Messed!Up
I set off for the first gig day of the 17th edition of Weltturbojugendtage at Reeperbahn. Before continuing about the gigs; WTJT is more than gigs and there’s a full schedule of fun activities during the festival days – Sexy Sailor*ett, Mexicaner tasting, Turbocruise on the river Elbe, and many more things – but for most of us doing slave labor at daytime, it wasn’t really an option to join the Turbojugends at daytime. On the other hand, it probably saved me from a few hangovers as well.
Just like last year, all shows were located at Molotow save for a few daytime shows at FC St. Pauli Fanshop a few hundred meters up the Reeperbahn. For most festivals, the opening act is really important because it sets the bar for what is to come later, and in those years I’ve attended the festival it has been fairly rowdy starts, but nothing can compare to this year and what PLAIINS pulled off. Multi-national garage punk four-piece PLAIINS have only been together as a band since 2021, but have drawn accolades already and received attention and airplay from BBC Introducing. In terms of their music, along with heavy influence from alternative and punk, they also have influences of hardcore and metal, which only helps to solidify their place as an exciting and up-and-coming band within the scene.
I was already a die-hard fan before the gig and even more after it. From start to finish, PLAIINS demand their audience’s attention. They deal in heavy garage punk land but are a long way from being just noise. In fact, what makes PLAIINS different is their strong songwriting skills – just listen to their latest EP Puppet and you’ll hear six banger songs, not only two great songs and filler tracks. It’s fast garage rock instruments, tinged with hardcore and with loud, angry vocals to match, and when you add into the mix a gnarly breakdown and catchy “Wohoo’s” you’ll get music made for singalongs – at least it’s not hard.
Whatever substance powers Howlin’ Pelle is being intravenously absorbed by vocalist Chris Reardon before being charismatically and explosively expelled on tracks like ‘WOOHAA! (Speak Easy)’. One could argue that Chris runs on Duracell batteries with the amount of energy he expends. There’s no room for marshmallow softness on stage. Usually, the first gig has problems to haul in people but it took two songs and then it was filled up although it was only 7.30 pm, and far from everyone had turned up from the daytime shenanigans at Reeperbahn. We even reached the wall of death level at the end of the show which set the bar for the bands to follow quite high. Did I say I booked the band for an interview when they return to Hamburg in October?
A quick break and three (!) coffees later it was time for Maid of Ace an “all-girl all-sister punk band” from Hastings, UK. It’s powerful and fierce, the band burst into the room without knocking. While street punk can be quite repetitive, Maid of Ace avoids that and makes it way easier to digest, and their high-energetic powerful live performance definitely blew me away. It was also quite different from PLAIINS which was good because there was no need to compare. However, coffee wasn’t enough, I had to get myself something to eat if I were to survive the evening and set off for the Frau Schneider’s Grilled Cheese Wonderland around the corner – and when you’re in grilled cheese wonderland you don’t get back fast enough to watch the end of the gig. I waited for Bokassa while I was having my Pulled Piz Grilled Cheese Classic and tried to avoid a heart attack while eating eat.
Last band on stage on this first day was Bokassa. A friend of mine had blabbered about them for such a long time that missing out wasn’t really an option – and I’m happy I didn’t. The Norwegians started at full throttle and never stopped! Bokassa is the band that bit of a name for themselves when Lars Ulrich, drum master of Metallica, crowned them his new favorite band and brought them in on the support slot. And what isn’t there to love about stoner punk music, two of the best genres combined!? It’s easy to understand why Ulrich loves the band and their music – it has an edge to it that few bands in the scene have.
On stage, it’s even better. It’s a ferocious start to the set which really highlights how good the band is and perfectly suited to these intimate club venues. And to be honest, the Turbojugends aren’t a tough crowd at this time of the evening, and five beers after Maid of Ace. Jørn banters in between songs and the audience isn’t late to respond in drunken guttural sounds. This is how all festival days should end, with a banger show. It was a really good first day at Weltturbojugendtage and it promised a really good festival. PLAIINS probably won the first day trophy, but only because I’ve listened to the band quite much more than the others. First day was done, and after a detour to Burger King, I was back in bed.
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Day 2 at the festival wasn’t a success at all, but not because of the bands. I had a bad food encounter. Let’s start from the beginning. What I like most with Weltturbojugendtage is the smaller gigs at the FC St. Pauli Fanshop close to Spielbudenplatz at Reeperbahn. First, you get a chance to talk to other Turbojugends on the street outside the Fanshop and can actually engage in a normal conversation without having to scream through 90dB of music. Second, there’s really no stage at the Fanshop – it’s a store selling merchandise for the football club – but you get very close to the bands and I like that very much.
