Welcome back The Craze * Screaming Females competition

Yeah yeah! The Craze has been taking a break for a few months due to illness - maybe you noticed or you didn't - there is a lot of stuff out there on the interweb. 

Well, I am trying to get the whole thing started again - see where the journey takes us. To start off, I can offer you 2 tickets to one of my most anticipated gig: Screaming Females this Monday at Kantine. How great does that sound?! 

Read my previous love review if you need more convincing, then email me at win at thecraze dot de by Monday, 27 April, 12 pm. Maybe mention what you have been missing about The Craze, or don't. One lucky winner receives two guest list spaces for this fun gig and gets to rock out with us!

Can't wait!! 

Competition: Thee Oh Sees

Oh yeah, less than a week to go, oh yeah. Are we excited! We are? Yes, we are! 27 August, Berghain, Thee Oh Sees, Dance.

You (and your friend, lover, precious enemy you cannot stay away from) could be lucky and join us for this show with the highest gig-of-the-year-potential, and little chance of a let down, by entering our stunning competition.

Easy as pie: Tell us by Tuesday midday (that's 12 pm), 26 August 2014, the most wildest and possibly destructive show you have ever been to. Sure, you can back this up with evidence, too. Why not. It might get you browny points. But it's not really necessary, we believe you and all.The competition email address is still win at thecraze dot de

Let the rubmle begin!

Competition: Ratttengold + Safi at SO36

If you are remotely into Deutschpunk, the name Jens Rachut will ring a bell. If not so, the names of his numerous bands from the last 30 years will makes things clearer: Angeschissen, Blumen am Arsch der Hölle, Dackelblut, Oma Hans, Kommando Sonne-nmilch, N.R.F.B. The earlier of these bands definitely gave direction to many many following bands and remain to be important reference points to many people. 

Unfortunately though, most of these bands only existed for a relatively limited stretch of time, Rachut has a habit of breaking up bands just to start new ones with slightly different line-ups. Now after he played a great one-time reunion show with Oma Hans at SO36 this year, he'll return to the same location this Saturday (June 28th) to do something pretty neat. He's going to perform songs from most of his former bands together with Ratttengold, a line-up of people who used to play in these exact bands: Andreas Ness, Armin Nagel and Wieland Krämer.

Thanks to SO36, we're giving away two guest list spots for you +1. All you have to do to win one of these is send us an e-mail to win@thecraze.de until Friday (June 27th, 6pm) and tell us your name. We'll randomly select two winners and let them know via e-mail.

Competition: Tragedy + PISS + Mülltüte at SO36

Presale tickets for this show are already running short so if you're planning on seeing Tragedy, PISS and Mülltüte at SO36 on June 18th you've got two options: Hurry up and buy a ticket or take part in our competition and win 2x2 spots on the guest list!

All you have to do to win is send us an e-mail to win@thecraze.de until next Tuesday, June 17th at 6pm and make up one (in the best case scenario funny or creative) sentence that contains the words Tragedy, Piss and Mülltüte. 

Competition: Big Up's + Superspaceproject

We haven't had one in quite some time but here's another ticket giveaway competition for you! 

This time you can win 2x2 tickets for the Big Up's show at West Germany on Sunday, May 18th and presented by Eine Welt aus Hack. Big Up's sound like a melodic take on noisy punk. Highly energetic and pretty in-your-face, this sounds like a promising live act. Support will be Superspaceproject.

All you have to do to win the tickets is write us an e-mail to win@thecraze.de and tell us your favorite BIG thing! Closing date is May 17th, 6pm.

Here's some more info, links and a video:

BIG UPS (US // Tough Love)

Brendan Finn, Joe Galarraga, Amar Lal, and Carlos Salguero Jr. met whilst learning about specifications of Cat 5 cables in New York City. Shortly after, they formed a band. Big Ups blend punk, post-punk, metal, and indie rock into a salty mash that gets stuck to the roof of your mouth. At their brightest, they have been likened to The Descendents, but at their sludgiest, they call to mind bands like Pissed Jeans and The Jesus Lizard, albeit with an Albini-esque metallic clang.

http://www.eineweltaushack.com/roster/big-ups/

http://wearebigups.tumblr.com/

http://bigups.bandcamp.com/

https://soundcloud.com/superspaceproject

Competition: Mountain Witch + Travelin Jack at SO36

Anyone fancy a proto-metal blast from the 70s? Thanks to SO36, we're able to give away a guest list spot +1 for their Mountain Witch show next Thursday (13th)!

