April. Weather shenanigans. And thus keeping people at home. Though when i strolled down to the Hafenklang i was greeted with a stellar view towards the sunset in the West.
Sunset on a miserable Wednesday ( (c) gehkacken.de 2024)
But as empty as the streets the turnout at the Hafenklang would be. Next to a couple of friends of the Slanders it may have only been 30something good people. And half of them i knew by name. Pitty, as the rooster was an excellent one. Though definitely something that work so much better on a hot summer evening, best a Friday (or in Bergamo, i guess most of the Punk Rock Raduno regulars where at the Hafenklang).
Sharp at 21:00 Slanders kicked off with their very own Pop Punk, deeply grounded into the US of A, 1990’s and … on Lookout Records. Screeching Weasel anyone?
Their stance on stage remains feet wide, strings low. And this night it was quite fun to see two of the members sporting a shirt of The Haermorrhoids. Who just finished a very successful short tour. And where Greg plays and sings too.
Nice appreciation (or simply cheap shirts). How did it sound? It sounded like this:
Pleasant indeed, the speed, the dual vocals – it all works well. The songs are crisp and short (more or less) but the sound overall does not carry too many variations, they tend not to break out of their style a single note.
I dig them, though that lack of variation sometimes annoys my single-minded mu-sick-al brain.
The Yum Yums took the stage next and despite the fact that it was feeling a wee bit empty upstairs at the Hafenklang they did smile from the start. And that is the upbeat feeling of their songs anyway, singing about love, girls and everything that goes with it.
The Yum Yums (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 17.04.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024
On stage they are much more active compared to Slanders, though Morten stood center stage like a rock and did not move at all.
The amount of variation i missed with Slanders was there but somewhat it was all covered in a layer of sugar. Even up to the point that it was too sweet.
They played quite long, did throw in a couple of extras (but not all from the setlist) and took a rest. Well deserved. In all honesty a shorter (and crisper) set would have worked too.
As they had their brand new LP with them i scored it (on red vinyl, pitiful #recordcollectorsarepretentiousareseholes me), also the repress of their first LP now finally sits in my shelf.
The Yum Yums – Sweet As Candy (Norske Albumklassikere, 2022 reissue)The Yum Yums – Poppin’ Up Again (Screaming Apple, Red Vinyl, 2024)
Relaxed evening surrounded by largely friends (and friendly people), just a tad bit too empty.
Another year has passed and the fine people that fuel the Punk Rock Hamburg community invited to another showcase of what Hamburg has to offer under the banner of Punk Rock – a superb and wide variation of styles.
Location would again be the Stellwerk in Harburg, down south over the might river Elbe (and factually just a short train ride from the heart of the most beautiful City of Hamburg).
It was an early start already short after 1910, i bet you this was to not have too many people fall out drunk after the mighty home win of the FCSP on the afternoon.
The hardship of the first slot fell to Violent Instinct, the Stellwerk by this time was not yet full. Aga used the free space in front of the stage to roam during the first song, then she managed to lure more people forward.
Their mid-tempo style of street punk did work well for me, specifically as it is being carried by Aga’s vocal abilities. If there was one item that did nag me it was a wee bit a lack of speed variation, but hey, that is complaining on a high. Within their rooster they have hits like People With No Problems (mind other peoples business), a great sing-a-long build on the strength of Aga’s voice.
They lured folks to the stage and finished towards an by then much better filled Stellwerk.
From that Street Punk niche the baton was handed almost years back to a niche that may be called Proto Punk or maybe Glam Punk. Stuff for older folks that like their Saints, their Dictators or their Hellacopters.
And to a singer that has even more umpf on her voice – say Hi to Hamburgs own Demolition Girls.
They sure started of with the song that gave their name (and comes all the way from Down Under) and from there blasted through history.
Plunder here, steal there and actually not giving a shit on that it must be from the 70s – here is Sweden, 2016:
Wow, Barbro’s voice indeed fills the room and sends shivers down the spine.
The other top-notch asset is the guitar, super-duper bad ass sound delivered in perfection. And all that, paired with the rock solid rhythm section (sporting a Demolition Bass), forced the lot to dance along, almost like no tomorrow.
And youth and age united in front of the stage. Cool.
It definitely felt like all of the energy coming down from the stage was sucked up by the audience and reflected back in dancing, sing-a-long and cheers. I can assure you that at the end of their crisp set a wave of enthusiasm went through the room.
How to move on from that high?
Simple. Thrown in Küken and get the most unpretentious blast ever. Blasting the lot ten levels higher.
They took only a couple of minutes to set themselves up, played 30 seconds to assure overall sound and then …
… you get a perfect “RnR Band” (from Küken II). And that set the pace for their set.
No frills. No fills. No cheap borrowed time. Nothing wasted on addressing the audience (though i heard a simple thank you along the way) – it was a sheer blast of energy that made everyone dance (at least in front of the stage).
With Küken i though i always knew what i was getting but here and tonight they took it to the next level. I already came to the show with the idea to buy their new record released in late December but that idea turned into determination: I must score their 3rd LP, no matter what.
And as always when a band convinces we me live i sure scored their new long player after the show and in contrast to some reviews that where traded on anti-social media it is a total worthy effort. You get Küken, 100% real and authentic.
As ever their set was crisp to the max, speedy to the max and short (as their songs). And as ever it left me yearning for more.
Slanders where supposed to start next but it took them ages to set up and be ready. Whilst waiting for their drummer (who went AWOL without completing setup) Greg looked almost helpless, shrugged his shoulders and asked the audience “My gosh, what was that blast by Küken“. He, as a fellow musician, seemed as much taken by surprise as the audience was.
Once Slanders where ready they kicked into gear like this:
Say Hi to yet another niche, the ever friendly, ever speedy Pop Punk with a Ramonescore undercurrent. 4th band, 4th different genre. Still, they got the lot dancing and sing-ing-along again.
It was also cool to see Gregs bandmates from his other band in the audience, all smiling and humming away to the Slanders. And it was utmost cool to see the audience sending them hearts (…melting away).
They got plenty of cheers and the longer they played the better they got into it.
High speed stuff at par with their American contemporaries and i would bet ready for a Punk Rock Raduno stint. At least one PRR Hoodie was present in the audience, setting the right scenery.
Once Slanders finished, i sensed a bit of exhaustion in the audience. 4 bands in almost quick succession – for some it seemed too much (and specifically for those on booze).
I also sensed the same exhaustion with me mates who support the other team in Hamburg, their late (and delayed) away game was underway with varying results over the 2nd half, sending them into despair and joy (at the end).
The last slot was for Arrested Denial, who just supported Buster Shuffle at the Knust in a return from a longer hiatus. For me they are bit of a mixed bag, i would not go as far as a friend did (“My gosh, they are Deutsch Punk – i am outta here“) but their style of Street Punk with some Ska and Trumpet thrown in just does not klick as much as others do for me.
They had their fans present, they also had sing-a-long in front of the stage but it did feel a bit more empty than with the other bands that night. It may not have worked for me, it should not discourage you to check them out for yerself.
Overall a great – if not the best – Punk Rock Hamburg Festival. The only downside was that throughout all set the lights where … shite. Actually less than shite. I guess there was not a single second where the stage got proper light to have the band visible.
But besides the light (that was shite, ctd) it was a real cool showcase of local Punk Rock Hamburg capabilities, on and off stage. And that paired with both Hamburg teams winning their footie games … made many many people really happy.
My happiness was with Demolition Girls, Küken and Slanders and the relentless dancing in front of the stage. Just puurrrfect and with loads of applause from the audience. My happiness was also with the simple fact that it was sold out, a definitive prove of the power of the community.
