Just like sunshine and springtime go together, the Trash Fest has become something not to miss in Helsinki when the days get longer. Every year the US promoter Mama Trash unites their faves in the Rockheaven of the North. The special about Trash Fest is the fact that lesser known bands get a chance to present themselves abroad, and it attracts many fans from all over the world who travel to Helsinki just to be part of this event. And despite the idea having Trash Fest travel to another location, in the meantime it became certain that Helsinki will host this event also in the coming year.
Four days of festival buzz before us, we allow ourselves the luxury of being part of the Kick Off Party at Semifinal Club, without cameras. The Canacians Trash Gallery open the evening, leaving a very good impression with their dirty Rock´n´Roll sound, followed by Finnish Crystal Rain. We cannot attend the full show of British Night by Night , because for us mortals a Thursday is an ordinary work day. But a full club and a great start for this event.
Thursday, March 31,2011
A lot is going on in those days in Helsinki, pretty much every club hosts a more or less well known act, therefore there are not so many visitors at Trash Fest on this evening. But we have seen worse situations. Pretty early at 20:30 h the hosts of this year, Chris Harms (Lord of the Lost, Germany) and Del Rio (Sunset Riot, Australia) welcome the audience.
More photos here!
The Black Room
A new band that premieres with an acoustic show here, but some well-known people can be found in the line-up. Well not much can go wrong with two great guitar players, Ben Christo (Night By Night) and Daniele Panza, plus a great singer (Ex-Spiritraiser Jacko) - the result must be a new Rock-Supergroup. Besides the first couple of songs they wrote together (e.g. Memory Lane), the audience is offered the Skid Row Cover Quicksand Jesus and the old Spiritraiser-Song Apollos Child. I can just recommend to keep an eye on this act, you can check them out here: www.myspace.com/tbrjacko (KW)
More photos here!
Spiha
Again there are some well-known people on stage, and the band name sounds familiar, too, as several years ago this legendary act from Helsinki had made some impact. Hopefully their mix of dirty garage Rock and psychedelic elements has better chances now than back then in 2005. Henri Lee Root´s dark voice simply fits nicely to this kind of music and adds to its hypnotic quality. The old songs (e.g. "In the Beginning") sound as fresh and rocking like back then, and also the stage presence has not suffered a loss of agility. It should not take too long until Spiha present their new release.... www.myspace.com/spihaofficial (KW)
More photos here!
Black Light Discipline
I have been looking forward to this act, because those Industrial Metallers from Jyväskylä are always fun live. And indeed, once again nothing to complain about - they play two new songs from the new longplayer which promises to be a worthy sequel to their "Empire" album, featuring more tough riffs and (danceable) driving rhythms. The new man on guitar, Joonas Pulkinnen, seems a natural part of this Line-up, as if he has always been there, and Toni proves once again (despite a flue) his qualities as versatile singer and charismatic front man. They finish their set with my fave "For All You Heavy Hearted". Thanks guys! In my opinion the headliner of this evening, and surely a highlight of this year´s Trash fest. Many "encore" shouts - for the first time that night - can be heard, therefore I assume that more people share this opinion. Check them out at www.bld.fi - or at VIDEOSTALKER! (KW)
More photos here!
TO/DIE/FOR
To/Die/For play the first show since their split in 2009, and only a year later they realized that they cannot live without the band. Earlier that evening they revealed in the interview, that they are pretty nervous and anxious what the audience reactions might be. Jape Crow and his men also offer some new songs to the aucience. Their new record "Samsara" should be released this year, the recordings are still in progress. There´s some fresh breeze in the band, with new bass player Eza Viren, who is a worthy replacement of Josey. I have not seen many gigs of this band, but in my opinion everything was OK and also the sound was good. (SM)
Caused by some delay in the schedule, we cannot listen to any song of Iconcrash before we are forced to leave (as also a Friday is a work day for us average mortals). But colleagues of Tempelores Magazine (who had a stand and a photo exhibition at TF) told us that the Finns played a good gig that included some Disco elements.
