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Tag: Violent Instinct

  • … why does it take Harburg to get the lot dancing? Killer Punk Rock Hamburg Fest down south!

    … why does it take Harburg to get the lot dancing? Killer Punk Rock Hamburg Fest down south!

    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.

    Violent Instinct (Stellwerk, Hamburg, 03.02.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024

    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.

    Demolition Girls (Stellwerk, Hamburg, 03.02.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024

    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.

    Demolition Girls (Stellwerk, Hamburg, 03.02.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024

    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).

    Küken (Stellwerk, Hamburg, 03.02.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024

    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.

    Küken – s/t (III) (Alien Snatch! Records 2023)

    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).

    Slanders (Stellwerk, Hamburg, 03.02.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024

    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.

    Arrested Denial (Stellwerk, Hamburg, 03.02.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024

    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!

  • … and now the points: Scotland 3, France 3, Hamburg 1, Berlin 1 – a hard and smart tournament!

    … and now the points: Scotland 3, France 3, Hamburg 1, Berlin 1 – a hard and smart tournament!

    Sam (Hard & Smart Booking) seems to never stop his good services in ensuring good music is played in a good setting. This time round it was the equivalent to a little tournament (Berlin vs. Hamburg, Scotland vs. France or any mix that pleases yer footie mind mate) and sure the Indra was too small for this, so the train did stop at the Knust.

    I arrived with a shattering 0:6 home loss of the team i am coaching and thus in a wee depressed mood. In addition none of my regular “see you at the next show…” friends where there, many for good reasons (seeing something else somewhere else). Alone and forsaken Mike Ness once did sing. But at least 2 bands waited for me that i had on my list of “must see”: Hateful from Scotland with their Top 10 Hit “Punk Fiction” and Lion’s Law from France, a young and energetic skinhead band.

    Violent Instinct (Knust, 22.11.2014 (c) gehkacken.de)
    Violent Instinct (Knust, 22.11.2014 (c) gehkacken.de)

    The hard life of the first band up was for the locals, so Violent Instinct had to go first and had their singer on awol. They kicked off anyway and i guess this way lured her onto the stage. They are young and – from where i come – still have a long way to go. But they sing in german and have a female singer, that’s at least a bonus. But they are not yet together as a band and still need to find their own and fitting sound. I did not dislike them but would not walk an extra mile to see them if you know what i mean.

    Hateful (Knust., 22.11.2014 (c) gehkacken.de)
    Hateful (Knust., 22.11.2014 (c) gehkacken.de)

    Next on Hateful and boy did i look forward to see them. They have played in Hamburg years ago but i did not see them. But ever since i found their “Diamonds amongst Coal” record and on there the little bright sparkling gem of “Punk Fiction” (a song i would have loved to throw at so many people so many times, the dirty old sod i am) i was hooked. I was expecting not too much and got a lot: Professional and quick to set up, just the drummer made a wee bit a fuz around setting himself up – for good reasons as i understood later.

     

     

    From the first chords you could see that they are together, practise a lot and love their music: You can just feel it. They even have consistent stage movement across the 3 on the front (more or less) and they are just non-nonsense in presenting their music. Ok, the drummer not: Within minutes i learned why he labored so long in setting himself up: Whilst the other 3 grace the stage front he does his own little show in the back. The last drummer i have seen sending sticks flying and upon descent grabbing them and hitting the tone and rythm was the drummer of Bracket from the US, ages ago in the 90s at the Logo. But Kev from Hateful does it all: Sticks flying, standup drumming etc – i wonder if anybody in the audience even noticed…good fun though!

     


    Sure they gave me “Punk Fiction” (and it is just a great song, soon to be be presented in this blog under “Loveliest Vinyl”) but also they gave a well toned and bitter sweet ode to the fucking cunt named Maggie T. (in short they’d wished to be her heart attack, quite a neat idea). Great stuff plus a little nod’ to Hamburg about Steves uncle Ringo:

     

     

    Next on Lion’s Law from France and by now the front of the stage was packed.

    Lion's Law (Knust, 22.11.2014 (c) gehkacken.de)
    Lion’s Law (Knust, 22.11.2014 (c) gehkacken.de)

    And the boys got what they waited for: Hard, Fast and to the point.

     


    OK, not. Little joke played on you friends – if you read here on a regular basis you know how much i like to capture bands like this: Setting up gear, test and trial. Current leaders are Marked Men followed by Chixdiggit but Lion’s Law are currently in the Top 10 with this. Once through this they gave it a go. And that was with a capital “G”:

     


    What can i say? Full paced, hard rocked skinhead hymns presented with the edge it needs. Some people take them as a surprise (given they claimed fame with their first record straight away) but they all come from various other ventures and thus have soaked up various styles and have blended it into something almost unique (and the french accent helps).

    I loved them, although i had to have a severe word with the toidi next to me, who spend most of the show taking pictures (and invading my lens) only to post and discuss them on Fuckbook or Whatsapp with his mates – i guess only to show off. I really get more and more annoyed when whilst at a show people spend time on Facebook rather then enjoying and cheering up a live playing band. Stay home rather please!

     


    Wow – that was great stuff and i now severely regret to have been on holidays last year when they played the Indra. They really got the crowd going all over!

    Berliner Weisse (Knust, 22.11.2014 (c) gehkacken.de)
    Berliner Weisse (Knust, 22.11.2014 (c) gehkacken.de)

    Finally and much later than planned Berliner Weisse took the stage as headliner, most likely the most professional band that night and much awaited by large parts of the audience. They did the old “Good evening Bochum” trick but it fell on deaf ears.

     


    They are a tough one for me, i did not like most of their lyrics (though large parts of the audience could sing-a-long), i can not really dig the voice of their singer (not his fault though, he was born that way) but i did like the bass player who gave a flying fuck about hardcorepunkoi and used the long neck of his bass to play on the funky side. But hey, i do not have to love them. They gave a solid show and they are a fun band. On the positive side: They mad a good band effort on the last chord of every song, trying to outsmart each other with the ending – something i do like when bands do that.

    What’s all of that in total? Another great effort by Sam and a worthwhile evening that made me forget the home loss earlier that afternoon, just across from the Knust. But once i woke up on Sunday late and had the breakfast with my love i was almost over it…only to see my professional side loosing another game in another poor performance. So i had to turn to spirits on Sunday evening but that is another story.