30-03-2014

boat

If you set up a house show or House Boat, that's cool. If you set up a boat show for House Boat, that's amazing. If someone could set up a houseboat show for House Boat, that'd be incredible.
The Rotterdam Riot crew booked Tinto's, which is this red recreational boat by the docks of Rotterdam. Really cool.

I was gonna take a train and travel there, spend some time in R'dam and watch the show, hoping to find a place to sleep (which didn't appear to be difficult, Dutch people rule). But fate, and more importantly Wout Touw, twisted that plan. Downside: I didn't manage to see Mikey Erg or the 20Belows. Upsides: fun ride, jammin' catchy pop tunes in the car, no train costs, good company. Wout Touw rules.
So we arrived when the Windowsill was setting up. Lots of Dutch buddies were at the show. I met this dude named Arjan who is the person behind the best youtube channel ever and also a really nice person. He filmed a bunch, if not all, of the sets that night, so check out his channel!

The Windowsill kicked but, obviously. Such a good band. They played lots of new songs from their upcoming album and every one of them was as catchy and fun as the other one. The classics like Mess Me Up, No Destination and their 'cover' of the Apers' Falling Apart got me well excited again about these fellas. I love Mariën vocals, man. Also, Jerry's dancemoves rule. Fun show, fun band, 10/10, een kus van de juf en een bank vooruit!

House Boat played and I decided I'd go nuts, even though I know there's a tendency at Dutch shows of not going nuts. Anyway, I'm just really excited about House Boat, and I was excited I could see them a second them in a week so I put on my dancing shoes (which are the same ones as my regular shoes) and I sang along, fistpumped along and jived along to the soothing tunes of this pop punk hybrid. Other setlist than at Crossbone, cool. All good songs. Although they try really hard sometimes, they weren't able to dissappoint me.
The fun/sad thing about this set was that it was almost put together to display how much they feel alone. I was singing along to the tunes they were playing, as I always do because I like doing that, and it occured to me how many times I was singing about being alone, feeling alone, not wanting to be alone, ... I noticed "alone" is almost an isotopy. So because of that, I will now go over the House Boat discography and try to see what the fuck his fucking problem is, man?

The Delaware Octopus:
1: I Watched The Biggest Loser Australia: "I don't know how to be alone anymore." // "I can't keep taking pictures, but I don't wanna be alone." // "Still scared of you but even moreso of sitting here alone. Still scared of sitting here alone. Sitting here alone."
2: I Work On The 13th Floor: "I don't wanna stay here crammed close, all alone." // "I'll be better when I'm better. I'll be better off alone." // "You'l be better when you're better if you'd just leave me alone."
3: Alonelylonelyone: "Oh I don't wanna be alone." // "We're totally fucked and completely alone. Everyone's fucked and alone. Now we're just fucked up alone."
4. Battlestar Galactive VS. Pop Punk Message Board IV: Grivet Loves Goats: "Bitter, and we're lonely and we only speak the truth."
7. Are You Into Metal?: "It sure would be a shame if these hooded sweatshirts both went home alone."
9. All Of The Time: "Holed up alone cause I'm fucked up when you're not around"

Processing Complaints:
2. Payment Plan: "I wake up and cry 'cause I'm all alone." // "And I don't know why; I should leave it alone." // "I'm all alone, the computer is on." // " 'And now I just wanna be alone, but I hate being alone' "
3. Kids of the Black Hole Sun: "It's boring to be alone."

The Thorns Of Life:
8: Anticipation Preservation: "I walk all night I walk alone I don't wanna be alone tonight." // "You don't wanna be alone tonight" // "Why am I walking home alone?"
12: Real Life As A Metaphor For Real Life: "I figure I'm just gonna end up alone again." // "Locked in my bedroom, one hand on the phone, hoping that I won't end up alone again."

21st Century Breakroom:
1: 21st Century Breakroom: "Time to find another corner; time to leave you alone" // "Six months holed up at home; I can't stand being alone." //
2. Suburban Grit: "And now I'm all alone."

