Meneguar, Woods @ Kulturbunker, Cologne

I guess that's what you call "to chill out" at a show. Yesterday saw yet another wonderful BBQ at the Kulturbunker in Cologne-Mülheim. The 50 Food Combo did this before and it's always a very nice and tasty experience. Some people showed up, they had tables and chairs on the rooftop and everybody was in a good mood. The food was great, although I only dug into the grilled veggie stuff. Oh, and there was a show taking place as well.
I can't remember the name of the first band, from what I heard they were German and played what I would consider to be old school screamo. You have to be considerate with how you label musicn nowadays so everybody understands what you are talking about, right? Had I said "screamo" everybody below the age of 25 would have thought this meant those horrible chartbands who play this crappy metal stuff with screaming vocals, hard and loud guitars and face paint all over the place. No, this band tried more to sound like the mid to late 90s version of screamo. Quiet parts which burst out into chaotic riffs with desperate screams (hence "screamo"). Still I didn't really get into it. That kind of music was never really my cup of tea and I am not that knowledgeable when it comes to grading performances like that one yesterday but I somehow felt bored.
That changed with the second band, Woods from NYC. Their setup for the show looked very interesting. Most of the instrumentation was simple: drums, guitar, bass, singers. But there was one guy who stood in front of a table with lots of technical equipment like foot pedals and - and that was what surprised me most because I'd never seen anything like that before - a mixing thing where you had two tapedecks instead of two turntables. Most of the time it was plain and simple yet wonderful and nice popmusic which because of the voice reminded me a little bit of Neil Young. But when they got into those long and epic parts which they streched on and on and on, that's where it got really interesting. The sounds the tapedeck guy created where fascinating. I could have watched this and listened to it for hours, but at some point they had to stop unfortunately. Great band, although I don't think this will work for me on a record.
Meneguar were up next and they blended into the middle of the two previous bands. Slightly chaotic with a hint of nice melodies. This wasn't your average chaoscore, this was a little bit more interesting. This is music I can listen to perfectly while watching the band play, but I don't think I'll ever buy a record. It had the groove and the melodies for a nice concert experience and that was enough for me yesterday. Combine that with the atmosphere for the BBQ outside on the rooftop, the company of nice people and friends and there you have a perfect summer evening in Cologne. What else can you wish for?

Deny Everything @ Bauwagenplatz, Cologne

It has been quite some time since I have been to two shows in one week and it has been even longer since I have seen two very good shows in just a few days. First there was the wonderful evening with our Greek friends from Düsseldorf at the "Sonic Ballroom" and then on Friday Troisdorf's best dancers Deny Everything were celebrating the release of their new 7" EP "Speaking Treason" (YoYo Rec.) with a concert at the "Bauwagenplatz".
It's always quite a gamble with shows at this location, you just never know what will happen. I'v seen some very boring stuff there, I've seen shows which were stopped because somebody felt discriminated, I've seen legendary performances by bands like Yage or Hanns Martin Slayer. And Deny Everything's performance will live on with the better ones'. The evening was perfect to hang around at the area which is covered by the "Bauwagenplatz" with all its caravans. The Sunshine Bar Building seems to have been renovated since the bar area now is a lot bigger (which led to the service being much quicker than before, at least that's how it felt for me). First up was some band whose name escapes me, but they didn't sound that good anyway. Typical punkrock with German lyrics, nothing special really. Just ordinary and so not worth mentioning at all.
The complete opposite can be said of Deny Everything. Although one can argue that it might be a little retarded to name a band after a song by the Circle Jerks, but they just know how to create a wonderful atmosphere for a hardcore show. This was what it is supposed to be. People were having fun without kicking each other's heads in. There was a mosh pit, there was a circle pit, but everybody was looking out for each other. Truly positive atmosphere there. The audience was having fun, the band was having a lot of fun, the music was brilliant and when it all ended shortly before midnight everybody left with a smile on their faces, something I hadn't experienced in a long time. In fact the last time I witnessed a positive hardcore show like this one was alomost 14 years ago when Black Train Jack played at the "BüZe" in Cologne-Ehrenfeld. Which reminds me that I should write something about the fabulous Black Train Jack records some time soon.
But coming back to Deny Everything, this is really proof for hardcore coming back to Cologne. With bands like them, Cobretti (who will release their album soon), Kingdom and so on, with concert groups like Hit & Run, there is a lively scene that slowly brings back what was going on around here 15 years ago. What's even more fun is to recognize that this "scene" is highly entertaining on the one hand but also aware of politics and actions. So it's not like the divisions which took place during the late 90s anymore and that's very nice to see.

