Gelesen: 05. – 11.12.2016 netto 408 Seiten (Englisches Original, auf Deutsch bei Suhrkamp Nova erschienen).
Und nochmal England, nochmal Punk Rock und nochmal eine unfassbare Ehrlichkeit. Wie Steve Jones nimmt auch Viv Albertine keine Rücksicht auf sich selbst und packt in ihre Biographie aber auch alles rein.
Sie war früh Teil der Punk Szene rund um den Sex-Shop von McLaren/Westwood und war lange mit Mick Jones von den Clash zusammen. Und bekannt mit allem was damals noch nicht berühmt war, zum Beispiel Keith Levine, Johnny Thunders, John Simon Ritchie oder John Lydon. Dazu war sie Teil der Slits, der Großmutter aller Riot-Grrrl Bands.
Ihr Leben ist tatsächlich ein Rückblick wert und genauso wie bei Steve Jones ist im ersten Teil gut zu erkennen in was für einer Gemengelage sowas wie Punk entstehen konnte. Dannach wird es aber schnell persönlich und Viv erzählt mit guter Distanz aber Ehrlichkeit zum Detail wie es ihr so in der Szene ergangen ist. Dazu der Ausstieg 1982 und die Suche nach einer neuen Bestimmung und der großen Liebe. Und der Sucht nach dem Leben.
Da Buch ist einfach Klasse, Viv hat einfach Klasse!
Mehr von Viv:
Soundtrack dazu:
PS: Das Buch ist in Deutsch bei Suhrkamp Nova erschienen, übersetzt von Conny Lösch (ein Qualitätsmerkmal).
Viv Albertine – A typical Girl (Suhrkamp Nova, 2016)
The 2nd edition of the HH-Soundtrack event was in some ways a fun copy of the previous: Same bands, same problems. This time round it was supposed to be the record release party of the Channel Rats but their brand new DIY CD did not make it in time to Hamburg – a quite some people looked forward to it (like last year to the Platzangst LP, now almost an urban legend).
HH-SOUNDTRACK 2016
C³I kicked off early and towards an almost empty Knust. A mere 50 people i’d say, half of them band members of the other acts. Damn, not a good start. But good to see them back and with a great outlook for their own LP, slated for release on 28.01.2017 (with a show at the Störtebeker).
Dominated by the unique bass play from Arne they pushed ahead and both transformed songs from the 80s and new material into a great sound. From all the bands to play most likely the most gifted ones and sure thing with a unique proposition.
And whilst they had their 2014 single on display on the stage it was Heiko Hamster who made an effort to stroll with a box of singles through the audience and force them upon the small crowd for an even smaller amount. DIY taken to the max i’d say – and it is a worthy effort that should sit in yer collection mate!
Next the supposed headliner, who dodged this duty most likely for a reason. And they kicked off like this:
That’s the original version, they have also now added a more rock’n’roll themed version to their set – that 2016 version is less of a blast and more of a rhythm. In the running up to their recording sessions for the CD they have practised a lot and have tightened their set – some songs where near perfect.
On the other hand it seemed that drummer Dennis was eager to speed things up so much that Andreas would not be able to follow with the vocals. With that style they destroyed a couple of songs and actually created a lot of question marks in the audience (not more than 100 by now).
And from the ashes of such mishaps (or on purpose jokes, who knows) they where able to come back with another new song in near perfect sound …
Done! Now we all look forward to the CD release, i am led to believe that they have spend a lot of time perfecting their songs and sound on it. Let’s see …
And that gave way to Sheep On A Tree, who now have played a couple of times over the year and done so with quite a variation of quality. They took the stage like this:
The sound to me was not the best and somehow there was a missing “umppff” in the stomach … don’t know if that was down to the sound operators of the Knust (normally very gifted) or the amp settings on the stage.
Sheep On A Tree (Knust, Hamburg, 09.12.2016) (c) gehkacken.de)
Sheep On A Tree made a crisp tour through their repertoire and did not bother too much with audience participation, i guess because it looked quite empty from up there. So just like during the Channel Rats set Hake decided to have a go at a song in the audience, thus luring the people closer.
