German punk band ZSK brought a full day of excitement to Im Wizemann in Stuttgart, playing two shows on the same day.
For anyone who has never been to Im Wizemann, it is a unique venue worth checking out. Whether you attend a concert in one of their rooms, a private event, or a building-wide event, there are several neat features all packed into one building. There is a courtyard where food trucks can sometimes be found. The entryway features a restaurant and bar, and there is a small space for private events called the Factory. Among the event spaces, the smallest area is called the Studio. There is also a slightly larger space referred to as the Club, and the largest space is known as the Halle. This setup allows for the sometimes unique experience of having multiple shows at once, like the shows on this day, with a punk show in the Club and a rapper in the Halle.
Starting off the evening show was the opening band RUMKICKS (럼킥스). The punk band originates from Seoul, South Korea, and has gained popularity in Europe and Asia since its formation in 2018. The crowd was moving and dancing throughout the entire set. They started with their song “We Are Rumkicks.” Right away, the crowd knew they were in for a show that was lively and full of fun energy. Throughout the set, they did an impressive job of speaking German. The crowd cheered and encouraged the singer for her good efforts. They took a short break for a drink before launching into “Drinking Everyday.” Later in the set, before the song “Rude Girl Oi,” they asked the crowd if they knew “Oi,” to which the crowd cheered loudly. Then singer Joeng Yeawon jokingly said that “Oi is the most important thing in punk.” To close out the set, they ended with their song “Punk Rocker.”
With the crowd fully energized from the first band, next up was the German punk rock band Rogers, from Düsseldorf. They started off strong with their song “Rambazamba & Randale,” a song about acceptance. The crowd was excited and bouncing around. Up next was “Die Nachbarn von Oben” (The Upstairs Neighbors). This is when the crowd really seemed to light up. Before the song “Mittelfinger für immer” (Middle Finger Forever), they had the crowd show their middle fingers, which they seemed to enjoy a lot.
Later in the set, for the song “Streichholz” (Match), Joshi (the singer of the evening’s headliner) joined them on stage for this song. As it was a collaboration, it made sense to take the chance to play it live. The moshing was really picking up by this point, making for a fun evening. Later, there was a huge conga dance line that overtook more than half the crowd participating. For the end of the set, they played the fan favorite “Einen letzten Abend” (One Last Evening).
It was finally time for the main event, ZSK. They are often classified as skatepunk or politipunk; their name is an abbreviation of the German words “Zivile Streifenkommando,” which roughly translates to “Civilian Patrol Command.” They are out touring, promoting their album Feuer & Papier, which came out in September 2025 (check out our review of it here). They are known in Germany for their political stance and their community actions.
They also have an annual kids’ concert that they normally play in Berlin. This time, they decided to add it to certain stops on the tour to ensure that punk lives in the future. The Stuttgart stop had one of these shows earlier in the afternoon, which kicked off at 3:30 PM. They were given popcorn, treasure bags, and a meet and greet with the band. This show also had strict criteria: a maximum of two adults per child, no entry for anyone without children aged 1-12, and a requirement for all children to wear hearing protection.
For the evening show, the party started as soon as the curtain dropped and confetti flew into the air. The set opened with “Wir kommen in deine Stadt” (We’re Coming to Your City). The crowd was screaming and singing along. Singer Joshi didn’t take long before he jumped to the barricade to get closer to the crowd. During the song “Herz für die Sache” (Passion for the Cause), there was the fun kind of chaos with water and beer flying around from the stage to the crowd, and Joshi climbing on the speaker cage.
During the song “Darwin,” they had the crowd all squatted down with them, and then everyone jumped up all at once. Before the song “Die Kids Sind Okay” (The Kids are Okay), they had two girls who were both celebrating their 13th birthdays come on stage, and the crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to them. Later in the set, Joshi crowd-surfed to the bar and then back to the stage with a crate of beer that was then handed out.
As the set progressed, they played the song “Sommer ohne Nazis” (Summer without Nazis). For this one, Chri from Rogers came out to sing his part for the second collaboration song of the night. Beach balls were flying, and more confetti streamers came out during this song, giving a nice summer vibe and making everyone forget about the snow outside for a little while. Then, for “3 Uhr Nachts” (3 O’clock in the Morning), someone dressed in a rabbit outfit came to join them on stage.
As the show was coming to an end, they performed a three-song encore, giving the crowd some of their favorite songs. For both “Alle meine Freunde” (All of My Friends) and “Antifascista” (Anti-Fascist), there were breaks before, during, and after the songs for the crowd to join in chants such as “Ganz Stuttgart Hasse AfD” and similar with the same sentiment. Joeng was also seen joining in the fun by crowd-surfing during the last song of the night.
Overall, it was a very memorable night with a set that was just over 90 minutes and full of the political spirit that should be expected from a ZSK show.
RUMKICKS 럼킥스
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