Mountain Witch play doomy old school metal, highly influenced by Black Sabbath and the like. If you are into heavy dark rock with a hint of psychedelic influences, this will definitely throw you back a couple of decades.

All you have to do to win is send us an e-mail to win@thecraze.ce until next Wednesday (12th) at 6pm and tell us your favorite early metal band.

Oh and here's the Facebook event for more info and links.

Competition: Low Roar + Bled White at Urban Spree

If you're looking for something to do next Monday, look no further: We're giving away a guest list spot +1 for the Low Roar + Bled White show at Urban Spree!

Low Roar plays music that consists of cinematic, melancholic and ghostly soundscapes. It's beautiful and warm electro-pop with roots in singer songwriter spheres that perfectly fits a Monday night in the Urban Spree surroundings.

All you have to do to win is send us an e-mail to win@thecraze.de until Sunday (9th) and tell us why you should be on the list that night.

Here's the facebook event for more info.

Competition 2: The Estranged + Blank Pages

Portland based wave punk band the Estranged return to Berlin to play SO36 and we've got a guest list spot +1 to give away! If you're into raw and cold 80s guitar music and early post punk this is definitely your place to be! They just released a new record on Sabotage Records which they will be presenting on the current tour.

The show takes place on Thursday (Feb 13th) and support will be Berlin based Blank Pages who fit the bill perfectly.

To win the tickets, just send us an email to win@thecraze.de until Wednesday (12th) 6pm and tell us your favorite 80s guitar band.

Also the Facebook event with more info etc. can be found here.

Competition 1: Happy Jawbone Family Band + Jimmy Trash & Big Daddy Mugglestone

Today we have two competitions for you, I'll put them in two different posts just because.

First off we've got a guest list spot for you +1 for the Happy Jawbone Family Band show at West Germany this Wednesday (Feb 12th), presented by the lovely Eine Welt aus Hack! They play an intriguing mix of weird folk and lo-fi music and they sound great! Think of a trippy campfire mood with flutes and stuff. If you're into Woods and the like you'll love this, don't miss it! Support will be Jimmy Trash & Big Daddy Mugglestone.

All you have to do to win is: send us an e-mail until Tuesday (Feb 11th) 6pm to win@thecraze.de and tell us your favorite song about family.

Check the Facebook event here for more info, links, etc.

Competition: Damo Suzuki with Sound Carriers

Damo Suzuki is probably best known for being the singer/vocalist for Can, one of the Krautrock pioneer bands and still a strong influence for many contemporary bands and artists. He still performs live, often inviting local guest musicians - the then so called "Sound Carriers"- to accompany him. For this show next Saturday (Dec 14th) at Urban Spree, members of Kadavar, In Zaire and Dead Skeletons will play with Suzuki and the coolest thing about it:

We are giving away two +1 guest list spots for this show! All you have to do to win is send us an e-mail to win@thecraze.de until Friday (Dec 13th) 6pm and tell us: What's your favorite canned food?

Have a look at the Urban Spree website for more info and details about the show and if you're in the mood and have an hour to spare, there's a link to a documentary film about Damo Suzuki below!

Competition: Esmerine

Guess what, we have another competition for you. This time we're giving away a guest list spot +1 for the Esmerine show at Urban Spree next Wednesday (Dec 11th).

Esmerine are a modern chamber music band from Canada, consisting of members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Silver Mt. Zion and Unicorns/Islands. They already released four records, the last two of them on Constellation Records and they play very cinematic instrumental music that's probably best described as post-rock with experimental oriental sounds. On their recently released album Dalmak they invited an impressive list of guest instrumentalists, ranging from Colin Stetson to musicians from Arcade Fire. For this tour they will perform with an extended line-up which includes Turkish strings and percussion, making this show even more exciting!

If you want to win the guest list spot, just send us an e-mail to win@thecraze.de (closing date Tue Dec 10th, 6pm) and tell us who's your favorite band from Canada.

Here's the facebook event for more info and links.

Ticket Giveaway: Fifth Floor Warehouse Party

By now you should have heard about the Fifth Floor Warehouse Party on Saturday (Dec 7th) that we are presenting. If you are also excited about the line-up and haven't bought your tickets yet, here's your chance to win a guest list-spot +1! 

All you have to do is send an e-mail with your name in it to door@5thfloor.info and hope you win.

