I Hate Myself Because

Berlin Urban Spree: 10.05.2023. The first show outside of Ukraine and for a lot of people the first time ever to see I Hate Myself Because perform a live concert. !Spoiler! He sounds even better in real life. Music with soul, sadness and a little sexiness combined with heavy riffs and dark-meaningfull messages. An evening mixed with friskiness and humility.

The concert was at the Urban Spree, a bar located at the former Reichsbahnausbesserungswerkgelände, better known as the RAW-Gelände at the S-Bahn stop Warschauer Straße in Berlin. After the collapse of the Berlin Wall creative people started to use the place and buildings as a cultural gateway. Nowadays you will find various graffiti decorated houses, clubs, bars and cultural spaces at the RAW-Gelände. In my opinion it’s the perfect location for a concert or to hang out in Berlin.

At the outside area of the Urban Spree there was a small queue and people gathered up for drinks, cigarettes and smalltalk. The Support Band Day Clinic started at 21:00 p.m. with Joy Division-like music. During the show the sound got a Heavy Psych twist and people head-banged and danced to the mysterious sounds of the Israel, UK, Spain and Germany based band. Songs like “Memorial Day” really get stuck in your head. A nice and experimental way of welcoming the crowd. Day Clinic left the audience thrilled.

Fck Me!

In an inconspicuous way, Maksym Semeniuk, the person behind I Hate Myself Because, came on stage and together with a second guitarist and a drummer they prepared the equipment for the following show. People who follow the musician on Instagram might have seen, that before the concert he asked his fans for an acoustic guitar to borrow and someone really brought one. Maksym sat down on a chair and said: “Stop the music.” The room went silent. And at this point, he started to play his songs in a way you have never heard before. Just his voice and the acoustic guitar really let the spark jump over to the audience.

After that it got heavy – “perfect day for a walk” and the people went crazy. Immediately afterwards, he used the focus of the crowd to make an appeal regarding the war in Ukraine. With heartbreaking words and a trembling voice he finished his speech with Slava Ukraini. Touching, seeing a young musician worried about his people. It continued with a drums solo and “i feel bad”. At the end the audience screamed “one more song” and I Hate Myself Because left the crowd mesmerised. The entrance fee was donated to Ukraine. 

Summary

Astonishing newcomer musicians at one of coolest spots in Berlin. The sound is raw and filled with attitude and sadness. Nevertheless the love for humanitarianism was visible as well. A concert a lot of people wont forget and even though he looked a bit uncomfortable during, he spent the time afterwards taking fotos with his fans. For the future I personally expect that we will see I Hate Myself Because at more venues in central Europe and sooner or later all over the world. I can’t stress this enough – listen to his music!