The Thing That Ate Larry Livermore:
5. Love Song For The Reclusive: "Miles away from home, oh, I am lonelier than lonely. Lonelier than lonely so I'll stay in place for just a little while."

And that's just the obvious, excluding all alusions at and metaphors for 'feeling alone'.
So, either they've realised "man, we used the word "alone" way too much on that first record, let's make it a bit more vague" or they've gradually become less alone. I don't know.
Also, the word "alone" looks really weird at this point. You know, when you say or write a word a lot of times it starts abstracticizing itself? Yeah, that.

Anyway, Wout Touw brought me back to Belgium after the show, which I'm very grateful for. I didn't have to be alone so that rules.

25-03-2014

Alles Kapot Fest Day 2

The inner hangover was alright - not too much of a headache or stomach-ache, but my body hurt like fuck. It was Saturday, and the second day of Crossbonefest was upon us. The best day. Why? House Boat. Why else? Everything.

First off, my new favourite band, The Kimberly Steaks. Equally good, I was already in a good mood so I might have danced a bit, sang along a ton and mouthed along sounds that sounded like the words they were singing as well. Fun show!
The first band on the outside stage was Tijuana Zebra, local rock'n'roll up-and-comers. Really cool, dirty, fast, kinda odd-one-out but really good. After their set I had a bartending shift. So I went bartending.

I saw Wank For Peace from behind the bar. I've seen 'em before,, even met one of them again at Fest, and they're really good, and I've acquainted myself with those dudes, along with their other francophone friends, throughout the weekend. Fun dudes. Good band. It's not as accesible but there's a definite intensity and integrity in their branch of melodic punk rock/hardcore.
I was bummed I wasn't able to mosh to Imaginary Dictionary due to my shift, but I did enjoy their sound coming from outside, and I did a little barmosh to Anti-Rule, which is the easiest but most powerful hardcore song I've heard in a while. The dude from Reproach did vocals instead of the usual vocalist apparently. Should've been interesting.

The Lemonaids! Man, I love that band. Summer got back for half an hour. Cock from the Murderburgers filled in for drums and did a great job. I sang along to their party tunes from behind the bar and meanwhile served everyone delicious beers and sodas and cocktails. The Lemonaids' show was actually super tight, probably the best I've seen 'em yet. Apparently I luau'ed with Gert-Jan. Fun fun fun!

Missed Bite Down as well, bummer! Good band. The 20Belows played inside so I was able to see them. Good show, not my favourite band but they have some really cool tunes. Definitely got things going. Then Jesus Police played, a band with members of Midnight Souls, PDS and with the Captain (let's say of Cut Here! fame perhaps, most recently?). Apparently they tried to burn a bible or something. Angry, cult-ish stuff. Cool.

I got off duty and saw a great Great Cynics set. Obviously. Otherwise they'd be called Alright Cynics (this is more or less an An Idiot Abroad rip-off joke). I love the new split with Muncie Girls, especially the with Iona singing, and the rest of the show was just as fun! With a sound similar to early to mid Against Me! records, they managed to captivate the crowd and convinced some more people to come to the show in Hasselt in June. I drunkenly mistook the Cynics' guitarist at the bar for the dude from Gnarwolves, and he told me he thought it was a compliment. Haha. I'm an idiot.

Skipped Richie Dagger in favour of much needed hangouts and food and gf time. Solid band though. Interesting and particular sound. But I got ready to destroy shit during the Murderburgers set.
Which I probably did. I remember they played My Inner Mental Room and I went mental. (Man, my puns are getting worse by the minute.) Lots of great tunes from the new and previous record. Plus, Stackers Are Awesome, the song about Fraser OD'ing, and the adapted Chinese Telephones cover were rad as well. Me & Gert-Jan asked them to do a Lillingtons cover cause we were listening to the Lillingtons 2 days before, and Tom/Tam joined in and they did Phantom Maggot, which was awesome. It was funny cause Gert-Jan was singing the lyrics X-Ray Specs during the song. Silly Gert-Jan. He's an idiot. But he's a lovely idiot. Fun show! It must suck to always play in front of the same couple of drunk Belgian losers.

Bloed & Marteling was weird, but surprisingly enjoyable. Grindcore with silly and smeirige lyrics amongst a bunch burning carebears, a dildo attached to the mic and ridiculous clothes all round. Fun show, I'm glad I got to see them.
Playing right before the Priceduifkes is a tough job though. Cause people tend to forget about everything that happened up til the point the PDS take the stage and instigate World War III. Either due to being blown away or due to, I don't know, concussions or something. Anyway, they started with 50% and everything went kapot from there on. People moshing through the length and width and even the height of the entire Bassment venue. Fucking hell. It was nuts. Even crazier than what happened during Gnarwolves the night before. I'm curious as to what they'll set off when they play Groezrock. I'm guessing similar scenarios, although they play around noon or so. Anyway, lotsa new song, the new EP kicks butt and apparently they did some Minor Threat covers with Mikey Erg (like they did in 2012) but I don't remember that at all. I remembered Mikey did some songs with another band but I couldn't figure out which band or what songs. There's video footage of it though, so I guess it really happened.

Although This Routine Is Hell is an amazing band, I am an idiot and took a break from live music to get low and get excited for House Ways/The Stein Boats. I don't care what anyone might say, they were the best thing I've seen all weekend. The Steinways songs, the House Boat songs, the jokes, the whole thing was just how I imagined it would be: some of the best modern pop punk songs played kinda alright by some of my favourite musicians/songwriters. They played fucking Anticipation Preservation. That ruled. It was so much fun (PARTY TIME!) going nuts to the Steinways song with mostly only Elias, singing along the the House Boat tunes with a bunch of friends and other people, laughing with Grath's stupid stage banter and witnessing Fraser MBS playing along to 21st Century Breakroom and the other last few songs, including My Life Hurts with a one-minute-long intro. The hardcore bit in 21st Century Breakroom is still the best thing ever. What the fuck is my fucking problem, mannnnnnnnn? FUCK! Grath even changed the lyrics according to his current age. That's musicianship right there! Best band. After their show I decided I'd go to Rotterdam and see them again this Thursday. They're playing on a boat there. House Boat. On a boat. It's doesn't get any sillier. I'm excited.

I don't think I saw Sunpower. Bummer. I saw so few bands on the outside stage due to just focussing on the inside/punkrock bands and trying to have some time in between bands to have drinks and stuff. Sucks but you know, I'll see them again sometime.
Chixdiggit! headlined this year again, after their successful show in 2011. More stage banter and jokes, lotsa cool tunes, they even played Gerry Cheevers. I didn't stay for the whole set and instead hung out with the Shield Recordings and the House Boats and other people upstairs. I'm an idiot. Missed the The Real Danger cover set as well because of that. Bad move. I'm an idiot.

I didn't drink too much in that hour or so, though, so I was kinda sobered up when the afterparty began. So I started drinking again and dancing to the tunes that Piekpries spinned til the early hours. I went absolutely apeshit when they put on Black Sin by Black Breath. That must've been weird to see.

Anyway, got at Hengelhoef around 5:45, went to bed and woke up a bit later cause we had to be out by 10. Life sucks. Started cleaning up at the Bassment and spent all Sunday in pain and post-Crossbonefest blues.
Best weekend I've had since Fest. And that's saying a lot. Thanks Lost Youth. Although I'm sorta part of you, you're absolutely the best. Thanks Gert-Jan for being my partner in crime. Thanks Jordi for being the best dude ever. Thanks Wim for helping me out on numerous occasions. You're all wonderful. Thanks Jelle for bringing Bergen to the campsite cause he was way too drunk. Thanks everyone for the beers, the hugs, the kisses and the laughs. Thanks Isaiah for inviting me to Minneapolis. Thanks volunteers for helping and serving me drinks and doing stuff. Thanks Just Like Your Mom for keeping me fed without having to leave the venue. Thanks Sofie for being rad as hell.
Thanks.

I met so many people that were all so kind and loving, lots of UK guys, of course the Frenchies, some Italians, lots of Belgian buds as well. I'm so fucking thankful that I got into this scene, and that it gives me so much. I'm glad I'm still alive.
Best of wishes to the people who got (badly) injured, my thoughts go out to your limbs and I hope you heal fast and well!

Let's try this again some time.


Alles Kapot Fest Day 1

Oh, right, Crossbonefest... What happened?

The next day we arranged all the last things super last-minute. Pïcked up House Boat from the airport and everything was going wrong, so that sucked.
Anyway, definitely not everything went swell, but let's just keep the positive things in mind.

The Waiting Game started the fest. I didn't see 'em due to getting our shit over to Hengelhoef, where me and some friends and a bunch of other punx were staying. Karel Anker & De Joden cancelled last minute, bummer cause I was pretty stoked on seeing them.
The Dutch Rudders are a good band but often lousy/lazy when it comes to their live-shows. I remember hanging out with someone, hearing LJD and just saying "sorry gal, gotta go dance". Good tunes, sloppy performance, but not too bad so it was still enjoyable. It's almost become part of their shtick, haha. I'm excited for the new stuff.

Saw a couple of VVovnds songs and I really like to see them play cause they're very good, intense and a pleasure to watch, but after a couple songs I favoured meeting old and new friends and hanging out. This happened quite a lot throughout the festival actually. I love all my friends from the punkrock/hardcore scene and this is one of the occasions I see them all again. It's so much fun.
My brother, who's not into punkrock or hardcore, even came down to take some photographs, and the first thing he saw was Prince Beastly, a synth-driven garage power pop sorta band, with members of the Priceduifkes and XTuningX. All dressed up in animal and fruit costumes, this must've been quite a surprise for most people. Besides the gimmicky stuff, nothing to groundbreaking, but music-wise it was fun. I love it when Ferre plays synth and it really added a lot to the show.

Cheap Drugs destroyed it, and the audience destroyed stuff as well. One dude's shoulder got wrecked, which was a shame. But it was really awesome. Love the band, the songs, the attitude. Their mix of slow stomping riffs and fast 80s riffs really get a crowd going.
As for Arms Aloft, I loved it. Even more than the Leuven show 2 weeks ago. They played tight, things started getting wild and loose... until the electricity failed for about 10 minutes. Bummer, but the last few songs they played after that were just as fun as the ones before. I fell drunk in love with their bass player later that night and promised I'd go to Minneapolis. Also bought a Sawdust City tape and an old D4/TTK/Rivethead dvd cause I was stoked about seeing Rivethead live footage. Great band. Both Arms Aloft and Rivethead.

Didn't see We'rewolves. Not too big on 'em either way.
I have no idea what songs Mikey Erg played except for the obvious ones, but it was a fun show. Did he play Hey Jealousy? I don't know, I really hope he did though. The last song was Books..., obviously, I actually remembered that cause Mikey was crowdsurfing during that song. I think. God knows. Maybe he covered My Life Hurts? I have no fucking clue. Shit.

The songs I saw by Your Highness ruled of course, probably the loudest and most impressively talented band on the fest. They're not a punkrock or hardcore band so that might explain why they're actually good at what they do. Anyway more hangs and stuff ensued. I went on and off between hanging out and drinking and watching the band when Cornflames and Scheisse Minelli played, partly due to being tired and wanting to talk to people.

I did see Gnarwolves. Let me rephrase that. I experienced Gnarwolves. FUCK. I have no idea what happened, but in my mind, as far as I remember, this was the second-wildest crowd response of the whole fest. People went apeshit over this band, rightfully so of course. Gnarwolves are one of those bands that, to me, are doing something radically particular. They've developed a style that is incomparably comparable and it works. Shouty, fast songs, rough around the edges. With an attitude to party and get wild they got an insane crowd reaction and I was so happy to shout along with the punk cru.

As an afterparty band, Crossbonefest hired Off The Charts in a slightly different formation, so vocalist Nicolas could run around with the mic during their set of 90s punk rock classics. I remember Hot Water Music, Osker, Bad Religion, Good Charlotte for fuck's sake, and there was lots more that I may or may not have danced/sang along to. Fun way to end the night.

Wait, did I say "end the night"? I'm sorry, I meant start the night. Dick Cockadvices and Gert-Jan Braes took care of the afterparty jams and I managed to party til I died, or at least til me and 10-ish other party animals were sent home around 5:30. Slept like an angel for 3 or 4 hours.
Went swimming instead of taking a shower. Started drinking again. Went back to the swimming pool for the punx swim. Met up with my girlfriend who came down and continued drinking.

Ready to go.

Alles Kapot Fest Day -1

I jacked up my elbow, my voice is just barely recovering, my feet and back still hurt and I still have trouble getting out of bed. You guessed it, Crossbonefest took place last weekend and it was off the hook.
As per usual I forget a lot of stuff that happened due to intoxication but let's see what the general idea was.

I helped out the guys in Lost Youth Records, a collective I'm unofficially part of, on Tuesday night, Wednesday night and Thursday throughout, including falling asleep while my Houthalen hosts were showing my incredibly hilarious series/films and eating bacon and eggs at Jordi's cause he rules. Thursday night, after pickup up the drumsets and backline, we headed to Carpe Diem in Hasselt for the pre-fest, set up by Jeroen from Coma Commander.

I missed Brutus' and Coma Commander's set, I saw part of The Waiting Game's set after ordering a pizza and basically giving it all away cause I'm an idiot. The Waiting Game is fun, they've got a song online but live it all just translates way better. Kinda 90s emo pop stuff.
I remember I needed the 3 pi's when I arrived: to piss, to get pizza and to drink pintjes. So after the first set I'd done 2/3, and there was nothing left on my list than to drink pintjes.

I'm really excited about The Kimberly Steaks ever since I've seen their acoustic performance in Edinburgh last month. They were playing Thursday night so I got stoked and really enjoyed their electric - normal - set. Fast, depressing and Scottish. Those three words probably bring a different, WAY MORE POPULAR, Scottish band to mind but The Kimberly Steaks bear more undeniable similarity from Jawbreaker and Osker. I mean, their new album cover is a rip-off of 24 Hour Revenge Therapy - designed by the amazing Wolf Mask, by the way. Wait, I mean, the entire new album, To Live And Die In West Central Scotland is a rip-off of 24 Hour Revenge Therapy. Not necessarily a rip-off, but it's the first thing that comes to mind. Greig's vocals are snarly (is that a word? I probably just mean gnarly and/or sneery) and actually pretty well articulated, although wrapped in a Scottish accent. Depressing shit about drinking, being bummed out and taking bad life decisions. Domestic life, that's the life for me. // And whenever I feel down, I remind myself I’m not bound to live and die in this town.

Not Scientists followed them up and closed the night with a banger. Fucking tight. If I'm not mistaken, this is ex-Uncommonmanfrommars. Fun poppy punk rock with a pace that blew you away. Catchy tunes, great performance. Their bass player apparently never played in a band before, but he was so good! I loved their show, really looking forward to seeing them again and hearing more from them. It's a shame cause I don't necessarily remember much of their set but I just recall I was blown away. I might have missed a part due to getting another pizza, but I'm not sure. These nights are so fucking amazing.

18-03-2014

't leven he. 't leven.

This Life is a band from Toulouse, France. Hardcore. Angry. Loud. That kinda deal. Check it out.

This Life - Lies About The Truth (2013, Delete Your Favorite Records, Deux Pieds Deux Dents, Never Trust An Asshole)

1. Life Wire
2. Fire Your Dreams
3. Are We Ready
4. Back In White
5. Who Order Who
6. Age To Thrill
7. Mediatalks
8. Sunseeker
9. Highway To Nowhere
10. Celebrity's Bells


Remember the first three Rise Against records? Well, if I'd wanna keep this review short, I'd say to just take those three records, combine them and you get what This Life is doing on this record.

After an intro-ish anthematic jam, Life Wire, I get sucked into a melodic hardcore record that I can't help but compare to Comeback, Rise Against, even hints of Propagandhi and those kinda bands. But more importantly, This Life evokes the same feeling and excitement as those bands did, so obviously they're doing the right thing, and not simply ripping off bands like those.
The vocals are understandable but very rough and more at the hardcore spectrum of vocal styles, which adds a sort of brutality and power to the songs. They have lots of socio-political lyrics - as is costumary in the genre - that have often surpassed their point of relevance but still stand for pure and honest ideals. As a hardcore/punk band, it is much more interesting to me if you have opinionated values and if you express them accordingly and consonantly, I am very pleased. This Life succeeds to incorporate the lyrical content into the musical schemes.

They don't slow down either. If you're looking for an exciting, interesting melodic hardcore/punk record that brings a bretah of fresh air into the forgotten scene of the mid-2000s, then look no further. Fast, technical, upbeat. Drums that'll kill you if you don't watch out. There's the occasional breakdown/bridge dealio to go nuts to if you're into that. It's alright though. The bass sounds great throughout the record, like in the intro to Mediatalks or in Back In White. And the riffs! Oh, the riffs! This is just a really fun record. My favourite tune is probably either Fire Your Dreams or Highway To Nowhere. That latter song is a fucking blast. The solo at the outro nails it.

So yeah, really cool album actually, I've been postponing listening to it but I'm impressed. It gets me pumped and headbanging and stuff so those are good things.

17-03-2014

Middle-aged Devilry

I love Like Bats, you know that. Like Bats have a split with this band called Young Devilry. It's a split tape and it's quite impossible to find. It has the best artwork ever and 2 of the best Like Bats songs, which may or may not have actual titles, but bandcamp lists them as Song One and Song Two. Song Two is my fucking jam, as the teenagers these day say.
The Young Devilry songs are available on MySpace OF ALL FUCKING PLACES. It's probably the only reason someone would want top visit a myspace.com page these days. There's also a song from their demo on it and a couple tunes from the EP Better Off Dead.

UPDATE: Apparently Matt, who plays bass for Like Bats now, was in this band. Makes total sense.

Anyway, this band is fucking amazing. I've been listening to the Better Off Dead release pretty much all the time for the past week, and it's amazing. It's in the same alley as Like Bats, they toured together and made an accompanying split tape so that makes sense. Definitely the first recording of both bands have similarities.
Moody music. Definitely. Lyrically they're downers most of the time; musically they write catchy songs as in infectious. It gets in your head and makes you feel weird and/or miserable. There's definitely a lot of negativity, which is often a virtue in underground punk rock music. Negative content is a staple of our music scene and it's something not everyone is used to, or can deal with. I listen to a ton of depressing songs but even I have trouble wrapping my head around some of Young Devilry's outbursts. But that's what I love about it. The honesty, the blatantly pure put-it-out-there attitude.

The demo and split recordings are alright. The Untitled track on the split tape really gives an idea of where the band is heading. As does the acoustic track, Spineless, actually. Better Off Dead is an accumulation of sad and angry songwriting and sad and angry execution. Arizona starts with a high-pitched jumpy riff and ends up being a totally catchy song that will bring you down regardless. That's the kind of songs you can expect. I Wanna Be Miserable: same. You’re gonna be miserable for the rest of your days./Too much to put together, you can’t even think straight./And I’m left alone. What else is new?/Nothing at all./Nothing./At./All. That's the kind of lyrics that get me off. I mean, they get me excited for punk rock. Sure, it's a depressing thought. But the fact that it's out there is cathartic and bonding too.
I think there's two vocalists in this band. That, or some vocals are overdubbed with a much cleaner and less raspy voice. There's a lot of passion in the songs. The riffage, the fucking bass riffs, the tiny breaks and fills, the part in Think Spring where the guitar part changes, like, a second too late, or the transition from Half Today to Half Tomorrow where the instruments form a quiet dialogue until the song takes off again into a full-blown distillment of personal development put into song. Also both songs are exactly 2:54 minutes long, which is either the result of cuttin a two-part song at the exact half-point, or coincidence that worked out pretty cool. There's fun parts to shout along to and sometimes that's all I need from a song or band. Just to relief some stress or something. Sometimes I can't help but shout along to lines like There are times I often think of you./And what I'd do if I was still by your side now. or My face says a thousand words./Your face shows a different person./Maybe it's the change of seasons./Or maybe it's just me./I'll be just fine. (I'm doing just fine.)/Back to the same routine.

That Think Spring song is amazing. The bass line, the guitar riff, the undermixed drums (that might be a negative point but whatever, it's punk), that weird solo-ish thing the guitar does and both the vocal delivery as the lyrical content are elements to a fucking great song by a band that apparently is impossible to find more information by.

So please, I hope this post does not only inspire people to check out this band (message me if you want the EP digitally, I don't think it's still available), but also maybe reaches someone who has more info on the whereabouts of this band. I assume they broke up, but I still wanna know who these guys were. For some reason.

Also, listen to Song Two by Like Bats

15-03-2014

Let's Rob Lynch The Landlord

When I got a text from my friend Petit if I wanted to join him on a trip to Cologne to see Rob Lynch and hang out, I couldn't say no. Good times were to be had, and they were had.

The show was cool. Apparently Rob Lynch is like pretty big in Germany, and he gets airplay and stuff, which is super rad for him. He's touring with a backing band, which was really fun.

First up was Lion And The Wolf though. He's the cutest bearded man you'll ever see. He had a surprisingly quirky voice which did not correlate with his beard. Great song, great attitude, great gratitude and a great guy. Really liked the show, bought a tape, talked to him for a bit, nice one.

Rob Lynch killed it, man. Really cool show. I was buzzed by then, but he and his band got the place in a certain mood and atmosphere that was undeniable throughout the venue. Fun show, like shows should be.

Afterwards...
BEERS
FALAFEL
BLACK HOLES
BOLLYWOOD

Arms Alaaf

I forgot about this show my bud Roel was setting up with Pilot To Gunner and Arms Aloft until the night before. Thank God I got reminded.

Because of a forgetful waitress at the restaurant I didn't get to see the first half of Pilot To Gunner's set, though I could hear parts of it because I was sitting outside eating sushi, like a fancy motherfucker. I could've seen some songs but some of my friends were hanging out outside so I decided to do the unpunk and not go see a band play. Sorry dudes.

I was really excited to see Arms Aloft play though. Apparently they've been in Europe before, but I completely missed that. They're back now, and they're roaring. Soaring. Whatever. They're doing somethiong with their instruments and voices and it rules. It's called punk rock, I gathered from bystanders. Hit songs like Skinny Love and DOUBLEDRANOPERCOCETNOICE (a blatantly obvious D4 reference that dances the line between ironic rip-off and awesome homage) got the crowd going and I danced my butt off to their cover of The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton, which is just a rad song with a rad and satanic outro. That was fun. Great band, no encores, fuck shit up.

Come dance at Crossbonefest next week! Arms Aloft are playing there!

11-03-2014

Blowcelery

It's been a busy week last week. So let's go back in time for a sec, to Friday, February 28th, 2014. Place to be, JH Kaddish, Schoten. Get in your DeLorean and get on my level, man.

I was playing a show with Knalselder. My set was lotsa fun, but let's focus on the main act of the night. Knalselder played an acoustic set. They're great. They're so incredibly funny and sing about normal, almost banal subjects in a ridiculously witty way. I always crack up when he sings about peeing in the sink. Relatable stuff. Songs about ex-girlfriends, traffic jams, and the likes. Even a fucking song about me. That was insane. I was truly blown away and emotionally moved. It was alienating and heartwarming. The Vinger told me he's working on his singing and it's slowly paying off, so that's cool. I think I like 'em better electrically, but some songs came across really well in an acoustic version.
Really fun night, good friends, good music, some mediocre music, good beers and a nice atmosphere. JH Kaddish is a really cool venue actually.