Festival: Trashstock 2009

Artists: Ginger, New Generation Superstars, Drugdealer Cheerleader, Eureka Machines, Teenage Casket Company, Shush!, Obsessive Compulsive, Kitty Hudson, Society Crisis 

Venue:  Seven, Nottingham

Date:  8 August 2009 

“Mos Eisley Spaceport, You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy, we must be cautious.” 

Obviously Obi Wan has never been to Nottingham for Trashstock, yes it’s that time of year once again when Riot Promotions puts on it’s annual Trashstock Festival and this year the line-up is one of the best so far.

Although things haven’t gone smoothly in the run up to the event, with two bands calling it a day before the day and one of those was replacing the other.  This combined with the headline act Heaven’s Basement having to pull out because of touring commitments, resulting in none other than Geordie hero Ginger from the Wildhearts stepping in at the eleventh hour to bring a whole new buzz to the event.

Jaimz Riot the promoter has got to be praised from the highest heavens for this year’s event, not only for the £10 ticket price (£15 on the day), but also for the ingenious idea of holding a barbeque outside the venue, something that really gave the event a party in your garden feel.  

This event is always well attended and today was no different.  As we arrived at the venue around 2.40 pm there was already a healthy crowd amassed both inside and outside the venue enjoying a pint or two before the first band.  

Getting this year's Trashstock off to a great start were Society Crisis, a band we caught briefly a few months ago in Sheffield and were suitably impressed by them then and today was no different.  This quartet stepped up to the plate and delivered a great hard edged set to get the day started, with top rank songs like ‘Whiskey’, ‘Long Goodbye’ and the thumping ‘Down On Your Luck’.  The set was brought to a close in great style with ‘Love Hate and Disorder’, ‘Woh Woh’ and song of the set ‘One In A Million’.

This band is definitely one to watch out for and when they return to Nottingham later this year in November, at this very same venue in fact, you'd better get yourselves along to check them out because these guys can rock. 

Next up were one of our favourite bands of the 2007 Trashstock Kitty Hudson. Again an all guns blazing set from the band as they started off with ’24 hours To Kill’.  The packed venue really got into these guys as they kept the tempo going with ‘Am I A’, although the song we all wanted to hear was ‘Rock Mother Fucker’, which followed.  A real crowd pleaser with the room in great voice chanting out the chorus.

The band were keeping the chit chat down to a minimum as the rocked the place with “1234’, ‘Numb Dumb Scum’ and the Sham 69 vibe of ‘Four Souls’, then it was time for the excellent cover of the Johnny Thunders ‘Loved By You’, before rounding off another great set with ‘Everybody Loves You’.  A song that was a fitting end as the crowd united in cheering on one of the most popular bands of the day.   

It was then time to bring a little Metal to the proceedings in the form of Obsessive Compulsive.  A band with a darker edge than the previous bands but still a band that had a lot to offer today’s crowd.  The band's mix of Gothic Metal and traditional Metal vibe is made all the more authentic with the vocals of Kellii as she led the band on their Dark Metal path.

I'd say new song ‘A Cocktail Of Toxins’ made the biggest impression on the crowd, but sadly like most of the bands here today, their set was a short but impressive one, with Obsessive Compulsive being another rising band to watch out for. 

As the day continued each band excelled.  Another band to leave their mark on me were Londoners Shush!, led by Milena Yum.  If the face looks familiar then maybe that's because she's one of the kick-ass girlies from Anti Product. A band who really are the real deal and one band that really could go all the way in this business with their fresh sounding alternative rock.

With Yum at the helm the band soon got the crowd going as they rocked their mid afternoon slot with great tracks like ‘Pretty Thing’ and a superb cover of the Blondie classic ‘Call Me’, although my favourite song of their set was ‘Little Bit More’ .

The band were pumped up big style and really put on a great show and don’t be surprised if they make a return to another Trashstock some time soon.  

Next up were Trashstock darlings, the Teenage Casket Company, who were making a welcome return to the new improved Seven stage.  When introducing the band Jaimz quipped that Robb Wylde was looking like a reject from Danger Danger, a comment that was taken as a compliment by said Mr Wylde, much to Jaimz's amusement.

It's been two long years since the band played together but it seemed like only yesterday as they kicked off with ‘Don’t Look At Me That Way’.  The band were one of the crowd favourites for sure as the packed venue was jumping as Rob Wylde and the rest of the guys put on one hell of a rock n' roll show.

