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Tag: Fat Flag

  • … Limited Edition DIY ctd: Fat Flag and Youth Of Altona!

    … Limited Edition DIY ctd: Fat Flag and Youth Of Altona!

    The fine folks that run the Limited Edition just don’t stop, two editions in September are a surprise (though two weeks ago technically it was out of town bands only). And the much bigger surprise was that the hosts would greet guests and bands with … a song.

    That is cool as fuck i’d say. Here you go:

    Thats Koma Kombo on Drums (Eugen), Buttocks on Guitar (Mike), Kaltfront on Bass (Jörg) and Nancy on Vocals. Ever since i have been seeing Punk Shows (1979 ’till today) i did not spend a second on thinking such thing could happen.

    Well done and if three chords are indeed enough you are now a band!

    Fat Flag kicked it off and kept it equally brief for the start:

    And that’s also how they continued, upbeat, fast, plenty of breaks and multi vocal singing. A very modern, very American approach to Punk Rock.

    They also had a rather juvenile fan base in attendance that pretty much enjoyed itself and could sing-a-long (much more then us old farts).

    Fat Flag (Pretty Vacant HQ, Hamburg, 26.09.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    The only downside on their set was the the vocals where not fully understandable (too silent i guess) and that the heat emitters called stage lights burned both the band and the neck of the audience. If only the crew could pilfer some less heat emitting LED lights…

    Besides that an energetic set, well received by the audience (and enthusiastically supported by the fan base).

    Youth Of Altona next and they are not just a band covering songs from the Wipers, they are a band that play the Wipers. Both on stage and off stage i’d say:

    …Youth Of Altona 2025 and Wipers 1979: No difference at all!

    On stage they started, as ever, with Return Of The Rats:

    From the start it was simply this feeling of joy of playing that came down from the stage, in full speed and taking no prisoners.

    But playing the Wipers is not all they do, trust me. They also preserve the simple fact that – give or take – the first three Wipers records (spanning from 1980 to 1983) are simply flawless beauties with songs that stand the test of time. And much more than other bands most of the songs are A1 material, there is almost no weak spot.

    And for those who are connoisseurs they also have hidden some Easter Eggs, like the Karl Alvarez intro to Same Old Thing (that has an Karl style bassline for a start, dating back to 1979).

    Killing a nod to two loveliest bands in one stone throw – near perfect!

    Whilst Youth Of Altona lacked the juvenile fan base of Fat Flag they still had the audience on it’s toes and moving. And those who did not move at minimum had a huge smile on their face and simply did enjoy.

    Because the songs are simply great.

    Youth Of Altons (Pretty Vacant HQ, Hamburg, 26.09.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    Youth Of Altona are also a peoples band, hence they invited half of Demolition Girls to sing D7 with them to make up for earlier show planed but not happening.

    It is a wee bit a complicated and lengthy song and many people name it their least liked song on Is This Real?. I guess largely for 01:30 slow burning intro … but then the firework starts!

    Sing-a-long:

    Straight as an arrow
    Defect, defect
    Not straight, not so straight
    Reject, reject
    Towards antisocial
    Dull, dull, so dull

    Standing on the stairs
    Cold, cold morning
    Ghostly image of fear
    Mayday, mayday
    Gonna leave this region
    They'll take me with them

    Dimension Seven
    Dimension Seven

    Straight as an arrow
    Defect, defect
    Not straight, not straight
    Reject, reject
    Towards antisocial
    Dull, dull, so dull

    Past astral borders
    Zeno lies waiting
    Past gaseous remains
    Intrigue, such intrigue
    Gonna leave this region
    They're taking me with them

    Straight as an arrow
    Defect, defect
    Not straight, not so straight
    Reject, reject
    Towards antisocial
    Dull, dull, so dull

    Dimension Seven
    Dimension Seven
    Dimension Seven
    Dimension Seven
    Dimension Seven
    Dimension Seven
    Dimension Seven

    Perfect adaption with two voices, also presented in a class way. The icing on that cake would follow suit as the setlist indicated: The “encore” would entail the all time favorite Over The Edge plus Youth Of America and finally Nothing to prove (also a lesser known song but dating back to 1986 and Sub Pop 100.

    Youth Of Altona – Setlist (Pretty Vacant HQ, Hamburg, 26.09.2025)

    As said, Youth Of Altona play the Wipers.

    Youth Of Altons (Pretty Vacant HQ, Hamburg, 26.09.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    Have i seen a tighter set by Youth Of Altona prior? I don’t think so – they grabbed the opportunity to excel in the small and private setting, amongst friends. Are they a cover band? Never. They play Wipers!

    Boy, what a great evening. Surrounded by largely friends, from diverse background and enjoying two crisp sets by local bands. In a full DIY setting, up to and including another great physical DIY ticket:

    … perfect DIY ticket!

    With a broad smile (and a wee bit of less pain on me foot) i took the subway ride home, humming a Wipers tune and looking forward for another Limited Edition. The mark is getting higher, i wonder how the good people making this happen will top it.

    And guess what: I know they will.

    … the canceled show that Demolition Girls had to pull out on
  • … third verse, not different from the first two!

    … third verse, not different from the first two!

