Yesterday, my work stopped at 8:15pm and I knew my time would be tight tonight. Right at finishing time, I just jumped out of my working clothes, entered my car and drove as fast as my small and slow car could get me to Bergisch Gladbach, a small town nearby Cologne.
Arriving in darkness is always a struggle for me, because I am night-blind, have a problem with left and right and surely I first missed the spot.
After parking the car, I entered the youth centre and wow, I felt young again. My first punkrock show was 1991, where I saw the German punk-band Molotow Soda from the former German capital Bonn. Today, almost 15 years later, I was about to see another band from the same city F*cking Angry.
The evening was supposed to be the record release gig for another band Pogendroblem (something like prugdroblem in English), who is a local act and who had organised the whole thing.
When I arrived, the first band was suprisingly sitting almost entirely on the stage and I felt like being transported back in the beginning of the 90’s, when punks were still punks and I was younger and with more energy and less worries in my mind.
They were called Unterstaat and the singer had a police hat on his head and the guitar player looked like he came from this other dimension, which I call „back in the punk-days“. This was the way punk-bands looked like back in the days. And still are like this, which always brings a smile into my face. Unterstaat plaid rough German punk and I took a few photos.
The audience was pretty young and me in my old age (hahaha) felt younger too. In the corner, some people older than me were obviously waiting for their maybe teenaged kids in the crowd to bring them back home. Or something similar, I was just guessing.
The first band just plaid a few songs and then finished. So, I did not get much of what they plaid and they rushed from stage.
Time for me to discover the room and the audience. It was a wide and long, but properly equitted concert room, typically for youth centres. Three doors, where people could enter and the audience consisted of many punk clothed people and some ordinary styled. A great mixture.
Unterstaat at Ufo in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany playing live on 30. January 2016.
The second band Pogendroblem changed the equipment and I was a little confused, because it was their release gig and they did not play as main act.
Their music was German punkrock and had good lyrics and the singer was full of high energy.
One of their songs was against the rascist party AfD (Alternative for Germany), who is unfortunately getting a great support during these days full of fears and anger against the arriving refugees from countries, where our very own government delivered the weapons to: „You are in the fist of fear, you have no perspective, because you can not go alone, you are looking convulsively for an alternative.“
Another song was rather more explicit: „Milk products make you dumb!“
Pogendroblem at Ufo in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany playing live on 30. January 2016.
The last band this evening, I had seen almost two weeks ago. This time, the location was nicer and not a dangerous former swimming pool, where people hit their back on the stairs. F*cking Angry plaid their angry and high energy punk-hardcore again and this time I was better prepared, because I had their vinyl in home since two weeks and knew many of the songs.
Their energy was sheerly hitting in my back and stomach and my legs started to move uncontrollable. Gabo, the drummer had to work a lot, I can see the hard parts of the songs in his face, but this gave a rather stronger energy to the already existing wall of guitar, the grumbling bass and the deep and straight voice of Beckx.
Unfortuntely the people had decreased since the last band and the place to dance was now huge and the guys could pogo and jump as hell. They all knew the band very well and could sing their lyrics.
As usual, they started off with their title song Fucking Angry and they finished their set with the song Born Angry. Does this say enough?
Thanks to all the bands for the nice evening and also the lovely audience. Hope to see you all again soon.
F.cking Angry – live at Ufo in Bergisch Gladbach on 30. January 2016
A video of F*cking Angry during that show:
And a video of Pogendroblem during that show:
Setlist Pogendroblem
Moschen für Groschen
Schnöselpunx
Viktoria
AfD Motherfucker
Öffis
Kotzen
Milchprodukte
Nipster
Putin
Flucht
Schales Bier
Steiner Kids are Stoner Kids
Setlist F*cking Angry
Intro & F.cking Angry
Unterwegs
Lone Wolf
Destroy
Doin‘ Alright
Hashtag
Myanmar
Blackout
Hardcore
Battle the Bottle
Bad Neuenahr
Fuck Off
Atomstrom
Skatesong
Born Angry
………………
Was übrig bleibt
Nicholas Ganz 