By now you all know how worthwhile a visit to Hamburg, Germany, is and for music fans all the more so in late September when the Reeperbahn Festival is on, the largest club festival in Europe as well as a meeting point of the music industry in all its variations. So here we went again from the 18th to 22nd of September in unseasonably warm weather.
With all the hanging around and trying to take it all in and even catching a sunburn, I will not take you through it every springy step but sum the experience up into "the good, the bad and the music".
Let's get it over and done with and start with...
The Bad
• Accommodation might not pose a problem for most paid conference delegates and artists but it does for fans and those who attend out of their own pocket. Apart from there being hardly any accommodation left from the day the dates were announced, most of it was either too far away or at prices that would make you weep. Understandably, Reeperbahn Festival has no say in this, but it would be a nice gesture of the city of Hamburg to regulate the prices a little bit, away from the point of ludicrousness.
• Welcome at the check-in is always swift and friendly but I am sure quite a few visitors were missing the lovingly designed tote bag and above all the inclusive free public transport.
• I keep recommending to go with the flow as even a perfectionist person like myself will admit defeat in the face of gazillions of events but a bit of preparation if you have certain performances in mind, won't go astray. Unfortunately, Reeperbahn Festival changed its website last year in the run-up to that year's edition and I find it much more hassle to use. Communication was also a bit poor as the performance of Erland Cooper on Wednesday night was cancelled and replaced short shrift with Hayden Thorpe (also great) but some advance notice would have been in order or did I miss it? The festival app comes in useful as you can mark your favourites, check the time slots and even see whether the event is full up but at times the app was down and also, please take note: It is such a nightmare to return to the top of the list after having clicked on details for one artist/band and having to scroll down all the way again.
• Speaking of full venues: The absolute glorious sunshine attracted masses of people but thankfully also allowed for a lot of outdoor performances. Indoors however, it was more than often too packed. No oxygen to be had, no view and certainly a feeling of uneasiness about getting out of a place in case of emergency and emergencies themselves. Security did a good job, checking in a friendly way but seemed often a tad overwhelmed with the numbers.
• And one more on the venues: Allocation of the venues was a bit of a hit and miss. Why put a quiet band in a sweaty club, why overlapping gigs of similar genres?
• As stated by quite a few local artists, labels and other organisations: Should a Hamburg festival make sure, that all of the former get represented as well no matter the cost?
• Ah, the cost again: I understand it is a music industry event and by all means, everyone wants to flag their wares. If at the same time though, conference panels also include discussions on the hardships of indie artists, maybe the presence of the major major labels should be curbed a bit or else the indie ones get subsidised.
• Involving and introducing a younger generation in music is important but a bit less catering to their assumed taste and more "here it is, come and get it, make the effort" would do no harm - personal opinion as always. Of course the big shots in the music industry are also at this festival, you get my drift...
The Good
• The organisation of the festival, despite it getting bigger and bigger, is absolutely flawless in all of but the above-mentioned points. Everyone you meet is courteous and in good spirits. You are never short of food and drink and other important facilities, in particular as it is a club festival and you are not restrained to the festival ground.
• The nice weather made it stand out: The festival village and the Spielbudenplatz have free entry and you can enjoy many concerts there as well as catering, chilling out and interesting exhibitions.
• Besides the ever current issues of climate change, sustainability, gender equality/keychange, for me daily bugging questions of AI in music, the artists renumeration in streaming services as well as social networking were also being discussed.
• You always find that off the map and agenda gathering and always meet new people and hear new music...it is there, grab it.
• For the first time, metal featured as a genre of the festival and I enjoyed seeing the metalheads bringing their very own passion and camaraderie to the event, even if I was ever so slightly bewildered by the performance of weirdly costumed Battlesnake...I was not the only one and it was good fun.
The music
Did the list of good points disappoint: Well the music really belongs in there as well. A special applause goes to Canada House who supplied the Reeperbahn overlooking venue with a steady stream of goodies. Aysanabee was of particular interest to me, had I enjoyed fellow Canadian Terry Uyarak so much. Granted, Terry who is of the Inuit population, plays much softer, fragile music whereas Aysanabee, a First Nation (Oji-Cree Nation) citizen, rocks and blueses it in an anthemic way. No need to ponder though because I missed him due to some silly mistake.