    Punk Rock Hamburg with their own “Third verse, different from the first” rather – twice delayed due to Covid. By design another evening fully local (bands and audience alike) and off the beaten track (both location down south, over the mighty river Elbe, and spread of mu-sick-al styles).

    5 Bands, early start and luckily only a fast train ride south with easiest access to the location: The Stellwerk (in English Signal Box) is an unused space in the Hamburg Harburg Central Station (warning, sarcasm incoming) – a former Signal Box given up when switches and signals where electrified.

    In the spacious main room the Punk Rock Hamburg family setup stage, merch and was ready for a sold-out fun evening.

    Punk Rock Hamburg Family Merch Booth

    The hardship of being first came down to Nixda!, who had to embark with one member being off sick. In my head i had little bad boy saying “lucky“, as the missing member was the girl who normally operates the flute (and rather strange instrument in on single-minded mu-sick-al horizon).

    Nixda! (Stellwerk, Hamburg, 04.02.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    Thanks to Dennis on the front they had stage presence but taking all in it was not really up my alley: They do have excellent German lyrics, some even on the clever side but their music is at bad time rather Deutsch Rock to me, at good time Deutsch Punk. But they put everything in and thus had their share of applause.

    What came next though was a welcome contrast: Punk Du Arsch! are local heroes with loud (and indeed loudmouth), intolerant and exhausting Asi-Punk paired with a real showman up front. 

    Punk Du Arsch! (Stellwerk, Hamburg, 04.02.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    They pick’n’choose from a wide variety of styles – a bit of Glam here, a bit of old Sparrer there but always fast paced and forward driving. And most of the times the lyrics aim to confront the listener or tell a tale – like this one:

    And in Englisch it sounds even more hilarious: It is an ode to an unnamed Returnable Bottles Collector Of Love. Lovely stuff! They had more people in front of the stage and they had more applause – well deserved.

    Next Fat Flag, a band that i never ever noted before. They already won me over when they changed on stage into stage uniform: One of the principals i stick to is that bands need to dress for the occasion and that this dressing should be orchestrated. Well done lads, you had my attention from the start.

    Fat Flag (Stellwerk, Hamburg, 04.02.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    Mu-sick-aly they took the audience down a more modern, more US like route with loads of breaks, speed changes and paired with German lyrics – sometimes on the clever side. And on the funny side, specifically for me mate Frosch, they had a song about spawn and pong. Very Froggy!

    They where fun, they had humor and emitted that from stage And their sound actually did please my ear. I really wonder how i missed them, they seem to be around for a while. My biggest surprise that night and one of the reasons why it is worth to take such a local thingy in.

    Next Norden, back from the ashes of Norden. Their start though was hampered with sound issues, not so much in front of the stage but more for Natascha on the stage. More than once she threw up her hands in frustration though whilst still trying to plow on.

    Whilst she was frustrated with the sound i was frustrated with the light, it was washed up in blue with some little red thrown over, it neither looked nice in real nor anyway good on the few pics i took. Not sure if it was desired by the band, if so – just pitch dark would have worked too.

    Norden (Stellwerk, Hamburg, 04.02.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    With Norden the sound was moving yet again into a different direction, to the bone song structures driven forward by Jan’s excellent guitar play and the rhythm section. And on top almost storytelling by Jan with again to the bone German lyrics.

    I do like what they do, specifically as it is definitely off the beaten Punk track. That said, somehow i felt that appeal was not commonly shared – i guess only a subset of the audience actually did dig them.

    Late (against the running order) came the headliner and this is how they kicked off:

    Bang! Different style, different speed, different presentation. The Haermorrhoids just had a blast at the Puke Fest in Münster and following the account of those present simply blew the roof of the house.

    The Haermorrhoids (Stellwerk, Hamburg, 04.02.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    Back home they continued in that vein, though the audience never went fully ape shit like in Münster (no flying bodies anywhere) – it was the stereotypical reserved reaction. That said, the floor was full and people where moving and enjoying it.

    Their set was sharp, delivered almost without break (to make up lost time vs. the running order) and at break neck speed. As always they finished their set with my very own favorite Overdose:

    Following that stage time was up but they did not give too much shit about it – speeding up even more they bashed out three more perfect Ramonescore blasts!

    They had plenty of cheers, loads of applause – though that all turned into a bit of a sad moment after the show when i got to know that their bass player is no longer able to play for them. I do hope that quickly they can get someone fitting in place as currently they are a very well oiled machine at an outstanding level of performance!

    And that finished off Punk Rock Hamburg Fest #3, way after midnight. The train ride home was pleasant when it came to companions but really strange when it came to locals from down south doing a Saturday night trip towards the Reeperbahn. Strange people, strange behaviors.

    I guess the 3rd sold out Punk Rock Hamburg Fest was a solid success, though i have to admit that i hated the amount of smoking going on. When i finally woke up Sunday to get ready to enjoy a home win (and a home win was delivered) i had severe throat issues and felt hungover (though i only had a single beer) – all down to the smoke. If i could have a plea – non-smoking please.

    I know that won’t deter the good people at #entstationpunk and #punkrockhamburg (who are to be thanked for this local festival, year on year) so here is the link for the early bid tickets for 2024. Be there or be square!

    Klick! Me! for Early Bird Tickets!