Malmö is only 35 minutes away from Copenhagen by train, and even if I know well that these Thursday night rock gigs will kill me the day after at work, I decided to head for Pub Kuntze (yes, that's the name! haha) at Malmö's Sankt Getrud area. Warner E. Hodges was in town with The Bluefields and it is impossible to get enough of that man's guitar playing. This time he had even brought the double neck Gibson from Hell with him. I arrived early and got my ticket from Håkan, the local booker and even met Warner on his way out after doing the soundcheck, which I sadly only just missed.
The Bluefields are from Nashville, Tennessee and the members are Warner E. Hodges (Jason and the Scorchers), Dan Baird (Georgia Satellites), Joe Blanton (Royal Court of China) and Brad Pemberton (Ryan Adams and the Cardinals). Their website says that "these southern bred rockers remind you why you love rock and roll in the first damn place!" Well, we would soon be able to verify just that.
Sankt Gertrud is a very small venue. I've seen Jason and the Scorchers play there, but that was outside in the yard. This gig was inside the pub and the room was quite full with a crowd of appx. 110. Luckily I found a spot right in front of Warner. Lucky because it was impossible to see the stage if you were only a few rows back in the room. The room is just not suited for gigs of this size. The acoustics were quite bad as well. But the winner was the damn pole. A massive tree pole right in front of me and the left part of the stage. To the left of it was Warner facing it and hidden away in a near dark area. To the right was the miniature stage with the other 3 guys. Obviously this was in no way ideal and Warner and the other guys made many a witty comment about it as the evening went on.
We were served songs from the bands' two albums Pure[2012] and Ramshackle[2013] and also a few cover songs. The vocals were split between Dan (on bass) and Joe (on guitar). It's a bit of a supergroup really - having not one, but three front men and Brad behind his drums. Warner did some really great guitar soli as he shifted from his spot in the dark behind the damn pole and a few minutes in the spotlights every now and then. The band did all they possibly could to make this the perfect rock evening, but they had an unfair fight against the tiny stage, the damn pole and the acoustics of the room.
I saw the regular two sets of the show from my spot up-front, but then opted for a cold beer and a spot near the back for the encore. Unfortunately the sound was even muddier down there. It all ended with a brilliant cover of I Fought The Law to big applause from the crowd, and after that the band came down to the merchandise stand for photos and autographs and a friendly chat. This is a total non-bullshit band and they play rock'n'roll because they can and because they fucking love it.
This was the last stop on The Bluefields' European tour, but Dan Baird and Homemade Sin featuring Warner on guitar continues on through Europe for some more gigs, giving you a few more chances to get your ears rocked real good out there!
I am not certain about the setlist, but they certainly played most of these songs, if not all of them.
Rating: 
Band: The Bluefields
Venue: Pub Kuntze / Sankt Gertrud, Malmö, SE
Concert Date: 2013-04-18
Setlist:
If Not Now When, Don't Blame Me, Don't Let Me Fall, Bad Old Days, What You Won't Do, Lay It On The Line, Flat Out Gone, Trainwreck, Nobody Loves You, Sweet Medusa, She's So Sick, 100 Watt Girl, Suicide Doors, Belong, Wake It Up, Repair My Soul.
Encore:
Sin City (AC/DC cover), California Man (The Move cover), Jesus Just Left Chicago (ZZ Top cover), I Fought The Law (The Clash cover).
Ticket Price (DKK): 135
Ticket Provider: Venue
Content Type: Concert Review
Language: 
Updated: 2013-04-21 18:58
Created: 2013-04-20 15:15
