It felt like a perfect Saturday ahead: Not only a tough workweek down my back but also the uplifting outlook of a) giving a friend a gift and b) enjoying the raw furiosity of the Split Dogs. On top i learned that pre-sales where good, so it would be a well filled downstairs at my favorite haunt.
Lobsterbomb out of Berlin had the duty to kick it off and they faced not yet the full contingent, though attracted more and more people to the stage.
They are a 3 piece with two guitars (and on some songs only one) and they play, according to their own cupboard sticker, frenetic, loud and catchy indie-garage rock.
Puh, for me that is not the greatest of things but as always, i gotta give people a chance to convince me.
Lobsterbomb (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 07.11.2026)
(c) gehkacken.de 2026
It was a tough one to be frank, i guess 80% of their set simply did not speak to my mu-sick-al receptors at all, only some rare parts did work for me. Surprisingly i found their recorded output to be better working, so not sure if it was the day or something else.
Go and check them out for yourself:
In sum, wasted effort by them on me but around where quite some folks that seemed to dig them. The audience anyway was somewhat strange, few regulars and many older males that would fit a rock show more than a show at the Hafenklang.
As an opposite type of pairing to the Split Dog though they indeed worked as a charm – i just don’t want to be opposite. To the Split Dogs.
Last time i saw the Split Dogs at the Monkeys i wished them to hit big, i guess they are on that trajectory. Why? Because they have been all over Social Media (professional promotion i take) and they had a roadie setting up a professional stage (incl. tuning).
And an eye for detail: 4 pints Coke & Rum, a pack of fags, lighter and a setlist. What else would you need as a musician?
(c) gehkacken.de
They took the stage to Let Me Entertain You (by Robin Peter Williams) and kicked it off like this:
Bäm! From the go they where literately into business, no chords spared, no riff bared. And fast forward. With loads of energy, within that Singer Harry even carries some extra Duracel units, i bet you.
It was the last date of their little run and they where utmost happy to finish that in Hamburg, apparently their favorite place for Rock’n’Roll (and quite right they are).
The energy did not go into the void, it went straight down to the packed & sweaty room where some where surprised, some where afraid and many more where simply into it and moved to the mu-sick.
Split Dogs (Hafenklang, Hamburg, 07.11.2026)
(c) gehkacken.de 2026
It had all the ingredients that a professional, unpretentious, fun and honest show has: The energy, the utmost stable backline of drum & bass, the guitar furiosity of an SG (where was the flying V?) and an utmost outgoing singer with a very strong voice.
I thoroughly enjoyed it and to my liking at least two handful of mates (m/f) appeared around me and enjoyed it too. Big time!
If you want to enjoy it too give it a go, you can start with the new album …
… but you will be much more happy if you start seeing them live. This is about what you would get – even the song names have it all!
(c) gehkacken.de
Mil at the end asked the audience to make sure to take the kids along (something that this evening – given the elderly male majority – was not a thingy) and rescue them from doom scrolling by taking them to a Punk Rock Show.
And that little notion sums the Split Dogs up: They are out there to rescue your kids (and inject all of the electrified guitar energy back into you old sod).
Happy as a fuck i had a couple of drinks but was clever enough to argue my way out of committing to further booze at the Gun Club.
Perfect show in best companionship, on and off stage. Call me lucky!