As such do remember that the applause went too to those fine people who orchestrate the Punk Rock Hamburg community and the folks of the Stellwerk: Without them … we would be not be having it! And we had it, big time!
NB: Extra cudos to the young punk up front for dancing and smiling throughout all the night – stick into it my friend, stick into it!
Me mate Frosch claims that this summer is the best ever summer for live mu-sick and in full consequence he has been following eg. Civic and Rancid throughout Europe, been to Punk Rock Raduno in Bergamo and Rebellion in Blackpool. This week he went to see Devo (Tuesday, Berlin), Beltones (Wednesday, Berlin), Anti Heroes (Thursday, Monkeys), The Prize (Friday, Astra Stube) … only to finally go blatantly local with us on this Saturday.
The Bad Job Boys set this up, mustered fellow locals Slanders to the rooster and got folks upstairs into the Hafenklang.
And they choose to take the stage first:
Bad Job Boys – Setlist (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 19.08.2023 (c) gehkacken.de)
They have tidied up the set list, re-arranged the sequence and added brand new songs – a proper approach to win over the local audience.
Within that, they even unintentionally cut short my favorite song:
Fun moment around the 1:00m mark when Frank and Stephane realize that Bodo got carried away and ended up playing his bridge way too early … but as they are fully in sync they master that challenge with ease (and speeding up a 02:30 song to 1:46 – awesome times).
Their set definitely benefited from the new mix of songs and that some of the new songs have more umpf, more drive. Already that evening the ode towards the cooking abilities of Christiane & Luke named “Luke kocht” was an immediate sing-a-long hit.
Bad Job Boys (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 19.08.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)
Here is another great sing-a-long:
From where i sit a great set, only hampered by insufficient lights. During the set Bodo even complained that on his side of the stage it was way too dark and whilst he can play “blind” a little bit of light would help (that help never came though).
Bad Job Boys (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 19.08.2023 (c) gehkacken.de 2023)
On the positive side his massive guitar play was having – at least for my ears – a near perfect sound. Where some found it a wee bit too loud i found it exactly perfect with a wall of sound like experience.
Perfect set, well delivered and taking a willing audience along. Good stuff.
Next Slanders, the other band of Greg from the Haermorrhoids. Almost same territory but slightly different in setup and sound.
This is how they kicked off:
Closing my eyes and having Gregs very unique voice in my head i would almost guess Haermorrhoids but in real it ain’t. Very different songs (though from the same broad genre) and definitely very different twin guitar work.
And whilst stage attire was not aligned at all the stance was: Feet planted wide, neck of the guitar to the left and gentle lowering towards the back. And matching sound to that A stance they delivered for sure, less #ramonescore – more #poppunk.
When the drummer did setup the drums it felt from in front of the stage like ages, me and some mates where already joking (slightly annoyed) that we most like get an amateur setup paired with an amateur delivery. Boy, we were so wrong!
The drumming was outstanding and pounded the Slanders through this set list:
Good set, with loads of applause from the i guess half filled room. The singing though by Greg forever triggers Haermorrhoids with me. I guess i will need to see them Slanders more often to wash that away. And yes, i will!
Now Go! and check them out:
And because it was a pleasant evening with perfect companionship i kept chatting after the show to Tom, Dick and Harry … no, actually to many of the lovely friends around up to and including receipt of personal love message for this blog…
… only to realize that i was almost the last man standing and the bands had perfectly cleaned out the stage of the Goldener Salon at the Hafenklang. A definite first, did not expect that to happen.
And me mate Frosch? He was right almost 100% – the missing % is the Descendents cancellation (and i somehow luckily could not make up my mind in time to get a ticket for Melkweg in Amsterdamned).
I guess Frosch had nowhere to go on Sunday other than out into the sunny weather but i am damn sure he is already getting ready for the Get Lost Fest (that i have to let go for 2 weeks of battery re-charging and reading in Denmark).
You should get ready for that too – the fantastic Split Systems will play twice – on the MS Hedi and at the Hafenklang!
