Just below St Pauli stadium is Sudtribune, an open air venue with mobile carts pitched up around it conjuring up images of stagecoaches and gunfights back in the old wild west, only here they served beer.
With no idea who was about to grace the stage (worryingly blanked in my programme) I waited patiently drinking what turned out to be the best beer of the festival in a lovely plastic jug with a handle. It turned out to be a German eight-piece called Trouble Orchestra.
Opening with a remix which included the chorus line to 'Bang Bang' of Nancy Sinata and Audio Bullys fame they immediately struck a chord. The rest of the gig was all in German, of which unfortunately I am not in the slightest bit fluent, but after a few songs it almost felt I was.
At times the two guitarists stage left and right could have been part of a raucous Black Sabbath Foo Fighters hybrid covers band, then had the delicacy and intuition of Johnny Marr at the start of The Smiths. Great hooks, well placed and delivered with exuberant frenzied passion, especially stage left.
The three singers, two male rappers and an attractive long-haired female combined on the various tracks swapping effortlessly from one to another and then joining like siblings. At times reminiscent of a German Rage Against The Machine, which had the bulging crowd (and me) jumping with delight and all joining the sing-along-chorus, the language barrier now broken. Then they would break into a delicate pop infused melodic number, always leaving you guessing but wanting more.
Check out Halt dein' Mund below and you'll see what I mean, a live classic no doubt. If you get a flash of a Nazi flag in the video don't worry, I freeze framed it, the scarf says Nazi Fighters with an arrow through the Nazi symbol, these guys have an idea and are passionate but it comes from completely the other side.
The overall effect was one of angsty rebellion. I left feeling exhilarated as if I'd just witnessed something really special, and that was on my own with only a few beers for company. It turned out that across the whole festival this random act whose name I'd never heard of until they set foot on the stage, and whose lyrics I could not understand, was my favourite act of the festival. And I got to see inside St Pauli stadium too, that was Reeperbahn Festival in a nutshell for me, I could not have asked for more.
I'm sure going to check them out again. If these guys play their cards right they could be Germanys next big thing and their biggest export too!
www.reeperbahnfestival.com Trouble Orchestra - Halt dein' Mund