With songs like ‘Cocaine’, ‘Sink or Swim’ and ‘Too Late’ all resulting in the crowd jumping and rocking out, this set was one of the highlights of the day.  Let’s hope its not two years before the band return to the stage again.

With Trashstock you're always guaranteed a surprise package and this year it came in the form of Leeds based Eureka Machines. The band definitely won the best dressed band award of the day as they came on stage in black suits and white skinny ties, but don’t let their dress put you off this band because they rocked like no other today.  As they stood on stage giving a 1,000 yard stare out to the crowd before erupting with a monster punk metal vibe of the opener ‘Scream Eureka’.  This electric vibe was then continued with ‘Being Good Is Okay’, again a jumping punchy anthem.

The band got the capacity crown jumping as they thundered on through with one of the highlights of the set ‘The Story Of My Life’, and like a few bands today they tried out a new song on us ‘We Are The Population’, which was a frenzied guitar ridden cacophony of styles that just rocked and there no other word for it.

The band rounded off a great set in style with ‘The Light At The End Of The Tunnel', again a pummeling Punk/Pop anthem that sent the crowd into a veritable frenzy and ended on of the sets of the day.   

When Drugdealer Cheerleader came onstage the younger crowd was replaced by the older rockers who really appreciated the Hard Rocking sound of the band.  They opened up with ‘Decisions’ and ‘Up All Night’, two Hard rockers that went down a storm with the older generation of rockers in the room.  

Even the clichéd ‘Don’t Wanna Go To School’ got the crowd pumped, with new song ‘Brother’ also going down a storm.    The band continued to show their versatility with the harder edged ‘Fireworks’.

With most of these events there’s always one band that you have to cut short as the hunger pangs had started and with the time coming up to nearly 9pm, it was time to get something to eat, but we just managed to catch another new song ‘Blood’ by the band before we headed off in search of food.  This ended the review of the bands set, although what we saw was impressive. 

A quick kebab later and it was back to the venue to catch New Generation Superstars, a band not unfamiliar at Trashstock and a band we’ve caught on numerous occasions now.  Now here are a band that always give 110%, and tonight was no different.

Opening up their account with ‘I Won't Stop’ again the venue was ignited with high energy rock n' roll.  The band quickly continued with ‘Done Before’, another all guns blazing rocker from a band that should be a lot bigger than they are.

The all out rock assault continued with ‘Own Sweet Hell’, again with AJ and Davey Messiah dominating the front of the stage, but it was the likes of 'Rock n' Roll Overload' that really got the masses rocking. This band always give their all and tonight they were on fire.  Watching AJ on stage I couldn't help but think perhaps I should have brought back an extra kebab for him, as he gets more shrink-wrapped every time we see him.  Get a loaf inside you lad!

When Heaven’s Basement couldn’t play the show it didn’t take Jaimz long to find a suitable replacement to fill the slot, and to put Ginger on tonight really topped what was already one hell of a day.

But Ginger's set as fraught with technical problems at the start, mainly due to a wandering drum kit that had decided it wanted to be centre stage, and every time Denzil hit it, it marched forward.

From the beginning Ginger warned the crowd that anyone who had come along in the hope of hearing a load of Wildheart songs would be disappointed, but they must have been the only ones as the man from South Shields simply rocked as only he can.

So the set finally got going with ‘Why Can't You Be Normal All The Time’, which was when Seven simply exploded into a mass of bodies that just leaped into the air with such gusto I thought the floor would give way!  

I’ve always said Ginger is one of the finest Rock songwriters around today and tonight we were treat to some of his finest songs from his solo material, as the set continued with ‘Mother City’, with the Trashstock choir singing along to every word.  

There always seems to be a birthday around Trashstock time and this year was no different as it was Ginger’s man mountain guitarist Jason Edward's birthday, and in true Trashstock tradition a birthday cake appeared and the whole venue sang happy birthday to Jase, before lending their voices to ‘This Is Only A Problem’.

With songs like ‘Queen Of Leaving’ and ‘When She Comes’ again raising the roof, this was one of the best headline acts Trashstock has had.  And with Ginger in full flow he powered through with ‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’, again with the Trashstock choir in full voice.

The day was topped off with what else but ‘Sonic Shake’.  I’ve seen Ginger on several occasions both with the Wildhearts and on solo tours and tonight was the best he’s been for a while and well worth twice the entry fee just to see him play.  This, well despite the minor tech problems, was one of the best Trashstock performances and one of the best Trashstock festivals to date. 

But one thing I’ve gotta ask ... Jaimz ... HOW YOU GONNA FOLLOW 2009?!?  

 

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