THE HAMBURG BLUES BAND | feat. Chris Farlowe, Gert Lange, Krissy Matthews, Reggie Worthy, Eddie Filipp - 40th Anniversary VOL. II - Tour

Over 40 years of St. Pauli Blues! For 4 decades, five guys have been touring through crowded clubs, some of the best the European blues scene has to offer. The Hamburg Blues Band stands for intense, cleverly arranged and live stunning roots blues that regularly leaves purists mentally reeling. The band, led by singer Gert Lange, who is often compared to Joe Cocker, mixes hard-hitting guitar blues rock with soul, psychedelic, rhythm & blues, boogie and even excursions into the realms of jazz.

In 1982, the Hamburg singer and the English saxophonist Dick Heckstall-Smith spontaneously founded the Hamburg Band Band after a midnight session in Hamburg's legendary "Onkel Pö". "Dick Heckstall-Smith was our key to the British blues scene, our Brit blues connection". "He was to us what Alexis Korner was to the Stones and many others," says Lange today. So it's not surprising that the band went on tour with the stars of the scene over the years: Jack Bruce, Chris Farlowe, Mike Harrison, Arthur Brown and guitar heroes such as Clem Clempson & Miller Anderson became band members. "We were also very lucky that Dick Heckstall-Smith brought us together with the legendary lyricist Pete Brown (Cream), who wrote our lyrics until his death in May 2023 & was also a welcome guest on our tours".

Hamburg's renowned blues/rock shouter Gert Lange, voice of various commercials (including Carlsberg beer) and the title song of the road movie "Burning Life", which won the German Film Award in Gold, and the famous rhythm section, bassist Reggie Worthy (Ike & Tina Turner, Eric Burdon, Stoppok), drummer Eddie Filipp (Inga Rumpf, Sweet, Clem Clempson Band) & the only 29 year old exceptional guitarist Krissy Matthews, "This guy is the real deal" (Beth Hart), a conspiratorial band that works with a consistent punch, complemented by their ability to control dynamics on demand and spice it up with perfect harmony vocals.

Chris Farlowe's voice first attracted attention in the mid-sixties when he reached number one in all the European charts with the Rolling Stones song "Out Of Time", produced by Mick Jagger & Keith Richards. The well-known "Blues-Pavarotti" (Good Times) was the singer of the progressive giants Atomic Rooster & Colosseum, whose double album "Colosseum Live" can still be described as a jewel of rock history. In 1982, Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) recruited him for the soundtrack to the Charles Bronson film "Death Wish II" & his solo album "Outrider". Chris has been touring with his own band since the mid-80s, but is always happy to accept guest offers with other formations - including Van Morrison, the R&B Allstars & the Hamburg Blues Band with bandmate Clem Clempson. In 1994 Chris Farlowe was part of the large-scale Colosseum comeback until the farewell concert of the supergroup around Jon Hiseman in February 2015 at the legendary Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. As an old-school R&B entertainer, he knows how to combine Delta, Opera & New Orleans scat singing like no other.

Names such as Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Johnny Winter, Rory Gallagher and Pete Townsend come to mind when talking about the 29-year-old Krissy Matthews. They are all said to have been the inspiration for the guitar style of the young exceptional guitarist and indeed Matthews' playing is anything but one-dimensional. At times he sounds fresh and raw, at others quirky and wild. He performed on stage for the first time at the age of three, got his first guitar at the age of eight and was gripped by the blues at the age of eleven. A year later, he met John Mayall at a gig in Norway, and the godfather of white blues did not hesitate for long and took the twelve-year-old on stage with him. Fellow musicians, critics and the press were full of praise; "This guy is the real deal" (Beth Hart), "Oh boy, this kid can play" (Hubert Sumlin).

Even after more than 40 years, the Hamburg Blues Band is always good for surprises & presents its very own sound far removed from any clichés. On the "40th Anniversary Tour VOL. II" the audience can expect musical fireworks with real guys and originals.