Gig Review: Booze Cruise Festival, Hamburg, Day One 7/6/19

As soon as Emma and I discovered Booze Cruise Festival last year we knew it was something we had to get to in 2019. From watching videos online and looking at the stellar line-up it looked like the most amount of fun. It seemed like a fantastic European alternative to The Fest in Gainesville, Florida. This was confirmed after a chat with Bristol's The Run Up when they hit the New Cross Inn with Pkew Pkew Pkew towards the end of their tour last year. The decision was made, we would be making the trip to Hamburg the next year. We bought our tickets as soon as they became available and excitedly awaited each and every announcement. Something I was quite looking forward to was the opportunity to catch some European bands I'd never seen before that I've followed for years or others that were completely new to me. It was also very exciting to go and see what the punk scene would be like somewhere that's not so close to home.

(Note: Colin's parts are in regular text and Emma's parts are in italic.)

We arrived in Hamburg late on the Thursday evening, unfortunately missing the pre-fest show of Decent Criminal and The Sewer Rats. Instead, we headed to our hostel for the weekend which happened to be situated in the Reeperbahn section of Hamburg, this was basically a red light district and presented some interesting sights we're not used to in Bedford (or the rest of the UK really!). The great thing about the hostel though was its close proximity to the venues used for Booze Cruise.

After a day of wandering around Hamburg, we picked up our festival wristbands and filled our bellies with some tasty fresh pizza at Pizza Bande. We then started our Booze Cruise Festival at Überquell, a super cool microbrewery and restaurant in the Fischmarkt area of Hamburg (near the harbour). The venue had a large outdoor space which was perfect for an acoustic set from Canadian two-piece Mobina Galore, not least because the sun was shining brilliantly. Jenna, armed with an unplugged acoustic guitar, and Marcia were in high spirits as they expressed how happy they were to be at Booze Cruise. Jenna stated how most of the band’s songs were written on an acoustic guitar originally so it was nice to revert back to how they originally sounded. They played a variety of songs from their back catalogue including Vancouver, from Feeling Disconnected, and latest single Zoë – stripped back but no less captivating. This was a great way to ease into a festival, even if we were melting a bit by the end of it.

Next, we made our first trip to the Hafenklang/Goldener Salon venue that was being used all weekend for Booze Cruise. The venue had two stages, a big room downstairs (Hafenklang) and a smaller one upstairs (Goldener Salon). Stereokeys were the band given the task of opening the Goldener Salon. I hadn’t listened to the band at all before the festival and we pretty much went to see them because they were the only band on at the time. I was quickly impressed by the four piece however, as they played some top quality indie punk rock with some gruff vocals. It was nice to see that a decent sized crowd gathered early to see what I believe is quite a new band on the German scene. If they continue to play sets as good as this one, I imagine it won't be long before they're playing much later on festival bills to even bigger crowds. Not previously knowing any of the songs and not speaking any German, I can't tell you much about what they played but it was highly enjoyable.

After Stereokeys we headed downstairs to the main room of Hafenklang where we could hear a band, that we were expecting to be Good Friend, had already started. Walking into the room however we soon realised that this wasn’t the Newcastle via Belfast trio, instead there was a last minute set from Cory Call’s new(ish) band Little Teeth – apparently Good Friend were stuck in traffic and weren’t able to make their first of two sets of the day. This was a great unexpected opportunity to watch a new band that we hadn’t checked out before however and I really liked what I heard. Cory Call has an incredible voice that lends itself to Americana-style, soulful punk rock which is right up my street. Little Teeth weren’t able to play a full band set for the whole time slot as bassist Max needed to go soundcheck upstairs for his other band Captain Asshole’s set, but Cory played a couple of solo songs and was also joined by his wife Kirsty at the end too.

We rushed back upstairs for the set I was perhaps most looking forward to of the whole weekend. Munich's Captain Asshole released what is without a doubt my album of the 2019 so far (sorry Burnt Tapes, still love you too) in February with What An Awful Life and this was probably my one chance any time soon to see the songs live. Bass player Max hadn't long been back upstairs himself after playing half of a Little Teeth set just minutes ago so it was all a bit rushed but as soon as they took to the stage the magic begun to happen. It wasn't just me who was looking forward to seeing Captain Asshole as an even bigger crowd gathered before the start of their set. I made sure that we were right at the front to have a good sing-along. Opening with the first single from What An Awful Life, Where The Fuck Is Kyoto?, we were off to a great start. Obviously as they were playing a set full of songs from the album. I had a smile on my face throughout the set. The gang vocals and harmonies that I loved on recording were even better live. There was a nice moment where Cory Call joined the band on stage to sing his part of No More Spanish Love Songs, the song Holiday Inn was a perfect fit for the festival and the sing-along on Home was just special. Captain Asshole did not disappoint. Now I will be spreading the word to everyone in England about what a good band and they are in the hope they can get to London sooner rather than later.

Not wanting to leave the Captain Asshole set early, it was no real surprise that when we got back downstairs for Red City Radio the room was packed – and very hot. The Oklahoma City band were probably one of the most universally popular of the whole Booze Cruise weekend – they were even playing two sets (this being the first one) – and it’s easy to see why when watching them play live. Every song feels like a ‘hit’, from Two Out Of Three Ain’t Rad and Two For Flinching to newer tracks like If You Want Blood (Be My Guest). The room was full of folks with their fists thrown in the air, singing along to every word like their lives depended on it. We ducked out before the very end of their set to get over to Molotow in time for New Junk City, but not before Red City Radio threw in a cover of Green Day’s Welcome To Paradise as well as mine and Colin’s favourite song, Show Me On The Doll Where The Music Touched You – ie. ‘I am a fucking juggernaut!’.

