In the Matrix club in Bochum, Germany, the exciting one-day festival Sleazefest took place. With 7 bands on the bill, it was one heck of a rock n roll party.
It was a pretty last minute decision to go to this small festival in Germany. I heard of the name Sleazefest before, but as I got nothing better to do I decided to step into my car, book a cheap hotel and make the way over. By the time I got there, Raging Dead were already on stage. The band was nice, but it wasn’t fully my thing. But with 7 more bands to go, I wasn’t too worried.
L.A. COBRA
What would you get if you throw the Sunset Strip and South Africa into a blender? L.A. Cobra! It was a great set, what they delivered and included a great cover of Look What the Cat Dragged In. It really set the tone for the rest of the night, and I really liked the energy they brought.
At times, it felt like a bit of a Mötley Crüe cover band (without playing any of their songs). But it was a great way to start the festival!
LIPZ
KISS might have started their farewell tour, the new white faced painted rockers are ready to take over the world. Swedish rockers LIPZ are (what I can only assume) heavily inspired by KISS in their looks. But hey it works, it looks great and not importantly: it sounds great too! With their debut album being out since last year, it won’t come as a surprise that most of their set was based on that. Songs like Get up on the Stage, Scaryman, Trouble in Paradise and Every time I Close My Eyes sounded absolutely killer!
It is a great band and the first of the day so far I really loved seeing. Great energy, great songs and vibes. I hope to hear a lot of good stuff from this band in the future!
TRENCH DOGS
Coming back from dinner, I was just in time to see the start of the Trench Dogs set. Heck yeah, this band breaths the party rock scene! Absolutely amazing band who were really into a party. What I loved is that the crowd shifts effortlessly between the different genre’s. A unicorn balloon made it into the crowd, and it felt like the most fitting thing ever. Under the name of the ugliest pretty boys of rock n roll, the band offers a variety of different characters. From pirates to true rock n roll performers, the band could play great!
I wasn’t familiar with the band before, but I will make sure I know them better going forward. The party atmosphere was amazing and with tunes like Bad Luck Berlin, Homesick Parade and Self Sabotage they can come far in the sleaze genre. Go check them out!
PRETTY WILD
After a few bands of absolutely mega energy, it felt it went a bit down with Pretty Wild. And honestly, I can’t lay my finger on what it was. The band sounded great, and especially Axl Ludwig nailed it with his guitar work. But even that wouldn’t be fair to the other band members, as they all did a mega job.
Some highlights for me from their set were Superman and Wildheart. Although it didn’t fully connect, I will keep my eyes out and listen to more of the Pretty Wild discography.
THE CRUEL INTENSIONS
After the shows of the Trench Dogs and Pretty Wild, it was the turn of The Cruel Intentions. Swedish rock meets a punk attitude mixed with some proper old school hard rock. A kick ass band that brought the heat! From the moment the band entered the stage we saw people stage dive, a try out of a mosh pit and generally a lot of head banging.
It couldn’t be further away from the party music that came before, but what a show this was! Former Vains of Jenna singer Lizzy DeVine is joined by Mats Wernerson, Kristian Solhaug and Robin Nilsson and released a stellar album last year. The show was so much fun and I had a blast. The rawness of the performance and the energy that came with it was absolutely amazing. The whole 14 song set is a recommendation, but personal favourites were Weekend Suffering, Borderline Crazy and Sick Adrenaline.
WILDSTREET
The last band of this bill I wasn’t familiar with. American rockers Wildstreet made their way across the pond to bring an exciting set to Sleazefest. Over the top hairdo’s, a lot of energy and solid, perhaps cheesy songs brought a show. Frontman Eric Jayk knows how to play the crowd, even though it feels the crowd is less familiar with the band.
Personally, I loved the Midnight Gypsy instrumental song. It sounded badass live! Their other songs, sounded great, too, but it didn’t hype me up as much. Wildstreet was a nice addition to the bill, but perhaps bands like The Cruel Intentions should have been higher. Wildstreet has been around since 2006, yet something was lacking for me in the performance. The band sounded good, the singer was good, the onstage presence was good, yet it didn’t connect it all together. That said, apart from Midnight Gypsy, I would recommend checking out Easy Does It and Raise Hell.
CRASHDÏET
It would only be fitting that the kings of sleaze would headline this killer festival: Crashdïet. And boy did they deliver. I have seen them before, but this show was so many times better. The band sounded tight, brought one of their biggest set lists ever and premiered a new song with Rust.
With 19 songs, it was one big sleaze party. The crowd was loud, the band played incredible, and the songs just kept it going. Honestly, I loved hearing Circus live and the mixture of songs from all albums was on point. Other highlights for me were Beautiful Pain, It’s A Miracle and Lost Horizons. Last year Crashdïet made their comeback, but today I can really say that Crashdïet is back! Singer Gabriel Keyes is a true match to the band and brings a great personality and voice to the band. Martin Sweet sounded better than ever, and Peter London and Eric Young never missed a beat. A true spectacle and honestly just this set alone was worth the admission price.
SLEAZEFEST 2019
What an absolutely amazing day it was. Sleazefest 2019 kicked ass and showed that (sleaze) rock isn’t dead yet. It was one heck of a party, with great bands and like-minded people. Some highlights from my side were Lipz, Trench Dogs, The Cruel Intensions, and Crashdïet.
After many beers and a voice that was shot, it was time to go back to the hotel, and hopefully we can do something like this very soon again. A great warm-up for Graspop later this year.
