The Kelly Family – 25 Years Later

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1994, 25 Years Later, 80s, 90s, ABBA, Angelo Kelly, Boybands, Chris Rea, Circus Roncalli, Comeback, Courtney Love, Eighties, Genesis, Germany, Girlgroups, Grunge, Hole, Jimmy Kelly, Joey Kelly, John Kelly, Kathy Kelly, Kurt Cobain, Live Through This, Nineties, Nirvana, One-Hit-Wonder, Over The Hump, Patricia Kelly, Paul Kelly, Phil Collins, Punk, Queen, Radio, Roxette, The Kelly Family, Tourdates, Trash

Growing up as a girl in Germany, I have been exposed to music from very early on. First through my parents listening to songs on the radio, many bands I still love to this day, including Abba, Roxette, Genesis and their former drummer, turned singer with his solo-stuff, Phil Collins, Queen, Chris Rea and all the pupular eighties tunes you can imagine. But it wasn’t untill the 90s that my very own taste in music started to shape. And this famously infamous decade held a ton of trashy acts and one-hit-wonders next to those timeless pieces of pure gold that would stuck in my head and heart forever, at least they are still very much present some 20 to 30 years later. One year in particular turned out to be the most influencial for large parts of music history and my personal biography as well: 1994. Grunge was peaking and imploding almost simultanously with the suicide of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and a few days later the release of his widow Courtney Love and her bands’ Hole most successful record “Live Through This”.

Girlgroups and Boybands aside, there was another band that was the talk of the town and you could either hate or love or both back and forth, as I did or actually do, the Kelly Family. They started off as street musicians and had a respecable run of albums at hand when in 1994 “Over The Hump” marked the turning point of their career and saw me attending the first concert ever, just about three months after my 12th birthday. Fast forward to the present day and “25 Years Later” I am about to finally see them again 25 years and three days after my first time, when they played in a tent owned by the Circus Roncalli.

The band & the bus: Cover of the new album!

Since the comeback of the Kelly Family in 2017, I admited to myself something that I kept private for so long, because when you are 12 and really love and live the whole Grunge and Punk thing with a badass attitude, listening to the Kelly Family wasn’t exactly cool enough to stick to. But when you are 35 cool isn’t that important anymore and beeing true to yourself the only thing that matters. Long story short: I missed out more than I can possibly comprehend and now it’s time to make up for the past 25 years. So, will one single show really do? I guess not, so let’s see how many show I will be able to see after sharing this personal manifesto with the world. The ultimate tour starts 21 days from today and there will be a special warmup show in Emden prior to the full run of dates through Germany. So, see you on the road and onto the next 25 years!

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FREAK VALLEY FESTIVAL 2013 – A walk through the plains

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Acid Coven, Blood Lust, Brutus, Cambridge, Death's Door, Drake Records, Elvis, Ernest Drake, Freak Valley Festival, Gallons Of Mud, I'll Cut You Down, I'm Here To Kill You, Mind Control, Orchid, Pet the Preacher, Rock Hard Festival, Rockfreaks, Roxette, The Muggs, Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats

Still fairly worn out by ROCK HARD FESTIVAL a week ago, including three nights of sleeping in my car – oh heck yeah, don’t you just love that ROXETTE song?! I do! – and slightly too cool weather, mostly until San Francisco Hippies ORCHID would bring the sunshine to the ranks of the waterside of Gelsenkirchen amphitheatre, I reschedule my original idea of spending the entire time span as part of the team supporting the Rockfreaks. Nonetheless, the mere fact that UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS play there first ever live show on german soil, could not keep me from visiting this years’ edition of FREAK VALLEY FESTIVAL, the second as it is – hell or high water! Narrowing it down to just this one day, the Cambridge Ambassadors of Coolness arrive in the plains of pleasure, a long journey lies before me and my car called ELVIS. In fact the lengths of the way ahead is not that great at all, but driving through Cologne is a terrible thing, even for the cities’ inhabitants. Since attending a festival by myself is not that much fun, first goal of today is Drake Records, which might be Cologne’s’ most charming Record Store, where I meet up with store owner Ernest Drake for a fun-filled afternoon…at least that has been the plan once. To make a long story short(er): My arrival takes an additional hour and thus, we have to leave almost right away, finding ourselves roaming the rocky roads of western Germany.

Stomping on stage: UNCLE ACID & THE DEADBEATS

As we finally make our way to a – more or less – official parking lot for day guests and down to the festival site itself, THE MUGGS are still jamming through the vastness of Psychedelic Rock recurrence. Strolling around, Ernest even treats himself to a little shopping spree at the UNCLE ACID merch booth, as I run into a bunch of pals from southern Rhineland. A sip of coke and a smoke later, I’m fully into my personal festival mode and expectations rise beyond the roof. My mind is already set on the upcoming UK-invasion, making me incapable to enjoy norwegian Blues Rockers BRUTUS with their “singing beer-can”. Besides I’m getting carried away talking to PET THE PREACHER Bassplayer Torben, the guys from GALLONS OF MUD and the rest of the gang. Clearly this day is nothing about “good clean fun”, but who wouldn’t prefer things to be a little rough and dirty?

Fading in fake fog: The Acid Coven Drummachine

While dusk is slowly close in on us, the stage gets set for what is going to be somewhat of a lifetime experience. More of an epiphany than a revelation, I undergo, as four musicians in black enter the outdoor boards of FREAK VALLEY FESTIVAL 2013. Familiar sound of an intro may be heard from the speakers before me. Ernest and I fought our way into the photopit to enjoy the best view beyond the crowed. With the first touch of a string and the sound of drums “I’ll cut you down” opens the set and the explosive energy between band and fans is easily felt. The initial tension of the british quartette just blows with the wind and those who were excited to finally see the incarnated mystery, are fully convinced by this rocking foursome. Critics might be in attendance tonight and with the next three tracks being new, they probably have something to whine about. The majority of spectators receive all novelties very well. But it isn’t before “I’m here to kill” and later on “Death’s door”, that some part of the audience really freaks out. The setlist combines songs from the last two albums “Blood Lust” and the latest “Mind Control”. A needless fear of diva-like behavior ends with the encore.

Setlist UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS:

1. I’ll cut you down

2. Crystal spiders

3. Mount abraxax

4. Mind crawler

5. I’m here to kill you

6. Valley of the dolls

7. Desert ceremony

8. Death’s door

9. Poison apple

Encore

10. Over and over

11. Vampire circus