Gula villan celebration Ultrahuset 35years (concert review)

The Event and Location

Once upon a time there was an old house, in a suburb far far away, a house that was the no1 melting pot for Swedish punk. That house was Ultrahuset in the suburb of Handen.
When big brother evicted the house in order to close it down, the punks themself torched the place to the ground.

And the bands and meltingpot moved into the City of Stockholm and the island of Södermalm. At the place Kafé 44an. But places as Birkagården, Tre backar and Vitahuset had its share of punk as well. And Gula villan kept the legacy of Ultrahuset alive in Handen at Gula villan.

So when Ultrahuset was to be celebrated as 35 years old. Gula villan was the place to do it. However the selection of bands was contemporary more than nostalgic. And in a way I found that to be a good thing. A provisional stage outside the yellow little house was set up. And picnicing families, beer drinking punks and some curious in general was the crowd.

Thanks to our lousy managed commuter train traffic I arrived 1 1/2 hours later than expected so I missed a few bands.



Parkförvaltningen

Parkförvaltningen have its origin in this muncipaly of Västerhaninge where Handen is placed on the map. And plays a mixture of Indie, pop and Progg rock (the Swedish way).
With dark lyrics from the torn part of big city life. At Gula villan they where in their right elements. Tight, brutally honest and full of lifevisdom. A great gig. The best of them I´ve seen soo far.

Spotlicks

Spotlicks

Did their best gig I´ve seen. All the everyday frustration and bitterness, that almost destroyed the band some month ago, were poured into their songs. A musical and verbal attack on the piss ants that wanna bully people around. Elins high pitch voice was a crystal sharp edge that cut through the woods and six storey building houses that surrounds Gula villan.
Since the one week break up they been working on new material and recordings and I think they matured as a band. The 12 year old punks seemed to react on the music in a positiv manner.

Psykbryt

Did one song without their singer Linus, that was away. A taste of the new record and they never been better. Tight, agressive and heavier than before.

Dödsbabs

Dödsbabs

Dödsbabs is a mixture of old Swedish leftist Proggrock (Spelled with two gg´s and have very little in common with that single g prog), and Sex Pistols sounding punk. Slower that Spotlicks, and in many ways darker and heavier. Even those guys did their best gig I´ve seen. If Spotlicks wanna see the light in the tunnel, Dödsbabs live in eternal darkness. Songs about beeing on the bottle, beeing so poor that you only have the choise to be shoplifting, and the cover "Snutbil” (Cop Car) wasn´t really positive thinking. Heavy and tight!


Östermalm

Is a bit younger than Dödsbabs. And not in the same part on the punk map as Dödsbas and Spotlick. Here my interest decreased pretty fast. It is possible that they havn´t been better, like the rest of the bands. But I couln´t manage to pay enough interest. I didn´t get it at all. And I strayed away from the stage and had a chat with people in the suroundings.

Alonzo

Alonzo

Michael Alonzo´s old band Stockholms Negrer should have had a reunion as the main event at this celebration, but Blondie Dostojewski wasn´t on that frequenzy so Michael Alonzo said “Sod it!”, Alonzo play instead. Actually Im glad they did. The night was magical. With guests like Poppe Schubert, bass player in Stockholms Negrer, Dadde Stark (Asta Kask), and members from Psykbryt, Östermalm and the crowd they turned the August night into an unforgettable night. Old KSMB tunes that is pretty much in all Swedes DNA, Stockholms Negrer classics that made the crowd happy and new Alonzo tunes. A brand new song even, “Tommy han var Gay” or whatever the name was. I wished that moment never ended. This was the concert I missed at Manu Chao the night before. This was the KSMB, Stockholm Negrer gig I always wanted to witness.


Entrance was pretty much whatever you liked to pay….just in the spirit Ultrahuset once did it.
One of the top events of the year so far.

3rd annual Ultrahuset celebration at Kafé 44, Tredje Könet, Klägg and Gonzo Morales live review

The Venue (and a background)

For the second generation of Stockholm punks Ultrahuset was a second home. Basically it was a family house in a suburbian middleclass area that for some reason was turned into an anarchy punk place (why I didn´t know then and I still don´t). The concerts where held in the living room that was turned into a riot pad. The place was an exception in the well planned capital of Sweden, Stockholm.
An exception that became a role model for other places such as Pinkruset and  Vita Huset in Täby. But Ultra Huset in Handen was the #1 stage of both new  and older punkbands. Ebba Grön,  KSMB, Black Flag (Henry Rollins edition) and Dave Grohls Scream did play there.
The authorities and neighbors did manage to close it down in 1987-88. And as a symbolic act, some punks thought it was a good Idea to torch the place and burn it down instead of hand it over to the enemies.  With it, a wild and crazy part of Swedish punk history died.