Free Yourself @ Sonic Ballroom, Cologne

This one almost slipped away under my radar as I only took notice of it when I was reading a newspaper supplement at my parents' house over the weekend. Free Yourself have always been a band who I hold very dear. I can't quite remember how we met but the boys have been so kind to me to let me accompany them all across Germany when they played shows over the weekend at the end of the 1990s. They were always featured in Düsseldorf's Blurr Magazine and that's where I heard about their 7" first. I got a hold of a copy at a show in Cologne. I believe Snuff and Kick Joneses were playing at the Rhenania and Milto had set up his small table with a few copies of Blurr magazines and some records, one of them being Free Yourself's debut single. I think I bought all three Blurr Rec. products that evening and I also remember I had to leave early because I was still going to school in 1995. But the 7" completely blasted me away. Four great tracks with music I never heard before. I was so happy to ctach a glimpse of a live set at the first annual Fanzine meeting in Neuss where they played a few songs after they won the football tournament there. Good memories.
Over time we became friends and I started to join some of their weekend tours. The best one would be the trip to Minden and Bremen where they played with Winnipeg's finest Painted Thin in 1997. The three day trip with Greece's Stateless In The Universe (1999) was also a memorable one. The highlight came when A Modest Proposal were asked to join a four day tour which would take us through the south of Germany. Oh my, that was fun. We even managed to cover a song by Free Yourself for our show at Freiburg's KTS. I was also extremely grateful when Spiro asked me to become the new bass-player for Free Yourself when Kay left the band, an offer which I had to decline since I wanted to play with my own guys a little more.
So after some time Free Yourself just faded away. They never really called it quits and somehow there was always the chance for another show in my neighbourhood. That chance came yesterday and, oh yes, it was a blast. First up it was very nice to see so many familiar faces at a show again. This was almost like someone had stopped the clock and we were all taken back 10 years. So many old friends showed up to make this a memorable experience. The band looked slightly older - of course - but they still had it. I was even able to remember a few lines from the songs and so I was singing along some of the Greek lyrics. This was great. I didn't go inside to watch Oiro who I had seen quite a few times in the past few years, so instead I took the chance to catch up with what happened to the guys in Free Yourself over the past years. I hadn't seen Kay in a long time so it was a great pleasure to talk to him again. And I even managed to obtain a copy of their new three track CD which includes the wonderful song "Kuss", a song they already played in 2000 when we played with them.
It has been quite a while since I felt so good at a show.

The Gaslight Anthem @ Werkstatt, Cologne

I had been looking forward to this evening for a long time and then it was over a little bit too fast. I was working in the morning and had to rush to a rehearsal afterwards so there wasn't any chance to grab something decent to eat by the time we arrived at the "Werkstatt". The weather was fine, quite a few people were there and before we knew it our good friends of The Gaslight Anthem came out of the venue and the time turned back a few months. It was almost like they never left. I really enjoyed talking baseball with Benny again.
The show was fabulous. The whole band seemed to be in a very good mood and everybody looked like they were having a lot of fun. Although Alex (bass) seemed to be a little annoyed by the artificial smoke cannon. New songs, old songs, even songs of the upcoming record which will be out after this summer. Oh boy, I can't wait to get this goodie.
No one of the crew seemed to be interested in Fall Of Troy who played as the headliner for the night. Judging from their fans I didn't miss much since one dork was yelling their name while The Gaslight Anthem was playing. Those fanboys can really be a nuisance.

It was one of those special nights that don't come around to often and especially since I don't have that much money to burn. Somehow I didn't go to a lot of shows in the past few months so it felt really good to hang out with my friends for a nice summer evening. The only thing on the downside was that this was the opening day of the football Euro championship so I wasn't able to watch the second game of the day. Nevermind. Great Entertainment. Hopefully I will make it to another show.

This Will Destroy You/Tephra @ MTC, Cologne

This went completely under my radar so I didn't take any notice of the show until a friend of mine told me about it yesterday afternoon. I have seen Tephra quite a few times now and their great blend of sludge/doom/slowcore/whatever-rock/metal is always very nice to hear. The sound was a little disappointing at first though as there were some bass tunes missing. At least that's what I thought. But they did a great job and the crowd seemed to like it as well. There's only one thing that was really annoying to me and that was this very strange gold curtain hanging at the backside of the stage. I mean, c'mon, this looked like some cheap Siegfried & Roy show imitation, but nothing like the dark and gloomy stuff which I would associate with the music of Tephra. Well, I guess it's just part of the club's interior so we all had to live with it.
The crowd, by the way, was rather small, a fact I always like when shows take place in underground (and I mean underground literally here) clubs, where you stand in small cellar-like facilities with almost no air conditioner. It was funny how many well known faces showed up for this one, so this made the show a very good time experience.
This Will Destroy You are a band I had never heard of before, but they really got me with their music. One might throw in Explosions In The Sky as a slight reference, but they have a touch of their own. Although I consider such sound as "living room music" because I always like it better when I listen to it at home, I still liked the show.
A nice evening to start the weekend. Very pleasant.