As expected it was jampacked when The Demtones started their gig and a few very confused ‘normal’ customers quickly left the store when all space was claimed by middle-aged men built on beer and burgers. The Demtones is a lot more on the heavy rock side than punk and their eponymous debut album from 2020 makes it clear – it’s heavy power rock. The Demtones thrive in the fast lane, just as devoted to music that would stir up mosh, but they can also switch gears and moods in ways that make them even more attention-grabbing. There wasn’t really any room for moshing although men from all generations – from 10 (yes, there was a punk rock kid there) to 60 – played with a balloon for most of the show while running back and forth to the temporary bar (well, not the ten-year-old) for refreshment. The band did what they could and used the whole (tiny) space to get people in the mood, and with a few well-selected cover songs they started a singalong at the end of the show. Good start to the day!
This is when I did my first mistake. After the show, while waiting for Exploding Head Syndrome, I left for a beer and a grilled cheese sandwich at the super awesome Frau Dr. Scheider’s Grilled Cheese Wonderland, right around the corner from the Fanshop. First, I’m not allowed to eat bread or cheese due to a chronic disease; second I shouldn’t do twice (I’ll get back to it later). However, it was a perfect snack before Exploding Head Syndrome, I was even a bit late for the show. EHS is another awesome punk band from Norway. It seems like Turbonegro’s legacy has paid off in an amazing punkrock scene in Norway – there’s heaps of bands in the scene at the moment.
With their live reputation already highly praised, the EHS gig came with lots of expectation and although it was daylight in a football fan shop it was a rowdy show. As I was late I had to stay on the other side of the counter and try hard to get a glimpse of the band, and I was quite jealous of the lads in front that didn’t leave between shows because they go the full experience. Vocalist Eirik Ekholdt bellows from within the punk eruption and belted out the screeches all over Reeperbahn, and the man in a wheelchair next to me went berzerk and drove into a stack of St. Pauli hoodies (to his defense, he was quite drunk). It was loud and sweaty, and then I also knew there was an amazing night in front of me with The Good The Bad and The Zugly, and Upploppet. Well, it would’ve been if I didn’t do my second fatal mistake.
You remember Frau Schneider’s Grilled Cheese Wonderland? I went back because a friend of mine suggested we’d meet there for a snack, and who am I to turn people down? Well, two grilled cheese sandwiches in one day were a bit too much. I made it through the first song with The Good The Bad and The Zugly and then I had to return home to get medication and sleep. No more Frau Schneider this summer for me. Anyhow, I got two great shows in the daytime.
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The third day arrived and after yesterday’s major failure, I promised myself to stay away from tasty food and beer and bring a salad. Well, I kept the first half of my promise but my relationship with beer goes way back and won’t be put on hold that easy.
I ran down to Molotow right after my day job ended, missed the first band – Two And A Half Girl – but sneaked into Molotow just a few minutes before March entered the stage. My first March experience was at Frank Turner’s Lost Evenings Festival in Berlin last year and it was one of the best shows at the festival – let’s say expectations were high.
But the Dutch band isn’t new to me. They released quite a stunning album called Set Loose in 2020 that was on high rotation for two months, but as with many bands in the scene not coming from the UK, they go under the radar (we’ve had this discussion with countless amazing bands from Belgium and The Netherlands). Vocalist Fleur van Zuilen has that perfect gritty vocal chords that is necessary to come off as a true punkrock band – few bands have it – and it’s powerful, diverse, and raw while the rest of the band look pissed off in general. That’s the spirit! Although very positively received from a vocally receptive crowd, the lack of movement on the floor is a little disappointing though. The band even calls and demands all night for more energy and movement up the back with minimal luck. Maybe three days of party nights at Reeperbahn has taken its toll. Their heaviest moments and breakdowns sound even bigger live thanks to a filthy guitar tone and reverb-soaked drum sound. I’m definitely up for another March gig wherever they play next time. A quick beer and a chat with some friends that traveled from London to visit WTJT for the first made the break between bands short – time flies when having fun – and a few minutes later GangGreen was onstage in the backyard where the biggest stage was located.
I’ve been to a show quite many years ago (2007?) when they played at The Underworld in London but a lot has happened since then. Founder and frontman Chris Doherty suffered a major stroke in 2018 that left him paralyzed on his left side, and obviously, he couldn’t move that much on stage and had to leave the performance to the band. In fact, I never thought we would make it back to the stage and was quite sure GangGreen was over but to my surprise, they announced a full tour including dates in America and Europe earlier this year. Punks are tough people, ey? Sure, the gig wasn’t as wild as 15 years ago but the audience had woken up from their slumber and it was quite rowdy out there. Chris had to take breaks at times and the rest of the band filled in for him, and although he’s obviously struggling I found I find it amazing that he continues pushing through and don’t give up. Rumors say it’s the last GangGreen tour, but as usually happens, when you restarted you can’t stop. Let’s wait and see, shall we?
How to summarise the XVII edition of Weltturbojugendtage, my third WTJT? Loads better than last year and a lot more people! Last year was a struggle for the whole industry and people didn’t have any money and were also not ready to get back out there after the pandemic – all festivals had the same problem last year. This year it was back to normal and the venue was full every night – what more can you wish for? Full gigs also made the live experience a lot better – it’s connected – and I just love to be in a room with too many people celebrating with the bands on stage. PLAIINS get the gold medal! Great gig lads – see you in October! And Wwltturbojugendtage, see you next year!
