Rockhouse Brothers
Weinfest Ochsenzoll & IndoChine Style Night
including setlist stories
t's a few minutes past 2 in the afternoon. lena (who's really spelling her nickname with a small l in the beginning) arrives at the main station. I seem to have successfully infected her with the Rockhouse Brothers virus even though she has never seen them before, but why else should she have made all her way from Bamberg to Hamburg? We are in a very jolly mood, joking around and laughing all the time, looking forward to the evening's gig. After a short lunch we dress for the evening, pick Solli up and go to Ochsenzoll where we blunder into a demonstration that is escorted by a lot of police so we just hurry to find the feast hoping none of the punks will make their way there too later on. They don't.
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The stage is just 40cm high, has a pavilion roof and canvas in the back where of course a Rockhouse Brothers banner is hanging. Beside the stage is a way into the forest that surely will be used by all the drunken kids to hide and drink later. At present they cross the place in front of the stage in a way that makes us feel like sitting on an ant trail. Yes, we are sitting. That sounds odd but gives me the best possibility to write down my notes in a way I can decipher them later. And we don't block the view for children. At 8.30 p.m. three men in satin suits jump onto their stage and Joe and James tune up their instruments while Wolfman gestures to me that they haven't written a setlist so I must write everything down myself. The first set starts with "Little Pig". It's always astonishing, that they need no warm up but start with a hundred percent power. Just as if they had a switch for "party-mode". We are sitting in the first row as a kind of drunken kids barrier and move even forward until we touch the stage, because Joe wants everybody to come three steps closer. "Are you ready, Jamie?" he asks and Jamie answers "I was born ready!" The Wolfman is ready, too and so they play "I'm ready". Next we can see "The devil in disguise". He is wearing a red suit and seems to be directly risen from hell. Have a look! |
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Can anybody tell me, why this picture is taken from where hell is supposed to be? The next song is one of Jamie's great singing performances: "16 tons". Afterwards Joe offers us the opportunity to ask for special songs. They will perform every song they know and those they don't know will be sung acoustically by Jamie outside the men's toilets during their breaks. The next two songs are "Red hot mama" and "Wake up little Susie". Then we learn something important about men: they can not concentrate simultaneously on two things. For example they can not walk and chew chewing gum at the same time, so they first walk five steps, then chew, then walk... Joe and Jamie demonstrate this, while the Wolfman is standing behind his drum set and counting their steps with his fingers. Ostensibly he is able to do more than one thing at the same time, he can chew chewing gum and play the drums. Joe asks us for gum and Solli throws her airwaves at Jamie so he can present the Wolfman as a trained circus monkey that catches his food with his mouth. Wow, he does it at the first throw but the gum ("Hmmm, cherry!") seems to be a bit hot ;-). His multitasking ability is shown in its complete extend during "Everyday" where he chews the gum, plays the drums with one and the glockenspiel with the other hand. The first tune is slightly off-key but the rest is absolutely wonderful! |
Tonight's Twist Competition is announced and the winner can take Jamie home as a slave for the next 24 hours. Unfortunately we don't know how to twist (hey, we are much too young for this but we'll practice) so a bouncing little boy of about two years wins Jamie for his dancing performance on "You never can tell". Luckily the little boy doesn't insist on taking Jamie home directly or he just can't speak any English what is why he perhaps doesn't know about his slave and so we can listen to Jamie singing "Won't you forget about me". We all sing along the easiest Rock'n'Roll verses (lalalala) and although they surely can't hear us the Rockhouse Brothers say: "That sounds beautiful!". Somebody wants to hear an Elvis song. "What Elvis shall we play? - Elvis Presley!" Jamie wants to warn us of Joe's dancing but his tongue doesn't follow his brain: "When we play this song, Joey gets out of control. His shipfs...... what are they called???" He meant Joe's hips and they play "Heart Break Hotel". The next song is a Spanish one: "La Bamba". I think it was this song that gave us one of the best one-string-guitar-solos I've ever heard. "Do you believe?" We absolutely do and find ourselves listening to "I'm a believer". Joe asks, if anybody can dance "Macarena" or the "Las Ketchup dance". We can't remember those dances fast enough so they show us the official Rockhouse Brothers dance. The last song before the first short break is "20 Flight Rock" and the Wolfman proves his brilliant abilities again: He plays a short break on his bass drum. This doesn't sound brilliant to you? Well, he uses his drumsticks for that instead of the pedal and hits the audience facing rim! So cool!!!
