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Tag: Marias Ballroom

  • … covering Harburg!

    … covering Harburg!

    Oh my, following my house move into our retirement place the trip down south to Harburg, over the mighty river Elbe, is now a looong stretch on public transport.

    Self-chosen problem though and one to easily overcome. Just do it!

    Last year the “Dance into Mai” was dropped, 2025 saw a new edition. Initially planned with the Bad Brians and Demolition Girls next to Youth Of Altona the rooster needed updates due to various illnesses.

    Youth Of Altona ended up paired with Uke Of Tomorrow (using ukes to cover the world) and Boy Division (using any tool to slaughter other peoples hits).

    But whatever the line-up – it was pretty fast sold-out!

    Ukes Of Tomorrow kicked it off, dressed in style and with plenty of their weapons of choice ready: If i counted correctly Kent had three different (n)ukes ready, Totti two.

    Ukes Of Tomorrow (Marias Ballroom, Hamburg, 30.04.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    Whilst Kent remains a great storyteller with an excellent choice of songs (most of the time luring the audience to sing-a-long more silent than loud) my mu-sick-al receptors are somewhat not working well when the song is solely carried by ukes.

    That said, it is still entertaining and does not make me flee the room. And that is also how the audience took it – a more mellow warm up to covering Harburg with songs from far and near.

    Boy Division next and i have to admit that i gave them a pass multiple times over the years. And i got to admit now that i was simply outright wrong.

    A simple quote from the internet (damn internet, never forgets) gives the gist:

    It wasn't that people didn't like Boy Division, they were just scared (former booker)

    And bringing danger or scare back into Punk is always a bonus. On top they do meet demanding criteria of my dumb mu-sick-al mind:

    1. Dressing up for the occasion and wearing well orchestrated uniforms on stage
    2. In case of the desire to play a cover, do it slightly off, slightly odd and in a way that makes people either wonder, speechless or flee.

    So what did i finally get? 4 guys with black suit trousers, white shirts, black ties and an electronic name badge showing “Boy Division” in running letters.

    A trashy drum kit on a bar stool (with the clever help of electronics) and vocals through a wide variations of megaphones.

    Quite a look, quite a sound.

    Boy Division (Marias Ballroom, Hamburg, 30.04.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    And, most likely that made it work that evening for me, it was less art and more driving … Punk. Deconstruction on steroids. But always pushing forward.

    Frank – the “art” annotation was always the key fend-off item for me. But that one now is overcome, so they got a new admirer!

    And yes, they surprised many of the lot in the Ballroom and got a fair amount of applause.

    Youth Of Altona took the stage next and this is how they kicked off with “Return Of The Rat”:

    Where Greg Sage once was said to have envisaged the Wipers as non-live

    Its inception was at first an exclusive recording project. Then Sage planned to record 15 LPs in 10 years without touring or promoting. He believed it would be possible to avoid live shows, press, pictures and interviews, and this – coupled with the mystique of his unorthodox music – would encourage a deeper, more imaginative engagement with the recordings.

    it is Youth Of Altona who pull it out of the cupboard, out of the #recordcollectorsarepretentiousarseholes collection and onto the stage.

    And boy did they not only pull this night but pushed. Relentlessly. More than once recognizing on stage “outsch, we are speeding through the set”.

    Youth Of Altona (Marias Ballroom, Hamburg, 30.04.2025)
    (c) gehkacken.de 2025

    For me it was a near perfect set – umpf, drive and the harsh & raw guitar work above a rock-solid backline. And they still have my song of choice in the setlist, to which Christiane added a Karl Alvarez intro. Luv it. Luuuv it big time!

    They got all the sing-a-long deserved and they got plenty of cheers. And, finally, some dancing into the May.

    And then finished off like this, taking the audience over the edge:

    Superb. And making not only us northerners happy but also that lovely couple coming all the way from Munich. And surprising them too with how Hamburg covers Harburg.

    There is one other item that stood out and that was not only the location itself (secluded down south over the mighty river Elbe for us Hamburgers) but the perfect stage, the good lights and the extraordinary good sound in front of the stage.

    The guys running this not only like what they do but also do it technically great.

    So a great choice for this little fun thingy, lets beg for it being back in 2026, maybe with Demolition Girls. And a surprise.

