Another year at the Reeperbahn Festival. And these are the Top 7 acts I saw. Prepare to get psyched!
I don’t want to rank the acts so let’s go through this chronologically.
Quotes at the beginning taken from the Reeperbahn Festival website.
The LaFontaines
»The music of The LaFontaines is mirroring the rough reality of a youth in a Scottish hicksville.«
Wednesday night. And The LaFontaines managed to give us exactly what we needed: a great start for the Festival. Rock and Hip Hop. What’s not to like?
IDIOTAPE
»The music on “Dystopian” (Highgrnd) by Idiotape is nothing for electro wimps.«
One of the bands I definitely wanted to see after hearing the first beats while preparing for the event. To quote the band: »This is Rock and Roll!« Indeed, fine loud Electro-Rock from South Korea.
Gold Class
»When you hear the Australian quartet Gold Class you might almost believe in the resurrection of Joy Division.«
Not sure if the constant comparison to Joy Division is doing any band any favors. On the other hand, mentioning Joy Division in the description is a sure way to automatically land on my watch list. If this really is Joy Division resurrected is quite debateble, depending on the songs you listen to. Sure, there are similarities. But Gold Class are doing fine on their own.
The Lazys
»The band was founded in Sydney in 2007 and at their Australian home they developed into a superb live act.«
»IT’S 3:30 IN THE AFTERNOON. ARE YOU READY TO LOSE YOUR SHIT?« yelled the front man. And they sure delivered. Great shit, great set.
Although I have to admit there was quite a bit of confusion about the sausage thing. If the singer of an australian band asks you if you have tasted the sausages, those tasty australian sausages, I am conditioned to expect some sexual innuendo. I wasn’t the only one who was confused over that bit. It turned out after the gig that he was talking about real sausages from Australia which we could have had for free in the backyard. Oh well.
One Sentence. Supervisor
»There is a lot of psychedelia within the music of the young Swiss band.«
With all the bands playing at Reeperbahn Festival it is extremely rare that I choose to hear the same band twice. I did it with »One Sentence. Supervisor«. That should tell you enough.
Still don’t know what the band name is supposed to mean though.
Holygram
»Holygram like hard synthie beats, murky Joy-Division-vocals and harsh bass lines.«
Another victim of the Joy Division comparison – another must-see on my list. In fact, this was the band I wanted to see no matter what. Which led me to go against my nature and be one hour early. Glad I did. This is my favorite kind of music.
Love A
»Founded somewhere between Trier, Cologne and Wuppertal, Love A brings up the painful subjects of life in a melancholic, dark and quite angry way.«
I didn’t have any time to plan my Saturday evening so I just followed some friends. They suggested Love A which was in my prelisten-playlist but not on my must-see-list. Boy, was I glad that they dragged me along. This was one of the best sets of the Festival. Good ol’ german punk. And the frontman was on a roll. There was no other set I laughed as much.
»Wenn ihr keine Briefwahl beantragt und das schon erledigt habt, dürft ihr heute halt nicht soviel saufen!«
(»If you have not asked for a ballot-by-mail and have already done so, you are not allowed to get wasted today!«)
»Habt ihr Bock? … Geht’s euch gut? … Was fragt man noch?«
(»Are you up for it? … Are you all right? … What else do you ask?«)
»Das sind keine Augenringe, das sind die Zeugen großer Taten.«
(»These aren’t dark circles, these are the witnesses of great deeds.«)
Ankathie Koi
»The synthie pop of the avowed David Bowie admirer just sounds as excentric but also authentic with a strong touch of romance pop à la Goldfrapp.«
In the spirit of always-do-one-more-than-promised I like to add one more act: Ankathie Koi. Indie/Pop from Austria. I didn’t see her act at the Festival. But I had her on my list, listened to some songs, watched some videos. She gets extra points for Schrägness. I like.
Honorable Mentions: Navarone, My Baby, HMLTD, Black Honey
Next stop: Way Back When Festival in Dortmund