the Wolfman is playing the drums with just one hand and the glockenspiel with the other one
Of course there are CDs for sale and Joe asks us to translate his following sentences before he addresses the children: "If your parents don't give you 10 Euros it means they don't love you." Everybody starts laughing so he adds: "Okay, that's not true. It just means they are not your real parents!" Luckily we are still sitting, I'm sure we would collapse otherwise. It's nearly impossible to write all this stuff down while Joey is saying it and we are laughing. Of course all at the same time *g*. It seems to be our lucky day, you can not only buy "Howling with the Wolfman" but also the Live-CD which finally completes my CD collection and the three spend a couple of minutes signing their CDs. After that Wolff helps me to add the missing song titles to my notes so I can use them for this review (@Wolff: Thanks a lot for that!!!)
"Put your haaaaaaaaands in the air!"
The second set starts with one of my everlasting catchy tunes: "Summertime Blues". I like this song so much, especially because in the beginning Joey just uses the Bigsby vibrato for the half steps without touching his guitar's neck. Wow! That looks so relaxed and easy, sounds extremely groovy and creates such a great hot party atmosphere.
The vibrato: Joey knows how to use it!
They directly pass over to "Come on everybody". The tribute to Buddy Holly is not just played but also shown with three pairs of black glasses you may know. "Peggy Sue" would have liked them ;-). "Oh boy" is the next song which is played without a break in between. Then the audience has to assist the Wolfman with "Diddely Daddy", Joey asks for help with the Maracas. By the way it is possible to sing along and write down a complete different text while you are doing some kind of sitting dance. What do we call this? Wolf-style? In the Middle of Diddely Daddy we get drunk with "Tequila" and of course the German answer to it: Jägermeister! For the next Beatles song Joey needs every man, every woman, every child and every beast (where Jamie and he point at the Wolfman) pretending to be teenage girls screaming at the Beatles who sing "Help". We do him this favour, train the tops of our voices and don't stop it during "Bye bye love". "Would you like to hear the Wolfman sing a song?" Of course we do and Wolff sings "Runaway". I don't only like him singing this one but also the guitar solo in it.
The next song is from the king, but not Elvis as Jamie pretends to think, it is from the king of 70s daytime television. Mr. Lee Majors, better known as Colt Sievers. However, Jamie sings "The unknown stuntman" in such a brilliant way that he even swamps Ferenc' wonderful performance out of our minds. The next song is about sexually transmitted diseases. In the 90s the worst that could happen to a greasy blond double bass player was this: "Great balls of fire". The guitar solo Joey performs in "White wedding" gets faster and faster and he says afterwards "That was strange!" Somebody shouts "Ihr seid spitze!", Joey looks in the direction and then replies grinning: "I think it was something nice, so thank you." Jamie and Wolff try Joe's wisdom and let him decide what to do now. Joe is in the mood for two more songs before they take their break and they play "Rock around the clock" and "Suspicious Minds" before announcing (in an a cappella arrangement for three voices) CDs for sale again. For 10 Euros you can buy a CD and for 50 Euros you can take the Wolfman home with you as a slave. Hmmmmm.... the problem is: we would have to give him back rather early because of their Indochine-gig tomorrow so we decide he may remain free tonight and we save our 50 Euros.
There is one very strange comment during this break. Joe is asked if they really are brothers and says about Jamie: "It is my brother but it is a looooong story!" Perhaps we shouldn't think about this too long?
During this break we decide to listen to the last set standing or dancing, we were asked to leave our "seats" in front of the stage before by some drunken ladies anyway. So we dance right from the start of "Twist and shout". After that Joe inserts the homepage promotion in English and German and then tells us about girls who write about Jamie's after-show-behaviour in their guestbook. The problem is, that their mother reads the guestbook and she is angry with Joe because he should keep an eye on his little brother. Jamie however absolutely insists with tears in his eyes, that those stories aren't true. "The truth is, that every night after we have finished playing our double bass player, my little brother Jamie goes home alone!" Poor Jamie, he is "So lonely". Joe's German is getting better very fast. We heard him talking a bit in the second break and now he performs a complete song in German: "99 Luftballons". In the middle of the song "We will rock you" is added, but because it is only the Wolfman we change the lyrics to "he will he will rock you!". He rocks on with "Highway to hell" what seems to be the end of his Jazz career. Somehow the Wolfman gets a bit out of control and says after it "I don't know what came over me!" It's not the full moon, but he is sitting very near to the forest full of drunken kids. So perhaps the air around his drum set is full of alcohol?
The next song is a cowboy version from Dirty Dancing sung by Jamie: "Be my baby". The singing along "The lion sleeps tonight" starts without any need to encourage us but Joe wants to have some fun with us. So he lets the men sing the deep part and the girls the high one. Jamie is asked who was better and he says: "I think the girls were better!" So we switch and Joe shows the men how they can sing as high as never before: "Take one hand in the air, then put it down on your trousers and squeeze!" Wow, one of them even has tears in his eyes. Next Jamie sings the "Folsom prison blues" and they directly go to "Ghost riders in the sky" just by saying to Joe he should play it as sad as he can. For "I feel fine" our screaming is needed again and I'm sure we won't be able to say any single word tomorrow but we don't care and try to scream louder and higher. It's earsplitting sometimes *gg*.
Joe says "We have seen the Wolfman playing the Glockenspiel. We have seen the Wolfman singing songs for you, now I would like the Wolfman get funky!" Oh yeah, he gets funky and puts his heart and soul in "A little less conversation" and the included "Ice ice baby". It's a bit obvious that I really love them performing Ice ice baby, because I whisper "YES!" rather loudly before my dancing style gets completely mad. Finally there's a great party going on in the third set, many people are dancing and unfortunately bumping into others. Okay, the alcohol is rather cheap here and only a few seem not to be drunk. However, we all are in high spirits. "Mrs. Robinson" is the next song and then we try to do a surfing dance during "Surfing USA" and "Surfing Safari" which is the last regular song where Jamie and Joe torture the double bass. It's amazing that this instrument doesn't collapse with a grown up man standing on it and using it as a surfboard or even a springboard like Jamie and Joe do.
Of course it is not possible to really leave the stage without some extra songs and so they come back an play "Wipe out", "Should I stay or should I go" and as the last song "I got my mojo working" with an included "Get up". The time after the gig begins like the breaks: selling and signing CDs, talking to fans and drinking.
Wow, the gig was absolutely great and we managed to take some very nice pictures (I didn't forget my memory card this time). The Rockhouse Brothers made such a great performance, dancing and grooving all the time. But there are some things words can't tell, so I give you some impressions (click to enlarge):
Writing a review is always fun because you can relive the concert what of course feels nice when the concert was as brilliant as this one. And if you do it together with someone else you also get some comic sentences to quote. Take this as an example: I wanted to edit the picture with Wolff playing the Glockenspiel and so asked lena: "Shall I cut Jamie off?" You could see the horror in her face and she just said: "WHAT??". No need to comment about that, right? During the writing we were listening to the Live CD and it happened three times that I wrote about a song that was playing exactly in the same moment. Guess what we heard when I was describing the beginning of "Summertime Blues"?
Typing the whole setlists has also been funny this time because suddenly some very strange ideas shot through my brain. You can read them below in the Setliststories.
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Setliststory # 1:
The doorbell rings, I open the door and see a young man with jazz wire brushes in his hand standing outside who says: "Hello". Unfortunately even though not saying it aloud he means: "I want to blow your house in." Luckily I know more about him than he can imagine and so I reply: "I'm ready!" and add in my mind "You're the Devil in disguise!". My house is build very solid, they have used 16 tons of concrete for it so my red hot mama could wake up little Susie by playing her trumpet everyday without anybody in the neighborhood noticing. You never can tell Susie's whole story but I remember her asking "Won't you forget about me?" before she left my house to go to the Heart Break Hotel where she used to dance La Bamba until her end. It is such a sad story including the funny drummer outside my door who told her: "I'm a believer! I believe we can fly". That's why they both jumped down a 20 flight rock. Susie's dead, but the drummer somehow came back and calls himself "the Wolfman" since then. Weird...
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Setliststory #2: Have I told you about the music maniac from a small village far away? He loves to play his Gretsch and twist and shout all the time what is why he has been so lonely and never manages to get a girlfriend or at least a short hot affair. At his most desperate try he gave 99 Luftballons to a girl and even took her to the Cologne Musical Dome to watch "We will rock you". The trip back from Cologne came out to be the highway to hell for him. Perhaps he shouldn't have said in his dirtiest voice: "Hey honey, be my baby. The lion sleeps tonight but I'm sure you will be able to wake him up." When he opens his eyes again someone in the next prison cell is singing the Folsom prison blues. Oh dear, he has been taken to California? His escape from there is a legend, he suddenly saw ghost riders in the sky who took him back to Sweden. Even today, many years later he just says "I feel fine" when you ask him about his adventures in California. But since then he tries to bewitch women with a little less conversation. Because he learned the girls nearly always love ice, "Ice baby?" is his best working chat-up line so far. But he always dreams of sweet blonde Mrs. Robinson from next door. One day he will be Surfing USA with her and their little surfing safari of course will be an endless romance. |
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Setliststory # 3:
Sometimes young men around here get the Summertime Blues and are deeply depressed. Do you know the reason? Oh, come on everybody, it's so simple: Peggy Sue is not available any more! She and her lovely double bass player secretly tied the knot and even didn't tell their parents before. "Oh girl", moaned Peggy's diddely daddy before a heart attack got him so he needed immediate help. But the wedding also means bye bye love for the uncountable bass player's admirers. Perhaps he should become a runaway before the unknown stuntman seizes his chance to kill him because of his overwhelming desire for Peggy. What has caused so much helpless anger? The stuntman is suffering from painful great balls of fire and from not being invited to the white wedding. The double bass player himself is not interested in all those rumors, actually he likes to rock around the clock and to enjoy his honeymoon. Anyway, their marriage won't last very long concerning to the voices of some suspicious minds who are telling stories about guest books full of love letters to Peggy's handsome husband... |
Setliststory #4:
Some years later the young drummer (better known as the Wolfman by now), the handsome double bass player called James and Joe, the Swedish Gretsch player, bump into each other in a gloomy table dance bar. They wage a fight for the last chairs but somehow end up completely drunk and decide to perform some gigs together. Even though none of them is able to write his name in this delirium a producer forces them to sign a contract and names them "The Rockhouse Brothers". They are really good but badly paid and so they have got to do the wipe out without any help from roadies or the staff of the locations they are playing in. That's why their job is really hard and especially Jamie often wonders "Should I stay or should I go?" before their gigs start. Joe always is assured by one of the screaming teenage girls "I got my mojo working for you, one day you will become world famous and immensely wealthy." On their way back from the gigs they chain the Wolfman to his wolf kennel where he is howling himself to sleep until in the morning someone kicks him and shouts "Get up!"
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1st set Little Pig I'm ready You're the devil in disguise 16 tons Red hot mama Wake up little Susie Everyday You never can tell Don't you forget about me Heart Break Hotel La Bamba I'm a believer 20 Flight Rock |
2nd set: Summertime Blues Come on everybody Peggy Sue Oh girl Diddley Daddy (plus Tequila) Help Bye bye love Runaway Unknown Stuntman Great balls of fire White Wedding Rock around the clock Suspicious Minds |
3rd set: Twist and shout So lonely 99 Luftballons (plus We will rock you) Highway to hell Be my baby The lion sleeps tonight Folsom prison blues Ghost riders in the sky I feel fine A little less conversation (plus Ice ice baby) Mrs. Robinson Surfing USA Surfing Safari Wipe out Should I stay or should I go Mojo (plus Get up) |
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The next gig starts only 18 hours after we finally went to bed after watching the pictures we have taken and eating a Döner. On their website the IndoChine looks rather exclusive, so we decide not to wear jeans but black trousers. I consider my shirt to be posh enough, hey, it's black and the print silver. You will see later how much mistaken I was.
Because there is no station near the IndoChine we go by scooter. It's easy to reach, you just have to follow the Elbe and we find a nice staircase to park under. Luckily our names are on the list so we can enter the bar without any problems and put our biker jackets to the wardrobe. The bar is the most exclusive location I have ever seen from inside. The tables are glowing in blue and instead of chairs they have black leather cubes to sit on. Three enormous chandeliers are hanging from the ceiling and illuminated with colour changing spotlights (what gives them a rather tawdry look). It feels like entering a complete different world for us. Only the stage where three instruments are waiting to be used looks familiar. The Rockhouse Brothers are sitting at their table and we decide to say hello. When they leave to change it takes only a few minutes until we are asked if we belong to the band. No, we are not considered as Rock'n'Roll musicians but they obviously don't like to see us sitting there. |
The list of beverages underlines our impression of being absolutely wrong here: You can buy a bottle of cognac for 1450 Euros! However, we order a bottle of water and change to a bistro table near the stage and long for the beginning. I wonder if the IndoChine staff really wants to hear Rock'n'Roll. Finally the three enter the stage so we have something else than feeling uncomfortable to concentrate on.
Nevertheless the first songs feel really odd. Nobody is dancing, at the utmost you can see people's shoulders or heads move a little bit. Something in here seems to confuse Joe so he forgets to say: "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, we are the Rockhouse Brothers". Listening to the first songs lets me think about the setliststories because the band start their gig exactly with the same songs as yesterday. I must add that my odd feeling has got nothing to do with the performance, they rock as always!
The first break arrives much too fast. Different from breaks in the Drafthouse nobody starts dancing now to stay on the dance floor after the break, but we meet the Nina I know from my first Pay-TV gig. Together we take some fresh air outside and don't go back in until we see three men in satin suits pave their way through the crowd. When three ladies start to dance right in front of the stage the dance floor suddenly seems to be more attractive to the upper class people who are hanging around on their leather cubes and suddenly more and more people start to dance. That's much better! We find our way to make the best of a bad job, ignore everybody around us and start dancing and screaming as usual. When Joe wants us to pretend to be teenage girls screaming at the Beatles through the whole next song we even do it better than yesterday and only stop screaming for taking some breath. A lady behind us considers this to be a mixture of funny and irritating and of course she doesn't scream along. Well, I don't expect her to understand that this is so much fun!
The Twist competition is announced and again the winner can take Jamie home. Wow, a lot of people know how to twist. I must admit that we have practiced dancing the Twist in the afternoon so we can try it now under "competition conditions". Nina watches us and says grinning: "Very ambitious!" before she starts dancing too. Luckily we will never see anybody of this audience again so we don't have to think about making fools of ourselves. By the way you really should try it, there are a lot of Rockhouse Brothers songs you can twist on.
Some more couples arrive and we learn our lesson how you can make other human beings feel inferior without any effort. First use the ashtray on the table they are standing at without looking at them or saying a word. Next put your glass on it and always bump into them when you want to drink (again with pretending not to see them). Then for showing you are well versed in the art of suppressing others let the waitress take away their drinks while they are dancing a few yards away from you. Thank you so much and no, we don't want to disturb the ones feeling like high society ever again.
But back to something likeable: the performance is sooooooo great again and we really have fun during the songs. We twist half the time and the other half is split between bouncing, screaming and dancing in a way like flirting with each other. When finally the last song is played lena gets her first live view on topless sweaty Rock'n'Roll musicians. We both are soaked with sweat too, so we stay a while for not getting a cold on our way back and can watch Jamie pack his things and dance. At the same time!!!
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