Bob Mould
Photo: Nico Ackermeier / www.facebook.com/honeymilkphotography. All rights reserved.
In 1991 Bob Mold performed at a small venue called Logo in Hamburg. There was a type of ventilation through pipes like you see on construction sites. But it was incredibly hot and stuffy. And you couldn’t move. In front of me, someone held a small lapel microphone towards the stage.
Then came Bob Mold. He sat on a chair and played a semi-acoustic guitar. With Hüsker Dü he defined American hardcore, some say post-punk, in the 80s. After the band ended, he released “Workbook” in 1989, a record that is even better than the great Hüsker Dü albums.
That night in this oxygen-starved club, he played “Too Far Down” and “I Don’t Know For Sure” from Hüsker Dü’s 1986 masterpiece “Candy Apple Grey.” And “Poison Years,” “Heartbreak A Stranger.” , “Wishing Well,” “Lonely Afternoon” and “Compositions For The Young And Old.” And the last track of “Workbook” where he screams: “And everybody goes whichever way the wind blows.”
Rarely have I come away from a concert so fulfilled.
Bob Mold then did Sugar for a few years, almost became a star and has been releasing solo records ever since. He writes and writes. He has an apartment in Berlin. In a pastry shop I once overheard some men talking about a Mold concert the night before.
I wish I had been there.