Nothing In Common @ Sonic Ballroom, Cologne

All good things have to come to an end eventually and since Lisse, Nothing In Common's guitarist and singer, decided to join Aachen's Pale and play bass with them, the end of one of Germany's finest punkrock bands came to an end last Friday. What a fitting venue the Ballroom is for an occasion like this.
We (a.k.a. A Modest Proposal) have been friends with Nothing In Common for a long time because our singer Pascal and Lisse grew up together. It was always a pleasure to watch them play and the songs they performed were always highly entertaining. As were Lisse's announcements and actions on stage. For their last two release parties they asked some of their friends to perform punkrock and hardcore classics only accompanied by a piano player. Great stuff.

So this was their last show and the place was packed. So packed that - honestly - I wasn't in any mood to join the crowd so I kept standing in front of the room and talked to some people. It seems that the days of great shows which were more like a huge meeting of friends with some random band playing are a thing of the past now. So people only show up for special stuff like Gorilla Biscuits or for the last show of some of their friends' bands. For The Day (Aachen) opened up for the evening which took me a little by surprise since I thought that they had called it quits as well. What I was hearing from outside sounded as good as always and their choice of coverversions was exquisite as well (Jawbreaker "Boxcar" and The Undertones "Teenage Kicks"). Next up were D.H. from the east of Germany. I had seen them play with Nothing In Common at some show in Brühl years ago and I really liked what I heard so I bought their record. Still I can't remember much of it and it's been quite some time since I last listened to their music. By the time they entered the stage on Friday I didn't really pay any attention. Unfortunately maybe. If I remember it right they had a more "German" touch to their music, but still their brand of punkrock had something of some American bands as well. Note to myself: Have to listen to the record again.
So the I left I didn't see Nothing In Common play their final show because I had to work the next day. I believe they were awesome as they always were when I saw them. Another great band left the stage.

Akiakane @ Sonic Ballroom, Cologne

I have been looking forward to this show ever since I found out about it on punkstelle.de at the end of last year. It's very rare for us to get to see Japanese bands play live in local clubs, so I gave the music of Akiakane a try via their myspace site and I instantly liked it. Very nice melodic punkrock with enough energy and aggressiveness.
Arriving at the "Sonic Ballroom" at around 2115h the place was decently filled but definetely not sold out. First up were a band from Cologne called The Bloody Valentines, a name today often associated with whiny emo bands, but those guys were more into the punkrock kind of things. Well, there were somewhere in the middle between classic 77 styled punkrock and German fun punk gods Die Ärzte, although only on the musical side of things. This was too much cliché. Interestingly though their bassist seemed to be blind, still he was making all the announcements and it seemed that he was writing a lot of the songs. So,w ell, yeah, they played for around 45 minutes which a quarter of an hour too much if you ask me.
When the samurai girls of Akiakane entered the stage the expectations were very high it seemed. There was some kind of strange atmosphere in the room. Noone knew what to expect now. Introduced by what seemed to be their tour driver from England they then went on to absolutely tear down the club. Fast, high energy and aggressive punkrock tunes, not very much talking on stage (maybe due to the lack of English knowledge - which wasn't true as I found out after the show when I talked to singer Moe for a few minutes), that's the way it should be. People seemed to enjoy the show and were dancing around, getting them back on stage for one encore after around 40 minutes. It's a pity the Ballroom wasn't more packed than the ~40 people who turned up on this Sunday night. But I really enjoyed myself and hope that they will return in the future. If not I might go and check them out in Japan. That's what their merchandise girl Nao told me to do. よろしく。

Rocky Votolato @ Rex Cinema, Cologne

Sometimes evenings turn out just the opposite of what you had expected them to be like. Well, this wasn't realy the case for last Tuesday's evening since it wasn't supposed to be bad or anything like it, but in the end I had a lot of fun which I didn't expect when I left the house.
I originally planned to meet up with my sister and two friends before Rocky Votolato was supposed to play in a movie theatre in Cologne. The venue itself was a very special pick because I don't remember that they set up shows there before. So the biggest room in the Cinema was used for a very low key and quiet acoustic show of Mr Votolato. 350 people were lining up before the doors opened leaving the other people who were just passing by with some sort of astonishement on their faces. "Rex Cinema" is usually known as the "One Dollar House" which basically means that they show movies at a very cheap price. They manage to do so because they show old movies. Old in this sense meaning that those movies are already 3-6 months old or even older. So actually it is something like a re-screening. That's a nice idea because the prices for movie thetres went through the roof in the past few years.
Alright, so while we were standing in front of the "Rex" some friends passed by and we were just talking. I was getting ready to leave because I didn't have a ticket and I heard that the show was sold out anyway. So just as I was about to return home I met a former colleague who happened to have a "+1" spot on the guestlist, and the "+1" wasn't able to come around. Lucky me.
The stage was set up very simple, just a few lamps and other stuff, nothing special. But first they were showing trailers for upcoming movies they are showing at "Rex" in the future. This was kind of fun because it was totally like people were going to watch a movie. They were even showing the ice cream comercial which usually ends the commercial part before the movie. Still the choice of the trailers was interesting as well. There is this movie about the Dixie Chicks and their problems with their rather ignorant and conservative fan base ("Shut Up & Sing" - German site. Strangely enough the American one seems to be offline).
So after this Mr Votolato enters the stage and the completely captures the audience. Interestingly enough, as one friend standing at the entrance put it - "the authority of the room" was working very well. People were behaving like they were watching a movie. Which means they weren't talking very loud, they were just listening to the music. It felt kind of relaxing to see that. This must have been one hell of a show but I didn't see that much of it since I preferred to talk to some friends in front of the cinema. But it seems that he played a lot of songs and had a good choice from his repertoire.
When the show was over I was waiting for my sister and she had a surprise for me. I got a Red Sox cap from a friend who went to the States and on this particular evening he gave me the cap before we went to the show. While standing in the movie theatre I put the cap on my sister's head and then she disappeared to the front of the room. So when she came out of the cinema she had this look on her face that she did something bad and the first thing she asks me is "Will you get mad?". So then she presents me with the cap and there's an autograph of Rocky Votolato on it. I couldn't care less about something like this so I was really laughing. Nice way to end the evening.

