TRASHSTOCK 2009

KITTY HUDSON

Doors open at the independent music venue Seven, it’s mid afternoon, and about to hit the stage were a bunch of raucous rebel rousers whose reputation preceded them; having in true Rock ‘N’ Roll fashion been banned and deported from America for life! The question on everyone’s lips was could Kitty Hudson live up to their bad boy image and causes a stir with the Seven crowd? Opening their set with ‘24 Hours To Kill’, Kitty Hudson oozed stage presence and knew how to work the crowd. From the moment nonchalant frontman Richie Hudson announced that they didn’t have a set list, relentless requests for ‘Love Mine’ were inevitable. The band continued their catchy, powerful and tight set with some great, punk style, rock material. All of their songs from the classic Johnny Thunder’s cover, from ‘I Wanna Be Loved’ to ‘Numb Dumb Scum’, were belted out. Though in true Kitty Hudson fashion they caused a stir by dismissing the chants for ‘Love Mine’. Leaving the crowd baying for more Kitty Hudson had truly laid down the gauntlet and was going to be hard act to follow.

DATE:

VENUE:

Saturday 8th August 2009

Bar Seven in Nottingham, UK

OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE

Next up was Obsessive Compulsive, an obscure choice for this festival’s line-up. But the clue was in the name and their dark, neurotic Goth style of heavy metal simply didn’t fit in. The sound problems were again consistent throughout their set, which didn’t help matters and probably accounted for the crowd deteriorating song by song. However Kelli’s resounding vocals were spot on for this genre of music, the band were solid and musically flawless; had this been Bloodstock or a similar festival they would have easily won over the crowd, unfortunately this was a case of right style wrong place.

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GINGER; NEW GENERATION SUPERSTARS; DRUG DEALER CHEERLEADER; EUREKA MACHINES; TEENAGE CASKET COMPANY; SHUSH; OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE; KITTY HUDSON; SOCIETY CRISIS

Reviews & Photography by Kim Davies

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TEENAGE CASKET COMPANY

Now the time had come for the long awaited homecoming of Teenage Casket Company, thanks in main to Rob Wylde returning to our shores after a two-year absence. The Caskets first headlined this festival in 2005 and ardent fans would argue that this was the band they had all come to see. Stood front centre stage, looking behind, it was inconceivable the venue could hold so many people. It was packed. As soon as the band stepped on stage they were met by an extraordinary cacophony of applause, the likes of which are usually reserved for headliners at Wembley Stadium. Their opener, ‘Don’t Look At Me Like That’ was an inspirational way to kick off their comeback and extremely ironic because you couldn’t help but look at them, especially as Jamie Delerict was sporting a T-shirt displaying the word ‘Cunt’, with an arrow pointing to …Rob Wylde! This was a typical example of the repartee between these Nottingham boys and was a joy to behold. Bassist Rob Lane was, as always, on top form and didn’t disappoint the crowd, even when he managed to blow his amp! The Caskets though were far from being dead and buried and aren’t a band to be ‘down on luck’. So in true flamboyant frontman fashion Rob Wylde stepped in to entertain the crowd with, of all things, a ‘Bergerac’ guitar solo!! Amps and Bergerac aside, drummer Spike had no such problems and T.C.C. continued to play a tight set, with their sleazy style rock emulating their Eighties glam rock idols. The audience were having 'nothin’ but a good time' thanks to the Caskets’ feel good tunes, catchy riffs and joyful lyrics. Poison would have been proud; everyone in the crowd sang along, rejoiced in their return and had 'nothin’ but a good time'.

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NEW GENERATION SUPERSTARS

My final band of the festival were another local based band who have been hailed by rock fans and media critics worldwide; including outstanding reviews in Kerrang, and being selected by Rock Icon Bruce Dickinson to feature on his Radio 6 Rock Show. They have also toured with acclaimed bands Blaze Bayley, Duff McKagan’s Loaded, The Scorpions and Vain to name but a few. Being branded as “Serious hope for British Rock”, the Nottingham crowd were about to witness whether or not New Generation Superstars could live up to this acclaim. Incredibly NGS also fell victim to the terrible sound gremlins, causing their guitar and vocals to be intermittent throughout. Undeterred, NGS acted as consummate professionals, laughed off the gremlins and took it all in their stride. They took the crowd on a Crash Course … In Rock And Roll with ‘Overload’ before blowing them away with their anthemic choruses and crunching guitar riffs. Highlights of the set were ‘Done Before’, ‘Nothing To Lose’, ‘Come Over’ and ‘Beat ‘Em Down’. The powerful set concluded with … you guessed it…the classic track, ‘Guess What’. NGS had successfully won the crowd over, proved that there is hope for the British rock scene, and undoubtedly will be ‘Raising The Stakes’ with their new album. Overall, sound problems aside, it had been a fantastic festival; with the bands the crowd had laughed, and sighed, and rock ‘n’ rolled.

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FESTIVAL OVERVIEW

The 8th of August 2009, a date pencilled in every Nottingham rocker’s diary. It is, of course, the day of the legendary ‘Trashstock’, Nottingham’s finest one-day rock festival. Just like Velvet Revolver’s elusive search for a frontman, this year’s festival would experience more than its fair share of headaches. With two signed bands going their separate ways, a change of headliner, eleventh hour transportation issues and later sound problems plaguing performances, each band had to be on their metal. But every cloud has a silver lining and this year’s would prove to be the eagerly anticipated return of hometown heroes, Teenage Casket Company. Judging by the queue of glam rock attired, highly excited border lining on the hysterical, female fans waiting outside anyone would believe Trashstock had catapulted you back to the Eighties, when Poison were kings… and glancing at lead singer Rob Wylde as he walked by… gave you something to believe in…