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Tag: Hafenklang

… of cunts, tits and Hard Skin: The tale of Riebe ruining the show circut!
Thanks to Riebe Hard Skin made a short stop-over whilst on a mini-tour through northern Europe and almost packed the Goldener Salon upstairs at the Hafenklang. Nice’n’cozy and quite full, coupled with the promise of a working club show to get us to bed early, so that we can be up early for work on Monday.

Hard Skin seemed a wee bit tired (after a lengthy drive from sunny Malmö) and Fat Bob being a bit under the weather from a cold. Nevertheless they armed the stage just short after 21:00 and blasted into their sing-a-long hits – but not without complimenting Exhibit A for the nice tits (and making it clear that in some jurisdictions shirtless dancing means being expelled from the premises, something that in hindsight might have been a good idea in the first place).

But all of that did not stop them to tip off to Status Quo:

Besides some awful behaviour in front of the stage by Exhibit A, Exhibit B and Exhibit C it was all that a Hard Skin show needed, though sans some of the lectures normally given.
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Hard Skin (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 22.01.2017) (c) gehkacken.de)
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Whilst Hard Skin where Hard Skin the Exhibits made themselves … Exhibits. A was taunted from the Stage, B was moved into the silent corner by force at one stage and C tried to take it on with Fat Bob and got removed. Following the removal Hard Skin suggested to bring everyone back altogether and set sail into “If the cunts are united”:

… and because Exhibit C decided to take some fights with himself, with Exhibit D (like Drunk) and the world as such outside the club the song got stopped. Exhibit A by now had a shirt on, Exhibit B was no longer seen … it is quite a long time ago that i did see so many Exhibits at a show. Odd.

Hard Skin and one of the exhibits ( Pic by Alan Ford, (c) gehkacken.de)

Nevermind, after a break Hard Skin came back and provided some encore, but still finished the show early enough so that people would get home in time. And thus they gave us (and them exhibits) “Taken Away“:

And, any morale? Nope, there ain’t no lesson hard enough to penetrate them brains (of them Exhibits) – so we better not waste time on that one. We’d rather pass the blame to Riebe for bringing violence, drugs, nudism and … let’s make it wanking to our little, peaceful and quiet community (on our pleasant and flat earth).

… an audience with a problem …. ( Pic by Alan Ford, (c) gehkacken.de)

So thanks for that Mate! And for the show. The flyer. And the cardboard posters!

Hard Skin Flyer ( (c) Riebe 2017)
2017/01/24
… A Giant Dog from Austin, Texas, on a quiet Wednesday evening!
Every once in a while i listen to friends “in the know” and go out and see bands that fall outside my standard view – A Giant Dog from Austin. TX, does so. They came through Hamburg on an awful December evening, a Wednesday on top of everything. So no surprise the show was moved from the large stage downstairs to the more cozy Goldener Salon.

I thing about 25 people made it and they got to see a strange one: Sound deeply grounded in Power-Pop, the female singer a real stage persona with a lovely voice and a strange outfit that looked like from either a Las Vegas showgirl or from a gymnastics athlete.
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A Giant Dog (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 14.12.2016) (c) gehkacken.de)
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They delivered about 55 Minutes with two encores and they delivered it well – not set off by the rather limited audience. It took them some time to get into it i felt during the first songs but then they worked like a unit. A unit though with an eye-catcher at the front (or down in the pit).

I guess i still would not buy one of their records but you can see that they are both seasoned musician and able to pin down some smart pop tunes with an edge. The edge actually is the voice of Sabrina paired with the voice Andrew – they work well together. And Sabrina delivers it with a smile, a blink/wink and strange stage moves.

Else? I’d better quote the internet (damn internet, never forgets):

Copyright 2016 TheLondonEconomic.com

For a lousy, cold, wet and foggy Wednesday it was a perfect time out with live mu-sick! Well done TKO, surprise worked well!
2016/12/15
… UK 1982 can still be a surprise thanks to The Defects!
The Defects from sunny Belfast are in my record collection (with their first 7″ from 1981) and i never considered them favourites – though some of me mates swear they can pull a great show. That swearing (and the fact they where paired with Sheep on A Tree) got me down to the Hafenklang on a warm weekday, thanks to moving house that location is now only a short stroll downhill from me home.

From the start it was not to be a full house but more a meeting of the old friends and Blackpool pilgrims – a mere 50 people made it and thus the large room downstairs felt a wee bit empty.

Kick off early with Sheep on A Tree and this time round they where not that together – some hickups and some speed issues (drums = full speed, guitar/bass – normal speed) and Hake on vocals more mumbling than shouting.
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Sheep on A Tree (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 07.09.2016) (c) gehkacken.de)
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Best moment indeed was when they played the Intro as the 5th song and showed how brilliant their guitar work at high speed can be. As i do love them anyway i did not complain though they did not get the same energy across as on previous shows.

And depending on where you sit a fun/no fun moment with Pohl, who correctly argued on “sharing economy” with someone in the audience only to pester that guy later to get him a Whiskey from the bar. And guess what? He got his drink, served to the stage. Stunning!

With little changeover The Defects took the stage and as with many of the bands from their time and their location they are now unpretentious old lads – and with these looks they stormed into a class set!

“Traffic Island Castaway” apparently was for Malcolm Owen of Ruts fame and indeed i could make out some nice references. I think compared to what i had in my head (and from that only 7″ in my collection) they had nicely speeded up things and they also had perfect the guitar play.
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The Defects (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 07.09.2016) (c) gehkacken.de)
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And short and speedy they did, here comes “Defective Breakdown” from their 1983 LP:

The more they played, the better they got and growing appreciation from the small crowd came in return. They also liked the rather large amount of “The Outcasts” T-Shirts worn by at least 5 people in the crowd, i think this is in the good old tradition of punks from Hamburg loving and adoring punk music from the fellow harbour town of Belfast.

And whilst they played a short and crisp set they also found time for another encore and another nod off to The Ruts – here is “In A Rut” for you:

And with that they sure thing had won over the audience! As ever there is nothing better than to check out bands live – surprises are out there, still.

All in all a perfect weekday entertainment and with a Defects T-Shirt for me love in my hands i made the 2 minute stroll uphill to our new home. Priceless!
2016/09/11