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Tag: Hafenklang

  • … enjoyin’ the contrast: Blind Delon vs. Pointed Sticks!

    … enjoyin’ the contrast: Blind Delon vs. Pointed Sticks!

    When it comes to books, then i tend to trust authors but also publishing houses, editors and translators. When it comes to music it is the same: There are bands i trust but also venues, bookers and tour organizers get a similar credit from me.

    And because of that trust, i get to see pairings like on this cold Friday evening.

    Who else than Fab, booker at the Hafenklang, would entertain the idea of pairing a a young French cold-wave, electro and/or synth-punk band with an old (all the way from 1978) and in some circles legendary punk and/or power pop band from Canada`?

    As wide as that mixture was also the audience, clearly split in half (and a mere 50 odd people upstairs at the Hafenklang).

    First Blind Delon from Toulouse, France. A home & solo project that turned into something bigger and live shows.

    They set the scene like this:

    In their black granite spaceship, the cabin crew moves in slow motion, freed from weightlessness. Sinking into the dark depths of the universe, the members of the Techno Finale 666 mission are watching with fear and resignation our galaxy moving away until it becomes a tiny point of light. 

    In the large empty halls of the machine, the synthetic and freezing hymns of Blind Delon resonate.

    And then they surprised me big once they entered the stage: What initially felt like them tuning the effect boards and instruments turned actually into the first song, much like an intro, that in the end sounded like a soundtrack to said space movie.

    Wow, two guys with a Mac, massive effect boards and plexiglass guitar & bass throwing out soundscapes that with closed eyes almost felt like coming from an orchestra.

    Blind Delon (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 07.11.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)

    From there they took it into a territory that i normally do not savvy too much, someone more in the know mentioned Cassandra Complex as a reference but only the love of my life knows that kind of mu-sick.

    Within that, they also had short and fast bangers like this:

    Checking them out in the internet (damn internet, never forgets) this seems to be typical for the more recent output that is seeing the band moving in a new direction, approaching post-metal from their post punk roots.

    On the other hand they also have these lengthy and dark soundscapes too:

    All of that with “only” two guys manipulating strings? No, far from – though i am not a musician i sense that the two massive effect boards they sported help with that. The sheer look of those again is very … SciFi!

    Effect Boards of Blind Delon (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 07.11.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)

    Now try their stuff over at Bandcamp to find out if it fits you:

    As said, half of the audience liked it, moving silently and slowly to the sound, some actually admitted they hated it. I did dig it, despite that it ain’t my style but i had to recognize that they did their stuff very well.

    And thus they surprised me, big time.

    Pointed Sticks, haling from Vancouver, BC, outta Canaduh (and a mere 7.706 KM away from Hamburg) took the stage next and kicked off like this:

    For those grown up on 1999s Pop Punk covers of “Out Of Luck” that must have been way too Pop, way too much harmony. But that is what they always have been, a real cool power pop band originating from the Punk and New Wave scene in Vancouver.

    Pointed Sticks (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 07.11.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)

    And they still feature every one of it’s original members, well aged and still in-tune to provide a more than decent entertainment: Multi-vocal harmonies, nice guitar overcast, keyboard to provide some extra width in sound and a solid back line of drum and bass to keep it going forward.

    Pointed Sticks (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 07.11.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)

    This time round the other half of the audience got to move, a wee bit more extrovert. And for a finishing touch they closed their set with … Out Of Luck, as wanted by the lot:

    As much as in 2019 at the Molotow the Pointed Sticks delivered a completely unpretentious power pop set, for some maybe too much grounded in simple rock – but that is what they have been doing all of their life.

    As i had great companionship with Luke of Spitfire Stevens fame i stayed on for another sip, some free floating associative thinking and discussion about corpses in flight cases and consequential cold cases.

    And, whilst strolling uphill & home, i was thinking about how successful Fab paired two bands with a style wide apart – without that, i would not have experienced something completely new.

    And that is why i trust his choices!

    Much appreciated, sure as much as both bands appearing on our shores in the first place. Without touring, there would not be fun.

  • … perfect wall of sound vs. enchanted power pop: Küken & The Marked Men!

    … perfect wall of sound vs. enchanted power pop: Küken & The Marked Men!

    That was a wee bit of a surprise: The Marked Men would grace Hamburg again, 10 years after their triumphant Get!Lost!Fest! #2 set. And they got paired with a perfect counterpart:

    Where the Marked Men give the lot catchy power pop, fast and simple rhythm, driving drumbeats and chorus driven song structures Hamburg’s very own Küken are a guarantee for …

    … fast, forceful and simple wall of sound proto punk with perfect twin vocals.

    I was hoping for a packed show, in reality the turnout for this early Sunday show (doors at 19:00, start short after 20:00) was slow to arrive and best “well filled“. Which, under the current struggles of Clubs to fill shows, was ok i guess.

    Küken took some extra time to get on stage and kicked into the set with one of my favorites, that is “RnR Band” for a start:

    Bang, there almost ain’t no better start into a tight and fast set.

