Review: Hardcore Superstar

In my favourite bar in Helsinki, Hardcore Superstar are bigger than any other band, if you disregard the cult bands from the 80s such as Mötley Crüe. Initially I believed that this is just another hype but after the announcement that The 69 Eyes would go on tour with them and Crashdïet all over Europe, it was about time to have a closer look at the phenomenon "Hardcore Superstar". How convenient that the Swedes came for two concert dates to the Finnish capital before the mentioned tour started. And before webmistress Nina went to see the "Dark Decadence" package in Hamburg for you, I took my chance for a closer look on the guys from Gothenburg at the first of the two Helsinki shows in "Tavastia"...

By the way: This first concert in Helsinki was an additional show. Basically there was only one gig planned, the one on the following day, but that one was already completely sold-out just after the pre-sale for its tickets had started. And who wants to let his fans standing outside in front of the "Sold out" sign? At least Hardcore Superstar don't want it...

"Hardcore! Hardcore!! Hardcore!!!": The longing for party grew with every second and so the shouts of the fans became louder and louder before the band appeared on stage and raised the roof right away with "Sadistic Girls". From one second to the other, the waiting crowd turned into a wild audience! Jumping up and down, crowd surfing, headbanging, mosh pit... Uhm, were we still in Finland? The country where the audience is usually too cool to let its hair down?
The next surprise for me was the stage presence of the quartet and especially the enormous charisma of frontman Jocke Berg. Despite their rapidly growing success, there was no trace of arrogance or any kind of silly rockstar behaviour at all. Quite the contrary: With words and especially reverential gestures, Jocke thanked the Hardcore Superstar fans for their support repeatedly - if he didn't swept across the stage like a whirlwind or shaked hands with the concert attendees in that moment. A reverent gesture was also left for guitar player Vic Zino when he played his solo for "Into Debauchery" and, of course, during this mega-smash hit the audience partied the hell out. At the finale of the song, your ears could have bled as some concert guests sung along - or rather screamed along - the lyrics pretty much out of tune. But that's Rock'n'Roll, right?

Hardcore Superstar's wild Rock'n'Roll show was mainly accompanied by compositions of their brandnew longplayer "Split Your Lip" such as the eponymous title track, the already mentioned opener "Sadistic Girls", "Guestlist", "Bully", "Here Comes That Sick Bitch" (acoustically presented by Jocke and Vic only), the very popular "Moonshine"... But the biggest surprise came with "Last Call For Alcohol" for which the band not only picked a girl from the audience but also got Middy, bass player of the Finnish Hard Rock band Santa Cruz, as a vocal support on stage. At the end of the song, the fog fountain was turned on once again and one thing became quite clear already while you were standing in the midst of this whole wild party: This band is anything but a short-term hype! The already mentioned undeniable stage presence of the band and especially of the singer, his vocal skills and the original sound of the self-proclaimed Street Metallers are speaking for themselves.
And although their success is growing rapidly at the moment: Hardcore Superstar aren't really newcomers; they are in the business since already one and a half decades. Something that is not easy to manage, especially these days...

And talking about managing something: After the gig, there was an official after-show party in my aforementioned favourite bar which was bursting at the seams, too, and lured next to the Hardcore Superstars other prominent musicians from bands like The 69 Eyes, Santa Cruz, Naked and Negative to the venue. While fans left their explicit offers amongst others on toilet doors, the sofa where all present musicians were sitting had been cordoned off by a red VIP rope. For my taste, that was a bit too "over the top". And how do people say, "go while the going is good"? Alright! We will need our energy anyway for tomorrow, for a concert which will take place in "Tavastia". The band who will play there is a marvellous Live act, as I have heard... ;o)

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