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… why does it take Harburg to get the lot dancing? Killer Punk Rock Hamburg Fest down south!
Another year has passed and the fine people that fuel the Punk Rock Hamburg community invited to another showcase of what Hamburg has to offer under the banner of Punk Rock – a superb and wide variation of styles.

Location would again be the Stellwerk in Harburg, down south over the might river Elbe (and factually just a short train ride from the heart of the most beautiful City of Hamburg).

It was an early start already short after 1910, i bet you this was to not have too many people fall out drunk after the mighty home win of the FCSP on the afternoon.

The hardship of the first slot fell to Violent Instinct, the Stellwerk by this time was not yet full. Aga used the free space in front of the stage to roam during the first song, then she managed to lure more people forward.
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Violent Instinct (Stellwerk, Hamburg, 03.02.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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Their mid-tempo style of street punk did work well for me, specifically as it is being carried by Aga’s vocal abilities. If there was one item that did nag me it was a wee bit a lack of speed variation, but hey, that is complaining on a high. Within their rooster they have hits like People With No Problems (mind other peoples business), a great sing-a-long build on the strength of Aga’s voice.

They lured folks to the stage and finished towards an by then much better filled Stellwerk.

From that Street Punk niche the baton was handed almost years back to a niche that may be called Proto Punk or maybe Glam Punk. Stuff for older folks that like their Saints, their Dictators or their Hellacopters.

And to a singer that has even more umpf on her voice – say Hi to Hamburgs own Demolition Girls.
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Demolition Girls (Stellwerk, Hamburg, 03.02.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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They sure started of with the song that gave their name (and comes all the way from Down Under) and from there blasted through history.

Plunder here, steal there and actually not giving a shit on that it must be from the 70s – here is Sweden, 2016:

Wow, Barbro’s voice indeed fills the room and sends shivers down the spine.

The other top-notch asset is the guitar, super-duper bad ass sound delivered in perfection. And all that, paired with the rock solid rhythm section (sporting a Demolition Bass), forced the lot to dance along, almost like no tomorrow.

And youth and age united in front of the stage. Cool.
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Demolition Girls (Stellwerk, Hamburg, 03.02.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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It definitely felt like all of the energy coming down from the stage was sucked up by the audience and reflected back in dancing, sing-a-long and cheers. I can assure you that at the end of their crisp set a wave of enthusiasm went through the room.

How to move on from that high?

Simple. Thrown in Küken and get the most unpretentious blast ever. Blasting the lot ten levels higher.

They took only a couple of minutes to set themselves up, played 30 seconds to assure overall sound and then …

… you get a perfect “RnR Band” (from Küken II). And that set the pace for their set.

No frills. No fills. No cheap borrowed time. Nothing wasted on addressing the audience (though i heard a simple thank you along the way) – it was a sheer blast of energy that made everyone dance (at least in front of the stage).
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Küken (Stellwerk, Hamburg, 03.02.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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With Küken i though i always knew what i was getting but here and tonight they took it to the next level. I already came to the show with the idea to buy their new record released in late December but that idea turned into determination: I must score their 3rd LP, no matter what.

Küken – s/t (III) (Alien Snatch! Records 2023)

And as always when a band convinces we me live i sure scored their new long player after the show and in contrast to some reviews that where traded on anti-social media it is a total worthy effort. You get Küken, 100% real and authentic.

As ever their set was crisp to the max, speedy to the max and short (as their songs). And as ever it left me yearning for more.

Slanders where supposed to start next but it took them ages to set up and be ready. Whilst waiting for their drummer (who went AWOL without completing setup) Greg looked almost helpless, shrugged his shoulders and asked the audience “My gosh, what was that blast by Küken“. He, as a fellow musician, seemed as much taken by surprise as the audience was.

Once Slanders where ready they kicked into gear like this:

Say Hi to yet another niche, the ever friendly, ever speedy Pop Punk with a Ramonescore undercurrent. 4th band, 4th different genre. Still, they got the lot dancing and sing-ing-along again.

It was also cool to see Gregs bandmates from his other band in the audience, all smiling and humming away to the Slanders. And it was utmost cool to see the audience sending them hearts (…melting away).
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Slanders (Stellwerk, Hamburg, 03.02.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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They got plenty of cheers and the longer they played the better they got into it.

High speed stuff at par with their American contemporaries and i would bet ready for a Punk Rock Raduno stint. At least one PRR Hoodie was present in the audience, setting the right scenery.

Once Slanders finished, i sensed a bit of exhaustion in the audience. 4 bands in almost quick succession – for some it seemed too much (and specifically for those on booze).

I also sensed the same exhaustion with me mates who support the other team in Hamburg, their late (and delayed) away game was underway with varying results over the 2nd half, sending them into despair and joy (at the end).

