Whilst the Punk Rock Hamburg community is a mainstay, it is not the only genre with such a community. There is also King Rockers Hamburg serving that other genre that – in contrast to 1979 – at least has some overlap (and not just slaps).
That community had it’s gathering at the Knust and as it added Hola Ghost to the rooster it was a must for me. But i was almost alone, at the end i had a count of 4 people i knew and 4 more i knew from seeing. The rest was about 150 aging rockers, as such this community shares another thing with Punk Rock Hamburg – getting older and older, with little to none young people joining ranks and being driven by the urge of live mu-sick.
Dukes Of Tijuana kicked it off and i guess what they do is authentic Rock-a-Billy (and i have to admit that i have no clue of the cupboards in that genre). They main asset for me was definitely the Gretsch (and the guy who perfectly handled it).
Here is a prime example:
Rather mid tempo and a near perfect guitar play using both the low (twang!) and high (ping!) tones of the spectrum. Wild guess – he can also play a near perfect surf guitar.
Dukes Of Tijuana (Knust, Hamburg, 04.11.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)
Paired with the upright bass, light-weight drumming and vocals supported by a wee bit of reverb it made for a pleasant though for my untrained ears a sounds to much alike listening.
Here is an up-tempo one, a Tainted Love cover (genre typical i guess):
They also switched instruments, a nice Johnny Cash cover with the guitar singing and the singer mastering the upright bass. They came across quite joyful, loads of smiles on stage and tried to encourage the audience. But as often, the audience was holding back, including leaving an empty space in front of the stage.
Dukes Of Tijuana (Knust, Hamburg, 04.11.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)
Not bad these Dukes, the only reference i could find was sometimes into Tiger Army direction, but as said – this ain’t my genre and i have an even lesser clue than in my accustomed one. At least they got some friendly and supporting applause.
For Hola Ghost it was the 2nd time in Hamburg, returning after 4 years. Last time they graced the Monkeys, this time they took residence like this (after a lengthy instrumental intro):
Thats Chupacabra, most likely their signature song. Tempo variations, great build up of chorus and the horns from hell thrown into it in perfect support of the sound.
It is anyway one of their biggest capabilities: They are able to create soundscapes, songs where the sound is left hanging in the air without the songs ending in nowhere land. Sure that tends to drive up song length but hey, a price worth to pay.
Hola Ghost (Knust, Hamburg, 04.11.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)
If they cut short, then it is something special. Like this old Misfits stomper turned Mariachicore:
And it still stretches out the original from 1:47 to 2:34 but has everything they are good at condensed into it. Perfect, ain’t it?
And where Dukes Of Tijuana faced a bit of a void in front of the stage Hola Ghost had everybody in the room and all front rows nicely filled. They even got some few people dancing and some old fellas to throw their fists into the air.
Hola Ghost (Knust, Hamburg, 04.11.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)
They had plenty of audience interaction, though most through Peter who grew up just north of the German/Danish border and thus is bilingual. And they had fans from across Europe dropping into Hamburg – from home in Denkmark, from sunny Finland, from that island yonder that wanted to get away and from Belgium.
I guess it was more of an inside joke that Peter commented on the absence of the Swedish contingent, though more people and a packed main hall of the Knust would have been a bonus (for the band, for the guys who set it up and for the Knust itself).
Hola Ghost (Knust, Hamburg, 04.11.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)
Hola Ghost got plenty of cheers, plenty of applause and delivered a little bit more than an hour of non-stop fun, non-stop Mariachicore, both in high speed and temper mode.
And they included their nod towards Lemmy, Mariachicore in Motörhead style:
Just perfect. On all fronts. Once they finished they made true on the promise to see people at the bar and where great folks to chat with. Both myself and me mate Frank more than once reminded them that they must come back earlier than later, we both demand that that they significantly reduce their time between gigs in Hamburg.
And as ever when a band convinces me live i took something home, this time a new Hola Ghost shirt for the me love (who could not attend due to Covid, still raging!) and i was finally able to score the Fight (Lemmy Tribute) 7″ (for a bargin price, hüstel).
I was home late, only had a minor number of beers and happy as a fuck. Now my dream still is that Hola Ghost play a sizable audience in Hamburg and take say 400 people by storm.
En god drøm at beholde.
