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Tag: Moving Targets

… there ain’t no better way to kick-off for a tour, congrats Moving Targets!
It is not only me, also some friends around me have this little shiver whenever a Moving Targets show is being announced. The shiver is less driven from that they are top of the individuals personal list of “best records“, it is more a positive shiver steaming from that fact that they are exceptional friendly humans.

Exactly the type of guest you like to have in your living room (aka the Hafenklang).

With that in mind i was utmost happy that they started their month long run across Germany in Hamburg and just a day ahead of me buggering off to our second home up north in sunny Denmark.

Support was from Skranefjell outta Wilhelmshaven. The guitar player Robin was a known face to me, he did some guitar for the Moving Targets on their 2022 tour. His dad is behind the drums and an old scene veteran (infamous for his 80s Band Rudolfs Rache nowadays but back then a known fixture on the Deutsch Punk scene).

They claim to play Happy Pain & Pow Pow Pop-Punk and i am not sure if i would use such wording. On the good side the music relies pretty much on the guitar and that guitar provides a lot of variation.
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Skranefjell (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 18.04.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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On the not so good side half of the songs mingle around the Indie mark and that by definition puts me off. When they are to the point they have drive, umpf and are good. As ever, check it out for yerself.
<a href="https://skranefjell.bandcamp.com/album/angst-vor-blom-donner">Angst vor Blom & Donner by SKRANEFJELL</a>
.. and when they are not to the point then they smear Where Eagles Dare (Misfits) onto the street, piss on it and set it on fire. And that is what you should not do with that song. That cover was extremely painful to digest.

But the good thing is that this rant allows me to slot in this great cover of the same song:

My personal guess though is that outside my single minded mu-sick-al dictatorship Skranefjell actually do appeal to younger people today, so i wish them good luck.

The Moving Targets where quick to setup and with broad smiles kicked into the proceedings. And as ever the initial eye catcher was the relentless action by Ives on Bass, jumping around and always smiling.
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Moving Targets (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 18.04.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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Once initial sound problems with the Bass were solved the overall sound was near perfect. And fan boys that we are we knew what was coming our way, a nice mixture of old and new stuff.

Moving Targets – Setlist (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 19.04.2024)

Given that the Moving Targets are still a band wide apart (Ken in the US of A, Emile and Ives in sunny Montreal) and rarely rehearse in the same room it remains stunning that they kick off the first show of the tour, across the big pond, as a near perfect and tight outfit.

Within a couple of songs they had won over the audience, roughly 80 people made the effort to come out and most of them had broad smiles on their face.

It was double fun to note the stage setup: Ken not centered but pushed to the right, Emile way back and Ives demanding and commanding the rest of the stage up to and including the side part of the Hafenklang that is technically not stage anymore.

Give him room, he will roam.
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Moving Targets (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 18.04.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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The longer it went, the more joy came back from the audience. Plenty of people dancing, loads of sing-a-long and everybody glued to the stage.

It all culminated with the extra, Ken choose Dead Wrong from Bullet LaVolta (another cool Boston outfit he provided guitar duties for). There could not have been a better choice to get the audience completely going – well done both on and off the stage!
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Moving Targets (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 18.04.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
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They graced the Hafenklang in their current incarnation in 2018, 2019 and 2022 – this show by far was the most convincing one counting all possible angles, they rocked the place (to use an old-fashioned and odd expression).

In my head it was simply the human energy that came down from the stage and was upped & mirrored back from a willing and thankful audience. That created the sound in everyone’s head and made the pre-synaptic neurons releasing their neurotransmitters across the synaptic cleft.

But the Moving Targets were not the only exceptional human in the room as you can see, also Luke falls into the same category (also both on and off the stage).

Luke – the only double Jever wizzard in the world!
There ain’t no better companionship at a show!

Within in minutes from leaving the stage Ken, Emile and Ives roamed the Hafenklang and, being indeed the exceptional friendly humans, mingled with the lot. And as always after a Moving Target show more people than normal stayed longer for another drink (and a chat), including me and me mates.

I wish them good luck for the “In The Dust” Tout. If they keep this form, if they keep this energy – then their run through Germany will an exceptional and well deserved success. And hopefully a platform for the next record and the next tour.

We’ll be there!