    Please.

    PS: Again i was lucky, capturing the essence of a band – klick for high res version!

  • … down south, over the river: Away day into May!

    … down south, over the river: Away day into May!

    “Dance into May” is an old German tradition dating back to pagan days. It tends to happen in small villages in the countryside and involves too much drinks and fist fights of drunken man at any age. Not my type of fun.

    But down south, right across the mighty river Elbe, Marias Ballroom was throwing a “Punk into May” showcase that included the reformed Youth Of Altona and that would lack dancing around a Maypole luckily. A quick train ride south and a short walk got us there, a first for me. Face value a small local pub in an old house named “Bei Maria” that has a secret hidden in the back: A Ballroom, capacity i guess 100 folks, with a professional stage, a professional sound and lightning system. Wow.

    This was the 3rd Edition of “Punk into May” and local custom seems to be that The Barrytown Wheelies kick off the proceedings. Old punks of i guess my age covering older and newer songs.

    The Barrytown Wheelies (Marias Ballroom, Harburg, 30.04.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    Their covers ranged actually wide, from Saints to Ramones but also some lesser known stuff thrown in. And a surprise Descendents cover. On all songs they applied their own twist, hard to guess if knowingly or because they just did not get around to get a 1:1 cover done. On few songs that worked for me, on most it did not.

    Biggest minus: They did not manage to finish a single song as a team, on a precise stroke. The locals gave them some applause, for me it was falling short of expectation.

    Next inPUNKto and quite a drop in years and a change in style. Young lads, upright political stance and fast forward Deutsch Punk.

    inPUNKto (Marias Ballroom, Harburg, 30.04.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    Whilst they had some seconds of nicely bashed out songs structures, largely when the bass was frenetically strumming it down, they where way off my personal liking. It may also have been because they triggered off some cliches in my single-minded grumpy old head.

    Go and check them out for yourself, i am almost sure i will let them go should i face them on stage again. One of me mates even went all alone outside of Marias because he could not bare them …

    And that gave way to Youth Of Altona: Janny assembled a new crew to emit his love for the Wipers from the stage … here is how they kicked off:

    And the new faces are familiar faces: Christiane of Gerd fame on Bass, Lorenz of Blanker Hohn fame on drums … but he will only be able to join live for the support slot for D.I. at the Hafenklang. So for this show Timo from Bond Girl jumped in.

    And this what they took on to deliver:

    Youth Of Altona – Setlist (Marias Ballroom, Harburg, 30.04.2023 (c) gehkacken.de)

    It looked much more like a band (eg. following rule #1 of orchestrated stage attire), it sounded more like a band and – self chosen bonus – the songs are all great stuff (thanks to Greg Sage).

    Youth Of Altona (Marias Ballroom, Harburg, 30.04.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    Although this was only the 2nd show in this new line up you could already sense how much the solid rhythm section will support Janny. They allow him the freedom to wander off, improvise and making the songs – here Alien Boy – even more worthwhile.

    Sure there where parts not really glued together and song parts not yet rehearsed to perfection but where the covers of them Barrytown Wheelies where somehow off Youth Of Altona delivered them spot on.

    Youth Of Altona (Marias Ballroom, Harburg, 30.04.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    They got a fair share of applause, plenty of smiles and on hits like Over The Edge they even got loads of sing-a-long:

    What was also apparent was that stage, light and sound in that tiny Ballroom where near perfect, looking at the equipment to me i looked like someone simply fulfilled his life long dream to have a cozy small place for live mu-sick.

    Youth Of Altona (Marias Ballroom, Harburg, 30.04.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)

    At the end they were forced to play some extras, tongue-in-check Janny proposed to just play songs from the start again, as they lacked some precision initially (at least according to him). So here is Return Of The Rats again:

    For me a perfect set and a neat rescue of the mu-sick-al side of the evening. And as ever when a band convinces me live i did buy some merch, the love of me life now sports a nice black Youth Of Altona T-Shirt – very fitting as a) she is younger than me and b) we live in Altona (Altona-Altstadt to be precise).

    Nice place, nice chats with friends from north and south of the river and a quick train ride home with perfect companionship, so all in all still a good night out – remember #thereaintnuthinbetterthanlivemusic!