Grind Crusher live in Trondheim report
March 4, 2008
Grind Crusher, UFFA, Trondheim, Norway, March 4, 2008
Support: Sexy Police, Beg For Fire, Laserguys
http://www.myspace.com/grindcrushernorway
http://www.myspace.com/sexypolicegrind
http://www.myspace.com/begforfire
http://www.myspace.com/laserguys
http://www.uffa.no
This weekend I went to Trondheim to play live with my band Grind Crusher (I play the drums in this constellation), and here’s a small report for you to read. With its population of 152,000, Trondheim is one of only four Norwegian cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants; the others being Oslo (557k), Bergen (246k) and Stavanger (117k). In addition to the welcoming population and their Karsk, or half-and-half coffee and moonshine liquor, the city is also home to the autonomous youth house UFFA. Punk, grind and the occasional metal concert is held there every other week or so, and this weekend it was time for a very brutal Saturday evening with Oslo’s Grind Crusher along with local bands Sexy Police, Beg For Fire and Laserguys.
Friday was spent on a train on the alternative, non-environmental-friendly diesel fuelled line through the deserted woods of Østerdalen across Røros (even running down a moose on the way!). Arriving late in the evening , we were just in time for a zip of the “Karsk” at a party held in the rehearsal room of local crustcore band Victimised. Saturday afternoon brought the mandatory Spinal Tap incident; the locks in their rehearsal room had been changed by the landlord, accompanied by a note on the door basically saying “You’re thrown out!” After several hours spent on retrieving our equipment we finally made it, late and cold, but alive, to the UFFA house in time for the sound check and some vegetarian pizza (no roadkill!).
Around 150 people showed up at the door this evening, which is quite good for a city this size. Laserguys was the first band to enter the stage, a totally new band. To be honest I wasn’t too impressed with what I had previously heard on their Myspace page, so my expectations weren’t that high. The guitar player was sporting a rather large sombrero, and drummer Dr. Amoque von Berlevåg (former Endwarfment guitar player) had been saving up for a nice Mick Harris style moustache in addition to wearing a cowboy hat. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. From the first tone I was thrown off by extremely brutal grindcore! By the end of the Napalm Death and Extreme Noise Terror covers the Laserguys had left me blissfully doomed to Abraham’s bosom! Technically speaking Kim isn’t much of a drummer, but got away with his enthusiasm (and moustache!). Plantefar on vocals (formerly of Perished) had a great ultra guttural sound and was quite relaxed as a front man in his Macabre shirt and shiny leather pants. Guitar player Knatten proved to be very tight (he also plays in long running black metal band Thorns). As a bass player the Laserguys had brought a black, inflatable sex doll on the stage.
Some more photos here, provided by Trondheim’s own Eternal Terror Webzine:
http://www.eternal-terror.com/gallery/view.php?id=449
Next up was Sexy Police. They have been at it for a few years now (yet without any notable releases), and I knew I was up for a high quality concerto. No surprises here! They did a great show, proving their self-proclaimed motto “Grind declaration of war!” to be of utter correctness. A four-piece with great chemistry among the band members, very professional on stage. The inflatable doll left on the stage by Laserguys embarked on a final crowd surfing tour before ending her life in a quite sad, non-inflated condition.
Eternal Terror photos again:
http://www.eternal-terror.com/gallery/view.php?id=450
Beg For Fire played Pantera style metal. I had to go back stage to warm up my fingers, missing this concert. Thus there’s not much to report. But I’m afraid I’m not a huge fan of this style anyway.
Eternal Terror yet again:
http://www.eternal-terror.com/gallery/view.php?id=451
Finally the Grind Crusher show, which went quite well. The Trondheim crowd seemed quite pleased with being served a final dosage of brutal grindcore this evening. We blasted our way through 12 of our own songs as well as a Repulsion and a Dead Infection cover (the latter is to be used for an upcoming tribute CD on Ukragh Productions).
ET: http://www.eternal-terror.com/gallery/view.php?id=452
Thanks to the UFFA community, Pål of Sexy Police who lodged us for our stay in Trondheim, and everyone who showed up this evening!
