A great man turns 50! Bold words? Not at all! No need to parry and to roll eyes. Yes Jörg, I can see that ;) What is a measure of greatness? Greatness is defined by ones action. That does not only count for politicians, scientists or artists. Engagement and passion and its results are even more valuable in a daily life, done by everybody, you, me, by us all.
And there we are when we talk about Jörg. He is an honest guy, a straight shooter who doesn't beat around the bush. He gets strongly involved with job-related matters, even more when it comes to his passion: Heavy Metal music. Jörg not only reviews albums, does interviews and photographs metal bands for The-Pit.de (and occasionally other mags), but also runs his own label :: ftwctp Records :: (for those who chose to pose). With a great DIY attitude he signs bands by handshake and releases good music on vinyl.

A dear friend turns 50. There is no better way to celebrate Jörg and this happening than with a concert evening, with bands from his label on the bill, with beer and a bunch of friends and good people. That’s the 3- component-rule for a memorable party.
For Jörg’s Birthday Bash we were invited to the :: Lükaz ::, a venue I visited for the first time and fell in love with. Location, stages, sound, light… just great. And so many lovely people :)
It was an awesome spring day, warm, sunny and with a blue sky above. The club was well filled but most of the people liked to gather outside.
Jörg personally introduced every band before its show, detailed and fondly.

:: pics :: MESSERSCHMITT ::

The party was kicked off by speed metallers :: MESSERSCHMITT ::. Their 2015 debut, No Dread To Kill, was released on vinyl by ftwctp Records.
Tonight MESSERSCHMITT had to play without their guitarist Chris. He supported his wife at the hospital, where she gave birth to a baby boy. Congratulations and all the love for this new earth-dweller!
Anyway, missing Chris didn’t narrow the fun the remaining members had on stage. It just caused some confusion, which led to some amusement. Seems to be not the easiest thing when the second guitar is absent ;)
MESSERSCHMITT played their debut album almost completely (except for one song) and added one song from each previous demo CD, plus two cover version, worth an asskicking 60 minutes performance. At the end of the show, MESSERSCHMITT revealed the cover artwork of No Dread To Kill as a huge picture and handed it over to Jörg, the band’s birthday gift. Great show!

Setlist: Risk To Resist, No Dread To Kill, Hell For Leather, Strike The Sin, Gamble For Death, Deathrider, Good Die... Be Loved By Hell, Storm Of The Warhawk, A Tribute To The Clowns, The Eldritch, Messerschmitt, Whiplash

:: pics :: DARKNESS ::

Warm-up done, time for the race. Next on the grid were Thrash veterans :: DARKNESS ::. And they got off with madness, full-throated supported by the fans. The dudes are right now celebrating the 30th anniversary of their debut, Death Squad. To honor this special moment, DARKNESS have re-recorded the crushing hit Staatsfreind from this one, and released it as a split 7” with Teutonic Slaughter. Of course via ftwctp Records.
So, DARKNESS played a show focusing on the current album, The Gasoline Solution, and Death Squad. When it comes to the crowd’s favor, DARKNESS was one step ahead. I saw circle pits and stage diver. Singer Lee is quite a stage hog, mastering the fans like a puppeteer. His rough banter always caused laughter.
No birthday hullaboo without surprises. DARKNESS brought Kreator bassist Speesy (back then had a stint in Darkness too) to the party to played Faded Pictures together. Later, Jörg was forced to enter the stage to sing Armageddon, while almost everybody stood on the stage, to scream along at the end of the show. At this opportunity, DARKNESS also highly valued the services of their band technician Tom Ruhrpott. Without him many a show would not have taken place, Lee told. There was so much love :) Last but not least a special birthday song was sung for Jörg.

Setlist: They Need A War, Tinkerbell Must Die, Another Reich, Critical Threshold, Death Squad, Faded Pictures, The Gasoline Solution, UF, Burial, Staatsfeind, Iron Force, Wer wird 50?

:: pics :: ERADICATOR ::

Right after, the audience seemed to be quite exhausted and preferred to stay outside or in the foyer for beer and chats. :: ERADICATOR :: had difficulties to catch the crowd’s attention again. Too bad, the band had to offer a lot. They delivered a hell of a show to the ones inside, and step by step, the others joined too.
By the way, ERADICATOR isn’t signed to ftwctp Records yet, right? Or did I miss something? (Ah, there is something in the making ;)) However, the youngsters are in business for 14 years already and have just released their fourth record, Into Oblivion. The band played a best-of set of all records. That was a highly energetic and great performance of a promising band :)

Setlist: Moshproofed, Baptized In Blood, Doomsday, Evil Command, Final Dosage, Paint The White Flag Black, Slavery, Two Thousand Thirteen, Read Between The Lies, Possessed By The Devil, Into Oblivion, Capital Punishment

The clock stroke 12. Midnight. Everybody rushed in. Radio host Eggi gave a short speech to the audience and then everybody sang “Happy Birthday” to Jörg. Right after it took him surely an hour or two, to accept all the birthday wishes, gifts, hugs and cuddles. Yes, that I call an adequate party to celebrate the 50th birthday of Jörg. Awesome evening! That’s the way it has to be!

Happy birthday Jörg. May another 50 years of good music and great records follow!

story & pics © Dajana & Dajana Winkel • Photography