Jonah Matranga + Ian Love @ Blue Shell, Cologne

Originally I was tagging along for this one since I am not the biggest fan of Mr Matranga. I saw him once or twice with one of his bands called New End Original at some Popkomm event in the "Büze Ehrenfeld" back in the days. Their record is wonderful but the live set was a little bit too hippie-ish. They broke down the atmosphere with too many slow songs and when Jonah started to blabber about love and "Liebe über alles" and so on that was really getting on my nerves. This must have been in 2001 or 2002 and all I can remember is that by the end of the evening I was pretty drunk. I then saw him play a solo set under the name of Onelinedrawing at the "Underground" in Cologne and that show didn't move me either.
So I wasn't expecting much when I arrived at the "Blue Shell" and frankly I was shocked when I heard that the price was at 15 Euros. I mean, 15 Euros for two singer/songwriter sets is one hell of a lot of money. Oh well, nevermind, there's a free drink included so there we go. I never heard of Ian Love before and I don't think I want to hear anything again in the near future. Yes, it's nice and quiet music at times and then there's songs that rock out a little bit. Yes, he communicates with the audience and has some nice stories and jokes to tell, but that's it. There's nothing special there. Maybe there are too many of those acoustic acts strolling around the stages of Cologne at the moment. Jonah Matranga joined him on stage for a few songs and then I'm off out into the cold to have a cigarette since the artists asked the audience to smoke outside. Well, it's a good practice for times to come when smoking is banned in clubs and bars anyway.
After a short time it's Jonah time and I didn't have a good feeling about this. In the end it turned out that it was a really nice show and it wasn't as hippie-ish as I expected it to be. I recognized a few songs, especially some New End Original stuff. Sure, there were those long and tiring speeches he gave on stage and sometimes the enthusiasm was a little bit too much over the top. But I have to give credit to him that everything he said was something I was able to identify with. Of course that's stuff you hear at every hardcore show and there have been lots of people who say stuff like that a lot better - and a lot shorter. But this was nice for a change. I didn't expected that so I was contend with what I was hearing that evening. Mr Matranga went on to play quite a few songs, I believe he finished the set after some 85 minutes and came back for one encore after the audience refused to stop applauding. Something that rarely happends at shows in Cologne where the auduience usually listens to the musician(s) and then leaves after the last song.
So I expected tthe worst and instead I left with a slight smile on my face.

Minus The Bear @ Neue Werkstatt, Cologne

Visions Magazine is doing shows for quite some time now, but all of those took place in Dortmund, if I'm corrctly informed. Now they expanded their grasp on Cologne and so I went to see their 2nd so called "Visions Party" at a new club in Ehrenfeld, a hip part of Cologne. The club is your usual old and rundown small factory building which is turned into some disco thing. Nothing special, way too clean and boring and the beer is much too expensive. I saw Minus The Bear some time ago when they played at the "Blue Shell" and I remember I really liked the music back then. First I had to endure Escapado, a German band who put out their new record on Grand Hotel Van Cleef, a labvel from Hamburg which is run by lots of guys who come from the punk scene. Bands like Kettcar and Tomte are on their roster and Escapado fall out of line a little bit. It's not that their music is crap, but somehow I'm just not interested in that stuff anymore. You can hear that they are influenced by bands like Yage or Loxiran, but they neer reach the level that those to bands had. Still they draw pretty big crowds and yesterday was no exception. The people were having fun and I had a pleasant coversation.
Minus The Bear were a letdown afterwards. Somehow my memory must have played a trick on me since that was something completely different from what I remembered them to sound like. Rather indie-ish and not so much into atmospheric and long songs. Disappointing in a way. What kept me in the room was the way their guitarist was handling his instrument. That was fun to watch.
After the show we hung out at the party for some time, but that was just your normal big sico kind of crap with bad music and strange people. I was wasted when I got home, so I guess I had a nice evening in the company of nice people but with a rather disappointing show. Next.

