The fine folks that run the Limited Edition just don’t stop, two editions in September are a surprise (though two weeks ago technically it was out of town bands only). And the much bigger surprise was that the hosts would greet guests and bands with … a song.
That is cool as fuck i’d say. Here you go:
Thats Koma Kombo on Drums (Eugen), Buttocks on Guitar (Mike), Kaltfront on Bass (Jörg) and Nancy on Vocals. Ever since i have been seeing Punk Shows (1979 ’till today) i did not spend a second on thinking such thing could happen.
Well done and if three chords are indeed enough you are now a band!
Fat Flag kicked it off and kept it equally brief for the start:
And that’s also how they continued, upbeat, fast, plenty of breaks and multi vocal singing. A very modern, very American approach to Punk Rock.
They also had a rather juvenile fan base in attendance that pretty much enjoyed itself and could sing-a-long (much more then us old farts).
Fat Flag (Pretty Vacant HQ, Hamburg, 26.09.2025) (c) gehkacken.de 2025
The only downside on their set was the the vocals where not fully understandable (too silent i guess) and that the heat emitters called stage lights burned both the band and the neck of the audience. If only the crew could pilfer some less heat emitting LED lights…
Besides that an energetic set, well received by the audience (and enthusiastically supported by the fan base).
Youth Of Altona next and they are not just a band covering songs from the Wipers, they are a band that play the Wipers. Both on stage and off stage i’d say:
…Youth Of Altona 2025 and Wipers 1979: No difference at all!
On stage they started, as ever, with Return Of The Rats:
From the start it was simply this feeling of joy of playing that came down from the stage, in full speed and taking no prisoners.
But playing the Wipers is not all they do, trust me. They also preserve the simple fact that – give or take – the first three Wipers records (spanning from 1980 to 1983) are simply flawless beauties with songs that stand the test of time. And much more than other bands most of the songs are A1 material, there is almost no weak spot.
And for those who are connoisseurs they also have hidden some Easter Eggs, like the Karl Alvarez intro to Same Old Thing (that has an Karl style bassline for a start, dating back to 1979).
Killing a nod to two loveliest bands in one stone throw – near perfect!
Whilst Youth Of Altona lacked the juvenile fan base of Fat Flag they still had the audience on it’s toes and moving. And those who did not move at minimum had a huge smile on their face and simply did enjoy.
Youth Of Altona are also a peoples band, hence they invited half of Demolition Girls to sing D7 with them to make up for earlier show planed but not happening.
It is a wee bit a complicated and lengthy song and many people name it their least liked song on Is This Real?. I guess largely for 01:30 slow burning intro … but then the firework starts!
Sing-a-long:
Straight as an arrow Defect, defect Not straight, not so straight Reject, reject Towards antisocial Dull, dull, so dull
Standing on the stairs Cold, cold morning Ghostly image of fear Mayday, mayday Gonna leave this region They'll take me with them
Dimension Seven Dimension Seven
Straight as an arrow Defect, defect Not straight, not straight Reject, reject Towards antisocial Dull, dull, so dull
Past astral borders Zeno lies waiting Past gaseous remains Intrigue, such intrigue Gonna leave this region They're taking me with them
Straight as an arrow Defect, defect Not straight, not so straight Reject, reject Towards antisocial Dull, dull, so dull
Perfect adaption with two voices, also presented in a class way. The icing on that cake would follow suit as the setlist indicated: The “encore” would entail the all time favorite Over The Edge plus Youth Of America and finally Nothing to prove (also a lesser known song but dating back to 1986 and Sub Pop 100.
Youth Of Altona – Setlist (Pretty Vacant HQ, Hamburg, 26.09.2025)
Have i seen a tighter set by Youth Of Altona prior? I don’t think so – they grabbed the opportunity to excel in the small and private setting, amongst friends. Are they a cover band? Never. They play Wipers!
Boy, what a great evening. Surrounded by largely friends, from diverse background and enjoying two crisp sets by local bands. In a full DIY setting, up to and including another great physical DIY ticket:
… perfect DIY ticket!
With a broad smile (and a wee bit of less pain on me foot) i took the subway ride home, humming a Wipers tune and looking forward for another Limited Edition. The mark is getting higher, i wonder how the good people making this happen will top it.
