Starting the night was the Goes based rock band The Hollow Men. This trio, consisting of aged men, played a loud and fuzzy kind of rock, but unfortunately with very poor vocals. Both the guitarist and drummer sang, sometimes even doubling each other, yet there wasn’t a single moment that I was impressed by their qualities. This could also be said for the poor drum skills and the quite dull riffs the band played. Frankly the only thing that I somewhat enjoyed during their show was the fast fingerwork of bassist Robbert, who unfortunately had to switch to his back-up bass within the first song. Not a band I’d like to see again in all honesty, not even when they play the legendary Steppenwolf track ‘Born To Be Wild’.

 

Following in their footsteps was Monstertone, also a heavy stonerrock outfit. Although their music did raise the bar a bit, a real chance at success was taken away by the horrible vocals of guitarist Jeff. This became more and more annoying as the show progressed, so I started focussing on their bass player which is a man that must be at least 50 years old and still likes to rock out every weekend. His appearance was quite funny to me, and the smile that came over his face when they did their cover version of Deep Purple’s ‘Black Night’ was absolutely priceless. For the rest I just want to mention that I have the feeling that Jeff tried out for some kind of Idols show, but didn’t listen to what the judges said. You are the weakest link dude, take some lessons and who knows!

 

The Atomic Bitchwax are a psychedelic 70’s stonerrock trio formed by Godspeed bassist Chris Kosnik and Monster Magnet guitarist Ed Mundell. Ed has already left years ago and was replaced by Core guitarist Finn Ryan, yet they did get a Monster Magnet member back in 2007, when drummer Bob Pantella joined. Okay, enough name-dropping, let’s get to the show. It is not hard to recognise that there are three dudes on stage here that fucking know how to play their instruments on a very high level. Grooving, bashing drums, a pounding bass guitar and a roaring guitar together spew out some bluesy 70’s stoner rock of the highest level. Personally I liked the instrumental songs the best, when both string handlers fly up and down the necks of their guitars playing impossible licks and riffs. The downside of the show for me is the voice of Finn Ryan, that just doesn’t convince me at all. The voice of Chris Kosnik is a tad better (mostly because it is more raw), yet this is also not the best singer you’ve ever heard. This did make the show a bit weary, yet watching these guy play those sick riffs made it definitely worthwhile. Something a large portion of the (mostly drunk) audience agreed with, as cheers for an encore kept on going for minutes until The Atomic Bitchwax returned to the stage to play the last song on this last date of their European tour. I think they can go home satisfied.