Fucked Up
Shelter, 2008
Bathroom session part II – After having raged in a bathroom in Toronto on MTV Live some weeks ago, the Canadian band Fucked Up returns to the lavatory – this time abstaining from flexing their muscles – for a musically impressive performance. The heydays of British Oi or the early 80s American hardcore have surely waned, when at the beginning of the new millennium Fucked Up formed to a refreshing breeze. They succeed to combine an archaic and brawny straightforwardness with the openness for melody and choral anthems. There is an infecting power to their songs that gets young kids moshingly destroying MTV sets and J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr, Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend or Moby to rock with them at their 12-hour marathon gig in October 08 in New York. As furiously Father Damian aka Pink Eyes may roar and bawl, as inviting it is to join in bellowing. Damian’s disarming grin might even disperse your grandma’s fear and make her sense the awesome fun behind noise and destruction.
- Photography
- Simon Brugner
- Artist
- Fucked Up
Shelter
You wouldn’t guess that there is a basement club in this inconspicuous house on Wallensteinplatz in Vienna’s second district. The doorbell just says “local” and there is a small poster with the club programme hanging next to it. Perhaps the discretion is a reminder of the previous use of the premises as a red-light bar. Nowadays, after descending the narrow stairs, you enter one of Vienna’s most atmospheric rock clubs. The three rooms of Shelter are located in a basement vault and dimly lit, which creates the right mood for the live shows and DJ sets taking place on the weekend and most days of the week. The musical style is guitar-based, yet very diversified, ranging from Metal and Hardcore to Indie and Songwriter acts. Shelter was opened on Christmas Day in 1995 and holds up to 300 people on crowded days.