(festival report)TRASH N BURN-22./23.06.2018.-Sv Martin na Muri

I just can) t believe that it has been exactly ten years since this festival started and how it grew from the small enthusiastic little festival to something so big. That is all thanks to one man´s vision and persistence, Neven I congratulate you for ten years of fun and great memories!

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As some of you who read this might know, this festival is so much more than only music, it is first and mostly meeting of American cars and subculture of custom made vehicles, rockabilly and rock n roll lifestyles and friendly atmosphere placed in beautiful scenery and surrounding just by the Croatian/Slovenian border. The festival always takes place for two days, Friday and Saturday. The first day on Friday the rain relentlessly kept falling in the morning and noon hours but in the afternoon the weather knew that it was time to officially start the festival, so Sun showed it´s beautiful head through the clouds.

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We got there in the early evening hours, since the place is not far from our hometown, circa 20 km or less. We were immediately surprised by how many people were there already on Friday, since the first day is traditionally less visited than Saturday, the second day. But this Friday was national holiday in Croatia, so the people didn´t need to work, so they were free to go to Trash N Burn. We walked around the perimeter saying hello to the dear people that we know and wondering the beauty of the surrounding scenery and checking some American cars. I am not some car enthusiast so I don´t really know all the names and what is cool, what is not, I only know that I liked some of them. We drank some beer and the night fell, so the music part of the festival started.

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I checked HIPBONE SLIM ONE MAN BAND from UK, who played first on Friday. That guy was here a couple of years ago with his other full band and this time he played and tours as a one man band. I am usually not too keen concerning one man bands but I really liked this one. He played noisy garage rock with some Bo Diddley covers and the crowd really participated in the show and loved every minute. That was a cool one.

The rain started to fall again, so it killed the atmosphere a bit, but no matter what the show must go on! After a longer stage set, the next to play were BILLIE AND THE KIDS from Zagreb, Croatia, who promoted their new record after they took a pause for some time and now they are active again.

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They played some 50-ies influenced rock and roll and rockabilly with a lot of band members, nine if I counted well. I didn´t like their show much, that was just not my cup of tea unfortunately. But, that is only my personal opinion, the people loved them and supported their show and partied on. We grew tired, so we went home to take some rest and prepare for the second day.

On Saturday we arrived earlier in the afternoon, around 4 pm and parked the car in the center of the village and then took a ten minute long walk to the venue because it was just mission impossible to park by the venue because of the huge crowd there. We entered the venue and were surprised by the mass of people who gathered there. The famous pin up girl photo contest was just taking place and the three of us drank a beer and wandered around a bit checking everything out.

We hung out for quite some time with our buddies from Slovenian Magna Rota BC. They make excellent awesome custom bicycles and believe me you won´t regret if you check out their Facebook page. In the meantime, the crowd just grew bigger and mosquitos too, they stung like hell! After a lot of beers, laughter and superb fun, the night fell and the gigs started. I watched and listened PETE&THE SHINE BRIGHTS from Italy and THE TRI-GANTICS from Austria but neither of the bands impressed me much with their rockabilly and somewhat bluesy sound, so this is not my cup of tea. But, judging by what I saw there, the people in front of the stage had some decent fun and that is what matters most. We were tired and we had some stuff that we had to do on Sunday, so we went home but the party at Trash N Burn continued until early Sunday morning/afternoon hours.

So, whether it is the last, as Neven said, or there will be more, once again I want to thank Neven, Adi and all of the crew for ten years of awesome memories and fun we had there!

(record review)COLUMBUS-“A hot take on heartbreak”

Summer is on, the best season of the year is on, and how better to accompany the barbecue party on a sunny day than with the new, second studio album by Australian trio Columbus.

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This Brisbane, Australia trio just released their brand new studio effort which contains 10 songs of nice melodic punkrock, almost pop punk with a slight touch of indie rock. Don´t let that scare you when you see pop punk added to these guys band name. Quite the contrary, the set of songs on this album provided by this band is just awesome as a soundtrack for daydreaming on a hot, summer day and riding on your bike or just having a lazy beer in someone´s backyard. The songs are not fast, they are punkrock mid tempo but I personally love “Care at all” having a nice harmonic chorus. “Give up” is also one of my personal favorites on this record. This is a feelgood record. I couldn´t listen to is every day, that´s true, but I loved it today!

7/10

Columbus Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/columbusbne/

 

(news/new video)Abandoned By Bears Debut New Video and Album Details on Victory Records

For a band that’s been together since 2012, ABANDONED BY BEARS is just hitting their prime with ‘Headstorm,’ their spirited new single out today. The track comes from their upcoming sophomore album, Headstorm, set for release on August 24, 2018.

“Even if you have the clearest view on life, on what you want to reach or where you want to go, new obstacles will come along setting you off course. ‘Headstorm’ is about taking the most important goal of your life and keep striving for it when this mystery called life throws you curve balls,” laments bassist Gustav Ericksson. “The video speaks for itself. We took a look at today’s pop culture to poke fun at situations you would see a more ‘baller’ artist in. It’s all in good fun and we had a blast making it!”

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Fronted by the dual vocal combo of Leon Ekelund and Fredric Andersson, ABANDONED BY BEARS is rounded out by guitarist Jacob Devinder and Max Fahlman on drums. The Swedish noise mob released The Years Ahead in 2016 under Victory Records and spent a quarter of that year in the US touring ever possible corner. They returned in 2017 for another taste of America before closing out the year with their first ever tour of the UK. Due to overwhelming demand, the UK will receive the first taste of Headstorm as the Swede’s invade Europe starting July 1st. Plans for their third US visit are in the works for this fall.

7/1 Huddersfield, UK @ The Parish

7/2 Nuneaton, UK @ Queens Hall

7/3 Wrexham, UK @ Atomic

7/4 Bridgwater, UK @ Cobblestones

7/5 Southampton, UK @ Suburbia

7/6 Torquay, UK @ Apple & Parrot

7/7 London, UK @ The Slaughtered Lamb

7/10 Zug, CH @ Industrie 45

7/13 Milano, IT @ Circolo Svolta

7/14 Parma, IT @ Circolo Mu Never Say PMMP Festival

8/18 Sodertalje, SE @ Spinnrocken High 5ive Summer Fest

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Headstorm Track Listing:
1. So Far Gone

2. Headstorm

3. Strangers

4. Borderline

5. Blurry Vision

6. Stepping Stones

7. Fervor

8. Drowned Out

9. Outrun Reality

10. Held Against You

11. Greyscale

 

Pre-order packages for Headstorm are available now and include an instant download of “Headstorm.” The full album will be available everywhere August 24, 2018.