Clowns @Logo (Hamburg): Review

And here’s another show where I missed the opening band, because either my kids fuck these things for me or my day job does … So sadly, I didn’t catch Snakes in the Pit and also missed half of MARCH’s set – but at least I still managed to see (roughly) the second half of their show. And. It. Was. Awesome. But – spoiler alert – nothing compared to the awesomeness that was yet to come. If you don’t know MARCH, they are from the Netherlands and play no-frills punk rock with high-intensity stage energy. And that energy gave them a good share of audience interaction and some rather timid mosh pits. Not bad for a Wednesday night in Hamburg, though.

I don’t know why but somehow all the best live bands always come from either up North in Scandinavia – or they hail from the other side of the world. Somehow that certain coolness and swagger is given to those dudes by birth ever since a certain Mr. Angus Young put on a school uniform on stage for the first time. And they all came out on a Wednesday night to witness Australian punk rock fury: the studded vest-wearing, Mohawk-sporting old-school punks, heavily tattooed rockers, fashionably cool hipsters, and of course some denim-clad Turbojugendliche. Seems like Clowns are just the right mixture of aggressiveness, catchy melodies, and Australian swagger.

Within seconds of the band entering the stage, all hell broke loose: Crowdsurfing galore, instant mosh pits, and sweat dripping, nay, flowing from the ceiling. The audience just ate out of the palm of frontman Stevie, the two guitarists put on a hell of a rock show, and replacement bassist Shauna (who apparently learned all the songs on the plane from ‘straya over to Europe) was grinning from ear to ear. While I must admit that somehow Clown’s latest album “ENDLESS” didn’t fully convince me last year, songs like “Formaldehyde”, “Bisexual Awakening” and “Z3r0s&0n3s” were pure bangers live on stage. But the highlights definitely included MARCH singer Flora not only moshing with the rest of the audience but coming on stage and joining in for a few songs (e.g. “I got a knife”), delivering beer to the hard-working punks up on stage and just being a total badass overall.

After roughly 90 minutes of full Australian punk rock fury, Hamburg’s loudest Sauna aka Logo spit out a horde of happy concertgoers into the night. See ya next time, ya filthy clowns!

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Photos: Christian Berg

About Christian Berg

Was born when Hank von Hell went through a mitosis and raised to be a Turbojugend member. Picked up by Messed!Up when he lost the camera in his massive beard. Work with advertisement/film production at daytime, dog walker in the afternoon, punk rock photographer at night. Loves music with loud guitars, preferably metalpunkrocknroll. Huge record collector. Period.
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