And guess what: I know they will.
… the canceled show that Demolition Girls had to pull out on
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:
Dressing up for the occasion and wearing well orchestrated uniforms on stage
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!
It was Knock-Off who themed “Football Beer and Punk Rock” and in the same fashion the good folks keeping the Punkrock Hamburg community afloat dubbed their 2024 Summer event: Sommermärchen 2024 has a nod to footie but capitalized on location, on content and on delivery.
Location was the Landgang Brewery in Altona, content was 3 Bands from Hamburg and one from sunny Münster. And delivery was by all, up to and including the 216 folks attending on a lovely mild summer evening.
As kick-off as early as 18:00 came a huge surprise – by name and sound they fitted the summer vibes oh so much:
That is Poolhead.
The song is “Shake’n’Spill” and by the time they played that one i was already a converted fan. Next to Punk and H/C i crave also Surf, the single band with the most vinyl in my 5000+ collection is actually not the Descendents, not the Ramones (and sure not U.K. Subs) but … Man or Astro-man? (a whooping 38 out of their total 72 releases according to Discogs).
I had no clue that Poolhead even existed and where that song was full-on laid back beach vibes they had others that had twang, drive and umpf. Proof that Surf is a perfect match-up with eg. H/C.
And for a Surf band their pedal boards looked surprisingly tiny as in efficient, still their setup of twin guitars and drums gave a wide sound variety thanks to their expert handling of the reverbs, springs and what-have-you.
Here is another beauty, themed after the stereotypical Italian live guard:
“Il Bagnino”, only ever a true hero with the whistle around his neck!
To that extend the above Italian poster for that Elvis Presley movie has an odd failure in not adding that whistle. Bad attention to detail.
The more they played, the more they got into it and got positive feedback from the lot, that most likely was not expecting these sound and was not really into Surf in the first place.
The band started to smile, started to move and somewhat got driven away. Within that, they came across humble and almost shy, taking in the appreciation with broad smiles.
How can it be summed up? In 3:11 and with a big nod to Raymond John Pepperell:
That was purrrfect!
I will now for sure sign up to their fan club and i will make an effort to see them again. They simply jump into a niche that had not been filled since … let’s say The Incredible Sinalco Bums (and that was their 10″ in 1996).
Here is their set list, now forever in my memories…
As ever if a band convinces me live i got to score vinyl, so off i went after their sole vinyl output, which luckily they still had some (despite having pressed only 100 of these beauties).
It came with a nice Il Bagnino themed tote bag and a double cool Poolhead Sea Horse badge themed after what in Germany is the badge for young kids mastering the first level of swimming. Seepferdchen Abzeichen that is!
Head over to Bandcamp to score their stuff:
And yes, at some times their soundscapes touched sky aka the Olymp where Man or-Astro-man? sit. I am now eager to see how far Poolhead can evolve, how high they can get!
Jan, Arne and Kai had the difficult task to follow up to that surprise and ground the people again. Given that in contrast to Poolhead they sing (and have great lyrics on top) the ears of the audience got something different for a start.
They played by and large their standard set, included one or the other new additions and within that kept my loveliest song in the rooster.
Here is “Sie Lächeln Nur Auf Fotos“:
Specifically Jan seemed to enjoy a couple of different twangs on this one, in German it is called “Spielfreude” and maybe best expressed simply as joy of play. And boy, that came through in their set big time and was echoed by the audience.
Given that this was outside, on the backyard in front of the brewery in a largely industrial quarter of Altona this song sure was a must – here is “Draussen Sein“:
Upbeat, inspiring and the unique vocals of Arne – best in class if you ask me! A pity that they do not play that often and a double pity that there still is no further vinyl to eg. put their monster hit “Anomalie” to the test of time.
They got the the lot fully into the groove and handed the baton to Youth Of Altona, who set out to deliver the best of The Wipers as follows…
Youth Of Altona – Setlist (Landgang Brauerei, Hamburg, 17.08.2024)
I did not pay full attention to the set list ahead of their set, if i would have … i would have recorded another song on video indeed. But little did i know of the 2nd big surprise of the day (that was still to come).
