The Essence of the Punk Attitude
Oi Polloi, Volxmassaka
European Tour – March 2019 presented by Toxic Bandbooking, Pankahyttn Wien, Austria 20190318
Posters in the Arena or the Venster99 can lead you to the Pankahyttn. Take the bus to Johnstraße. Enter the building number 45 and pass the first three doors to the left and right. Straight ahead, a construction fence leads to an inconspicuous entrance. Crossing the hallway you reach an anteroom, before getting into the hall.
On the walls are paintings of fists and a blown up prison like in Lucky Luke. Everything is charged with message. The first band Volxmassaka clearly manifests theirs: Oi was, is and should stay antifascist. They plead that people shouldn’t visit bands that have anything to do with Nazis. Their guitarist doesn’t only know how to work on the fretboard, but also how to make cookies. Because one can need a cookie in every situation like “chopping an egg on a New Zealandish idiot”. Before the last song, the snare flies from the back, and the final is played with a guest bassist.
Oi Polloi congrats their support on a great show. Some might have seen them at the Seewinkel Noise DIY Festival. They cover all topics of punk: Antifascism including antifascist merch like a pocket mirror. They are at least vegetarian or vegan and plead against religion, the police and military and homophobia (telling people threw bottles at them when they started). Their song against Donald Trump they adapt against Strache (now reminding of Philiam Shakesbeat / The Forum Walters), and “No” they sing “Nein”. It is their song against nationalism, as they don’t want a single populace but respect for all. That’s why they dislike the Brexit, because the “EU ist scheiße” but the Brexit no solution. All of this singer Degzoi presents in very good German. “Das ist so geil” he repeats enjoying the atmosphere. As gimmicks they use a cardboard sign and an illuminated advertising saying “Fuck The System”. They offer free drinks including “antifascist Whisky” and invite Julia and Tim from the audience to play air guitar on stage to their heavy riffs.
The great bands, the friendly people and the comfortable place itself made this concert a very special one. Luckily this kind of Street Punk as played by e.g. the UK Subs is here to resist, and places like the Pankahyttn provide a room like for Barackca and Verrat soon.