In the oven-like heat of the Bullhead City Stage tent, some band had decorated the Headbangers Stage for a full-fledged Christmas party, complete with a tree, gifts, lights, and all the rest.
This someone was Germany’s own fun ‘n’ grind band Excrementory Grindfuckers, and they were out shining their halos on their Blast Christmas tour.

I was first acquainted with Excrementory Grindfuckers back in 2010-2011, when I out of the blue received their then new album Headliner Der Herzen. At first I had no idea what it was I was holding in my hands, but it didn’t take me long to warm up to, primarily, their goofy cover songs (Wheels Of Grindcore and Bohemian Schnapsidee are great examples), but also their own work, like Hinnerk, Der Grindfucker, and How To Grind 4 Health: Grind Gym. The band walked the thin line between funny and silly, sometimes going a little bit too far for sure, but they managed to weigh it up with the heavier sections of the music. My interest was piqued, and I wondered how they would fare at a live event.

Fast forwarding back to the hot tent and the Christmas decorations, the band members, mostly changed since the album I have, entered one after the other, all in different Christmas costumes fitting the setting, but pushing the line of silliness to an extreme. I wasn’t sure exactly how to feel at this point, would this be as fun as I had hoped or would it go completely overboard in German style trying too hard to be silly? The fact that the set began with what I can only imagine to be Christmas carols which I didn’t recognise didn’t really lift my spirit...
There was one redeeming fact, and that was the foam cannon guy they had installed in the security pit, who throughout the set shot foam which was supposed to pass for snow over the and into the face of the audience – this may have been silly, but it was well worked through, and that I liked!

As soon as the Christmas section of the set was over, about three songs in, we hit more familiar territory with Schnaps, and at least some of the Christmassy clothing was shed. Things were looking up for Excrementory Grindfuckers, and when they began playing some of their cover songs as well, opened with 2 Unlimited’s No Limit (here called Nein, Kein Grindcore) a smile spread over my face.
Over the course of their 45 minutes on stage it wasn’t surprising to hear a lot of material that I wasn’t familiar with, given that I only have one of their seven albums, and sometimes my attention wasn’t captured to a 100 percent, but the good thing with short songs is that there is something new coming just around the corner. I was entertained, as was the rest of the large audience by the looks and sounds of it, and nobody can deny the power of party songs like Taschengeld and Veganerweibchen.
Of course the band was all over the place, and even though all speaking was conducted in German it wasn’t hard to follow the lively spirits as one of the vocalists and founding members, H!M (who on a side-note once put Borknagar’s Urd album on his overall top ten list, good choice man! (as did apparently bassist ND, cool)), went down to the crowd in Vater Morgana, dodging the foam machine as he got close with the fans, or when they had an improvised farewell sing-along with the crowd after the trumpet epic Metal Im Blut which rounded off the concert. The lyrics went something like ...schöner zu sein..., maybe someone more familiar with German music can help us out here.

It’s not a real Christmas without the gifts though, as any kid would tell you, and before taking their final leave, the Excrementory Grindfuckers guys kicked and threw all of the decorative gifts they had had standing at the front of the stage out for the audience to grab. The best part of this was that they had actually put presents in side, and when people ripped their gifts open, they were rewarded with all sorts of merchandise from the band, like CD’s and shirts and stuff. Metalmoments managed to grab what turned out to be a signed drum-skin, and we held on to it for dear life!
I admit, Excrementory Grindfuckers on stage crossed the silly line a bit too far for my taste from time to time, but there were several moments of pure fun as well, and the only real regret I have about the show was that they neither played Bohemian Schnapsidee or How To Grind 4 Health: Grind Gym, I would have loved to here one or both of these songs! Well, maybe next time, if I get the chance...

Setlist (incomplete):

Schnaps
The Excrementory Grindfuckers Open The Stomachs Of ‘Natural Born Anus’ And Strangle Them With Their Guts
Nein, Kein Grindcore (2 Unlimited cover)
Looking For Grindcore (David Hasselhoff cover)
Grindcore Blitz (The Sweet cover)
Taschengeld
Veganerweibchen
Halb & Halb
Vater Morgana
Final Grindown (Europe cover)
Metal Im Blut