It was one of the first warm days of the year. A day so warm that one could comfortably stay outside even after sunset without freezing.
Accordingly relaxed, we arrived at Bassy Cowboy Club, located beneath Pfefferberg in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg, at 10:00 PM. Since our free entry was only valid until 10:00 PM, I had a bit of concern, but who is going to be petty when it comes to Rock´n´Roll and 5-10 minutes?
The Bassy Cowboy Club!
So there you are, standing at the box office five, at most ten minutes past ten, and they tell you that you have to pay full price. Apparently, there was an announcement outside. Sure! And I was just on the moon or what? After some negotiations, we agreed to pay half of the entry fee, which was still a bummer, but at least we could come to an agreement.
I have never experienced such pettiness in a club. It was more than symptomatic that even someone from the booking agency had problems at the box office. The Bassy really needs to consider how they treat people who book bands there and people like us from the press who report on it and help make the band and club more well-known.
With such behavior, you don't make friends!
Inside, it was already quite full. A mix of alternatives, psychos, regular folks, and tourists populated the club. After we found a nice spot and had a drink to settle down, DEAFMEN from Berlin started to excite the audience with their sound on stage.
DEAFMEN played dirty country. It should probably lean more towards dirty country rock´n´roll, but the band really couldn't get it together. The singer's announcements were also not creative, but maybe he was just nervous.
However, the audience seemed to enjoy DEAFMEN. The combo played a style that was too clean for really dirty and too dirty for really clean. Somewhere between kitschy country mass and whiskey-soaked rocker club, that's DEAFMEN's home. They are okay for half an hour, but for more, they need to step it up.
More was expected and wanted from the main band of the evening, BONSAI KITTEN, who were also celebrating the release of their long player “Done with Hell” that day.
The already full concert hall had become even fuller in the meantime. A respectable group of young ladies positioned themselves at the front, and behind and beside them stood more of the gentlemen of creation. The band was eagerly awaited.
When BONSAI KITTEN took the stage, all eyes were on the well-built singer Tiger Lilly Marlene. She entered the stage with a sparkling red sequin mask, a corset adorned with sparkling red sequins, and red hair. A truly hot sight.
The band started with rather calmer and older pieces, which the audience applauded a lot, but the real atmosphere didn't want to kick in yet. That only changed when the band played songs from their new album. Slowly, the mood picked up, and unfortunately, so did the density of photographers. It's a disgusting plague when everyone films and takes pictures with a cellphone camera. Enjoy reality, people! It's definitely better than capturing it in poor light and bad sound quality.
Reality is better than pixel dreams!
Only shortly before the first encore was the mood really good, so that to the band's own sound, somewhere between rockabilly, psychobilly, and rock´n´roll, a dance or two was attempted.
In the encores, the band then played their little hits “Done with Hell” (unfortunately today without the guest singer on the CD, Köfte de Ville from Mad Sin) and “Don’t mess with me.” Their own interpretations of “Poison” and “Too drunk to fuck” were also included, although with the drink prices, both genders were easily able to indulge in the latter.
The party would surely have been better at Wild at Heart in Kreuzberg.
BONSAI KITTEN left a good impression, although there are clearly still songs missing that would provide fun for a whole hour.
However, the Bassy Cowboy Club did not cover itself in glory that evening; the drink prices were too steep and the door policy too petty.