The Weakerthans @ Stollwerck, Cologne

It never was a secret that The Weakerthans from Winnipeg, Mb. are one of my favourite bands of all time. Ever since I first met Stephen, their guitarist, while he was on tour with his first band Painted Thin, and then ever since he joined The Weakerthans and I got to see them play live on their first tour in 1998 I always tried to keep track on what they are doing. I still admire the records, I simply love "Fallow" and I adore "Left & Leaving", although I have to admit, that "Reconstruction Site" and "Reunion Tour" weren't able to keep up with the first two. Still, those are great records on their own with wonderful songs.
I must have seen the band numerous times. From their aforementioned first tour in 1998 when I had the pleasure of joining them for two days in Herten and Cologne (where they played a fantastic show in front of only 50 people at the "Between") to a show in 2001 when A Modest Proposal were opening up for them, to a sold out show in 2003 and a festival show in 2006 - they never disappointed me. So when word spread that they were coming to Cologne again I was sure to get a ticket for the show.
I always liked bands from Winnipeg, why I can't really tell. Maybe it was because I instantly fell in love with the guys of Painted Thin in 1997 when they were on a two month tour of Germany. Bands like them, the follow up Sixty Stories, who are now called Anthem Red, The Bonaduces, The Paperbacks, A singer/songwriter like Mike McKenzie. They were writing the songs I really liked and which I still like. Their music is very relaxing to me and their lyrics somehow seem to realy strike a chord with me. I can't really say why since it is very strange that someone from a city like Cologne could relate to what people write in the middle of nowhere. Which is what Winnipeg was described to me by those bands. Maybe it's just that the people there have a talent to write wonderful lyrics which everyone can relate to.

So yeah, The Weakerthans live on stage in Cologne. A friend of mine told me she was doing an interview at the venue and I gladly dropped by to hang out and say hi to Stephen and John K. It's really nice to meet people after two or three years and then you find out that nothing really changed. Although the contact is rather fragile there still is this warm feeling of meeting a good friend again. And although I didn't have the chance to talk to Stephen a lot (we promised to meet up for a drink next time) buying socks wth Mr Samson at a huge department store in Cologne sure was fun. By the time we got back to the "Stollwerck" the place was packed with people. A lot of friends were there as well and everything was set up for a great night. First up were Jonas Goldbaum from Austria and that's where I'll leave it since the music wasn't tempting enough to lure me into the room. Pretty average Indie stuff. I took the time to have some chats with friends I hadn't seen in a long time. That's what makes such shows special. People popping up out of nowhere. Great.
Next up were House & Parish, an all-star band from Brooklyn made up of ex-mebers of The Promise Ring, Texas Is The Reason and The Gloria Record. I saw them play live at the "Blue Shell" a few months ago and when you keep in mind what ex-bands are in that band it's a little bit disappointing to a certain extent. Don't get me wrong, they know their trade and the music is good, but the little extra is missing. It just won't stick in my ear. Maybe this night it was all because of the Canadian band that was playing next.
Those goys really know how to create a warm and pleasant atmosphere. Although they are not an all out rock band playing faster, harder, louder, they manage to draw people into their set and make them feel comfortable. And although there were some songs missing which some people certainly would have liked to listen to this show was nearly perfect. John K. is one hell of a frontman. When some Propaghandi die-hard demanded they play "Stick that motherfucking flag up your goddamn ass, you sonofabitch" he simply replied that they don't play this song and why should they play it when they have so much better songs themselves. Brilliant. That's how you bring people to listen. And he said it all with his big smile. They really got me again and I will definetely return when they come over here again next year. Because it's always great to meet old friends.

Envy @ Gebäude 9, Cologne

I have been waiting for this one for a long time. The first time I was able to experience the whole intensity of an Envy live set was over eight years ago when they played the "Sojus 7" in Monheim. guess what, they were the supporting act for Jimmy Eat World on that day. Several other bands played, but I can't remember the names, I'm sorry. Anyway, those were the days. You can't imagine a billing like that today, can you? I was completely blown away by the energy the band was creating on stage. They were moving all the time and their brutal and chaotic hardcore sound was turning the whole room into a warzone. Great stuff.
They never returned for another show so I had to rely on their records which were always keeping the same level, very exciting and intense, pure despair and melancholy, anger and frustration. But also with a great sense for melodies. So when their "Insomniac Daze" LP came out in 2006 I was quite surprised how this monster changed into something even more interesting. Wonderful melodies and epic 10 minute songs with vocals screaming, talking, sometimes even whispering. This was even better than everything the band had done before. So I was really looking forward to their show in Cologne. Would they be playing the old stuff as well? No disappointment there, they actually delivered stuff from all of their LPs, I think. But the intensity was there again. Although there wasn't as much movement as there was eight years ago, but on another level it was the same. The audience stood and watched with their mouths wide open. At the end of the songs when they were fading out the music you couldn't hear anyone talk. This was awesome. I really loved that show and I sincerely hope I won't have to wait another eight years...

