Mudhoney Live Review with White Hills and Barton Carroll (Berghain 12/5/2015)
I arrived at Berghain a little later than expected because of the pouring rain. I was totally soaked when I entered so I decided to leave everything in the coatcheck in order to dry. On my way in, after the security control, the bouncer told me to respect the club’s policy and take no photos. I knew about Berghain’s no photo/video policy, but I didn’t think that they would implement it at concerts, where everybody can get in. Anyway, it was strange but the status was clear, so I had to respect it.
One small notice here, in order to make myself understood. I’m not one of those people who watch concerts only through their smartphones’ screens, or take hundreds of photos to the point that they become annoying to the rest. The opposite. Only in cases that I have to write a review afterwards since I think it’s good for the reviews to be followed by some kind of documentation.
Anyway, that’s not the point. As I stated before I arrived late so I only had the chance to listen to the last three songs of Barton Carroll and I got the sense that people liked him more than his music, which is not bad at all. The guy is a great entertainer and communicator and all of his songs were followed by clever jokes and nice stories. I had fun watching him on stage, even though this indie-folk kind of singer-songwriter music barely triggers my interest.
White Hills are able to put fire into concrete
Up next, White Hills, a band that I could spend hours writing about. But I think I can sum up everything in one sentence. White Hills are able to put fire into concrete. And hell they did! For those of you who wanna see a great act on stage fueled by psychedelic fuzzed tones, make sure that next time you’re there! You can climb White Hills easy, but make sure you come down safe…
Mudhoney may not have the psychedelic aggression of White Hills, but their music awakes the raw, primitive, dark-sided instincts of someone’s soul. The very first grunge band to ever tour Europe back in ’88, Mudhoney delivered a great show.
Mudhoney don’t seem like they the want to follow history’s flow
The world has been through many changes since 1988; the Berlin wall turned into a tourist attraction, the Cold War is over, the Soviet Union has collapsed, the European Union’s emerged (?)and the end of history might be closer than ever. Mudhoney don’t seem like they the want to follow history’s flow and change, at least music-wise. And that’s what makes them a benchmark in the USA’s indie scene.
Unlike other grunge bands that became quite popular over the years, Mudhoney stayed focused on creating authentic music, even though they had the chance to approach bigger audiences by making more radio-friendly songs as others did.
A huge salute from my side to one of the few bands out there that after 25 years of existence still delivers great music. Mudhoney is the only band that keeps alive a genre that is almost dead for 20 years now.
Berghain has this secret power of making you stay
They played for almost 2 hours in front of an excited crowd that was asking for more. Everybody stood their ground until the end. And why not? The show was great, the sound was perfect and Berghain has this secret power of making you stay. What else could someone ask for a great night out?
Review by Anastasis Koutsogiannis
