17-10-2008 Texas Terri Bomb

Supports: Lipstix; Venue: White Trash Fast Food, Berlin (Germany)
By: Stefanie Weisheit

It was Wild Punk Friday at the White Trash Fast Food. The Rock’n’Roll Restaurant at the heart of Berlin had invited punk legend Texas Terri Bomb from L.A. and Leipzig-based all-girl punk band Lipstix to play their downstairs Diamond Lounge.

I’ve always felt kinda claustrophobic in the White Trash’s basement concert location. Though it may be well big enough for 200-300 people the ceiling is so low that you run the risk of hitting your head if you’re just a tad bit taller than the average person. But apart from that I like the atmosphere created by fake rock and ancient style wallpaper.

The night started with a DJ set that I missed out on, unfortunately, to get a drink or two at the late night supermarket across the street. Lipstix entered the stage around half past eleven. What appeared to be a drum check turned out to be their intro, one by one walking out on stage and picking up their instrument to join in. The space in front of the stage filled up right away leaving only a small area where no one dared to stand for too long due to the moshing crowd. The four girls have sung at the Leipzig Gewandhaus-choir together since second grade before founding Lipstix 6 years ago, so there you know why there’s just no way complaining about the vocals and harmonies. They call their music Pinkrock due to the colour dominating their attire. Their material is yet lacking real gems, but definitely sounds promising. Good, straight forward punk rock with lyrics in German, guitar solos are scarce and simple, but the mosh factor is high all the while. I had fun here, and so did everybody else.

Since Lipstix played over their allotted time, Texas Terri Bomb went on half an hour late. Not that it mattered, ‘though! This party was gonna last long into the night, anyway! Texas Terri Bomb isn’t anything you can compare to German punk bands, not the new generation anyway. Singer Terri hails from Austin, Texas, moved to Hollywood in the early 80s and recently relocated to Berlin where she plans to stay forever more. She has had roles and music in several movies and is currently touring Europe with three guest musicians. It was a most CBGB-esque experience for whatever I could know about that. It was loud, it was raw, it was best to keep to the sidelines if you wanted to go home without the bruises. The crowd was wild and so was Terri, despite her many years on stage. At one point she tripped and fell, but got up again and went on like a berserk. How heated the atmosphere really was became clear when two guys in the crowd started to actually fight for real and had to be dragged and kept apart by members of the audience and the band. Terri told them to stand at two different sides of the stage and keep away from each other, otherwise they would have to leave and the bassist added “fight the police or someone worth fighting!” So here’s the true punk spirit! The gig was topped with three encores and a bath in the crowd, but peacefully.

When all was over I stayed around for a couple of drinks and the second DJ set. When I finally got home it was already time to get up again…

Links:
Texas Terri Bomb MySpace
Texas Terri Bomb Official
Lipstix MySpace
Lipstix Official