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Tag: Gerd

  • … and life goes on, you know, you know it ain’t easy, you know you never go wrong with Gerd!

    … and life goes on, you know, you know it ain’t easy, you know you never go wrong with Gerd!

    It’s been almost a month without live mu-sick and the urge definitely started to create itching. Thanks to the fine folks of Punk Rock Hamburg though i knew that i could not go wrong with my next experience: Gerd.

    They have graced the old clubhouse (which was my home as a football player for many many years) and now will also have the new clubhouse under their belt.

    It sure does have less rustic charm and it ain’t a go-to place per se. And it struggled to the point that my club had to shut it down. Thanks to a volunteer collective it has now been revived and gets a bit more life, including showcases.

    And frank, who else than the stadium superstars of Gerd, with songs bringing that missing rustic charm, would be a fit to help reviving a professionals football clubs clubhouse, located in a stadium?

    A whopping 33 songs awaited the lot, which by the normal set of Gerd was like a “best off”.

    Gerd – Setlist (FCSP Clubheim, Hamburg, 26.09.20126 (c) gehkacken.de)

    Gerd kicked off at 20:00 and finished it at 21:45, so a perfect football set. But again, they are stadium hardened stars, i would not expect less.

    From the opener they had the lot glued in front of the stage and starting to sing along, an easy task as Gerd only ever play hit on hit.

    Gerd (FCSP Clubheim, Hamburg, 26.09.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    Not sure if it was the cozy surrounding, the “all friends present” setting or simply a perfect Saturday – Gerd had a lot to say, a lot of banter to give and plenty of jokes to trade.

    Gerd (FCSP Clubheim, Hamburg, 26.09.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    Some have them down as an unstoppable party machine, i’d say they are just a perfect bunch of good people that enjoy these hits and like to share them out, up-tempo and in style. Make people dance. Make people sing-a-long.

    Gerd (FCSP Clubheim, Hamburg, 26.09.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    Luckily their ambition is way beyond perfect, so the set included false starts, wrong choruses and reprises and one and the other off chord.

    Did the lot care? Fuck not, the lot rather went into action!

    The sound was ok, albeit sure not the stadium volume (and bass push) they normally have – it was low key and just a tiny sound system. Sound anyway does not matter too much if both band and audience put all their heart, all their energy in.

    Gerd (FCSP Clubheim, Hamburg, 26.09.2026)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2026

    At the end Gerd pushed it over the final whistle with a classic sing-a-long that everybody knows who got his first rock mu-sick experience in the 70s. From where i sit anyway one of the best songs they ever penned (and sold to that largely unknown troupe in the UK called The Sweetshop):

    Sing-a-long:

    Fox on the run
    You scream and everybody comes a-running
    Take a run and hide yourself away
    Foxy on the run
    F-foxy
    Fox on the run
    And hide away

    Boy, what a great finish for a great set. And running over the finishing line they also had a maximum amount of folks dancing along. Puuurfect. Uplifting. Making me happy as a fuck (and, with a little push from a mate, i had too much booze and too much beer).

    On top i was once again lucky to capture the essence of the show in a single picture, give it a click! for a high-res version.

    Really big thanks to the Clubheim Kollektive and the Punk Rock Hamburg crew to make this happen, much appreciated. I stayed on until the doors came crashing down, listening to the fine DJ’ing of Dirk and chatting/drinking along with friends.

    When i came home, slightly loaded, the love of me life smiled at me and said “you seem to have had a great evening” and followed suit by “who can drink can get up early on Sunday for gardening work“.

    And yes, 247 early-blooming bulbs found the way into the soil. And then i took another rest, smiling and humming along to Gerd greatest hits.

  • … a blistering shop performance, a bouncy start and a raunchy finish: 35 years of Gerd!

    … a blistering shop performance, a bouncy start and a raunchy finish: 35 years of Gerd!

    It has been a while. Not so much seeing Gerd (that has been last year) but seeing two shows on the same evening. I have friends who do place hoping as an urge (to see everything) but that ain’t my thingy. But this Saturday a perfect opportunity arose and i had to take it.

    En route to the Knust i could catch an early performance by Poolhead at the FC St. Pauli Fanshop on the Reeperbahn and from there it would be a short hop to the Knust (where proceedings would start around 20:00).

    Poolhead played as part of the Fanshop Kultur series (already going for 10+ years, Gerd graced the cobble stones in 2015) and as part of the 100th occasion.

