05,06-10-2012 Trashfest V

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

The Trashfest tradition lives forth in 2012, this year there was an anniversary edition, the fifth time for this event to take place. With a nice line up on the posters, it was no wonder that tickets were quite short in the end.

The festival got opened by ToxicRose. This band comes from Sweden and does not exist for that long as a band. With some familiar faces in the line-up it was no wonder that the support and the curiosity for this band was enormous. When the band enters the stage the image of Dimmu Borgir and their metal’n’black look comes in mind but musically the band does not have any reference to them. The guys mix aggressive parts from nowadays metal with more 80’s like vocals and melodies. Must be said, gives a surprising sound that seem to work very well at Trashfest. Besides the band’s looks the guys set down a show that is interesting to watch as well. Great way to start your evening.

The British guys of Night By Night are no strangers to this festival, the guys have played Gloria before and for this evening the guys have quite some coming up for us as it seems. Melodic Rock as always, the strong songs of the band do not need much introduction to find their way to the fans. What stands out most are the guitars, always quite upfront bringing some extra power to the sound. As performers the band knows their way around as well. Their front man seems natural in engaging the audience and with the energy they all give, this ends up a show that topped all the performances we have seen of them before.

The Norwegian Malice in Wonderland has been hidden for quite some time. Ending contracts, change of line up, many reasons there, but while the guys are working with new material they came over to Finland to do a show already. A preview of what we can expect from these rockers that built their fame surrounding singles like “Lucifers town” which was a MySpace hit back in time. The new line up was clearly not one that did a lot of shows together yet. Mainly frontman Chris Wicked and guitarist Tracy Loveless are upfront and try to make a show, while the others seem to be searching for both their place in music as well as the stage. Good to see the guys are working on new material but obviously they need still need to grow as a band in order to make their show standing out as much as we saw the other bands do before.

Dope Stars Inc. was closing the evening. The industrial band has been in a few earlier editions of Trashfest as well and they have built their reputation up well. Seems like the guys have been enjoying the festival and the booze already as they are not quite sober while playing and eventually even come out with that towards the audience. It does not seem to bother people to much as the electronic beats make them all dance anyway. The goodwill towards them works in their advance and no matter what is going on these guys make a party of it anyway, clearly seem to have a good time on the stage. Musically not the best performance but absolutely a show that people have enjoyed.

Day 2:

Day 2 was starting and the venue was now having a little catwalk in the middle of the stage. This way artists could come even closer to their fans. First ones to enjoy this were New Generation Superstars. The Rock and Rollers have been around since 2005 and made their statements at Trashfest before. What is always a winning factor for these guys is the fact that they are simply playing it raw, the music is there without all glitter and glamour needed, there to make its impact. That does not mean the guys are just standing around while playing, the wild factor comes alive clearly at the end of the set. When a guitar gets smashed and the whole audience responds with a shock, second later there is the run on the leftovers of the guitar while the band walks offstage carelessly.

Lord Of The Lost came with an epic cover of Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance some years ago, but while they start their set they may have thought to do the same trick all again. Backstreet Boys this time, an interesting choice but clearly a hit at the surprised audience. Whether you like this band or not, you cannot deny that the guys are making a show out of it. While remember the guys playing the Amphi Festival earlier this summer, it comes to notice that the band really has a diverse repertoire. They can go towards the doomy, dark mood but also bring up a passionate party and that last one is obviously more the choice of the day. While the band brings their last song “Credo” many, many were singing along, Lord of the Lost is clearly loved.

Private Line is the only Finnish band at this year’s Trashfest and basically a standard for the festival. The guys are always present and so this year. While the band has some German dates coming up this show was a good warm up for those who planned to see them there. The rock formation is born to be on the stage, and even though it seems a bit unstable here and there the band manages to impress people, but the party is not to be found at all front rows as these are filled with people waiting for the headliner of the day: Deathstars.

Deathstars has been on Trashfest’s wishlist for a long time, but this year the Swedes make their way to Helsinki. The band has been on tour with Rammstein before and released a best of album. No new material would come across right now, but a night filled with those good old hits that made the band what they are right now. From “Motherzone” of their 2006 album “Termination Bliss” till the more recent tracks, the band picked these carefully. While Gloria is pretty full, it seems like everyone have come out to see these guys play, the band celebrates their victory, some smiles here and there fly over the stage and it is obvious that the band does not have to do much to win the hearts here tonight. Yet, they give a full show and show exactly why they were desired to play here.

Traditionally, Trashfest closes with an allstar band, something you have to experience live to see what happens when members of various bands team up and play some cover songs together. Even artists from the Trashfamily that have not played this evening are giving acte de presence and so the evening ends with a great musical family feeling.