PS: Thanks to Frosch for the videos, i was so glued that i did not take one.
2024/04/19
… the post Covid return of Moving Targets (and surprise Finns thrown in & out by Covid)!
It has been a while since i saw a band up on a stage, most down to work duties. This was followed by the urge to spend time away in sunny DK with me love, mainly to recharge the batteries. But good timing allowed to be back fully charged for the Moving Targets annual return to Germany (which was skipped twice due to the Pandemic).

Support was from Finland, my secret love and home of the reigning Hockey World Champion and current Olympic Gold Medal holder (an almost exclusive feat!). Maybe the guys partied to close last weekend when Finland did beat Canada 4:3 in overtime? When the Van Dammes arrived in Hamburg they where sans Bass Player, who tested positive on Covid and could not travel.

It was a bit hard thus for the band to achieve both sound and stage presence but they at least tried – though not necessarily always successful. Maybe due to that they faced a rather empty Hafenklang (that anyway was way too empty on this Wednesday evening).
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Van Dammes (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 01.06.2022 (c) gehkacken.de 2022)
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I stayed on, mainly down to the fact that i try not to let down support bands. But i also sensed that they actually have some decent songs, some twangy beat and some neat choruses.

I sincerely hope that they get a 2nd chance with full line up, all in all they seem a worthy effort. How do i know? Because i took home two EP’s after the show, one aptly named “Best Of” (from previous releases) and the other one a near perfect Football tribute.

It was done for the occasion of Finland qualifying for the first time ever for a Euro Tournament which first of all tells me that the band is supporting footie rather than hockey. Also not a bad choice.

But once home and on the record player i have to admit it is a real gem: catchy songs, clever use of synthy & in-the-know lyrics on – yep – grass green vinyl. Try yourself, be convinced and buy the EP, now!

… most likely the best football record of the 2020’s!

Without too much hassle the Moving Targets prepared the stage, got ready and kicked off like this:

Not 100% perfect, as the guitar volume was too low but the sound quickly improved and actually turned out to be near perfect (at least on my side of the stage).

What always strikes me with the Moving Targets is how perfect they work as a team on stage: Emilien with powerful precision drumming, Yves mastering the bass without pickup whilst bouncing around (and emitting the joy of music from his face) and Kenny providing the guitar layers, defining the tempo and applying the final icing on the cake with his voice.
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Moving Targets (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 01.06.2022 (c) gehkacken.de 2022)
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What i liked best this time round was that they where able to stretch the songs into something i can only describe as soundscapes: Layers of layers filling the room up so that you felt engulfed in it – at times i even had my mind drifting away. Isn’t that what music is all about and tries to achieve?
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Moving Targets (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 01.06.2022 (c) gehkacken.de 2022)
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Unfortunately the turnout was low, whilst pandemic restrictions have been removed the live show circuit has not yet picked out again. Be it that people finally got sick of postponement and late cancellations (hence not getting a ticket in advance – venues tell me that pre-sales are at an all time low) or be it that the current non mu-sick-all situation (War on Ukraine, cost of living crisis) takes it’s tall.
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Moving Targets (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 01.06.2022 (c) gehkacken.de 2022)
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On the other hand most of the attendees got out to see exactly this performance, see the Moving Targets and get carried away by their sound. I saw a lot of smiling faces and i saw a lot of people silently moving their body to the music.

At the end the Moving Targets put an extra on the already extended extra of “Youth Of America”, they gave us Fear Of God on top:

Perfect ending for a perfect show. Period. I would love to see them eg. on a bigger stage and packing say 350 to 400 good folks into eg. the Knust (where they would get a full perfect sound and have a larger space for filling it with soundscapes).

And a Moving Targets show would not be over unless the band came around and asked how it was, as such we had another beer and some good chats more. Luv it!

And for those who are really into it: Get the phenomenal Moving Targets 12″ with Youth Of America and Dead Wrong. I guess the special edition with the band as action figures is sold out but the limited edition with the hijacked covers – just click below!

Hint: It is on They’re Phenomenal Records – th a t name can not be a coincidence, can it?
2022/06/03
… this is Moving Targets not Reeperbahn Festival!
The triumphant return of the Moving Targets last year at the Hafenklang was a wee bit a short show for me, so i was eager this year to get exposed to a full set of blistering guitars and smiling bass players. Whilst i was fully committed, the mu-sick-al connoisseurs of Hamburg did somehow let them down. The parallel Reeperbahn Festival with it’s thousands of shows did suck up audience, at the end i guess a mere 80 people came down to see them.