Swedish punk didn´t. And so did not did the activities that moved to different places. Kafé 44 at the innercity island of Södermalm was the most notable extension of the activities of Ultra.

Since 3 years now Ante and Frölis have organized an annual celebration of Ultrahuset with bands that where there when it happened. This year Tredje Könet and Klägg was the main event.

The music and punk scene in all its glory, what as most famous with Ultra was the buns that Tompa Eken baked, and still does at Kafé 44, or 44an as most people say. The best buns I ever tasted!
I didn´t get any last naight Buhu. I guess I didn´t paid enough attention or something.

With both Tredje Könet and Klägg on stage you will have the background to DERBY STHLM that roams the Stockholm stages today. Before I dive into that I will say there were two more acts this night. The first was Billey Shamrock which I missed. And the Danes Gonzo Morales which had nothing to do with Ultrahuset and whose music was a bit apart from the nostalgia punk that was going on.

The Bands

Gonzo Morales

Apart from that they did a smashing good concert. The sound was excellent and their concept that might have been silly with its distorted vocals and tremolo guitars was a blast, hypnotic and catching. I wished they have had the opportunity to play on their conditions, not squeezed in between Klägg and Tredje Könet. Definitely will I listen more to them because they were quite good.
Together with a band like Nej they would have made a great lineup.

Klägg

I never heard Klägg back in the days, (which is weird because I hung out with Turbos brother Tommy). It was something that you read written on the wall in punk style graffiti.
I did a review of their DIY album this spring.
Live they were good. They were as aggressive and hard as I like to remember the bands from the old age. The agitating singer that where all over the place trying to wind up the not so young audience to the guitars with its Clashy hooks, tight drums and the bass players insane manners (the same as in DERBY STHLM) made it a good concert even with today´s standards. It might have been a nostalgia night but their performance and songs seemed surprisingly fresh.

Tredje Könet

Tredje Könet had their days in the mid 80ies. With its catchy pop punk I will say they were procursors to both trallpunk and the catchy rock punk that copy Rancid today. They got very strong melodies in all their numbers, but, the crowd where there to hear their two minor hits, “Spindlar” and “Godismannen”.  “Spindlar” covered by the French band Sans Sursis as well as DERBY STHLM frequently cover “Godismannen”. But  “Människor I nöd”, “En neger” and “Jag vill inte” is still real good punk rock songs that hold its banner high.
 It must been like home to Leffe when he last night was in a different band than DERBY STHLM, but still got a bass player in the center of the stage jumping up and down like a madman, or should I use madwoman instead. Ylva was one of those females that back in the days seems to refuse to be nice and quiet or just be pretty. Was it the whole rock star number onstage?
Still even if she leaves the tits covered nowdays as Leffe points out, she is all over not wanting to leave the stage clean for guitar playing male egos. The mocking between Leffe and Ylva onstage as well as between the band and the crowd was a part of the entertainment. Tredje Könets EP “4 hits” was one of my first buys when I moved to Stockholm in the mid 80ies and it is with a certain sadness I realize that this was a, one time only, event. I wish they continued because I felt I want that, I realized I missed them.

However the essence of the night is spelled DERBY STHLM. Whatever the two main acts did back then is refined in DERBY STHLM, and it was fun to see where the hell they came from so clearly.

I should mention the spontaneous 2 number gig Psykbryt and DERBY STHLM (named by the crowd as Derby Psykbryt) did in two KSMB numbers rather improvised, just like it could be back then.

The crowd

The crowd was mostly the regulars at Punk venues as well as some others. And because of the Ultra connection to the gig the average age was past 40. Pogoing there was to a certain point, but mostly it was more the Stockholm style of standing like statues kind of crowd. However the crowd grabbing the mikes in the chorus was more like it was back then at Ultra, where the was no real stage and the crowd was more or less standing in the band area, just like it should be.  Especially during the covers.

Covers like “Ronka”, “Jag vill dö” and “Pervers politiker”

And so

Worth the money? 100 SeK, Yes. But that price was an capitalistic outrage compared to Ultrahuset standards. Times have changed, that is clear.

In memory of Ultrahuset

Swedens legendary punk place Ultrahuset

was a chaotic and wonderful place back in the early and mid 80ies.
Now some band will do a revival gig to celebrate the place.

3/5 of Derby STHLM will be represented on stage in Klägg and Tredje Könet.

It´s 25 years since the punks themself torched the place when the authorities threw  them out.



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