The last slot was for Arrested Denial, who just supported Buster Shuffle at the Knust in a return from a longer hiatus. For me they are bit of a mixed bag, i would not go as far as a friend did (“My gosh, they are Deutsch Punk – i am outta here“) but their style of Street Punk with some Ska and Trumpet thrown in just does not klick as much as others do for me.
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Arrested Denial (Stellwerk, Hamburg, 03.02.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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They had their fans present, they also had sing-a-long in front of the stage but it did feel a bit more empty than with the other bands that night. It may not have worked for me, it should not discourage you to check them out for yerself.

Overall a great – if not the best – Punk Rock Hamburg Festival. The only downside was that throughout all set the lights where … shite. Actually less than shite. I guess there was not a single second where the stage got proper light to have the band visible.

But besides the light (that was shite, ctd) it was a real cool showcase of local Punk Rock Hamburg capabilities, on and off stage. And that paired with both Hamburg teams winning their footie games … made many many people really happy.

My happiness was with Demolition Girls, Küken and Slanders and the relentless dancing in front of the stage. Just puurrrfect and with loads of applause from the audience. My happiness was also with the simple fact that it was sold out, a definitive prove of the power of the community.

As such do remember that the applause went too to those fine people who orchestrate the Punk Rock Hamburg community and the folks of the Stellwerk: Without them … we would be not be having it! And we had it, big time!

NB: Extra cudos to the young punk up front for dancing and smiling throughout all the night – stick into it my friend, stick into it!
2024/02/05
Bücher, schnell gelesen: 1.683

Candice Fox – Stunde Um Stunde (Suhrkamp, 2023)

Gelesen: 24.01. – 29.01. plus 02.02.2024 (netto 466 Seiten)

Aus dem australischen Englisch von Andrea O’Brien.

Ich muss gestehen das ich das Buch eine ganze Zeit lang links liegen gelassen habe, bevor es in meinem Leserückstand Einzug gehalten hat. Der Grund war das Cover samt Titel, das kommt irgendwie langweilig daher.

Im Original ist der Titel “Fire With Fire” und der passt 100% genau auf die Story. Schade, da haben die Buchgestalter was verpasst.

Das letzte Buch von Candice Fox war eine coole Pulp Story rund um einen Gefängnisausbruch, dieses Buch ist eine ebenso coole Story um das Thema “nimm das Recht in die eigene Hand“.

Und diese Story ist nicht platt sondern clever (und lustig): Die Eltern eines verschwunden Mädchens nehmen die Untätigkeit des LAPD nicht mehr hin. Und um Druck zu erzeugen den Fall zu klären … nehmen sie Beweise für andere ungeklärte Fälle als Geisel. In der Forensik. Und vernichten jede Stunde eine Probe.

Gegen sie steht das LAPD, aber das traut sich nicht einzugreifen – die Eltern haben Geiseln und eine Bombe. Und während das LAPD und das FBI die Geiselnahme verwalten macht sich ein gerade aufgeflogener Undercover Polizist auf die Such nach der verschwunden Tochter.

Denn die Forensik hat auch wichtige Beweise in seinem Fall (und seine 5 Jahre Undercover bei einer Biker-Gang sollen nicht umsonst gewesen sein). An seiner Seite (der einzige “geformte” Zufall im Buch) ein LAPD Frischling, der es geschafft hat am ersten Tag beim LAPD rauszufliegen (und der Grund ist herrlich komisch konstruiert … und zwar so, das er 100% real klingt).

Cleveres Setting und der Auftakt zu einem wahren Parforce-Ritt von Detective Charlie Hoskins und ex-Polizistin-für-einen-Tag Lynette Lamb. Das perfekte dysfunktionale Ermittler-Duo.

Und während die Verwaltung der Geiselnahme läuft … folgen Charlie und Lynette schlicht und einfach den alten Brotkrummen aus dem Fall. Und da Lynette keine Polizistin mehr ist und Charlie zuletzt auch ehr Biker als Detective war, überschreiten sie jede Menge Grenzen.

Ziemlich spannend, viel Slapstick Humor (das LAPD als Chaos-Polizei) und trotzdem eine ordentliche Portion Gewalt, Blut und Tot. Irgendwie schade das ich das nicht in einem Rutsch durchlesen konnte.

Soundtrack dazu: The Runaways – I Love Playin’ With Fire, was sonst?

PS: Und Candice Fox … kämpft mit dem Fire

2024/02/04
… selling out for a living!
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.“
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Schnaps (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 31.01.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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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.
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Shitshow (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 31.01.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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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:
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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!
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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.
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The Meffs (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 31.01.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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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)!

(The Meffs FB page. go and find me on the pic)
2024/02/04