Monday 4 August 2014

Preview: the month ahead (August)

Usually, August is a dead month for live music in Berlin, but you know, we are making the best of it. Schokoladen is showing a nice “don’t care if anybody else is on holiday, we are having a great time” attitude and is putting on quite a few nice gigs this month. Be aware though, any Schokoladen gigs start strictly at 8 pm, so be there for 7 pm and have a cold drink with us in one of Berlin’s most cosy venues. Other than that, see you around town, on a bike, in the middle of the night, in short sleeves, loving it. Heat - may you stay forever!

Tue, Aug 5th: Perfect Pussy + Business Lunch + PISS at Kantine am Berghain: Vocalist Meredith Graves is getting a lot of media attention these days. And people are begrudging her the way they used to begrudge Kathleen Hannah or Beth Ditto. Well screw them. Nobody ever begrudged Stephen Malkmus or Josh Homme for being in the limelight. But women, they better not hog it. Whatever. Another anecdote I can mention in connection with Perfect Pussy is a line written about them on Wikipedia: “The band is known for its "frenetic brand of punk and raucous live shows"and has been described as "the most important punk band to come out of Syracuse since Earth Crisis." This is so funny, it actually brings tears to my eyes. My sense of humour. Anyhoo, about Perfect Pussy, really: They’re pretty awesome. You like Dag Nasty and Bikini Kill? Swing on by! Added bonus: our favourites PISS as support!



Thu, Aug 7th: Sabar - A night of West African Drumming at Arena Badeschiff: This is the second West African Drumming event curated by Colin Hacklander. He invites friends to play drums with him, making this “a spontaneous gathering with drum kits, Sabar drums and talking drum”. Definitely a show worth visiting, especially in such an interesting location.

Fri, Aug 8th: Schrein + City Hands  + Hexeneich + Arvind Ganga at Bei Ruth: Another night of weird, noisy and experimental music. Schrein is a side project of people involved in Datashock and Sun Worship and although they’re regular guests at bei Ruth, their shows are definitely well worth a visit. This night promises tapes, effects, voice and electro-acoustics, drones and experiments on the tension between structure and chaos.

Sat, Aug 9th: Cranky Fest IV at Antje Öklesund: Cranky Booking, a Berlin institution and ⅓ of the fantastic Späti Palace Label, is putting on a great night of live music and freshly served crêpes. I mean, you are not seriously going to say no to fresh crêpes, are you?

Tue, Aug 12th: Big Ups + Creams at bei Ruth: After the cancelled Big Ups show in May they now return to play at bei Ruth. They play melodic and noisy punk with a hint of Shellac. Probably a pretty good way of spending a Tuesday night.

Thu, Aug 14th: EA80 at SO36: EA80 are celebrating their 35th year as a band. They’ve been an important constant in the German punk scene and their music is still as intense and melancholic as it was in their beginnings. They don’t play live very often so don’t miss this.

Fri, Aug 15th: The Lo-Fi Punk Rock Motherfuckers at Schokoladen: Eddie Argos of Art Brut fame and his lo-fi punk rock motherfuckers were Gary and my wedding band (see video below). A fine job they did. You can now also enjoy their British sense of humour and swing your punk rock legs this Friday at Schokoladen. Recommended! Incidentally, you have another chance to see them at Torstraßen Festival (see below).


Sun, Aug 17th: Thurston Moore at Lido: What is there to say? It’s Thurston Moore so it can only be grand. Also, there are rumours spreading about a very special band line-up on tour with Mr. Moore. See us there!

Wed, Aug 27th: Thee Oh Sees at Berghain: Gig of the month, the year, all time. Whether you would listen to Thee Oh Sees on record or not, it’s hard to argue against this band being one of the best live bands to have ever graced this planet. I mean, at the last two Berlin gigs, the ceiling came down both times. Both times! They are splitting up for good and this is your last chance to party like there is no tomorrow with the best garage punk live act there is. We have our tickets. Watch out for our very special competition later this month. Boy oh boy, are we excited!


Sat, Aug 30th: Torstraßen Festival: This was so much fun last year, Gary and I are still raving on about it. Join us this year for a day filled of fun and music. Hooray, a great final to a fine August.

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