicians who should have made it bigger (and neither fallen early due to smack or later due to the fucking big C).

Ruts DC – they unite people!
2017/05/30
Bücher, schnell gelesen: Teil 1.244

Joe R. Lansdale – Bärenblues (Golkonda, 2016)

Gelesen: 23. – 28.05.2017, netto 268 Seiten

Und der nächste Hap & Leonard Knaller, auch wenn ich wieder komplett an der original Reihenfolge der Serie vorbei lese. “Bärenblues” (oder: The Two-Bear Mambo) ist der dritte Teil der Serie, aber das macht nichts.

Diesmal denken die beiden Helden an nichts anderes als die Ex von Hap (die, die er in Mucho Mojo an einen Cop verloren hat) in einem vom Klan beherrschten Provinzkaff zu suchen. Und da die Ex eine schwarze Anwältin ist die den Tod eines Schwarzen im lokalen Gefängnis untersuchen wollte sind sich Hap & Leonard ziemlich sicher was passiert ist.

Und landen voll in der Kacke. Und sind einmal nicht die Helden sondern müssen mit eingezogenem Schwanz und vielen Blessuren zurück nach Hause. Und daran haben die beiden Bären zu knabbern und daher auch ihr Bärenblues.

Das am Ende die Geschichte natürlich aufgeklärt wird ist klar, dennoch ein echter Verliererkrimi – alle beteiligten verlieren (ihr Leben, ein Auge und und und). Und ein Unwetter mit einem Staudammbruch wäscht das Provinzkaff einfach dahin.

Fast schon ein prophetischer Roman!

Soundtrack dazu: Flanders 72, was sonst?

2017/05/28
… ever been bulldozed in a dark cellar? Thanks Kücken & Sick Horse for that feeling!
Ever since Sick Horse where the surprise winner of the Get Lost Fest IV in 2016 me and others where eager to see them again and put our hand on some vinyl output. Fast forward to May 2017 and both wishes came through.

They paired with Hamburg’s local heroes Küken, who just released their 2nd record and they graced the Komet, a fun location with a stage deep down in a cellar two levels under the street. It is a tiny and dark room and more of an excravation site than a music club.

Küken kicked off first and do not complain about things being dark, that is how dark it is down there. I did capture only one song of them on video as i was just stunned by the set and unfortunately it was one out of 14 songs that had the guitar completely out of tune – so not worth to share.

They blasted through their set with little breaks and at 150 miles an hour, within like 25 minutes they seemed to have played their entire output (one 7″ and two 12″) at almost break-neck speed. Stunning performance!
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Kücken (Komet, Hamburg, 24.05.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
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Within the wider genre of Rock’n’Roll and what is left of Punk Rock this little gem of a band have perfected their own niche, their owns sound. Some people hear Wipers, some people hear Pagans and even others seem to find a scent of Buzzcocks. I just hear a perfect wall of sound, at high speed and with absolute great twin singing (taking full advantage of the fact that both bass and guitar are effectively twins). And after 35 minutes – bang, they stopped. No thanks, no encore. Done!

Next Sick Horse and by now said cellar was almost packed (which would equate to 50 odd people i’d recon) and they had some eager fans waiting. After some initial issues with some effect boards they came on and they took the audience, as expected, by storm.

And a bright smile came through on my face and on the face of me mates – we had the right feel after the Get Lost Fest IV that Sick Horse are actually a mighty force. And they too have nurtured a distinct sound (with a scent of Surf, some Twang! and some speed) that makes them so worthwhile.
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Sick Horse (Komet, Hamburg, 24.05.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
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The only item down there of worry was the position of the bass player – either standing in front of the stage facing the drums or crouching himself under the loudspeaker and taking care of not hitting his head rather than moving.

I was sold anyway prior to the show but seeing them blasting through their entire LP (go and listen to it here in full and go and buy it here!). What describes them best seems to be this quote from the web:
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Big, groovy, polytoxicoman, psychedelic, punk rock nightmare debut long player by Berlins' unpredictable, multi-dysfunctional, multinational boy group. As majestic, tragic, delirious and powerful as...well, a Sick Horse. Buy it.
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There is nothing more to add than to just try to capture said beauty again during the sole encore:

They have it. They also seemed to be high on drugs but i guess that made them only play better. And they seem to all come from wide and different backgrounds so there are chances that they just burn out. My hope though is that they see it through and achieve some reasonable success – they have it!

I did score two Sick Horse LP’s (one for me, on for an absent mate) and i was not the only one taking home this great record.

So eager to see them again, on a bigger stage and as headliner!
2017/05/28