This AIn't Vegas + Patterns @ Gebäude 9 Café, Cologne

There used to be a lot of shows in the small café of the Gebäude 9 club back in the days. Compared to the huge hall in the back of the building which fits an audience of around 500 the frontroom with the bar (called "the café") is a way more nice and cozy room. As I said, back in the days there used to be a lot more shows there, bands like Braid, The Get Up Kids, Ensign or Hot Water Music played there and it was always a very good time.
So I was extremely pleaed when I found out that a friend of mine was setting up a show for the British band This Ain't Vegas, who I had seen some time ago, but I can't quite remember what they sounded like. I thought I remembered them as rather hectic and lively. Anyways, I arrived at the club at around 8.30 pm and there was almost nobody there. So I hung back, drank a few drinks and had a little chat with some of the people I knew who were already there. Patterns climbed on stage at around 9.30 pm and those guys sounded like they really like Fugazi. Very tricky yet very pounding progressive stuff with lots of breaks and weird guitar and bass ... well, yes, patterns. By the time they had finished the room was decently filled and the audience was warmed up for This Ain't Vegas. Now they didn't sound like anything I rememered. Or at least like what I thought they would sound like. This wasn't as complex and strange as I had it in mind. Quite the opposite, they were rather straight forward and rockin' out very well. This wasn't stuff that had you screaming at the top of your lungs or yelling out for more, but it was just the right music for a Wednesday night when you knew you had to go to work the next day. Nice one. Apparently the guy who set up the show advertised the whole thing as the last show before the great breakthrough for the band (it seems like they are entering the UK charts). Well, then it was nice to be a part of this...

Stagedives and Highfives: Gorilla Biscuits in Cologne

Yesterday saw the long awaited and highly anticipated reunion tour show by New York hardcore legends Gorilla Biscuits taking place at Cologne's "Kantine" club. This one was announced at the beginning of the year and should have taken place in summer, but due to some problems noone really knows about it got pushed back to fall and this is where we are now. Now there are not many shows that are labelled "must be there", but this one certainly was. Lots of people showed up, the plates on the cars in the parking lot were showing lots of different cities from all over Northrhine-Westphalia and even farther away.
Kicking things off were Deny Everything who unfortunately played to a small crowd with lots of people still standing outside (the show was sold out, by the way. Was anyone surprised?) or hanging around at the bars. The venue itself was way too big for a small band like them, but it seemed they had their share of fun and their show was good as well.
Next up were Waterdown and noone, really noone knew why those guys had to play at this show. They've been around for quite some time now and I think I once heard or read somewhere that they were the German first band on Victory Records. Which at the time was something they could brag about. I bought their first CD back in the days, but only because they had a coverversion of Slime's "Ettikette tötet" on there. The rest of the music was simply boring metalcore stuff. And nothing has changed today. Still boring crap really noone cares about. Oh well, such bands are always a welcome excuse to get yourself refreshed and order a drink at the bar.
The main act then let the people wait for quite some time. With Missy Elliot's "Get Your Freak On" (or whatever that song is called, I just can't seem to really tell them apart) they entered the stage, your usual fanfare was playing and they started off with "New Direction". No surprises here. They went on to play the hits, they even did some coverversions (amongst others notably "New York Crew", "Dancefloor Justice" or "Pushed Too Far"), the people were having fun in front of the stage, there were bodies flying all over the place, singalongs, fingerpointing, you name it.
Still, I just didn't really got into this. The first half hour of this 70 minute set to me looked rather like being on the verge of turning into something ridiculous. I don't know if I raised my expectations too high or whatever I was expecting, but to me this was more like some coverband doing a show with GB songs and some extras. It took some time until the band settled in. At first they were just standing on stage, playing their songs and basically doing nothing. Apart from Civ who was running around on stage, but to be honest, we all seen singers do this numerous times. Again, this is just me, people were having fun up front and maybe I was just annoyed by the light show that kept shining right into my face. But this wasn't something I will place high up in my all time favourite show list. It was solid, no doubt. But nothing special. Just another rock show.