    And that is their custom anyway, not a lot of chitchat but pushing out songs one after the other. Given that all songs are well below the 02:00 mark the focus anyway is on the continuous barrage of chords and the driving drums.

    Küken (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 03.11.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)

    That paired with the same voice twice dual singing is simply a perfect niche in this vast genre. Call it Punk, call it Garage, call it Proto Punk … or simply stick Rock’n’Roll to it.

    Here is the finishing touch, more on that RnR side of things:

    It was not a surprise that Küken came across absolutely tight and near perfect, as this show was the topping of a short run from Leipzig via Berlin back to Hamburg.

    Oh my, for my ears this was a perfect set!

    Get your dose of Küken below and make sure you order all of their records. Even Jeff Burke scored Kücken III after the show at the merch table!

    Next The Marked Men and in classic unpretentious style they took next to nothing to set themselves up and kicked off with one of their classic hymns:

    Thanks indeed for giving us again the chance to spend “A little time” with you guys and sing-a-long to this beauty of a pop (like in popular) song:

    Just give a little bit of time
    'Cause you know that you can never live before you die
    Get out of the way
    You know a little spilled blood will make a nice distraction

    Can’t cap your lid, but booze that mind
    I don’t care you know it’s not a loss if it’s not our dime
    It’s just a little hit
    You gotta grow up with the X on

    [Bridge]

    It’s just a little bit of time outside
    With the ones who care on our side
    Just a little bit of time outside
    Just a world of
    You’ll get your life to say
    Just a little bit
    Just a little of it

    (c) 2006 The Marked Men / SESAC

    The Internet (damn Internet, never forgets) has the simple truth on this one:

    It’s a perfect song: the way everyone comes in a split second before the vocals hit, the way everything drops away for the guitar lead and the bass drum, the way it breaks after the chorus where the guitars start dueling each other with clean chords being picked at note by note.

    Alex Barett for Razorcake (2012)

    The only item that felt a bit off was somewhat the sound: In front of the stage it sounded less powerful than i would have expected, though overall at the end it felt ok.

    My wild guess: The perfect and loud wall of sound by Küken set a precedence that anyway The Marked Men with their style would never reach.

    The Marked Men (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 03.11.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)

    What the lot got was skillful guitar work, melodies and multi-vocal singing, slower songs and faster ones – a happy mix from the overall Marked Men Œuvre.

    Listening to all 4 long players prior to the show for something like a warm-up i was stunned (though i should have known better) how consistent they sound. Some may say “everything sounds the same” but i rather call it a consistent sound across a rather short period (2003 to 2008).

    Here is another one, showcasing the solid rhythm section, the twin guitar work and vocal harmonies – a perfect chemistry:

    On top i was also happy to see that in front of the stage yet again a large (and largely younger) female contingent was both enjoying it and happily dancing along. It was a great reminder on what type of mu-sick is being played: (Power) Pop Music like in Popular Music.

    Somewhat many folks where happy that the early show ended – unsurprisingly – early on a dark November Sunday evening, i continued to hang around, chatting with friends and having a post show beer (or two).

    And ended up saying two times “good bye” to my favorite (and overworked) booker – thanks yet again Fab for running this shit against all odds.

    And as unpretentious as both bands delivered and enabled a great evening i realized that this show actually qualified for my shortlist of Show Of The Year.

    Rightfully!

    Fun thing: Franz from Otis Tours bumped into plenty Punk Rock Raduno regulars from Hamburg with a broad smile…
  • … sane evening in a doomed scenery!

    … sane evening in a doomed scenery!

    It had been a shitty last week (being off with a severe cold, luckily not Covid) and it had been an even more shitty start of the week with two loved ones being admitted to hospital. In order to get my mind focused elsewhere i decided for a full-on blast by Hellshock, despite their sound not being a 100% up my mu-sick-al alley.

    Support was to be A.F.K. but they had too pull out due to an even more tragic event, Atom Atom jumped in to provide support. I was somewhat happy, as ever since i saw them supporting Nightfeeder in June i took a liking in them.

    Atom Atom (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 15.10.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)

    They kicked off to about 60odd folks upstairs at the Hafenklang and initially it sounded … shite. Bass too loud, Guitar too silent, vocals somewhat working … it took a while until both the band and the sound guy had a better sound worked out.

    But from there they took it exactly into the territory that made me dig them: Speed, umpf and some neat variations away from hammering H/C and/or D-Beat. And their biggest assets remains to be the vocals: Growls from the Guitar, anything from Screams to Opera from the Bass. Cool, ctd.

    Atom Atom (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 15.10.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)

    By all means, check them out yourself – they are definitely worth it. On record they sound like this:

    Go, see them live and buy one of these beauties!

    Next Hellshock and something completely different. Hailing from Portland (OR) in the US of A aka Stumptown they have been around a while, i guess 25 odd years or so.

