This festival, organized by the legendary US promoter Mama Trash, taking place in the center of the Finnish capital became something like a tradition, attracting fans from all over the world, and more every year, as it seems. Trashfest 2013 was dedicated to breast cancer awareness – and this year STALKER could not quite enjoy the festival in the fullest. Not to be misunderstood – because of work schedules I had to skip the kick-off party at On the Rocks on Thursday (featuring Dusty Road, Cold Cold Ground, New Generations Superstars and The Fallen – the club was full and the shows great, so I heard – here some impressions, donated by Tempelores Magazine). On Friday I was informed only 2h before that I´d be a 1-woman-team at Gloria – the flu season took its toll … Well, TF is somehow a family meeting, therefore no worries I´d end up ”alone” – way too many familiar faces on and in front of the stage...
What I noticed right away was the fact that most people had followed the dresscode, wearing something in pink – clothing, hair, make-up, or all of it. Even the location itself could not been better, as Finnish cancer foundation is right across the street.
By the way, there are more Trash Fest traditions, like various cooperations between bands, All-Star-Jams and (slightly chaotic) guest appearances on stage. Plus the cast of fabulous/slightly weird Masters of Ceremony – in this case the – err – sister Lord of the Lost-Chris Harms ...
More band photos here
Crystal Rain started punctually in front of a quite big crowd, which should increase even more in the coming hours. But – what was the matter? Front man Ryan Slade admitted that he had forgot the lines of the first song, then also the next sounded a bit off vocal-wise – as they ”had not played it in 5 years”. Only during the third song Bleed For Me the higher pitched parts sounded sort-of OK, only then the following uptempo track Stars worked out nicely. Well, almost... Ryan´s cute smile was not enough for me as compensation, therefore I rather went to see some friends outside in the lobby... A pity, because this Gothic Rock/Alternative mix isn´t bad at all...
www.facebook.com/CrystalRainRocks
More band photos here
Latexxx Teens is a misleading band name, because those Italians don´t wear any latex items, and their teenage years seem to be somewhere in the past... Compared to 2011 they changed their image a bit, less glam and more Metal, also in terms of music – grabbing you by the balls, so to say – Rock/Metal riffs, spiced up with some loops and other Industrial elements, but incredibly heavy. Singer Kami Plastik pulled of a high-energy-show, contrasted by the rather laid-back string section (Icy-X and La Nuit). That´s what I call a party sound! As this was their official record release gig, the setlist naturally focused on their new CD Cold Heart and Old Scars (e.g. Love You to Death), yet in between they did not forget about their older hits. The crowd went nuts, and I was pretty damn impressed, too. Check out this band!
http://www.latexxxteens.com/
More band photos here
The show of this Italian band did not quite end here – after a Temple of Love-intermezzo (vocals by Chris Harms), Mama Trash entered the stage to explain this year´s focus on breast cancer awareness, in a very emotional way. Not only an important issue as such, both the promoter´s and the following band´s families knew more about it than they ever wanted to know, when a loved one has to battle with this disease. Hence New Generation Superstars and Latexxx Teens came up with the song Warriors, which was then performed in an all-stars line up (the composers plus Chris Harms, Chris Wicked – Malice in Wonderland, Vdiva/Lost Area) – a great song, by the way. Youtube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=exlzhxUHWZk
Mama Trash´s cousin who overcame this disease put it perfectly: ”check your tits, girls”.
More band photos here
New Generation Superstars were replacing ToxicRose, who had to cancel at very short notice, and I got to admit that I would not even think to complain... Those R´n´R veterans AJ & Dave plus ”the new guys” Rik (AJ´s little brother, voc+b) and Lexxi (drums) continued the party mood in the hall, with a great mixture of old and new songs. Their new album Rock N Roll or Die was presented, e.g. Bast*rds and Hell City, yet there were plenty of old songs to sing along and/or freak out to, e.g. Come Over, Rockstar, Guess What, Beat´em down, where Rik took over most of the vocal parts. As a surprise their Ramones-Cover Hey Ho turned out to be an all-stars jam session – slightly chaotic but a lot of fun. And AJ surprised this year once again, first with his styling (let´s call it the Punk-version of Elvis) and the fact that his guitar survived the gig. Too bad, would have appreciated more pieces for my Full-Scale-3D-puzzle...
www.newgenrocks.com
More band photos here
Private Line
Why those guys chose the gloomy Once upon a time in the West theme as intro puzzles me – because there´s nothing sad or sinister about this band or their performance. Well, We don´t need apologies – neither for this gig nor this intro... Private Line took over the TF crowd by storm. Indeed an inspiring show that even impressed a person who is not really a fan … But such a charismatic front man with such a great voice, plus this crazy guitarist Jack – a dream-team which does not only create damn catchy songs but also an energetic and entertaining live show. The perfect head liner for day one – which turned out to be a bit shorter for me than planned. Had not been feeling that great for a while, and although my mind enjoyed the show, my body waved the white flag, I had to leave in the middle of the set to drag myself home...
https://www.facebook.com/privateline
Next morning it turned out that I had also caught this flu – therefore Trash Fest 2013 ended for me here. But you can read about day 2 – with Apollo’s Child, MURDER F.M., Malice In Wonderland, States of Panic, Lord Of The Lost and MT Mega All Star Jam, plus the sunday acoustic sessions (Crystal Rain, Malice In Wonderland, Latexxx Teens, Apollo´s Child, MURDER F.M., Jaani Peuhu, Private Line) here ...
Klaudia Weber
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