One of these nights. Fans watching sellouts. Boring`?
Far from, this evening was full of unexpected and somewhat expected surprises. A surprise indeed was that the show was moved downstairs into the larger room and that it ended up sold out. Somewhat a surprise, as The Meffs only had a not so full show on the MS Stubnitz last year to mark their ground in Hamburg.
A bigger surprise came for me mate Frosch and myself when the support to the support entered the stage and a very familiar face not seen for i guess 30odd years took residence behind the drums. Schnaps hail from the Harz mountain range and said drummer hails from the top of that mountain range. Welcome back to your home harbor, Christoph.
Schnaps have the same setup as The Meffs, just drums, guitar and singing, though the main singing is from the drummer. I guess i would drop them into the Deutsch-Punk cupboard, though they dub themselves as “SCHNAPS are a two-piece old-school HC-Punk band from Wernigerode, Germany.“
Schnaps (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 31.01.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
Even with all the joy to see an old fellow my ears and brain did signal “Deutsch Punk“. And that paired with a guitar that sounded – alone – way to thin. Go check them out for yerself, for me it did not really work out. With more volume, more umpf, more depth and force on the guitar it might sound better for my single minded mu-sick-al ears.
Next one of my local favorites, Shitshow yet again took the stage at the Hafenklang. And yet again they delivered a near perfect support slot in front of a packed Hafenklang. And yet again they proved worthy for the task.
Shitshow (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 31.01.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
Around a rock solid blast of hardcore bangers well below the 02:00 (magic) mark they also have branched out into wider territory – a good balance that capitalizes on their abilities and allowing Julia to fill the front with her presence, her voice and her aggressiveness.
Here is Red Light from their 2023 EP:
And as with almost all their songs it has great lyrics too:
Lights off, flying through night life Another night, red light, my eyes open wide They stare at me, but they never see The person behind - myself, me Red light- another night to fight Forces me on my knees - who is the person behind? Eyes stare at me, but they never see The person behind - myself, me And you think of your dreams Don’t put them off until tomorrow You regret!
I simply like them, they always are able to mark a near perfect, crisp, set. Go and score their hit singles!
The audience by now was well prepared for the headliner, who are to sail into a European run that will be a month long. And this is how The Meffs kicked off:
Unfortunately for Schnaps there was the immediate contrast: Drums, guitar and vocals but the guitar with so much more umpf and due to the fact that Lily takes the singing duties with so much more action on stage.
On top of that Lily comes with all the street smartness and banter that we like so much from those from the Island yonder (that choose to separate itself from us). And as their songs have meanings, have messages her lead ins always provide relevant context.
The Meffs (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 31.01.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
From start to finish The Meffs simply owned the audience. Upfront the audience was more female than male (always a good sign) with loads of dancing. Within that, there was also a small justified pit violence, a good slap into the face of someone who sported an overly male dancing style with little to no attention to his companions.
Sure they played also what maybe can be dubbed their signature song, here is Broken Britain, Broken Brains:
I got to admit that i was a bit unsure if i would dig them fully, there was plenty of praise from the Blackpool Pilgrims and there was much acclaim in the Indie press (and already the term Indie pisses me off big time normally).
But what i got was a humble, friendly and approachable duo. With a real bonus: No fuzz and outspoken truthful – Lily invited the audience to the merch table after the show to buy stuff and have a chat “because that is what i do for a living“.
I wish them to be sellouts forever (and make a living from it)!