    Poolhead (FSK100, Hamburg, 15.11.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    I fell for Poolhead when they played the Punk Rock Hamburg Summer Fest in 2024 and ever since was eager to see them. Unfortunately previous dates where they played home shores did not match my schedule, hence it took more than a year.

    They played with least setup time and managed to sound quite well from the go.

    The beauty of the setup in the shop, on the Reeperbahn, is that the audience is a fun mix of fans & friends, store customers and walkers by (who hear the sound and enter the store). By the looks for some live music as such was a big surprise, including some small kids who most likely had not seen anything like that prior.

    Poolhead (FSK100, Hamburg, 15.11.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    I am still sold on them and in absence of Man or Astro-man? they are the best to see live from that little genre largely sans vocals and full of analog spring reverb.

    They finished off with what is their self-proclaimed signature song… here we go with Il Bagnino:

    Blistering! Perfect! They even got forced to encore after this and gave Miserlou (their only cover) to the enchanted audience.

    As they where running late i scooted off across the Heiligengeistfeld to the Knust as i wanted to catch the support there too.

    On the way to the Knust i noted that a UK Cover Band wanted to steal the audience away from Gerd, luring people into the Congress Center. Damned you are Suzy, rather you should have come to worship the origins of Glam!

    Over at the Knust it somewhat felt like Suzy had been successful, or it was the early start of “Doors 1900” that still is alien to the elderly (though perfect for an early nap).

    As support Gerd had enlisted The Changingmen. I had not seen them before but knew they had a support slot for The Undertones recently. Plus the faces felt familiar, 3/4th of them played with Helge (still missing him) in Sixteen Again.

    The Changingmen (Knust, Hamburg, 15.11.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    Their sound ventures on the Rock side, in good moments it is very UK Power Pop. Not particularly my world but all of them are good musicians so it did not sound odd or off.

    It sounded like this:

    Sound wise they definitely fitted the support slot for Gerd but net only half of the audience made an effort to see them.

    … but they only ever lured half of the audience from the bar

    Kudos to the Bad Job Boys, they appeared in full force! Still, as said, a valid warm-up for Gerd.

    The Changingmen – Setlist (Knust, Hamburg, 15.11.2025 (c) gehkacken.de)

    And they had all originals, just like Gerd.

    Next and with all the grandeur of accumulated hundreds of years of stage experience Gerd took ownership of the Knust:

    Action! Top 15 in July 1975 in the UK. And bittersweet revenge on the mu-sick-industry (and thus 100% in Gerd territory).

    It sounded rough (if not bumpy) and as a listener i had the feel that Gerd needed a couple of songs to be fully glued together.

    The Changingmen (Knust, Hamburg, 15.11.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    But once the train started rolling more and more it worked hand-in-glove and to the excitement of the audience (though, as said, the Knust felt a wee bit empty).

    By the time they arrived at the end of the setlist they had it all: Energy, wit, togetherness, humor and the audience.

    Thus it was time for one of their signature songs:

    More than one person after the show noted that Nessi should be lending his great voice more professionaly to a band – it is one of these voices that can glue a listener, just like here. Una bella compangnia!

    The Changingmen (Knust, Hamburg, 15.11.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    And in extra time aka encore they topped it all and had the lot singing and dancing as there would not be any stoppage, up to and including firing on all cylinders for Billstedt (Twilight Zone):

    Little fun fact: That is 1:17 of pure beauty and when Lemmy and Da Bruders covered this on 06.08.1996 at The Palace in Los Angeles it clocked in at … exactly 1:17.

    Gerd, the unstoppable machine that other bands cover 1:1.

    The Changingmen (Knust, Hamburg, 15.11.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    Once the encore was done Gerd retreated but the lot did not have enough. It wanted more. It demanded more. And Thodde, Gerds drummer, wanted to give more and lured the rest back on stage.

    Not rehearsed in 30 years but hey-ho, once we get over the first bump it’ll work, eh? And boy, it did!

    Gerd – Setlist (Knust, Hamburg, 15.11.2025 (c) gehkacken.de)

    30 odd songs, crème de la crème of Gerds oeuvre.

    Once they finally had left the stage Hollyholetsgo and Nickelodeon lured the lot onto the dancefloor at the bar. Their expert sing-a-long and dance-a-long DJ selections kept the fun & energy high, fueling the lust for liquid replenishment.