Thanks to the superb lead in by Poolhead and Nasser Hund and i guess thanks also to the bottomless pit of beer available on location Youth Of Altona did hit a sweet spot: Time was perfect, readiness by the audience was full and booze had not yet taken over but was at that sweet spot of happiness.
Youth Of Altona (Landgang Brauerei, Hamburg, 17.08.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)
In sum it meant that they instigated a nice dancing party in front of the stage and got a lot of people moving and singing along. But also crisp and more complicated songs like “Telepathic” got the lot cheering:
My surprise moment came with #9, for the first time ever a band met a silly request by myself. Taking the effort to rehearse a song and then play it.
Youth Of Altona, a true peoples band, took note of my 2023 statistics and the fact that i had them down for participating in what i felt was Show Of The Year 2023…
… and offered a return. And took the offer serious. And delivered 31 weeks later.
Wow – thanks so much and indeed that song with an almost Karlish bass went down well with me. Very well (hugs & kisses you lot!).
Youth Of Altona (Landgang Brauerei, Hamburg, 17.08.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)
Perfect set and confirming that a cover concept works if the band truly has their heart in it. And Youth Of Altona have their heart in it big time, the amount of cheers they got was overwhelming. Well done, well done!
The headlining slot was for the guests from far, friends of Hamburgs finest The Haermorrhoids and well known to the Punk Rock Raduno pilgrims. Neon Bone hail from Münster, the cultural center of the Westphalia and home of the late Moondog.
And home of the Puke Fest, the number one Pop Punk festival in Germany.
So, no surprises when it came to adding a wee bit of candy, bubblegum and love to the proceedings – because that is what Neon Bone are best at. In short and crisp doses.
Neon Bone (Landgang Brauerei, Hamburg, 17.08.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)
Their stage setup was somewhat also nice, the only guy not having singing or chorus duties was stage center and roaming around.
The Internet (damn Internet, never forgets) places them well:
Neon Bone continue to represent everything I love about pop-punk. Their records are full of simple three-chord songs influenced by classic pop and rock 'n' roll and delivered with a satisfying punk rock punch. This is a band that understands the timelessness of both melody and love songs, and there has never been much of a need to radically change its approach to music.
More so now than ever, you can really hear the band embracing pop-punk's roots in doo wop, early rock 'n' roll, and '60s bubblegum.
(paraphrased from Lord Rutledge over at the Faster and Louder Blog)
Here is the exhibit to prove it, it has all these ingredients.
And if you swallow your pride
We can do just fine
And if we can join our forces
Only one more time
If we act like nothing
Ever fell apart
Forget about our broken heart
And rearrange right from the start
Here is "Paint It White":
It is from their 2024 effort on Monster Zero Records, scoot there for the vinyl or grab it via here:
They played on and on and finished off in the dark. Funniest moment came for the final encore that was sung by the guitar not having a mike in front of him. He had to multi-task as he not only had to play and sing but also to explain the chords on the fly to the other guitar (that was sporting the cool Avem shirt).
Neon Bone (Landgang Brauerei, Hamburg, 17.08.2024 (c) gehkacken.de 2024)
Great finish of a lovely mu-sick-al evening, loads of cheers but no further encore – there was a risk of neighbor complaints and police intervention.
Without further ado the lot took it into the brewery and towards the turntables, fueled by Arne & Dirk acting as the DJ’s. And what was dancing with the bands turned into dancing to some choice classics, getting more of that beer and chatting with people from near and far.
The Party ( (c) gehkacken.de 2024)
The location as such is super cool, a bar, enough space to sit, enough space to dance and overall a great scenery next to the big tanks giving birth to that beer.
The Beer ( (c) gehkacken.de 2024)
Not sure what the Landgang Brewery expected but i heard rumors that they sold above 1.000 glasses of beer – i guess on average about 5 beers per person. Invite the Punkrock Hamburg lot and you get noise, no stress and maximum turnover!
I had tried their beer before, liked it though it is not a standard one in the household. Here is a little snippet about them:
I took home around midnight, jumping onto the bus for a door-to-door delivery down to Altona-Altstadt, had a final one for the road with the love of my life and went to bed with a cozy and happy feeling – thanks to the Punkrock Hamburg crew and the lot.
Can we do this again? Please?
PS: In case you want more on the brewery, hop to their homepage…
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