Vanja Sky and band in Hamburg, June 2025

Vanja Sky and band in Hamburg, June 2025
Location: Klangbar Hamburg-Bergedorf
Date: 26. June 2025

She is also described as Croatia’s answer to Sheryl Crow and Norah Jones. We are talking about Blues Rock singer and guitarist Vanja Sky. She started playing guitar at the age of nineteen. In 2018, she released her debut album ‘Bad Penny’. She subsequently spent a lot of time on tour and released further albums, both with her own band and with the Hamburg Blues Band. One of the highlights of her tours was probably the concert recording for the WDR television programme Rockpalast. And in June, she will be making her way to Hamburg’s Klangbar. You can find photos from this evening on Flickr.

The Klangbar was well filled that evening, but not sold out. Many fans travelled long distances to see the singer live. And it was to be a unique experience. Normally, the two guitarists Joost De Lange and Guenter Haas alternate on lead guitar. But on this evening, both were on stage. This naturally made for a powerful guitar sound and interchanging solos, which were the special feature of this show. And there were plenty of outstanding guitar solos, with or without guitar rolls. It reminded me a lot of Lynnyrd Skynnyrd. But first, the band started as a quartet with the thrilling ‘Rock’n’Rolla Train’ (album ‘Woman Named Trouble’, 2020). It wasn’t until ‘Run Away’ (‘reborn’, 2023) that the second guitarist, Guenter Haas, joined them on stage. But there weren’t just guitar solos. Bassist Joshua Hoffmann also got his moment in the spotlight with ‘Trouble Maker’ (‘Woman Named Trouble’). The first part of the show ended with the Bee Gees cover ‘To Love Somebody’. Shortly before the break, the singer handed out small bottles of liqueur as a lovely gesture.

After a short break, the second part began rockingly with ‘Don’t Forget To Rock’n’Roll’ (Bad Penny, 2018). But then it became bluesy, with many long and extremely sophisticated guitar solos, with Joost De Lange and Guenter Haas competing with each other. During ‘Hit Me With The Blues’ (‘Bad Penny’), Joost De Lange broke a guitar string, but that didn’t stop him from finishing the solo. On ‘Crossroads Of Life’ (‘Bad Penny’), Vanja played a powerful slide guitar solo. It is also worth mentioning that chords from the Metallica classic “Enter Sandman” were incorporated in an almost playful manner. Shortly before the end, a Ten Years After classic was also covered. “I’d Love To Change The World” from 1971 was re-recorded by Vanja Sky for the album “reborn”, with Ten Years After founding member Ric Lee on drums. ‘Shadow Play’ (‘Woman Named Trouble’) ended the regular part of the show. But the fans wanted more. And so Vanja Sky and her band played the old Cheap Trick hit ‘I Want You To Want Me’ (‘In Colour’, 1977).

Lineup:

Vanja Sky – Vocals, Rhythm & Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar
Hannes Hoffmann – Drums
Joshua Hoffmann – Bass
Joost De Lange – Lead Guitar 1
Guenter Haas – Lead Guitar 2

Track list:

Part 1:

• Rock’n’Rolla Train
• Devil Woman
• Voodoo Mama
• Run Away
• Trouble Maker
• Hard Working Woman
• Hard Times
• To Love Somebody

Part 2:

• Don’t Forget To Rock’n’Roll
• Hit Me With The Blues
• Crossroads Of Life
• Riding High
• Hero
• I’d Love To Change The World
• Shadow Play

Encore:

• I Want You To Want Me

What a fantastic show that was. Vanja Sky brought Blues Rock, and I would even go so far as to say Southern Rock, to life. Memories of the greats of this genre came flooding back. I already mentioned Lynyrd Skynyrd, but the Allman Brothers could also be cited as a reference here. Or, from more recent times, the Allman Betts Band. A big thank you for this evening. As always, my thanks also go to the organiser, the Klangbar and the entire crew.