Friday April 1,2011
April Fools Day, our favorite! Pranks are easily forgiven, and surely the hosts had to do something about it, too. Chris Harms, who had to take off to Germany, has sent his sister Christa on stage as substitute. And there she is, in perfect outfit and extra-long lashes, right on stage.
A nice gag indeed, and you have to admit that Christa is one of the hottest chicks at Trash Fest. Even looking better than some of the "real" girls... (PS: later Christa gave away her "tits" as souvenir...)
The first band tonight named Kinetik Control cannot convince me, unfortunately - their sound wasn´t original, and there wasn´t too much party going on during their show. (SM)
More photos here!
Stala & So.
Glam-Rock at its best. I have to admit that at first I got the impression it might a bit too much Glam in this band. But I was wrong, Stala & So. have so much fun on stage that it is simply irresistible. You just have to watch those guys with a big smile on your face, and their music is just great. Just right for my taste, and there´s a real harmony in this band, so watching them is a lot of fun. (SM)
New Generation Superstars
Again a band that I have been looking forward to watch. AJ, Davey Chris and the new bass player Berty Burton radiate this likeable flair and have so much fun on stage - they are simply irresistable. Moreover, they play such a great mix of rough Punk and recklessly catchy-cheerful Brit Metal - who manages to sit or stand still during their show must be deaf! And surely the audience gladly joins in when it comes to sing or shout F-words, so throughout the gig there´s a lot of action on and in front of the stage.
More photos here!
Included in the program is the brand new song written by the guys from Sherwood Forest just for Trash fest: "Hellcity" - later the single is given away for free (!!), and the audience is invited to take videos of this performance, so that the band can create a video of such footage. Details can be found on the Band-Website http://www.newgenrocks.com! When AJ ends the show with smashing his guitar, some people in the audience feel like crying - musical instruments are pretty expensive in Finland... but AJ is graciously giving away the guitar pieces, and therefore all you need to do is attending more NGS gigs to end up with a nice 3-D-Puzzle game ... at least this is my plan, thanks, AJ, for the guitar neck :D! (KW)
More photos here!
Stoneman
Unfortunately you have to say that once again Stoneman had a difficult situation. First they did not really fit to the rest of the line up this evening, because Mortiis had cancelled. And in Finland they are pretty much unknown - so not much of a chance to prove yourselves. Therefore the guys had to play in a pretty empty hall. Moreover, there were severe sound problems, so that guitarist Mr. Fly had to stay close to his amp in order to hear his own instrument, and singer Mikki could hardly be heard in the beginning. Until the end of the show the sound person could not get control of those feedback noises. Nevertheless, the show was great and they finally had the chance to play a full hour set. (SM)
Mehr Fotos hier!
Acey Slade & the TF All Star Band
make some impact because of Acey Slade (e.g. Murderdolls) at the microphone and Amorphis-Basser Niclas Etelävuori plus Private Line Guitarrist Jack. The fact that they just came together for this show can hardly be noticed, those guys seem like a well-seasoned Fun-Glam-Punk-Rock Cover Act, performing a set that represents the Acey Slade band history. There are some sound problems, too, but those experienced musicians don´t seem much irritated, and the party mood in the audience can hardly be disrupted by that. (KW)
Satgurday April 2, 2011
What a day, the weather is as dark and grim as the sound this evening - somehow too loud and grisly. Perhaps the sound person of that day should take some more tech lessons.
More photos here!
Latexx Teens
This band from Italy makes a pretty good impression, those guys have fun on stage and entertain their audience - which is surprisingly big for such an early hour. Well, mainly female audience, according to the screeching noises... the music of those Teens is strongly influenced by their country men Dope Stars Inc, which means party party party, and at this point the sound is OK, too. (KW)
More photos here!