    And what do the experts say (as i never saw them nor heard them prior)?

    But what made Hellshock special then? Not unlike Atrocious Madness, Hellshock took the sense of Japanese intertextuality and applied it to vintage late 80's crust while keeping that PDX punk sound.

What did i get in real?

    A 5 piece, Drums/Bass centered and setting the pace, twin guitar and a singer that only ever sings with one fist in the air. To my single-minded mu-sick-al mind it sounded like mid tempo crust–doom–metal most of the time, though there where songs where they flirted with guitar overcasts (great!) and speed (nice!).

    Hellshock (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 15.10.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)

    Their main asset to me was exactly in the middle, the Drummer and the Bass expertly kept it together and defined direction and pace, the Bass even throwing in a few chorus lines and – even better – some great Bass lines up and down the neck.

    Most of the audience liked it, had their fist in the air and hammered down on the sound. I have to admit that they won’t convince me down their path but what they do they do very good.

    And it gave my stomach the right push to overcome sorrow.

    If you are into this niche, then by all means check them out:

    Nice little show, perfect surrounding but all of it under the continued overshadow of the nightmare i would call “Blackmail on the Hafenklang”.

    It is frustrating to see and hear people i trust, when it come to mu-sick-al choices and in running shows, spending their time on … accusations. On blackmail. On … being asked to take side in a fucking monstrosity.

    Late pullouts due to … the damn internet spinning a high speed, because someone believes he/she needs to support a cause. At all cost.

    At the cost of others, sure thing.

    That frustration somewhat eats away parts of a good show. Damn.

    Here is what the Hafenklang has to say on the matter:

    Hafenklang’s comments on concert cancellations, boycotts and red lines

Our stage has been used by so many artists who condemn totalitarian regimes, nationalism and fascism, and we want it to stay that way! Because all the people who work in this club stand firmly behind these ideas. We condemn war and the militarisation of society and call for a ceasefire and an end to the senseless killing of civilians.

We stand in solidarity with the civilian population in Gaza and Lebanon. We also strongly criticise the right-wing government and Israeli settlement policy, naming human rights violations and war crimes committed in violation of international law, while at the same time not questioning the right of the state of Israel to exist! Emancipatory politics means to us that we have to practice what we preach and therefore, of course, we allow different opinions and endure things.

„IF YOU ARE NOT WITH US, YOU ARE AGAINST US…“
HOWEVER, WE SEE THIS AS ANTI-DEMOCRATIC ATTITUDE!


Until a few weeks ago, we would not have thought it possible that we would have to publicly respond to such accusations. After all, we have just received appreciation, respect and recognition for decades of independent cultural work in the form of over 200,000 euros from 3,500 donors in just a few days.

Instead of dealing with the sensible use of the money, we are currently spending immeasurable energy and measurable time dealing with hostility, ultimatums and calls for boycotts. Which are related to the war in the Middle East. Hafenklang is already on blacklists, being labelled almost simultaneously as racist, Zionist, anti-German, anti-Semitic, left-wing extremist or even fascist. BDS or its sympathisers contact booked acts and demand cancellations. A lot of pressure is being exerted in an aggressive dynamic. In the last week alone, we have received four cancellations of upcoming concerts.


The Hafenklang music club is run by an association of about 60 people. In May 2024, there was an extraordinary general meeting to discuss and vote on the publication of a statement regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Fully aware of the self-destructive explosivenees, especially in subcultural structures, and in view of the fact that there are a wide range of opinions and definitions internally, we decided by a majority not to publish a statement. The conflict and its history are really too complex for us to take a clear, striking and, above all, collective stand. This is blowing up in our faces now.


So what is going on?


First of all, the following information: a total of five bookers with their own decision-making authority worked for the club last year. So far, not a single show has been cancelled by our side. In a single case, it was decided during the planning process not to book a band that had not yet been confirmed, let alone publicly announced, due to differences in content. There is no and never has been any „instruction“ or similar from the club side that pro-Palestinian artists are not allowed to perform at Hafenklang!


We do not perceive it as censorship to tell an act in advance, when asked, that we do not want anti-Semitism, undifferentiated hatred of Israel, national flags or Hamas propaganda on our stage.


We do not want our stage to be used to deepen the conflicts between people. We also know that our personal opinions would make no difference in the resolution of the conflict, which is completely
beyond our control. We believe that support and solidarity for the people who suffer from this conflict should not be expressed by discriminating against other people. There is no person whose life has a higher value than that of others. We want you to keep this in mind when you enter the Hafenklang

From: Hafenklang Website

From where i sit, they have my full support. I have spend the best part of the last 45 years now sucking up what was called Punk Rock back then and if there was one thing i learned, then it is if someone tries to force me to decide to take his standpoint ... most likely i won't.

    As the saying goes:

    A circle whose center is you has such a small radius that the rest of the world practically doesn't notice it.

    This is also called a point of view.

    The radius actually has to be exactly zero, but in practice a sufficiently small value works.