18,19-04-2008 Trashfest

Venue: Gloria, Helsinki (Finland)
By: Sabine van Gameren & Nina Mende

After Mama Trash Event last year, we now had a follow-up of this. This time it was called Trash Fest, which lasted two days this time. More bands, DJs, Meet and Greets, a Host and more time to party and have a good time. The festival took place at Gloria in Helsinki again, just like last year.

Day 1: 18.04.2008 (by Nina mende)
Gloria was more crowded that it usually is. There were already waiting many people outside hours before the doors opened. There were four bands to play on each day, on Sunday there was also an All-star-band of all musicians being there. Between each band a DJ played, as well as before and after. In the entrance hall there were also meet and greets scheduled with the bands. So it was a very exciting evening for the fans.

Host of both nights was Acey Slade from Wednesday 13, special guests were Jyrki69 and Jussi69 from 69eyes and Skinny from Deathstars. They and some guys out of the playing bands were DJing both evenings.

The first band of Friday night was Violent Divine from Sweden. I have never heard anything of them before besides the band name itself. The band was formed in 2005 and plays rock music. Unfortunately it was way too dark on stage almost during the entire festival, but the sound was alright. Not too many people were there yet, but still more than at usual concerts in Gloria. The ones that were there cheered for the Swedish guys and enjoyed the performance.

Now it was time for Sexydeath, another Swedish band playing industrial music. It’s been six months since I’ve seen them the last time and it was already overdue to see them again. With new material from the upcoming album “Unbruja” they put up a great performance, very energetic and powerful, you just had to dance along. Now I am even more excited and curious to hear the new album. More people were coming now and dancing along to the sound.

Iconcrash, a band from Helsinki, was another band I have never heard music of before. They play very melodic electro rock, very nice for chilling and very relaxing music. Many people in Gloria were dancing and singing along to Iconcrash. The light was getting better as they were performing. The bars upstage were crowded by now, as well as the seats upstairs. Downstairs it was crowded as well, but you could still walk around without having to squeeze trough people or push somebody away. Iconcrash was an interesting band to listen to, somehow reminding me of Hearts of Black Science…

Last of the night but definitely not least important was my personal favorite band from Finland: Private Line! A great live band that rocks big time and gets you moving along in no time. They rocked Gloria and everybody rocked with them. Private Line were even illuminated in comparison with the other bands of the night, the spots were finally turned on. So it was much easier to take pictures. Private Line had lots of fun on stage, making funny faces, talking with and to the audience and playing their music. We all enjoyed it, sang along and danced along. They played for a little more than an hour including encore. A too short of a performance as I usually think, but it was great and I enjoyed it big time.Here is what Private Line played: Prozac Nation Little Sister Gods of Rewind Already Dead Sound Advice Uniform 1-800-out-of-nowhere Evel Knievel Factor Cheerleaders and Dopedealers Broken Promised Land Billion Star Hotel   As encore: Grown Like Others Last Night On Earth Live Wire

Now it was time for the after parties which were not only at Gloria but also in several bars and pubs in the close-by area. A great first day of two.

Day 2: 19-04-2008(By Sabine van Gameren)

The second day of Trashfest promised to be just as much fun as the first day. The doors open and a lot of people enter Gloria.
This festival is organized by the American Mama Trash Promotions. An American touch to Helsinki’s music scene.

The first band of this evening was Vanity Beach. They are coming from Helsinki, so it was like a home match for them. The band makes industrial metal and released a vinyl at the end of 2007. The performance of Vanity Beach turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments of the evening. It went wrong from the start on and it hardly got any better. The band seemed quite rushed on stage and actually I felt the need to get away of it after a few songs. I am sure the guys can do better, so they better keep the memory to this gig as a black page in their diaries and do better next time.

Stereo Junks! made a huge contrast compared to Vanity Beach. The band is from Helsinki as well. The band makes a cross between glam rock and punk. Singer of the band Anzi Destruction stays true to his name and is active and wild on the stage. In total they did a great show, where the energy flows and all you want to do is watch the show and enjoy it. A gig of the Stereo Junks! is not a one sided communication, but a game of action and response with the audience. When the audience shows their appreciation the band seem to get even more energy out of that. During Trashfest, the venue never looked that filled as during the gig of Stereo Junks! The balconies were filled and in front of the stage it was filled as well.

The third band of the evening was the Italian band Dope Stars Inc. They are THE industrial sensation of the evening and they attracted a lot of fans. Dope Stars Inc is all over the place. Their music is demanding and daring. I felt the bass coming out real loud while the vocals were a little bit lost in the rest of the music, but this turned better after a few songs. The music is typical music to dance to which happened in a modest way.

Up next was Gemini Five. They played at the first edition of this festival as well and by then they were still looking for a new guitarist. Now they found one called: Dee Dee. Their sleazy glam rock music turned out to be successful in Helsinki once again. A good promotion for their upcoming album “Sex, Drugs, Anarchy” Their music takes you back to the times where sleazy a la Mötley Crüe was the order of the day. a nostalgic feeling.

As grand finale of Trashfest there was an All Stars Jam. Different artist which played at trashfest came together to rock one more time. This was hosted by Acey Slade, the host of the festival which he did like he was born to do it. Special guest in this All Star Jam was Andy McCoy, the lead guitarist of the famous Finnish band Hanoi Rocks.
For the final song almost everyone entered the stage and made a great goodbye party of it.

Trashfest 2008 is gone, for the festival organisation a lot of things to take back for evaluation, but Tempelores is already looking forward to a next edition.

Photo’s by: sabinevangameren.com and Nina Mende.

Links:
Violent Divine MySpace
Sexydeath MySpace
Iconcrash MySpace
Private Line MySpace
Vanity Beach MySpace
Stereo Junks! MySpace
Dope Stars Inc. MySpace
Gemini Five MySpace
Mama Trash Promotions