Cold Cold Ground
No more party, tough Industrial sounds and even tougher lyrics shatter the Gloria Club. Thinking of Rammstein is inevitable, and also Slipknot comes to mind when you see show and stage make-up of those Finns. Their sound has something irresistable, especially enhanced by the light show, but it´s not easy to figure out if it would be better to do some Headbanging or to dance. Who likes those bands mentioned earlier should definitely check out this band, too. But although it´s Easter time soon - I rather don´t want to have this rabbit hopping around in my front lawn, or handling eggs - band trademark Mr Bunny succeeded in looking as-ghastly-as-possible ... (KW)
More photos here!
Lord of the Lost
Mama´s Favorite Band is this German act, and it might be caused by their version of the Lady Gaga hit Bad Romance. Not quite my cup of tea, however. Their Electronic-Gothic-Metal crossover is not bad, Chris/Christa´s clean voice sounds a bit too "thin" for me, and their music lacks some originality. But most people in the club are of different opinion - they might have had the most enthusiastic crowd so far. (KW)
Mehr Fotos hier!
Private Line
What would a Trash Fest be without Private Line? No way. Suddenly there´s much more people in the hall, some push and shove, and only because of this band. Private Line present some new songs, e.g. "Dead Decade" and " Death Row Casino", but it´s naturally the old material that gets the fans going and they try on top of their voices to be louder than the band. In any case you can be looking forward to the new album „Dead Decade“ that should be released this August. (SM)
Mama Trash All Star Band
The stage is getting to small, because pretty much everybody is joining in playing cover versions, sometimes it gets a bit chaotic, there are musician changes in the middle of a song. Remarkable is the appearance of Anzi Destruction for just one song, which caused a lot of cheers. Here the full list:
More photos here!
1. Sweet Dreams/Marilyn Manson version: 4:39
Vocals (Chris/LOTL)
Guitar (Bo/LOTL)
Bass (Goran/ex-Sexydeath)
Drums (Miikki/V For Violence)
2. Welcome to the Jungle/Guns N Roses: 4:35
Vocals (Jacko/The Black Room)
Guitar (Bo/LOTL)
Guitar (Chris/LOTL)
Bass (Riku/Iconcrash)
Drums (Jaani/Iconcrash)
3. Mother/Danzig: 3:23
Vocals (Henry/SPIHA)
Guitar (Davey/NGS)
Guitar (Bo/LOTL)
Bass (Riku/Iconcrash)
Drums (Jaani/Iconcrash)
4. Ain’t My Bitch/Metallica: 5:04
Vocals (Chris/Defueld)
Guitar (Davey/NGS)
Bass (Emil/Defueld)
Drums (Any/LOTL)
More photos here!
5. Cold Feelings/Social Distortion: 3:32
Vocals (Acey Slade/Anzi Destruction)
Guitar (Chris/Defueld)
Guitar (Vic/Payload)
Bass (Emil/Defueld)
Drums (Any/LOTL)
6. Check My Brain/Alice In Chains 3:42
Vocals (Anzi Destruction/Acey Slade)
Guitar (Daniele/The Black Room)
Guitar (Aki aka Mr. Kock/V For Violence)
Bass (Klaas/LOTL)
Drums (Miikki/V For Violence)
7. Rock N Roll All Night/KISS: 4:15
Vocals (Del/Sunset Riot & AJ/NGS)
Backing vocals & guitar (Chris/LOTL)
Guitar (Jack/Private Line)
Bass (Goran/ex-Sexydeath)
Drums (Chris/NGS)
Then pretty much all the musicians enter the stage to perform KISS "Rock´n´Roll All Night" together, joined by an enthusiastic audience. And most people stay to join the aftershow party, following the motto of this song...
Summary: Once again a great Trash Fest that took place in Hell-City - CU next year!
Sandy Mahrer (SM) Klaudia Weber (KW)
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