    2 locations, 3 bands and surrounded by largely friends. And enjoying the music. To that extent a huge thanks to Gerd for enabling it and already thanks in advance for the upcomming 40 year party at the Elbphilharmonie.

    And (blush) for seeing my Gerd pic from the 2024 show blown up in front of the Knust and on their monthly flyer.

  • … just thankful: The last of a great DIY and LOCAL series!

    … just thankful: The last of a great DIY and LOCAL series!

    Good ideas do not last forever, but good ideas can make a lasting impact. The fine folks that keep the Punkrock Hamburg community going had such a good idea in 2019 and as ever with their ideas they made it real.

    Just DIY.

    2025 and 4 editions done (annual, sure dropped during Covid times) it was now time for the 5th and last edition at its chosen home, the Stellwerk in Harburg.

    Again DIY and local heroes only. And again sold out.

    Blanker Hohn (Harburgs longest standing Punk Band) kicked it off, delivering a short but crisp set of their own Deutsch-Punk variant, up to and including lamenting about yours truly – thanks for that Oile!

    Blanker Hohn (Stellwerk, Harburg, 01.03.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    It is a genre i still can not relate to but Blanker Hohn by now (compared to 2019) i can relate to: They have modernized sound and delivery and they have a couple of songs that do speak to me. And they had their local fan base dancing in front of the stage, setting precedent for the rest of the evening.

    Next Küken and they kicked off like this:

    Black Air from their 3rd Album, what a wonderful heavy slab to get it going! And from there they took it down the Küken path: Just a full on barrage of their very own, stripped to the bone, bare metal, destilled … you name it, it will fit. As long as it comes with the annotation of “unique” and “Punk Rock”.

    Küken (Stellwerk, Harburg, 01.03.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    To my surprise they even had some of the lot dancing and i got to admit that indeed it felt like a huge amount of energy coming down and energizing the lot. Kudos, for me a near perfect and to the point set.

    Perfect for the occasion.

    Them Haermorrhoids it took a wee bit longer to setup and once the finally kicked in it sounded … just not as perfect as i would have expected. Not sure what it was, amongst many little bits eg. the drums sounded a wee bit card board instead of “crisp”.

    The Haermorrhoids (Stellwerk, Harburg, 01.03.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    On top i somewhat had the feel they speeded through their set, tempo slightly upward. Luckily this rather slow song from their recent split EP with Proton Packs showcases what they are good at – here is C.I.A.:

    Whilst i am normally somewhat enthusiastic when it comes to my Haermorrhoids live experience this set somewhat did not make it to the same level. It could also have been me, still mentally suffering from the FCSP loss vs. BVB earlier that afternoon, a loss that in the 2nd half was feeling like the team not having any energy anymore.

    The Haermorrhoids (Stellwerk, Harburg, 01.03.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    Whilst The Haermorrhoids relentlessly pushed ahead, i still had this nag in the back of my head that condensed somewhat to “uninspired“. But it may have been with me only, the rest of the lot was either frantically dancing away or enjoying it as far as i could see.

    And the worst was yet to come: When i wanted to score their brand new 7″ after the show they (and the record) were all gone. Bugger!

    Next the Headliner, the unstoppable Party Machine outta Hamburg Horn, with the following setlist:

    Gerd – Setlist (Stellwerk, Harburg, 01.03.2025)

    And they kicked of with the song that Lemmy stole off them and gave to the Ramones – here is G.E.R.D.:

    Bang! And from there it was like a match from heaven: A band with exclusively known sing-a-longs and a crowd eager to sing-a-long and dance it away, on the floor in front of the stage and beyond.

    Gerd (Stellwerk, Harburg, 01.03.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    For some in the audience it was even too much (of booze) and they flippered along in the pit until a careful friend took them out (or they took themselves out). I happily stayed off booze and enjoyed it. And the joy was way beyond the mu-sick-al experience, the room felt full of joy (though towards the end of the Gerd set felt already no longer packed).

    With some overtime and slightly after midnight Gerd called it a day, to almost triumphant cheers. And, as far as i could make out, Gerd also gained a few new supporters out of the local circuit.

    I guess there could not be a better finish for the show and a better finishing line for that good idea formed in 2019.

    I am damn sure that it will have a lasting impact (DIY and Local!) and i am also sure that we get something else as a surprise next.

    If i could have my wish then it would be another Sommermärchen, in sunny beach setting at the Brewery. That was top notch entertainment in a perfect setting.

    FANX Perry and Arne for pulling this through over the years, much appreciated!