Festival: Trashstock
Bands: Deadtime Stories, Crystal Kicks, The Pleasures
Venue: Junction 7, Nottingham
Date: 18 August 2007   

Deadtime Stories kicked things off, and even at the weirdly early time of 6pm a considerably sized crowd were in the venue and enjoyed every minute of their set.  The gig begins in the tradition of Spinal Tap: “Hello Muthaf***ers” screached frontman Jay Cooper in a high pitched ‘metal frontman’ style, but before the first note can be played it is apparent there are some technical difficulties.  After a minute or so of checking wires etc they start again.

“Hello Muthaf****s” screaches Cooper again and Trashstock Day 2 is underway. Like many of the weekends bands, Deadtime Stories sound is reminiscent of 1970s/1980s influenced hard rock.  Big choruses, Iron Maiden-esque lead guitar, and sleaze metal vocals, plus some of the most entertaining between-song banter of the weekend. Other reference points include Starz, Motley Crue, and Alice Cooper (who Jay bears a passing resemblance to at times).  Very entertaining! 

Unfortunately I missed the next couple of bands ‘Sparkling Bombs’ and ‘Obsessive Compulsive’ but returned in time for ‘Crystal Kicks’ who had travelled all the way from Dumfries in Scotland to play tonight, and impressively had brought a hardcore fan base with them.  Their sound is heavier and punkier than I was expecting, and is played with confidence and aggression. Powerful raw punk n’ roll. 

But the biggest surprise of the weekend for me was ‘The Pleasures’ from Hamburg.  Having never heard their music before (or at least not paid much attention to it) all I knew of them was their OTT glam image, which to be honest, put me off a bit at first as I was expecting them to be a bit of a ‘gimmick’ band.

However, I’m pleased that I attended their set because this band blew the roof off Junction 7 tonight !!!  They played to the biggest crowd of the weekend, suggesting that they’ve been winning friends and developing a fanbase on these shores.  They capture the authentic spirit of those 1970’s glammies like The Sweet and T-Rex but bring it bang up-to-date with heavy guitars and bags of attitude.

Someone should put these guys on a UK tour with Turbonegro ASAP!

Special Guest Reviewer: Lightnin Alex Lee Hooker III

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