Hamburg has been damn hot for a couple of days, luckily this early Sunday show happened in a slightly cooled down Hafenklang where my favorite booker relentlessly promotes DIY Punk (in the most professional way possible) and seeks the special stuff, off the beaten track (and inside a great little niche).
As such he got his hands on Venenö, an absolute niche outta NYC. All members are battle hardened in other bands, here they come together from some real cool Post-Punk with a scent of Wipers (or French Cold-Oi, to add more labels).
The Caved supported the early show and where a little surprise: After 10 years Cavity/Search just had enough of the name and choose … i guess a restart with a new name.
The songs largely remained the same plus they where still selling some of their 2020 LP’s too.
They live by the large, room filling, voice of their singer Aga, the backdrop of the rhythm section is somewhat indeed in the background and the guitar also felt a bit less driving.
The Caved (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 21.06.2026)
(c) gehkacken.de 2026
For me it did not work too well this evening, somewhat it did not hit me as much as i wished. Friends around where quite of a different opinion, so it must have been me again.
They had their fans, they got a fair share of applause (with i guess 20odd people attending still tough to drive & accept feedback) and there was nothing wrong with them preparing for Venenö.
And the lads from NYC kicked off like this:
Wow, that had much more umpf and hard edges than i thought upfront! Much to my liking i have to admit!
Vocals are in Spanish, both Bass and Guitar sing. The Drummer makes plenty of funny faces whilst playing but boy hits utmost hard and drives the sound forward in a very literate way. Sometimes he even got up from the stool to hit super hard.
Venenö (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 21.06.2026)
(c) gehkacken.de 2026
The longer they played the better it sounded and the more folks i noted with smiles on their faces and somewhat tapping along to the music with their feet.
At the end the enthusiastic few in front of the stage pressed Venenö for an extra, they had already played all they ever had (rehearsed and recorded) so after a short internal debate they opted for something not by them.
And that was a indeed a cover from Paralisis Permanente (thanks to Thomas K, always in the know, to hint at that), straight out of the 80s.
Overall the songs and presentation where much harder, with more edges, more drive than on the records, live that definitely made utmost sense.
To an extend it lost a little bit the softer side, as here on their EP, but that was not a bad thing at all:
I already scored both records a couple of months ago from my trusted dealership, so i did let go the offer “buy both EP’s and get one T-Shirt for free“. Others did grab ’em, also the tape they had on offer sold well.
I would suggest you give it a try too, if you like it hop over to Sounds Of Subterrania and get ’em there (sans shirt)!
Great early Sunday (though again with the most shitty lights setup drenching everything in red) with a sadly small but expert turnout. And the continued assurance that both my favorite booker and my trusted vinyl dealership pick good choices. In my favorites niches.
And the best: I can trust that like minded people around me share the urge, interest and curiosity. Perfect!
