Trix, Antwerpen
2011-04-02

It had been a while since we saw Crashdiët and Hardcore Superstar play together, but finally the day came. Accompanied by none other than goth n' roll veterans The 69 Eyes, we drove down to Trix with lots of expectations.

We walked in just as Crashdiët started off, fronted by newest member Simon Cruz (last time, Olli was still the front man), so this would be his "all or nothing" moment.

Unfortunately, Crashdiët chose the latter. Even thought it was nice to see Simon pick up the guitar every now and again, the overall experience was sloppy more than anything.

It looked like the biggest energy was saved for the songs of their latest work, while the oldies were woven through the set just to keep the crowd pleased. It may have been my level of intoxication last time I saw them, but they made a bigger impression back in Temse than they did this night...

I do need to say, the show element has taken huge leaps forward. The backdrop was very neat, looking "Saint Of Los Angeles"-like on a smaller level, but very atmospheric still. Simon playing the harmonica was nice too, but didn't really bring an added value to the set.

Hardcore Superstar proved to be on top of their game, contrary to their opening band. Everybody stepped up a little, hands were flying and the band was having a ball, much like the crowd was.

Everything between their debut and latest album passed us by, and it couldn't have sounded better. Singer Jocke must have thought that the stage was covered in hot lava, because he spent more time on top of the monitors than between his band mates. Awesome energy, their mix of punk and heavier metal and rock does the trick more than anything did the last few years.

Due to the number of albums to cover, obviously they left out some of the songs many of us were waiting for, but I'm not going to bother mentioning those, since they made up for that by bringing a world class show.

Closing the evening, were Helsinki-spawned gothsters-gone-rock n' roll The 69 Eyes. Taking the tempo down a bunch, they put down a classy set of groovy rockers to counter their lack of metallic speed.

For the first time this evening, the crowd (thinned out as it was at that time) started moving in a different way than before. It's nice to see that a pack of youngsters can still get moving in a manner that doesn't involve pumping fists in the air. The Helsinki vampires could definitely get that done.

The fact that nearly half of the punters had gone already, didn't seem to bother them at all. Playing for 20 years and counting, The Eyes pulled out all stops to keep those present very interested. Acoustics and all, you would have considered yourself in the rave scene of Blade, with a Lost Boys vibe going on. This is horror movie soundtrack stuff!

My conclusion on the evening? Some disappointment, some surprise, a whole lot of familiar faces and a scene that's beginning to boom, with the great luck that we're catching underground monsters as well as hot new acts' eye... More to come!