Home grown often is good, sometimes it is bad and sometimes leaves you just speechless, both in a positive or negative sense. Spitfire Stevens are around for stunning 17 years but never touched my heart nor impressed my ear – and i just did not bother to see one of the rare life shows prior.
And then they did a mighty step forward, recorded under proper direction and put so much effort into their first release. And set a record release party, down at the harbour.
And indeed that is a mighty setlist (and some clever hints on mu-sick) and it lured quite a large audience into the small location – mostly friends of the band who seemed as proud of the band as the band is of the record. And, mu-sick-al connoisseurs too, Spitfire Stevens made a late start in trust that some more folks come over once the MS Hedi (hosting Flanders 72) had taken dock again.
Spitfire Stevens (Hafenbahnhof, Hamburg, 18.05.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
From the start they got great appreciation and the space in front of the non-existing stage was packed. The mix of slower and faster songs, bellowed and almost spoken words and the great guitar work made it refreshingly diverse – from one song to the other the style almost changed. Here is “Last Show”, introduced by front man Luke as “… and now a short fast song, if we are able to get it done!”
Yes, they also get faster stuff done. But their strength is in the slower world, it is not a surprise that people compare them with Joy Division, Wipers, Saints or even The Sound. What makes it for sure unique is our beloved Mr. Gum-Knee Luke Stevens on front: Ain’t a poser, is just class and has a unique voice.
Spitfire Stevens (Hafenbahnhof, Hamburg, 18.05.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
And they even got help, Frank did join them for “In A Rut” and seems to be a stand-in singer now, we just had him helping Jam Today playing “That’s Entertainment” on Toni’s Farewell.
People started to dance (though hard in the packed space) and people indeed did smile big time. Next to the music i also did like that the band ensured that the stage visual was consistent and in style: Black suits, black shirts and sneakers. Whilst the rest of the band gave in to the heat soon it was Luke who stayed dressed to the end, though sweat kept dripping from his head like a waterfall.
Spitfire Stevens (Hafenbahnhof, Hamburg, 18.05.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
And once they finished their 17 songs set they reluctantly declared “that’s it” but where forced by peer pressure to stay … and play …. and stay on and play on. And in the encore they also played their signature song “Hollow Inside” again:
And that was it finally. 17 songs, 6 encores and quite some cheering. And a lot of people that took the 10″ with them, i am sure it will run on many record players on the weekend (it for sure will run on mine). And as so many friends where there sure thing someone had something extra for them…
…Fireworks:
And in full glory it looked like this:
A perfect release party, now i do hope that they can earn some success over the year and get a lot of chances to play – that will only make them tighter and sound even better.
I am a convinced Spitpunk now!
Get their 10″ from K-Klangträger now or at the next show! It is a god damn fucking 10″, the greatest format there is! Trust my greedy record collector mind.
And this is how it sounds on record and the video that made them just about to be famous:
