Foefrock

So, Groezrock eh?
Okay, I have no clue what's the best way to review this fest but I think I'm gonna for the entire walkthrough of my experience as a real punk rock dude (from the new school).

I spent all Friday being anxious and hesitating whether I should go to the Lifetime/Cornflames show in Ham. I was unsure on how to get there and stuff so I opted out. I started regretting that decision as soon as I left for the festival, though. I hopped on the train to Diest, and I tried to go last-minute but the buses weren't stopping near the venue and I wasn't sure if I could get in. So anyway, I regret that, but that's life. Minus punk points.
Instead I went to the campsite. I had a tent/sleeping bag, a 24-pack of budget beer (it was cara, if you're interested), half a liter of whiskey (it was Jameson, if you're interested (it means that I'm not dead)), some extra clothes in case of rain, a big pack of cornflakes, 3 packs of rice wafers and a whole bunch of magazines. When I left I still had a big pack of cornflakes and 3 packs of rice wafers because I had beer for breakfast instead. I also still had a whole bunch of magazines, but thanks to the punk rock and my buddy/salesmanager Elias I also sold quite a few. Also gave some away, traded some and stacked some in the Shield records merch stand, who are really great people. I just really want to get them out to people, haha. 2 nice English girls even gave me 50 cents extra, which was really cool. One of them was really pretty. The other one was... not ugly.

This was the first year I got a reasonably good spot on the campsite. Not far from the entrance, not far from the toilets, etc. Cool. I put up the tent, drank a beer, spotted some Houthalen peepz near and went to hang out there because I was still on my own. I went to check out the acoustic shows as well, that were being held in the shower/bbq area, because PJ Bond was supposed to play. Apparently he would only arrive at around 3 AM, cause he had a show in Germany. Bottom line, I really wanted to see him but didn't, cause I was pretty fucked up by 3 am. I don't even know where I was at 3 am. Maybe I was sleeping already, I don't know.
I went to party in the party tent where there was a lot of nu-metal and stuff like that. Pretty good, pretty weird though. Got really drunk. Vague memories. Elias had arrived a bit later and we both have a tendency to drink lots of beer. So that's what happened.
"stoeme kut"

Woke up in my tent, without any clue on how I got there. Safe, though. First day of the festival. The syke was strong. The first band we went to see was Banquets. We saw the soundcheck, then decided it was taking too long so headed to the main stage for Chixdiggit! They ruled, of course. Kepi was on bass, he's a really good person. KJ is such a great frontman. So early, yet so vibrant and energetic and fun! Then we spend half an hour waiting for Mikey Erg's set. During those in-between breaks we would usually go get Leffe, talk to girls, ask them for jokes, laugh, be silly, go say hi to Shield Records, hang out with people, etc. Pretty basic, a whole lot of fun.
Mikey Erg played some songs on his, aside from touring/drumming with Off With Their Heads. The solo set was amazing. I love those songs so much. He played Hey Jealousy again, which is awesome. Great songs, a lot of singalonging, lots of fun. Also, side-to-side mosh to acoustic songq, pretty cool idea.
After he was done, the Copyrights had already started playing, so I went dancing to one of my very first pop punk band crushes. It's been about 4 years since they've toured Europe, I think, so I was happy. Fraser MBS played guitar. That was cool. They played really great songs. They ended with Weapons Of Math Destruction, of which the last part is the best part of music ever written. "3 drums, 16 strings, 4 mouths, 4 brains, 3 mics, 12 speakers, 4 tempers and 4 middle fingers." Incredible. Love it. Sound sucked a lot though.
I didn't went to see the Menzingers cause I didn't feel like it. Cool band though. Saw a fair deal of None More Black, great band. Mainly drank Leffe, hung out and met up during those hours I guess.
Off With Their Heads played at 4 pm and that was important cause they're really good. I have to say I don't remember a lot from the show. Pretty sure I danced and sang along. I can't really recall any songs though. This sucks.
The plan was to go see Bouncing Souls and after that Midnight Souls, 1) because they're great bands, 2) because they're both Souls. But due to circumstances (laziness) I only saw the Midnight Souls. I'd promised them to mosh at their shows and since I was drunk, they played pretty damn good and I was angry, I moshed pretty heavily for my standards. It was super fun. I don't know if moshing is supposed to be fun.
After some more carefree drinking, eating and unsuccesfully hitting on girls, I went to check Verse. Probably the best performance of the entire festival. Really damn good. Tight, hard as nails and full of power. I moshed to Story Of A Free Man. I hope I got scenepoints from that.
Next was Dillinger Escape Plan. Crazy. Also the best performance. Wack show. I went to check on Lifetime but they didn't really compare to Dillinger, so I went back, only to be just in time for Sunshine The Werewolf, which is an incredible song. Consequently, I was happy.
I didn't see Face To Face and only a few Lagwagon songs because I wasn't feeling like it. Probably lost some punk points there but you can't have it all. I saw a couple Parkway Drive songs and moshed super hard at the back of the tent, then went to see Rancid for 30 minutes, then hung out at the special beers bar. I probably lost a fucking lot of punx points for this. 16-year-old me would've have greatly dissapproved.
After that I went back to the camping, I lost my buddies and went to "bed" early. Maybe not the best idea, definitely not a bad idea though.

Woke up to a sky full of clouds. Luckily, apart from some odd raindrops, nothing severe happened. Late Sunday afternoon it even became pretty damn sunny and warm. I asked the girl in the tent next to us for sexytime but she wasn't up for it.
Saw a couple of Red City Radio songs, which was awesome. I ate a broodje mexicano, which was pretty good. Sunpower played a great show.
Hung out. Elias got hit in the nuts, which was really funny. Drank Leffe and annoyed people until Hot Water Music played. Not super good but I like them so I had a good time.
At a quarter to 5, finally, the band I wanted to see most of all: Alkaline Trio. Although their performance wasn't too tight, they still played pretty good and they're just an awesome band. They played a lot of old songs, probably due to the Maybe I'll Catch Fire shows they did some time ago. I got wild during Blue Carolina, jumped a naked dude in the pit, sang along to basically everything, and hit everyone around me when they started playing 97. Sooooooo good.
The Bronx were amazing. 7 Seconds were awesome. Gorilla Biscuits were insane. Great show and outrageous crowd reaction.
Refused were about 7 times better than I expected. Really tight, great show.
I had to leave because I had an obligatory class at 9 am and wouldn't make it if I'd leave on Monday. Thankfully de Jelle helped me out and he is a great person.

A lot of people were great people this weekend. I've met so many people in the scene the last (few) year(s) and it's really great to meet up with them, hang out, do shit, sing along together/forever. Makes me feel a part of something. Makes me feel appreciated. Makes me feel like I'm doing the right thing.
Also thanks to Teun for letting me slip in at the line to the campsite, everyone who gave me a beer or a high-five, the people at Shield for being the best, the girl next to the Shield stand for also helping me out, the pretty girls for brightening up my day, the nice people for being generally nice and the organisation for setting this all up.


I lost a whole bunch of punk points by missing some great bands, but I had some spare points I think and I regained a few by having fun and watching other great bands.

I am really pleased. I love everything.