Weekend Round-up: Shows, shows, shows

So Friday started off with that show in Dortmund. And since I hate to repeat myself, I will just give the link here.
On Saturday then I was really wasted when I got up in the morning. Let's face it, I'm just not used to getting to bed this early in the morning. And every time I think I want to sleep way into the afternoon hours there's always some idiot in my neighbourhood who's redecorating his or her room. So no sleep 'til the next show and on this Saturday evening Kommando Sonne-nmilch were playing at Gebäude 9. I completely forgot about that show and only remembered it when I saw the poster for the Dortund show the day before. So I headed to the other side of the river and arrived at the venue at 8 pm. And noone's there. Which is strange, since all of the predecessors of Kommando Sonne-nmilch were sure to at least get a good attendance each time they played in Cologne. So me and the guys I met up with there had a beer first and then waited until 10 pm for the show to start. The music was just as expected, but the stage was fun. The whole band was looking like they were working for some construction company and in the back of the whole stage there was a huge plastic chainsaw. Great picture.
The show finished up early with just one band playing so we sat in the café a little bit longer, only to get annoyed by some dorkheads on speed who were climbing chairs and tables. I got home at around 1.30 am and prepared for the next day.
On Sunday Cologne's finest were coming home from a two week tour of Europe. Cobretti and Deny Everything teamed up with Tackleberry to play a show at the Sonic Ballroom. I have to admit the Ballroom is more and more becoming a punkrock institution in Cologne. There's shows almost every night and although I have to admit that most of them are not really my cup of tea I really appreciate what the people are doing there. They should just broaden the variety of different flavours a little more. Setting up a show like yesterday's is a step into the right direction. This could be considered to be the rebirth of Cologne hardcore pride. It's been quite a long time since I've seen an underground hardcore show attended by so many people with such good bands playing. Tackleberry started the whole thing with their positive and classic stop and go hardcore. The crowd seemed to like it and there were people bouncing around in front of the stage early.
Next up (after a very quick changeover. I REALLY like that!) were Deny Everything and their Lifetime-influenced melodic hardcore just had the same effect on the audience in the first rows. Stagedives and highfives, just getting in gear for their show with Gorilla Biscuits, I guess.
Cobretti were the headliner for the night, and their more aggressive and mean brand of hardcore fit perfectly to end the evening. Although singer Carsten seemed to have caught a cold, the sound was thundering and the crowd was having fun. Again, I have to say that I haven't seen anything like this in Cologne for a long time. Around 70 people turning up for a show on a Sunday evening with only local bands playing. This is great stuff and I really hope there's more to come in the future.

So this ends a weekend which I haven't had in a long time. It really was fun to hang out with a lot of people, meeting some faces I hadn't seen in a long time, just having a good time.

The Gaslight Anthem says goodbye in style

I was able to catch up with the guys one more time last night when they were playing Dortmund's FZW with Turbostaat. It was great to see them again after what seemed to be a long time. We hung out before the show and had lots of fun. The concert itself was rather dissatisfying. All of the TGA's were sick and tired from a month long tour and there were some minor mistakes here and there. But it seemed that a lot of people they had met on the tour were present yesterday and this made the atmosphere very friendly. Anyway, the boys seemed to have fun and so we decided to drive to a disco after the show. Still it was a long struggle to settle on one place and so it tooks us long minutes to get everybody moving. The venue we went to wasn't that good, I was tired as hell and just kept sitting on a bench while the others were dancing all night long.

Back in Cologne at around 5 am I fell straight into my bed. So everything that's left for me now is to say: Thank you, Brian, Alex, Alex and Benny for coming to Germany and playing those awesome shows. And I really look forward to meet you again!

A Modest Proposal + Ultrafair - "Karnevalsmetropolentour"

A Modest Proposal played two shows this weekend with Düsseldorf's finest Ultrafair. We kicked off on Friday witha a show at Cologne's Bauwagenplatz, some sort of open air squat. The setting was nice and although not many people showed up the show was fun. Ultrafair were really good and we rocked as well. Kalle, our singer, even destroyed the microphone stand.
So after working on Saturday morning I was picked up by our guitarist to travel a few kilometres up north to Düsseldorf where we were supposed to play at the "Linkes Zentrum Hinterhof". By the time we got there the guys setting up the show were preparing for a little barbeque in the backyard. From time to time a few people dropped by and by the time we got up on stage a few people had shown up. We didn't really play well this time, but it was fun nonetheless. Ultrafair were great again, although their singer had some problems with his voice because he was up partying until 8 am the night before and then went on to watch a football match before the afternoon the show. The main act were the Ramonas, a female Ramones coverband who played Ramones songs on flutes. Something which might get a little boring after some time but they really pulled it off. They only did four or five songs which was completely enough to thrill the crowd. Great way to end the evening.

It just wasn't over for us yet. There was the idea to shoot some band pictures aftzer the show and our guitarist Batman thought because we have a sample of a subway on our CD we should do this in a streetcar. So we jumped on the next train that passed us and did a few shots and some more on our way back. Let's wait and see how they turned out.

Great days in a row.

Honestly, the past few days have been the best in a long time. I had so much fun spendingt ime with the guys of The Gaslight Anthem who we had the honour to play with on monday. We talked a lot after the show, I then met the guys on tuesday to give them a short tour of the city which they seemed to have enjoyed. And then yesterday I spent the evening with them watching movies, going to a bar and talkeing and talking for hours and hours. I left at 5 in the morning with a smile on my face. This is what punk and hardcore mean to me. Meeting new people and just communicating with them. Broadening your own horizon by listening to their stories and opinions, getting new perspectives on different things, just having a good time sitting together somewhere. This is what you need every now ad then to remind yourself of why you're in this whole thing for such a long time. I know it happens every now and then, but you never know who you'll come across. And when you meet such nice people like Alex, Alex, Brian and Ben you know that it was worth the wait.
I really hope I can meet up with those guys again on ther stay here in Germany. And if not I'm going to fly over there some time in the future to have Ben and Alex teach me some Baseball techniques.

