Now, that somehow was an odd setting: M.D.C. had been on hiatus after 1995 for some time, with small come back tours – but largely disappeared from the radar. D.O.A. conducted their farewell tour in 2013 and Joey did some acoustic follow up but wanted to concentrate on his ambitions to turn politics to the better in his home community.
That said he was not elected in the 2016 by-election for his local district:
Tough it was quoted as a success (+8% vs. the previous election for the BC Green Party) but seem to have led him to reconsider how he may marry politics and mu-sick:
And thus a packed Hafenklang awaited old heroes paired with some young guns and – whisper, whisper – a load of rather old songs.
First off where M.D.C. with two old men and two young guns … and indeed they picked up where they left it ca. early 80s: bumpy and hectic hardcore, short and to the point on the lyrics.
From a mu-sick-al perspective sure neither polished nor puuuurfect but hey – that is grass roots punk rock and M.D.C. have been exactly that for of all their existence.
M.D.C. (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 20.07.2016) (c) gehkacken.de)
What did strike though was the power that radiated from the songs and the delivery: Simple, honest and true.
And after the show Dave was by no means short to praise Hamburg and say thank you to the audience (which included some who did sing to almost every song) and to step down from the stage to thank a punk in a wheelchair for coming out to the show.
Next on D.O.A. and they took the stage like this:
Yes, indeed D.O.A.: Joey (sturdy frame and 60 years of age) with two young fellows (bearded Canadians with a body like a seal as the bass player pointed out). Extra bonus to the drummer for the Adam & The Ants shirt – he already caught our eyes when we walked up the Hafenklang).
Where M.D.C. pushed out 30something songs in 45 minutes D.O.A. where up for a smaller sample of lengthier old stuff:
Some of my favourite songs where omitted on first glance but i did not lodge a complaint, D.O.A. returning to the early 80s was great in itself.
D.O.A. (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 20.07.2016) (c) gehkacken.de)
And they took it hard and fast, less melodic than other shows i had seen before.
And they not only hate me, they also told me to fuck myself (as i am employed by a big corporation).
D.O.A. in best style and definitely back in early 80s territory by all counts. And what seemed a rather short set was just a short set list. They had fun for more, though sweat was already dripping from the ceiling (no surprise given 30+ degrees outside which are indeed rare in Hamburg, down at the harbour).
And to put icing on the cake (or, in D.O.A. terms, to put icing into the rink) they added just another encore with one of the all time faves: “Full Metal Jackoff” was served in a shortened version. Well done. I do prefer the longer version though and with Jello – so here it is:
It is just a class effort that forever will stand the test of time (from “wall street or crack dealer avenue” to “On the Washington D.C. Beltway around and around I go, In a black van with no windows and a chimney puffing smoke”) and deserves it’s 14 minutes!
And with that D.O.A. waved goodbye and resorted to selling merch and chit-chat with the audience. I did the same until i was summoned into a cab for a ride home. Great night, great people around but let’s be frank: Average age of the audience was near 50, only 10 years younger than eg. Dave MDC or Joey DOA. The sheer lack of young folks was very very apparent that night – are M.D.C. and D.O.A. already obscure old farts?
And the politics of Joey? He now nicely combines green politics and music as in D.O.A. and puts out meaningful (as in for his local community) stuff like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80VoCyh6CYM