Have a look at the facebook event page for all the details about line-up and bands.

Competition: Xenia Rubinos

Xenia Rubinos is finally making it to Berlin, playing at Monarch this coming Wednesday. Truly for fans of tUnE-yArDs and other spazzy rhythmic vocal live sampled music. A treat, just trust me. You don't want to miss this.

We are super excited to be giving away a ticket for a lucky winner and their chosen friend. Just send us an email to win at thecraze dot de by Wednesday morning, 11 am, and tell us a song you love that is about New York, New York.

Competition: Dead Skeletons

Gig of the year alert anyone?! Dead Skeletons easily won my "Gig of the year" award for 2012 and you should read my review and feel you cannot miss this for the world. The Craze team is making this their team party and we would love to welcome one of you and your mate to join us to this epic event.

To win a ticket for you and a friend, send us what you deem the most creepy song or video to win at thecraze dot de by 8 pm Tuesday, 3 December 2013. Make sure you label your email in a way that we see which competition you are entering.

See you on Wednesday, yeah yeah!

Competition: The Bell Game

Next week is going to be another busy week and we have a few competitions lined up. Watch out for our preview and competitions this weekend.

This first one is a sticky-sweet treat for you. Wikipedia calls The Belle Game "orchestral dark pop" and though this genre is news to me, it pretty much hits the nail on the head. You know what you are getting.

In order to win a ticket for you and one for your friend, the band have set the following task for you: They would like to know your opinion about their latest music video:

Let us know your opinions by email to win at thecraze dot de by 11 am Monday, 2 December 2013. The winner is drawn by pot luck out of a hat or similar and not chosen by the content of the entry. Make sure to clearly mark The Belle Game in the subject of your mail.

Camera competition results: a video extravaganza

The Camera competition has by far been our most fun competition to date. We received so many fantastic entries. Here is a selection (!) to sweeten your day the way ours were while the competition ran.

We received the same video for two separate entries, which have showed me a side of Beach House of which I was not really aware.

Here are a couple of entries that both feel very summery and made me want to get on a plane this instance.

The right tone for this autumn weather:

But the winner was this number that made us smile so hard and the song is amazing. A clear winner indeed:

This was just a selection. Like I said, we had plenty of submissions and a great time watching them. Finally, if I had been able to enter, this is the video I would have chosen. I love everything about this:

Competition: Lovers + Levitations

Lovers just recently played in Berlin at the start of their current tour. Now they play their last Euro-show on Saturday (Nov 30th) before returning to the US and we've got the opportunity to give away a guest list spot +1! Support for this show at About Blank will be the lovely Levitations, who just released their first 7".

So if you are in the mood for a great live package with music somewhere between the Organ, Team Dresch and Bikini Kill, you shouldn't miss this one!

To be on the guest list just send us an E-mail to win@thecraze.de until Friday 6pm and tell us: What's your favorite song about love?

For more info about the show, here's the facebook event page.

Competition: No Joy + Doom Squad + Secret Secret Girl

An exciting little gig is happening at Urban Spree this coming Thursday, 28 Nov.: A Canadian triple bill extravanganza.

If you want to go to the fuzzy indie guitar starlets' gig at Urban Spree, send us your suggestions for the most miserable song to win at thecraze dot de. Do this by 6pm Wednesday, 27 November and you plus your chosen loved one can just say "guest list please". If you need more info on the wonderful No Joy, watch out for our preview later this weekend.

Competition: Camera at SO36

Do you wanna see Camera at SO36 next Thursday (Nov 21st)? Well then here's your chance to win a guestlist spot +1! 

Camera will play in a very special setting this time, they're not going to be on stage but on a riser in the middle of the audience. So if you're in for a unique contemporary Krautrock experience, just send us a mail to win@thecraze.de until Wednesday (20th) 6pm and tell us what your favorite music video is!

More info:

Here's the Facebook event for this show.

http://www.bureau-b.com/camera.php

https://www.facebook.com/wearecamera

Competition: John Wizards

Still need a gig to go to this week? Can't make up your mind? We may as well take the choice off your hands by giving you free tickets to John Wizards at Kantine this Thursday (see preview!).

The usual gist: Email us to win at the craze dot de by 9 am this Wednesday, 13 October, and tell us a band that reminds you of wizards or related magic themes. The winner gets to take a friend and do some minimalist analogue dancing like this: