OK, everyone, here we go again: the fifth Mind the Gap Fest is taking place on 12 September 2026 at Bambi Galore – where else? See you on 12 September!
2026
Line-up: STAGE BOTTLES
, BERLIN 2.0
, NOVOTNY TV
, ASTRA ZOMBIES
, SIBBE RAKETE
+ Aftershow Party with Philipp Strobel
STAGE BOTTLES
Yes, it’s all sorted and we’re absolutely thrilled! The (!) Frankfurt street-punk institution – an integral part of the scene since the mid-90s. Class consciousness meets powerful, melodic anthems, here and there enhanced by Olaf’s distinctive saxophone sound. The band have just reissued their 2010 classic *Power of Goodbye* – or rather, *Power For Revenge* – on coloured vinyl (Better Red than Dead!) via Sterbt Alle Records. ‘Punks’n’Skins’ isn’t just an empty phrase here, but a lived reality. It goes without saying that boneheads and ‘apolitical’ grey-area types with right-wing leanings aren’t allowed to join in the fun. They had to cancel in 2025 due to illness, but 2026 will be all the better for it. “Sometimes Anti-Social, Always Anti-Fascist” – you all know the song, and it’s guaranteed to be played at the Bambi on 12 September!
BERLIN 2.0
At last, a new band that all the (good) people can agree on! Post-punk dystopias for the heart. In 2023, BERLIN 2.0 caught everyone’s attention with their debut album ‘Scherbenhügel’. Slowly but surely, this album made the rounds through the country’s punk/HC/deathpop/post-punk and even metal scenes, and before long everyone could sing along to ‘Benzo Heart’: “I saw the sun explode!” In 2025, Berlin 2.0 (from Stuttgart, of course) went one better with “Kaltental”. They tackle capitalist exploitation and bourgeois fantasies of rearmament. To quote the press release: “Kaltental” is war. Both internally and externally. But it’s also a primal cry for love and solidarity, born of the unwavering conviction that everything could be completely different.
NOVOTNY TV
It’s true love, Coesfeld. Nasty Vinyl. The Devil. Organ. Trash. Surf. Holgi. Death. Plague. Decay. But also: modern music! Since their resurrection in 2022 – at the Mind the Gap Fest, of course – NOVOTNY TV have played exactly one other gig outside North Rhine-Westphalia. So we’re talking about a rare opportunity. And even though we’re not usually keen on repeats: when you get a chance like this, you’ve got to go for it, because many of you weren’t even of age at the first Mind the Gap Fest. I mean, in terms of mental age, that is. And if I had a time machine: I’d love to check out the NOVOTNY TV and HAMMERHEAD gig at the Lobusch in 1996. Although, there were fights, plates flying out of the window and hitting people’s heads outside – so maybe not after all. So on 12 September, the plates will stay in the cupboard – but the bank manager’s suit has to come along. Down with pop culture!
Have a listen:
https://youtu.be/2PqZIuQvpAw
ASTRA ZOMBIES
Four lost souls from the haunted North German backwater of Elmshorn – you know, *Nightmare on Elms Street* and all that. The Astra Zombies sound as if Jerry Only had grown up in the shadow of the Bavaria Brewery in St. Pauli. They drink their local beer from skulls and have appropriated the songs of a band from New Jersey, where a certain Glenn Danzig once sang: ‘Die Die! Die! My Darling’, and other life-affirming rallying cries. Their live set also includes the ‘Famous Monsters’ from the 90s – how brilliant is that!! Punk and entertainment – do they go together? I’d say: horror punk is entertainment, and with the ASTRA ZOMBIES, it’s at its very finest. This is a ghoul’s night out!
SIBBE RAKETE
Sibbe Rakete, writer/musician/father/active FCSP fan, has lived and worked in St. Pauli for 25 years. One of his first bands was called PUTZANGST; his most recent was NOTGEMEINSCHAFT PETER PAN. His novel *Provinzrebellen* was published in 2023. Sibbe listened to plenty of But Alive and Muff Potter in his youth. On 12 September, he’ll be bringing his acoustic guitar and promises “depressing anecdotes and professional amateurism”. Sounds like the perfect kick-off for the Mind the Gap Fest!
+++Aftershow party with PHILIPP STROBEL at the Mind the Gap Fest+++
Philipp not only runs the Aufnahme+Wiedergabe label in Berlin, but also, together with Henryk Gericke, the Tapetopia label for GDR underground music. That’s where the PLANLOS X record was released. The second photo is from the GDR punk reading on the MS Stubnitz. He’s also a huge fan of 80s German punk and Novotny TV. Philipp has been DJing post-punk, industrial, wave, punk and techno in Berlin clubs for many years and will be taking charge of the after-show party here for the first time on 12 September! How awesome is that?
Tickets are now available from us.
Mind the Gap Fest 2026
Saturday, 12 September 2026 – 7 pm
5 favourite bands and artists – hands-on fanzines – record stalls – and a few surprises
Bambi Galore – Öjendorfer Weg 30A – 22119 Hamburg
Physical tickets:
https://mindthegapfanzine.bigcartel.com
Online tickets and discounted social tickets:
https://bambigalore.stager.co/shop/default
