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Tag: Monkeys Music Club

  • … sauna clubbing ctd: Cockney Rejects and a lovely audience!

    … sauna clubbing ctd: Cockney Rejects and a lovely audience!

    Actually i do not know where to start nor to finish. Whilst many of me mates where in Blackpool the other week they brought home only good stories about Jeff (doing a spoken word performance) and Cockney Rejects (doing a great show). For me as a regular Blackpool absentee it did not matter too much, i was just keen to see them again (having had to miss the 2019 edition of the Sauna event).

    Just like 2019 they where paired with This Means War from Belgium, who technically took the stage 2nd, as there was a short Book presentation in the pub for starters. I preferred to stay outside, enjoying plenty of chats with people from near and far, watching them brothers Nickel applying liquid drugs through the eyeballs on Matthias and trying to stay out of the sauna – it was damn hot in Hamburg.

    This Means War kicked off to an already well filled Monkeys and they play Oi! with a definite scent of Hard Rock, though not leaning too far into that territory. 

    This Means War (Monkey Music Club, Hamburg, 13.08.2022 (c) gehkacken.de 2022)

    For me it was a mixed bag, i sometimes felt a wee bit offended by them trying to bond with the audience. Not sure what did offend me, because i guess they just tried to be friendly and with the audience, rather than fronting the audience.

    Within their rooster they do have one or the other quite melodic song with sing-a-long qualities, overall most of them without “speeding”. They played for about 30 minutes i take and they got some cheers (and even some folks singing along).

    This Means War (Monkey Music Club, Hamburg, 13.08.2022 (c) gehkacken.de 2022)

    For me there was one ill-fated choice though, but again it may just be stubborn and selfish me: If i would do support for Cockney Rejects i would not cover Cock Sparrer in my set and if i cover Cock Sparrer then definitely not “Suicide Girls”. Period.

    With a quick changeover it was all ready for the Rejects and by now the Monkeys was well filed (though i believe not sold out). And what was awaiting the lot? A mixture of old and new, classic Oi! anthems and selected songs from their later efforts.

    Cockney Rejects – Set List (Monkeys Music Club, Hamburg, 13.08.2022)

    They took the stage totally unpretentious and stormed into their set as a well oiled engine. And the engine got some new extra horsepower, the young lad on drums was pushing them forward a wee bit more than in the past (at least it felt like that).

    Cockney Rejects (Monkey Music Club, Hamburg, 13.08.2022 (c) gehkacken.de 2022)

    As always Jeff was the engagement manager and due to the smaller stage he could not do as much sparing as he does on bigger ones. He was having a little chat here, a little smile there and consistent messaging: We are the Cockney Rejects and we do what we like to do. Period.

    The lot from start to finish went with the band, and then a bit more and then over the top. And it was mostly fun in front of the stage, thanks largely to the absence of the football faction. Even more, there was a large female contingent front row and one individual specifically with non-stop dancing, not bothered by male bodies throwing themselves around.

    Great view that pit, great view.

    Cockney Rejects (Monkey Music Club, Hamburg, 13.08.2022 (c) gehkacken.de 2022)

    They gave 75 minutes i guess, came back for some encore and in all honesty thanked the club and the lot for having them. As someone noted it may just be that Bridgehouse feeling that they need from time to time.

    For me the best ever Cockney Rejects show in Hamburg and a total teardown as we say in German. And the best is that them Brothers Geggus are still consistent with their 1981 attitude.

    Snippet from Melody Maker, August 22nd 1981

    It is worth to add that they only ever flew in & out for this club show, so big thanks from the Hamburg lot for that effort (in times of travel disruptions left, right and center – as many of the Blackpool Pilgrims experienced on their way home). I also heard some folks saying that most likely they will not do this small stints anymore and instead will concentrate on bigger festival like appearances, if only.

    What is definitely true is that their last ever album, Power Grab, is about to come in September. Whatever route they choose will be right for them, i am damn sure. For what they have injected both into Punk (and that little niche Oi!) and into Hamburg at the Monkeys i am forever grateful.

    If this was the end, it was a perfect ending.

  • … Heidi ain’t no headcase, Heidi loves them horses!

    … Heidi ain’t no headcase, Heidi loves them horses!

    Alex Wonk loves them firsts … last year he was just about the first visiting foreign musician with an acoustic set for the Solidary Punk Rock Days at the Knust. This time round Wonk Unit must have been just about the first touring band from the UK hitting Hamburg under the revised post-Brexit scheme recently published.

