The best shows I have seen in 2008, Part Two

ADOLESCENTS + WHITE FLAG
Shows like this are the reason why I prefer old farts a hundred times over any hawdcoah flavor of the month. I don't want to listen to any of your youth crew poo poo on colored vinyl, when I can go and see the Adolescents. There has to be a reason why everybody still knows all their lyrics by heart and sings along, and the reason is oh so very simple: they kick ass. They kick so much more ass than your run-of-the-mill kindergarten band ever will. Try to write just one song like "Amoeba" or "Kids of the Black Hole" in your lifetime, and then we'll talk again.

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS
Hands down the best punk (and related) show I have seen all year, and nothing else came even close. Off With Their Heads got it all right, both on record and on stage. From the moment they hit the first notes, I couldn't help but stand there with a big idiotic grin on my face. The entire Off With Their fucking Heads discography is hit after hit after hit, and they know how to deliver the goods live. If you don't agree, you've pretty been ruining everybody's lives and eating all our steak, just like Uncle Rico.

JAZZMATAZZ
I was kinda skeptical about seeing Jazzmatazz in 2008, because let's be honest - Gang Starr was one of the best hip hop acts to walk the face of the earth e-v-e-r, Guru's solo records are still pretty good, but Jazzmatazz? Ok, their first album is brilliant, but everything that came after that... well, your mom would listen to it, 'nah mean? But I bow my head in shame and take back every word, because Guru still is the coolest motherfucker. This man is so bad ass, he didn't even sweat! I'm not kidding you, he either got his sweat glands surgically removed or he is as cool as ice. (On a sidenote, the trombone player looked a bit like Fabio, but I can see past that.)

SCOOTER
Ok, no matter what you say: Scooter is the shit. Just like seeing a crust punk band from Poland, you know exactly what to expect, and you get it. And just like said crust band, Scooter are fast and dumb. For fuck's sake, they even had mighty Mantas on guitars in 2007 or something! I can't remember a show in the past five years or so with an audience this happy. A laser show and half naked go-go dancers, this is the kind of shit hardcore would need more of.

DÄLEK + RIVER FOR SALE
I have seen Dälek at least ten times by now, and it's pretty safe to say that they never disappoint, but never before have I seen them play a better or heavier show than this, do encores, or Oktopus go off as if he was in a moshpit. They almost played only entirely new songs off their upcoming album Gutter Tactics, and if they sound anything like the noise they created that night, it's gonna be Dälek's Reign In Blood. The band that played right before them, River For Sale, might just be the best existing Czech band right now - so much better than the overhyped and overrated Lvmen.

Honorable mentions:
The Rabbit Theory
Off Minor
Young Livers
Hanson Brothers

(And I haven't even mentioned the best show of 2008 yet... watch this space.)

The best shows I have seen in 2008, Part One

DER TANTE RENATE + SAALSCHUTZ
I don't know how many times I've seen Der Tante Renate so far, but this dude cracks me up every time, no matter how bad I feel. Still, I can't get over the fact that he was in Loxiran - but maybe this is scientific evidence that your music gets so much better once you start drinking. I mean, just think of Poison Idea being a straight edge band... pheeew. I have picked this show as a particular outstanding one, because it was the first time I have seen Renate play his incredible cover of Slayer's "Raining Blood". Plus, Saalschutz also performed that night, added to the fun, and things went wild. Nice bonus.

OBSTACLES
One of the two times that I've seen Obstacles this year, and one of the reasons why I started to develop a love affair with this wonderful band. Miss Cowcow and me travelled to the show for the sole reason that my friend Emil would fill in on bass for them on this tour. If you know Emil, you know how incredibly awesome he is. If you don't know Emil, at least make sure to check out the wonderful record label he runs. So, well... here I am at a show in a foreign country, not knowing what to expect at all, Obstacles get on the stage, hit the first few chords, and I am hooked. In a time when brain damaged art students decide to play instrumental post rock just because an Explosions In The Sky-reference gets you laid, Obstacles is a breath of fresh air. They r-o-c-k. Watch this space for an interview, dude.

Bleubird

BLEUBIRD + AUDIO88
Oh, praise the glory of independent hip hop! And no, you idiot, I am not talking about Anticon... if this is all you know, you just have not been digging deep enough. Monsieur Bleubird has a free download EP available here, do yourself a favour and check it out. So, well... me and Mieze Medusa spent the day with these two distinguished gentlemen over coffee, and then witnessed a show later that night which left us both speechless. Audio88 dropped a lot of words that didn't even rhyme (Literature anyone? Do you still know what that is, in times of teh intOrwebz?) over beats that would have made El-P proud, and the 'bird just went crazy. And when I say "crazy", I mean ker-razy in an HR kind of way, including backflips and everything else that hurts backs and muscles. That night, a handful of people with a clue saw two of the best contemporary hip hop acts, while you were probably sitting at home and downloading G-Unit and Kool Savas tracks.

JACK TERRICLOTH
This man can do no wrong. I mean it. From the criminally underrated Sticks & Stones all the way to The World/Inferno Friendship Society, Jack Terricloth is the man. He can wrestle with words in a way that's both punk and literature at the same time, he is one hell of an entertainer, and... oh, the voice! (And by the way, while you're at it, check out his book The Collected Cloth. One of the best reads in a long, long time). So, anyway - the reason I picked this show in particular over the W/IFS show a few months later was because (a) it was at a squat, (b) intimate and charming like a candlelight dinner, and (c) J.T. played "Theme Song For Nothing", which is one of my all time fave songs.