And thanks to those guys I'm listening to Bruce Springsteen all the time now...

The Gaslight Anthem + A Modest Proposal @ Blue Shell, Cologne

Our second show since our two year break and this was was a very good one. It was set up by the local college radio station KölnCampus and we were scheduled to play with The Gaslight Anthem from New Jersey, a band I never heard of before. But when I was listening to the songs the had on their Myspace site I knew we were in for a good one.
Great thing about this show was that I was able to go there on my own two feet, the "Blue Shell" is in walking distance to where I live. So I arrived there at around 6.30 pm and met up with my guys. We soon were introduced to the Americans and after some small talk the guys were putting up their stuff on stage. The only thing different was that we had to stay inside an allowed range of noise. So we were not allowed to play louder than 103 db. That was good for some laughs during soundcheck because the sound guy was running around with some device where he could see how loud we got.

Well, things worked out, we were all set and ready to go out and that's basically what we did. We rocked the house. A lot of our friends showed up and created a very nice atmosphere. Although we had minor problems with out of tune guitars we pretty much got through with our set without any huge mistakes. Which isn't normal for us, but this was the 2nd time in a row. Maybe we are really getting a little better after all these years. We even had people screaming for encores. Although that might have been our friends who just wanted to be nice to us.

The Gaslight Anthem then took the stage and those guys rocked. Their singer Brian is playing the same Fender Telecaster model as Bruce Springsteen and when Batman pointed that out to me I had to admit that he was really right when he was saying "That guy is playing that guitar for a reason". They really sound like a punk-fueled version of Bruce Springsteen. Great stuff. Wonderful melodies with an edge. Raw, yet beautiful. And they are wonderful fellows. I had the chance to talk to Brian for a long time after the show and I was in the city with the guys today as well since they had a day off. Great people. They are on tour through Germany for the next month. If you get the chance, go see them. You won't be disappointed.

06.Sep.2007 20:00
AZ (Ger) Aachen
07.Sep.2007 20:00
Lintfabrik Kontich (B)
08.Sep.2007 20:00
Area 51 Skate Park (NL) Eindhoven
10.Sep.2007 20:00
Bosporus Grill (GER) Münster
12.Sep.2007 20:00
Zucker Club (Ger) Breman
13.Sep.2007 20:00
Nexus Braunschweig (Ger)
14.Sep.2007 20:00
Störtebeker Störtebecker (Ger), Hamburg
15.Sep.2007 20:00
secret show not available
16.Sep.2007 20:00
Schaubude (Ger) Kiel
18.Sep.2007 20:00
AZ Conni Dresden (Ger)
19.Sep.2007 20:00
K4 Nürnberg (Ger)
20.Sep.2007 20:00
Alte Mälzerei Regensburg (Ger)
22.Sep.2007 20:00
AJZ Bielefeld (Ger)
24.Sep.2007 20:00
JUZ (Ger) Mannheim
25.Sep.2007 20:00
KTS (Ger) Freiburg
26.Sep.2007 20:00
Juha West (Ger) Stuttgart
27.Sep.2007 20:00
Cafe Cairo (Ger) Würzburg
28.Sep.2007 20:00
FZW Dortmond (Ger)
29.Sep.2007 20:00
TKELLER Gottingen (Ger)

Did anyone say the "E"-word? House & Parish @ Blue Shell, Cologne

Last Thursday saw some sort of a class reunion. House & Parish were set to play at the "Blue Shell", a small club located in Cologne's Bermuda triangle were a lot of clubs are. With their background featuring ex-mambers of The Promise Ring, Mineral, Texas Is The Reason and New End Original I thought that, well, a few people might show up, but as it turned out around 50 came to the show.

We were all hanging around the club on the streets since the weather was so fine. That's why probably a lot of people missed The Data Break who opened up the evening. Their DC influenced sound wasn't anything for me although I liked what I heard when me and some friends set up a show for them at the "Juz" in Hürth a couple of years ago. So as for this evening I was enjoying my beer on the streets talking to whoever I met and there were quite a few people to meet as I mentioned.

When House & Parish finally climbed up on the stage I have to admit that I was a little drunk already. But what I got to hear from them was satisfying. Nothing special and nothing like the band their members previously played in. But solid indie rock that doesn't get too annoying. If I get the chance I might get the record.

So that was a very nice evening. The only thing that kind of made me feel miserable was that I drank a little bit too much. I was supposed to get up early the next day to attend a wedding (that one was cool! Aaron and Silke looked great. Congratulation, folks!) so I had some headache when waking up. I tried to chase it away with lots of beer in the evening and surprisingly it worked, hehehe...

Hey, Envy will play in Cologne in November!!!