They where paired with a north eastern package travelling through Europe: Cockbox from sunny Helsingin kaupunki and Rat’s Eyes from dark Mосква crossed their path and thus provided support.

Cockbox had the pain to start early and in front of almost no folks, though they provided quite interesting visuals: A rather heavy drummer with a strange pullover, a silent bass with all the 80 Punk insignia and a small and rather fully styled girl on guitar.
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Cockbox (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 19.09.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
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They had some twang but did not offer a compelling proposition. On top the time it took to fix a dislocated string took the energy out of the audience somehow, specifically as the bass player was not really an entertainer that could keep folks away from the bar.

Worst moment was when the girl did an Iggy crawl – that felt just like a poor replay of visuals rather then genuine expression of herself and the mu-sick. Still, i would give them a 2nd chance in the hope they just had sorta teething problems on stage – their Demo sounds so much better. En koskaan päästäisi suomea alas!

Next Rat’s Eyes from Moscow and they took things into a more serious and slick direction: In your face hardcore with some nice influences from traditional Russian army music (as one in the audience joked).
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Rat's Eyes (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 19.09.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
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I definitely did like that more, they also lured more people to the stage including the bass player of the Moving Targets. Their drummer literally did beat up the drum set (and specifically the cymbals), every hit was with full energy and anger – stunning. The guitar looked a bit odd from the look but provided some great shredding.

Check out their releases or just listen into this snippet:

They got the audience to request not only one but two encores, something i hinted to the Moving Targets standing next to me to be the bar that they need to pass and Kenny tongue in check answered that they’ll beat that and will provide us with even more. Plus he would reimburse me personally if i would not love it.

I told Kenny that he could save his cash, i was rather expecting the best. They kicked off quick, without too much fuzz and surprised myself and quite a number of people with energy and … a rather poor sound. There was a lack of balance between back line (bass and drums) and guitar and vocals.

Even when moving around it did not really get better, so i guess it must have been the mix. Over time it gently got better but at least one trusted friend was offended so much that he did leave early.

What was surprising to me was that they nicely speeded up things and even ventured out into 1:13 hardcore like bursts:

Given that the sound was not yet perfect there was some reservation at the start but over time and whilst the sound got better people got more enthusiastic.
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Moving Targets (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 19.09.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
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And it is anyway fun to see them: Sturdy and heavy drumming, a bass player that smiles away all the time (as he had fallen into a crate of Zaubertrank as a youngster in Augsburg, where he did grow up), jumping up and down full of energy and Kenny providing the swirling guitar plus the distinct vocals.

Once they where done with the set after about an hour they provided the promised extra (with some extra hired in). Their german merch guy was enlisted and with him they set out as a 4 piece doing some covers.

And it sounded like this:

BY now the sound was almost there and the audience did get going. Specifically when they did play “Youth of America” from the Wipers, a song that just lends itself to be covered by Kenny, as it has plenty of that guitar swirl.
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Moving Targets (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 19.09.2019 (c) gehkacken.de)
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I did not count but they did like 4 extras (thus beating the bar) and finished off late (and after midnight) with something special just rehearsed once on the day before.

That was a matching finish, a band that just had great fun playing and getting into it. They audience did cheer them big time but rather quickly left. Some, including myself, got the new record and some of the other vinyl, hopefully that helps them to fuel the van (or repay customer not loving it).

As they are a very accessible band they mingled with the lot after the show and showed genuine interest in how people liked it and to discuss life, music (me mate Thomas and i praised and sicussed Candian punk to the two Canadians) and the world as such. We did not discuss fucking the singer of the Sleaford Mods backstage though at one stage of the talks it was mentioned too in passing by one lovely female attendant (over just another beer).

The Hafenklang had to expel us at almost 02:00 after plenty of beers and i had the fun to stroll uphill to home with the two Canadians, who where up for some food and fun on the Reeperbahn. I left them at the capable hands of a mate for final directions as i had to work on Friday.

I can only urge the Moving Targets to avoid the Reeperbahn festival next year, i trust Hamburg will give them even a wee bit more (and yes i would believe a slightly different pairing would also work better).

In addition check out Kenny Chambers Music, there is a shitload of stunning stuff to explore!

And those options below?

Don’t let them go by – #thereaintnuthinbetterthanlivemusic
2019/09/20