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Tag: Hafenklang

… you can’t beat that surf undercurrent, no you can’t!
The mighty Night Birds where back in town, one of the most underrated bands when it come to me: They are the perfect blend of H/C and Surf and they most likely have the most versatile guitar player around with PL Russo.

Nervous Assistant (Hafenklang Hamburg, 14.04.2016 (c) gehkacken.de)

Kick-off was quite early and with 4 unpretentious lads from Bremen (of all places). Within the first song it was quite clear that they where tight, together and they actually had found a very unique sound – both the musical backdrop but first and foremost they way the singer delivers the vocals.

Wow – another one of these surprises you only get when you go out and see shows (i guess i would have never encountered them else). Great stuff and – besides some guitar wanking and the beard of the bass player – delivered with style. They should have deserved a wee bit more people in front of the stage but you could sense that people did dig them. Well done!

Next and without a lot of changes the Night Birds. Last time round they played upstairs, this time round the bigger stage downstairs. It was not really packed but a good turnout for a rather odd Thursday evening in April.

And they kicked off like this:

Yep, that’s the Night Birds. Hard hitting and taking no prisoners from the first chord. Also the different stage persons and movements on stage fit perfectly and bring across in an excellent fashion juvenile angst grounded in classic H/C and a heavy heavy scent of surf.
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Night Birds (Hafenklang Hamburg, 14.04.2016) (c) gehkacken.de)
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I don’t know if Brian was doing a Spinal Tap thingy when praising the Hafenklang (and that is something that can’t be done enough) and re-thinking where it was (in Hamburg mate, in Hamburg) and suggesting to people to better move here. But damn, he was right anyway!

And they did not waste too much time and continued to blast the audience away with no stop-over.

Yep, that fuels all my needs. Without the slightest doubt. Hang on, all my needs? Nope, actually not all my needs – my Surf requirements have not yet been met (and “Having an average weekend” also was not delivered). Damn, would i end up an unhappy bunny?

No, i would not. And in preparation for their final song they delivered another classic surf theme…

Now i was a happy bunny and risk of mutiny down at the harbor front was done away with. The only shortcoming was that the set was rather short and very early the show was done and me and me mates where about to leave.

That said, i did not leave on a bad feeling as me mate Thomas had a neat gift for me: The Freeze – Someone’s bleeding EP limited edition in yellow vinyl (from that dutch guy who runs Gummopunx – dank je wel!). Perfect night out with surprise on support, class on main and free vinyl. Happy Bunny all over indeed!
2016/04/15
… April again? Must be time for Poison Idea then … and some free beer!

Jerry only got it by a couple of days off – almost a year ago Poison Idea where in Europe and graced the Hafenklang. This time round they are on a month long trip through out Europe, from Rotterdamn across mainland Europe, Scandinavia and back to Amsterdamned. A tough ride i’d say with plenty of shows.

Sort Of Sober (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 06.04.2016 (c) gehkacken.de)

First on Sort Of Sober who stepped in for Restmensch (and are actually 1/5th Restmensch, nevermind). Female fronted punk rock with some subtle elements of … all sort of other things. What worked well was when the singer and the guitar player traded vocals back/forth and when the other guitar did throw in a tiny scent of surf-style guitar. And when they did sing in spanish, of all languages.

Some other things did not work for me at all, namely their ABBA cover (and some of the bumpier mu-sick). But overall not a bad impression and if they do more of scream, growl and back/forth and pair that with versatile mu-sick they will make my day!

“Hello and good evening ladies and gents…aaahhhh” from Jerry A (slimmed down again), Eric Olson (flying V not polished), Brandon Bentley (hair not spiked), Chris Carey (bass not well connected) and a new kid on the drums: Mickey Widmer (with gloves). And off it went – with Poison Idea’s massive list of songs that actually rarely sucks we thus were on the road to some great entertainment.

Poison Idea (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 06.04.2016 (c) gehkacken.de)

There was a wee bit of a slow start, at least in my ears they where not glued together initially and the typical massive PI-Heavydutytruck-blasting-over-you Sound only came through over the course of the set. Did they party too much the day before in Berlin? Tired? Under the influence? Cold? No clue and it also did not matter much!

What did matter though was the fact that someone actually tried to tell Jerry that Jever was a good beer. Scandal! It might be a good free beer but for me it ain’t the right choice. But hey, they sponsor somehow the Hafenklang and the bands (and put that high quality expensive deluxe sign on the stage,there, back in the right far corner), so let’s be friendly and un-punk … for once.

