I have been looking forward to the Deathstars' concert since I've never attended one and its last performance in Slovenia happened almost twelve years ago. Tomaz and I came earlier for the interview with Andreas "Whiplasher Bernadotte" Bergh but found ourselves in the company of Jonas "Skinny Disco" Kangur and Marcus "Nitro" Johansson, which proved to be excellent company, funny, too. We were told that Whiplasher Bernadotte had been suffering from pneumonia for three days, yet he was still performing (well, there are seven types of pneumonia). We had a great time during the interview - it was more like a conversation with friends or at least good acquaintances. Once over, we headed downstairs and, by pure chance, ran into the winner of the free ticket contest, Špela, to whom we promised a drink and delivered it.

In the meantime, Liv Sin climbed the stage, so we missed a song or two. Swedish modern metal/dark rock act Liv Sin, founded by Liv Jagrell (ex-Sister Sin) in 2016 and driven by massive guitar riffs, is "metal for sinners", as characterized by Liv Sin, as its latest (third) full-length, KaliYuga, released in January this year, is "Liv Sin on steroids". The audience got to hear half of KaliYuga's tracks: "D.E.R.", "Forget My Name", "I Am The Storm", "Antihero", and "King Of Fools". In between, "Chapter Of The Witch" from Liv Sin's sophomore album, Burning Sermons (2019), appeared.

And - you could feel the steroids all the way through; they also moved on to the audience somehow. Liv energetically bounced around the stage and among the audience in her devilish cute red and black striped dress, and I think she stole Whiplasher Bernadotte's famous hat. Yeah, she wore a hat exactly like his, and he, later on, wore some fedora or something similar (forgive me for not being a connoisseur of hats). Come to think of it again, it could have been a priest's hat. And Priest was on the stage right before Deathstars, so he had the perfect opportunity to steal it.

I doubt Priest even minded (probably hoping for someone to steal it) since it doesn't match its futuristic BDSM outfit (that much I know about fashion). As expected, the mysterious Swedes, former members of the Grammy Award-winning Swedish rock act Ghost, "threw us into the neon lights of 80s sci-fi mixed with gothic soundscapes".

The opening and closing songs, "The Pit" and "Vaudeville", were, along with "The Cross" and "History In Black", from their latest album New Flesh. The second, "Neuromancer",  was followed by Body Machine's "A Signal In The Noise" and "Blacklisted", then "Obey" and recently released single "Burning Love". Between the songs, the singer was sci-fi-seducing us with his speeches. Should we have reported him? Of course not - we liked it!

After a break, Deathstars illuminated the stage. "Who is that woman?", I heard from behind. "Not a woman", followed the answer. It was the guitarist, Eric "Cat Casino" Bäckman, and not the least bit unusual for him, especially not for this Everything Destroys You tour. Proverbial female envy aside, I must admit, he looked absolutely gorgeous. And what an atmosphere he conjured up! But we'll come to it later. First of all, I got "a show will go on" relieved when seeing Whiplasher Bernadotte on stage, although he did seem a little tired. The first three tracks: "Night Electric Night", "Between Volumes And Voids", and "All The Devil's Toys", didn't sound the best (the band also pointed out a problem with the sound). What followed with "Ghost Reviver", "Midnight Party", "Tongues", "The Greatest Fight On Earth", "Death Dies Hard", "This Is", "New Dead Nation", "Fire Galore", "Metal", "Synthetic Generation", "Everything Destroys You", and "Blood Stains Blondes", was one hell of a gig. While Whiplasher Bernadotte was, understandably, more or less static, "Cat Casino"  and "Skinny Disco" were Deathstars' crazy-shining stars, interacting with the vibrant audience on and in front of the stage.

Apparently, the stars were well-alined that evening, and the three encore songs "Chertograd", "Blitzkrieg", and "Cyanide" prolonged the enthusiasm in the well-filled hall. For the grand finale, "Cat Casino" pulled off the top of his black mini-tube dress, and - after a split second of silence - we got to admire, well, not boobs but two nipples. Regards, Jerneja

Report by Jerneja
Photos by Tomaz
Links: Deathstars, Priest, Liv Sin