    So Alex and his revised band hit the road, the ferry … and had their first breakdown in Belgium. One Van down, and barely making it to Cologne for the first show. Next day they set sail to Hamburg, only to break down again around Osnabrück. Two vans down they left two Wonkies back there and Alex and the Bass Player took the train to Hamburg … arriving just in time for this rather intimate show at the Monkeys in Exile, aka the beer garden of the Indra Club.

    They where quite done after too much travel and way too much hassle and for a start they took it mellow, soft and with not too much stretch on Alex vocal chords.

    That’s “Horses“, sure an all time favorite and a specific favorite of Heidi. You don’t know Heidi? Spare that question for later.

    The longer it got, the better the two grooved in, the more chatty Alex got and the more he started to actually stress his vocals chords. And from then on it was a perfect set: The rather low-fi acoustic (though electrified through a small P.A.) music was paired with harsh, angry and sometime screaming vocals. A near perfect clash, a near perfect contrast.

    The about 50 good folks where happy, enjoyed the banter and hopefully took note when Alex did divert the story line to rather serious items: Be it his deep dive into drugs or be it his recent struggles around is small daughter. That part was actual really hard and chatting to him after the show i realized how hard the ordeal around it has hit and continues to hit him.

    Wonk Unit Acoustic (Monkeys in Exile, Hamburg, 19.08.2021 (c) gehkacken.de 2021)

    As ever, they have friends in Hamburg and these friends gave them and Alex specifically an uplift. It felt just like a bit of a living room show with friends all around. I was actually happy that i did let go Arrested Denial and Berlin Blackouts a couple of 100 meters down the road at the Molotow for this lovely evening the intimate setting was much better.

    After the show Riebe revealed to Alex that his daughter Heidi actually wanted to sing “Horses” with him but being too young she was not allowed out and into the club. Hearing this and having a big heart for little girls Alex immediately did a special redemption for Heidi:

    I bet you Heidi was the happiest girl in Eidelstedt next morning!

    Looking at Alex you can actually see that they where done, so quickly they hit off into the Monkeys band apartment to hit a long sleep and to prepare for next day travel, via Osnabrück to pick up the rest of the troupe and  all the way to Karlsruhe. Erratic tour planning anyone? At least i could see from the internet (damn internet, never forgets) that they arrived in full and took the stage as 4 piece. Perfect.

    And, if not mistaken, the show was recorded in quality and Alex was also quite happy with how it went – so it may be put to Vinyl as a Wonk Unit Acoustic Album. 

    Let’s see and let’s pray that soon we get a conscious decision from our local government about revised Covid rules for Clubs and indoor shows and we can enjoy such fun more packed, much closer and without masks. I am all in for 2G to make that happen and i am all in for Wonk Unit as a full band to come back to Hamburg for a big raunchy party.

    Hit the road Alex, hit the road!

    PS; You don’t know Heidi the headcase? Listen up youth…

    Heidi is a headcase, a rebel and a rouser
    Cranks up her Rickenbacker
    Blasts away for hours
    What’s she doin’ now on the escalator
    Snorting up some speed on the picture of or Stiv Bators
     
     
    What ‘cha doin’?
     
    When I look into her big brown eyes
    I’m so glad to know she’s mine
    My little headcase, yeah
    Ooh, ooh, yeah, my little headcase, yeah
    Ooh, ooh, yeah
  • COVID-19 IS KILLING OUR MUSIC – SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL CLUBS NOW!

    COVID-19 IS KILLING OUR MUSIC – SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL CLUBS NOW!

    By now i guess everybody as figured out how impact-full COVID-19 is on his/her private life and i guess you have all noted tours and shows being canceled left right and center.

    With that it is hopefully pretty clear to a regular connoisseur of music in recorded form and music in live form that without regular income bands, labels, promoters and clubs will struggle. Will financially not survive. Let one those people that work for them, often without a fixed contract, that will also loose work and thus income.

    I’ll do the following:

    • give direct money to my loveliest places
    • order music direct from the bands
    • not exchange tickets back to money for canceled shows

    I can only urge you to do the same.

    Contact your favorite club an ask how you can directly support them.

    I am giving / already gave to

    • Hafenklang (upfront, via a season ticket, plus a direct amount via Stiftung Private Musikbühnen Hamburg)
    • Punk Rock Raduno in Bergamo, as they are not only providing a free event but this year are spot-on in the heart of the Italian Corona Crisis. You can give via Pay Pal on their website. Be generous!

    And for the rest be creative. Sell some records that you don’t listen to anyway and provide the turnover to your favorite club. Buy two records instead of one and give it to a friend who has less money than you.

    And once the clubs can be open again, once bands can tour again – just buy: Tickets, drinks, merch – anything that gets money into the right hands.

    Thank you, i love you.