While we are at it: Also missed the tender ukulele and dulcimer indie folk of British Amelia Coburn and the once in a lifetime opportunity to see Efterklang as well as the rockier Australian Asha Jefferies, mostly due to overlap and/or full venues.
Back to Canada House's offerings though: Couple Adèle Trottier-Rivard and Nicolas Basque aka Bibi Club surprised with both an acoustic and a full-on set. The quality surprised me not as I am absolutely in love their music, the musical representation of Canada perhaps, with British and French pop influences. They do get inspired though also by the New York scene of the 70s, Jazz and experimental music. A très sympathique couple and two great concerts.
Also from Canada, this time New Brunswick, come Pallmer, who, after a couple of EPs have finally released their debut album this year, "Swimming". Emily and Mark combine classical string instruments with modern technology. Their mastery of both the instruments and the merging into new music, as well as the tricky arrangements and Emily's beautiful voice could be witnessed at a (sadly) afternoon event at the "Uwe". The melancholic landscapes had the audience transfixed and in awe.
Girl and Girl appeared several during the festival and proved to be a really good intoxicating live band if the stage I saw them on, might have been a tad big for them.
Their Australian counterparts RVG could be experienced in Europe for the very first time. Their first gig was celebrated as one of the best already, when I made my way to the venue for the second. Unfortunately, the Molotow backyard was really packed and it took me a while to get in. As much as I love RVG's new album "Brain Worms" and find Romy Vager's voice extraordinary soulful and like the typically Australian sound of the guitars and also the slightly jangly sound, I had maybe come into the show too late. But it seemed slowed down and introverted and too menacing for me on a sunny afternoon. More Birthday party than Go-Betweens. Maybe in the evening, a bit more prepared, it would have gone down better.
Whereas the highly praised Marathon, Limplifter and Endless Wellness for very different reasons failed to entice me: Marathon did not sound fresh to me, maybe though did to a younger generation. Limplifter had some really great songs but the concept seemed kind of incoherent (and the venue was boiling). Endless Wellness found me in not a good place and despite their good lyrics and quirky to rusing music, I could not get into it. Maybe another day in another place.
Four concerts I was really looking forward to were: Jane Weaver who has taken to appear a bit more relaxed on stage, wears comfy clothes, walks about and talks to the audience. The sadly not very full Nochtspeicher (two other big names playing at the same time) was flooded with the magic sounds of Jane Weaver's music. She has by now accumulated quite an archive and beside songs from the new album, some old favourites could be heard. The poor guitarist was fighting with a wonky pedal through the whole show but that did neither disturb the music nor Jane Weaver too much and she went over repeatedly to help and console. Very, very professional and at the same time a very warm and uplifting performance, again.
For a very long time, I have been a fan of Gwenifer Raymond and was so looking forward to see her do her magic live. Gwenifer must be one of the most down-to-earth people in the music scene and yet the Welsh astrophysicist (I know!), game developer if I understood this correctly, is on top an outstanding guitarist. She can keep up easily with the - mostly - men in the American primitive guitar/cosmic guitar/whatever you want to call it genre. The control in her fingers while she plays like in a trance (and that is all I got on the photo in the red light) and conjures whole stories and landscapes on that guitar is not from this world. Go, see her play, I beg you! Also, I was very happy to see, Gwenifer Raymond really being the only person in that genre present at the festival, that she went down a storm with the audience. So she should.
How did Tapir! ever get that album (The Pilgrim, Their God and The King Of My Decrepit Mountain) finished? A concept album on several levels with tons of references and yet a light and fragile touch to it? To see them live would be so so good and it was. But, oh girls and boys, how I wish they had put that band into a theatre, the fans looking down on a well-lit stage and sitting comfily in their seats, ready to take it all in, to fully concetrate on the songs. Standing in dark sauna with no chance to see the stage really and people talking in the back, was far from ideal, but it was what it was. Hopefully, the festival organisation will improve on this. How was it anyway? It was wonderful, truly wonderful.
Another great show was delivered by the young brothers D'Addario from New York. The Lemon Twigs, sounding ever so suave and complex on record, shone with a rough and exuberant 70's live show that had everyone hopping and singing along readily.
And there we are, if I remember more, I will duly add it and hope you enjoy hearing about this and, yes, do join next year!