It was a fairly simple walking route, along the harbour and then up a main road, to Molotow but not the shortest of distances, hence why we chose to miss some of Red City Radio in favour of seeing a whole New Junk City set. The band, from Atlanta, Georgia, were one that we were both really looking forward to seeing live for the first time as their 2018 album Same Places has had a lot of airplay at CPRW HQ. We arrived just in time and found Larry from The Run Up excitedly waiting to watch his tour mates once again. We didn’t have to wait long as the band were soon off. I don’t really know what it was specifically about New Junk City but I was immediately hooked from the first note to the last, there was just this incredible energy that they displayed. The band’s bassist was so enthusiastic in fact that he managed to break a string – I’ve seen plenty of guitar strings break on stage but never a bass string so that was something! New Junk City were definitely one of my Booze Cruise highlights and I can’t wait to see them again.

Another band I was super excited to see were Austria's DeeCRACKS. I'd long been an admirer, from afar, of the Ramonescore act but had never had the opportunity to see them live. The crowd at Molotow wasn't quite as big as I had expected it to be but they definitely had some of the most enthusiastic people watching them, singing along and dancing with such joy. In true Ramonescore fashion, DeeCRACKS played song after song barely ever stopping. I'm always seriously impressed with not only how quick these bands play but with how they can go from one song into another so seamlessly. The UK is seriously short on bands playing this style so it was a real pleasure for me to see one as good as DeeCRACKS. A real festival highlight for me. Due to more and more bands of such high quality being on at the same time, as the festival went on into the night, we unfortunately had to leave a little early to see the next band on our schedule – it was a real hardship to pull myself away.

New York's Jukebox Romantics were a must see at Booze Cruise for me, especially as I'd passed up two opportunities to see them on their recent UK tour with Triple Sundae. We arrived at the Menschenzoo venue to discover it was a tiny basement with a small stage and bar it in. Of course the room was completely covered in stickers – this felt like a proper DIY punk venue. The tiny basement soon packed out for The Jukebox Romantics for what was a really wild set. The Booze Cruise crowd adored Jukebox Romantics – singing, dancing and generally losing their minds immediately. The three-piece on stage oozed charisma and are clearly very good at connecting with their crowd. This felt like a classic Fest show from the early days of the Gainesville festival but in a small basement in Hamburg and I loved it. Seeing the bodies pile up on each other in the pit, it was madness and it was beautiful. What a great band The Jukebox Romantics are, I was so happy to finally see them. They finished the set with a fantastic rendition of The Bouncing Souls’ Hopeless Romantics – ‘I’m a jukebox romantic…’ – which put another huge grin on my face. This wouldn't be the last we see of The Jukebox Romantics this evening…

After the sweaty chaos that was Jukebox Romantics, we headed outside and walked just a few doors down to a tiny bar (most likely the smallest Booze Cruise venue) called Gun Club. Scotland’s much loved acoustic guitar wielding Billy Liar has been playing shows for over ten years and so I’m ashamed to admit that Booze Cruise Festival 2019 was my first time seeing him play live (although Colin had seen him before). I soon found out what I’d been missing out on however and was instantly captivated by Billy and his stories – those he told in between songs and the songs themselves. His long awaited debut album, Some Legacy, is coming out on Red Scare on 21st June and so, alongside some older songs, we were treated to a couple of songs from that – it’s an album I now can’t wait to hear, that’s for sure. Billy Liar is great.

After Billy Liar we popped back into Menschenzoo to see Shelleycoat do a Get Up Kids cover set. Now if we're telling the truth, Emma and I don't know any Get Up Kids songs so reviewing this is pretty difficult. The basement was packed though and people seemed to be loving it so I guess Shellycoat did a great job!

Back at Gun Club, it was time for a covers set that was a little bit more on the silly side of things. Cory and Kirsty Call had got changed since we last saw them and were now beach-ready for their Beach Boys cover set – or, as Kirsty put in, they were the Beach Calls. Encouraging the crowd to sing along, partly because they weren’t sure they’d remember all the words themselves, this was a really fun cover set. I’m not overly familiar with Beach Boys song titles but I certainly recognised plenty of those that the Calls played, including Sloop John B, Surfing Safari and, of course, Wouldn’t It Be Nice. Billy Liar and Adam Carroll from Good Friend joined the Calls on stage towards the end and Billy initiated a rendition of, err, Wonderwall which Cory apparently didn’t actually know how to play but it was easy to pick up. All in all, this set was a little erratic but a whole lot of fun and that’s pretty important in punk rock I think.

Returning to Menschenzoo it was time for the final set of the day, The Jukebox Romantics were back on the stage for an Alkaline Trio cover set. This was a really busy set that the fine folk of Booze Cruise enjoyed a huge amount. There were big sing-alongs from the very beginning of the set with the crowd doing as much singing into the microphone as the band were. The packed room was now a sweatbox but this only added to the intensity of the set. Playing what was pretty much a best of set, The Jukebox Romantics performed fantastic versions of We've Had Enough, Private Eye, Armageddon, Radio and Crawl among many more (my memory is a little hazy). To finish the set off, they ditched Trio and opted for some more classic Bouncing Souls, this time it was True Believers. You must already know the reaction this got and it was the perfect way to end such a good opening day to Booze Cruise 2019.

This review was written by Colin Clark and Emma Prew. Photos also by Emma, although much better photos (that weren’t taken on a phone) can be viewed here.