But it did not stop them to throw more slabs of killer songs onto the well packed Hafenklang (for a rainy Wednesday it was quite some turnout) and get the crowd going. There where some misses though, if i had commandment over the set list i’d love to see some more songs from especially “We must burn” but that again is selfish me. With 11 Albums, 24 EP’s and some contributions to compilations they have a rooster way too big to be condensed into a single set.

Poison Idea (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 06.04.2016 (c) gehkacken.de)

And because of that huge rooster the final song was to be … not from Poison Idea. But from history. So with some smoke from the machinery, the standard tour joke (“It’s our drummers birthday, give him some weed“) they kicked into a longtime standard – for the very last time Jerry claimed. We took note of that, mate, we took note!

So was it something special? No. Was it something new? No. Was it something that will stand out? No. It was plain good entertainment and music savored in they way it should be: Live, from a touring band and paying for band and club to keep them going. It’s time for retirement, i may then do that every single day.

2016/04/07
… Punk Rock live rule #6345: shitty sound is for the support stint not for the main act!
It wasn’t the best start into a Friday night show: I was sick most of the week, my team managed to loose despite scoring 3 goals, me mates who would accompany me to footie and to the show where off sick and i had plenty of time walking from the Millerntor down to the Hafenklang to replay the grotesque game i just had seen. Aaarrgghhhhhhhh….

At least the Hafenklang was warm, friendly (i had my ear protection forgotten at home but thanks to the lovely girl behind the bar got a replacement) and to-be full of fellow old punks. And actually it was to be sold out (no surprise, given The Generators street-credibility and musical capabilities) and one of me mates came late from the game and without a ticket and was … unlucky. Not very clever mate!

Toxic Vapors (Hafenklang, Hamburg 11.03.2016 (c) gehkacken.de)

First on Toxic Vapors from ~100km south of Hamburg, so they do not pass as locals. They kicked of with a tight and fast version of “Filler” (Minor Threat) followed by “Boredom” (Buzzcocks) before relating to own material. The unsatisfactory first slot, as ever, was paired with ignorance by the crowd. But they managed through that and at the end they got some smiles. The Toten Hosen cover though was something i would always let go.

The Lamplighters (Hafenklang, Hamburg 11.03.2016 (c) gehkacken.de)

Next The Lamplighters from Sachsen-Anhalt who impressed me on many fronts: High on the list for rather pointless band name, a guitar player with a huge effect board (almost like in a surf band) and a bass player who centers (but does not sing). Very unusual and surprisingly good! The only item that did put me down was the fact the songs where almost all one tempo – variation please!

Unfortunately i only captured a short snippet and that from the side of the stage, but listen for yerself…

They got quite some applause from the by now full house and they seems to have thoroughly enjoyed the set.

But the crowd was waiting for Doug, Mike and the rest of The Generators – and they got it in a “wham-bam-thank-you-mam” fashion:

Shitty sound, technical issues and a bass player AWOL. That’s punk rock and it does not stop The Generators. For my liking the drums where to loud, the guitars to silent and the stage light too dark. Never mind, some of it got corrected during the set but the sound never was quite right (maybe on stage, but that is not really helpful for the audience).

But on stage they seem not to care too much, handled technical issues like pros (more or less) though Doug sometimes asked probing questions to his fellow band members (“Are we ready…?“). Still, the fun prevailed and they took course through the rather large Œuvre of 10 long players and some more and were met by an enthusiastic crowd (with an eye for detail and typical Hamburg hospitality ie. serving them some Jägermeister on stage).
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The Generators (Hafenklang, 11.03.2016) (c) gehkacken.de)
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And what more? Endless encores, i lost count after like six or so. So here is some more mu-sick to make you jealous (if you stood outside without a ticket mate):

That should have been the theme for the sound actually, “There gotta be a better way …“.

And on the final return to the stage they finally had an ear for the endless requests from the audience for “… play some Schleprock” (somehow this must be a bit of an annoying legacy i guess) – they gave a no frills version of my loveliest Schleprock song:

I guess that one went out to all the cheerleaders who talk to much, eh?

Luv it, just luv it! And it makes me so jealous that some of me mates saw Schleprock at PRB15 last year, damn them forever!

They blasted for 1 1/2 hours, took no prisoners and boy Doug is the perfect front man no matter what (by the looks, by the smile, by the commandeering of the crowd and sure by the voice). If only, if only – the sound would have been perfect. Then it would have been a perfect set, from a perfect band and would have wiped away my footie tears with endless joy. But hey, i am complaining from a very comfortable point of view and for fucks sake this is punk fucking rock!

With a nice Generators shirt for me wife i headed home and felt all fine again: good show, saw a lot of faces and finished of a bad week (out of work being sick) in best possible way. Thanks Hafenklang, Toxic Vapors, The Lamplighers and The Generators!
2016/03/13