By Petra Leusmann, Rock At Night Germany Correspondent
Venue: Rare Guitar, Münster, Germany,14th May, 2016
A few weeks ago I got a message from my editor here at Rock At Night, saying that Kickin Valentina would hit European ground and if I was interested to attend a show and do some shots. Again, a band I hadn’t heard about, so I did some research. As soon as I listened to some of their music and when I saw a photo I thought that this was extremely promising. Of course I wanted to go.
And guess what, I definitely got not disappointed.
The show was in a club in Münster which is about an hour drive. So I charged the camera batteries, took my 24-70mm/f2,8 lense, new SD cards and made myself on the way.
It was already quite packed at that venue when I arrived there–but everything was very relaxed and so I met the band, hung around outside the club, and talked to people like fans and friends.
And yes, they already have a little fan base over here even though they were in Germany for the first time. It should be growing fast, because they are rocking every place down! Plus, they are a great bunch of guys–very friendly and warm with a good sense of humour.
Some of you might think, that dosen’t matter, as long as the music is good. I agree to that up to a certain point. If you love a band not just for their music but also for their personality, it makes it even more valuable, I think
But I deviate once again.
That night there were two support acts, but please don’t ask me about them. I didn’t see the first one because I was outside the venue–and I don’t really want to talk about the second one. Even of the risk of sounding ignorant and/or arrogant, it was not my music as they were young and they need a lot of room to grow.
So it was a real treat when the guys of Kickin’ Valentina got on stage. They have that special Rock’n’Roll attitude you can’t escape. The band started off with “On My Side”. In the beginning there was some room left in front of the stage so that I could move around a little bit, but after the song “Anita” there was no space left. The venue was instantly turned into a melting pot of bodies.
Kickin’ Valentina represented pure Rock’n’Roll with everybody singing as they have very catchy songs and sleazy riffs. Next thing I knew everybody was dancing, jumping, and even someone crowd surfed. It was one big party!
The energetic lead singer Joe Edwards exuded charisma that was very contagious. His scratchy, powerful singing was simply admirable. Drummer Jimmy Berdine, guitarist Heber Pampillon and Chris Taylor on bass got us grooving. It was a small stage but they were doing a fantastic show, tearing the place down.
There was no time for resting that’s why time flew by much too fast. But the crowd couldn’t get enough and urged the band to do another song that even wasn’t on the list.
I think Kickin Valentine could have played for three hours and the people still would not have gotten enough of them.
They conquered Denmark, they conquered Germany, now they are off to the Netherlands.
Make a guess about where I will be on Monday, as it’s a bank holiday over here (Whit Monday). wink wink
Right, I’ll be going over to Tilburg.
I just have to rock out with them again, as they know how to throw a good party and give everybody a great time.
Thanks for a fantastic Saturday night out, Joe, Chris, Jimmy and Heber. Rock on and I do hope you’re coming back to Europe soon!
Setlist
On MySide
Fist’n’Twist
Anita
When You’re Gone
Some Kind Of Sex
Dirty Girl
Wrong Way
Street
Eat’N’Run
Traxx
Alone
Devil’s Eyes
Super Atomic
Get Ready
Burning
PHOTO GALLERY
Video
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I've always been into rock music and over the years hard, heavy and Metal have been added. Today it's a wide and wild mix from classic rock over to glam and powermetal from NWOBHM to melodic hard rock and blues.
As I was not very successful becoming a guitarist myself, but always wanted to be closer to the business, I started with rock music photography. I think I found my passion here. When taking photos at rock and Metal gigs I'm definitely enjoying every second.
Being German makes it sometimes hard to write in a language which is not my mother tongue.
But I find it cracking that rock music is an international language and is understood all over the planet.
- The Dead Daisies in Osnabrück: like a party with friends - April 29, 2018
- The Dead Daisies make some noise in Osnabrück, Germany - August 6, 2016
- Bang Your Head Festival in Germany: classic rock and metal in a relaxed atmosphere - July 23, 2016