By now the whole show did run late, people had already left and it was for the outsiders (on two counts: Daily Thompson where from far and their style was to be far out against the others too) to finish the Soundtrack 2016 off:
I had no clue what lay ahead for me with them but by the looks of the band members i guessed “Saint Vitus” and that seemed not too far off.
But they had a hard time – an almost empty space and an audience that only in parts where interested in their style. I too gave in at 01:00 and strolled home, it was a hard week with work travel and a show on Wednesday already, so i was not able to bite it down. Also them set as the end was somehow wrong – the line-up should have been Sheep’s staring, then Daily T, then C³I and then them Rats including handing out CD’s. But whom am i against the grim reality of HH-Soundtrack 2016?
Them Bones from sunny Karlskrona decided to take The Generators and Teenage Bottlerocket onto the road through Germany celebrating 20 years of their own punk’n’roll history. Whilst that is a great outlook to see two great bands it also came with some odd settings: A hefty door price of about 10€ per band (and pay per view i would have selected) and the oddest headliner stage setup possible – the support bands needed to set themselves up in front of the Bones stage setup. I do hate this and it always make me think rock-start-shit.
First on The Generators, as early as 20:30 they had to climb the stage and they were greeted with some smiles, cheers and thumbs-up from the rather small audience – Hamburg loves them!
The Generators (Knust, Hamburg, 07.12.2016) (c) gehkacken.de)
The smiles where returned from the stage – Doug, Mike and the rest where happy to be in Hamburg again and recognised that a mid-week evening might not be the most attractive day for a high energy punk show in Californian Style. Still, plenty of people in audience actually did sing-a-long to their songs!
Somehow the sound was better than at the Hafenklang last time round but still, due to little space that them Bones granted, it was not perfect (and the Knust now has an almost perfect sound system and capable staff). For me they are still one of the most underrated bands and their perfect studio sound is the one that i’d love to hear one day on stage … just like this:
Next on Teenage Bottlerocket and that with some hidden tears: The sudden death of drummer Brandon Carlisle is still a very very sad burden – i guess both for the band and the audience. They kicked off like this:
Jiha! Teenage Bottlerocket are back and they have not lost a thing – they where even able to cope with the small stage! By now more people where in front of the stage and more dancing was going on, though it as much more empty than eg. on Gerd’s 25th anniversary show.
Where The Generators generate the Californian sound Teenage Bottlerocket clearly generate the fun. And then some. And whilst watching them me and me mates game up with the ultimate show: The Lillingtons, The Methadones and Teenage Bottlerocket at the Hafenklang. One night. That’ll be … class.
And fun includes taking the piss out of Markus (age 17), who annoyed me earlier by taking a selfie in front of the stage whilst the band was playing. Never mind, we now know that he sells Crystal and other odd items. Or was this just a vehicle to showcase Ray’s German? He did a great job in entertaining the audience in local language!
And with “Radio” they called it a day and yet again did proof that they can do the tiny stage of the Meanie Bar (50 people max) and the large stage in the O2 Arena (fronting 10.000 people) – just give them the stage and they will create a lot of fun. I’d hope they come back as a real headliner soonest and give us a long and extensive set. And then some. Extra.
Next on The Bones and i do have their first two records but today do not follow them. Their sound is too perfect, too slick and too much rock style in my world. Me and me friends all assembled one by one at the bar over the course of the set and did not bother us with The Bones (we rather got chatting, talking, ranting and drinking. And one more. And one for the road).
The Bones (Knust, Hamburg, 07.12.2016 (c) gehkacken.de)
At the Knust they do show the stage on a large TV at the bar so you could see the band (and you hear it anyway) and also that did not lure me over. I only did a sneak peak once and was still not convinced by them, sorry Bones. Good but slightly expensive fun with good friends – even on weekday that is a priceless setting.
The Bones: Too much space in the audience on the dance floor ( (c) gehkacken.de)
