Whoa, man. Must've been the best day of my life.
After waking up on a cold floor I went to the venue. The party didn't start until 5 pm but there were possibilities to hang out and stuff so that was good. Besides the hangouts, the swimming session, the jokes, the anti-hangover beers, the stupid woman at the sandwichbar and the general fun, Saturday was full of awesome bands.
Starting out with Off The Charts. I came in stomping during the second song or something because I love those guys and they play great music. The show pretty much sucked, though, haha. The songs sounded good, I'm superstoked for the new songs. They also played Off With Their Heads' Clear The Air, which is also a great song. Good guys! They also brought me pizza (which I yet have to pay, haha), so that's a win as well!
Next band was Tyred Eyes. Swedish garage punk band with a pretty lady on guitar and a Mario-look-a-like stereotyoe Swedish guy on bass. The bass sounded super bad-ass, by the way. It got my bass-boner going for sure. The songs were great, the show was good, just all-round a great band!
I didn't see Impo & The Tents because I interviewed Mikey Erg. I didn't see International Diamond Thieves because I didn't care about them, sorry. I kinda liked Teenage Gluesniffers but all the songs sounded the same so it wasn't really interesting. They did cover Jawbreaker's Boxcar and that was great.
But then the party started and it literally didn't stop. Every band was a band I wanted to see. Starting out with the Bat Bites. Holy fuck they're such a good band, and they played such a good show. I was singing along while eating pizza and when I finished my pizza I was dancing a bit. Their songs are great, the Joan Jett cover was great and they rule.
The Windowsill played next and they are also really cool. The show wasn't up to scratch, I guess, but I sang along cause the songs are just so dman catchy. Marino's voice rules.
The Dauntless Elite also played, and I was stoked to see them. It was their last day on tour, and they played a fine show. I sang along when I knew the lyrics, and sometimes I also sang along when I didn't know the words. I danced a bit. They definitely deserved more attention, cause they're awesome. Nicolas Cage also thought so. Their new record is amazing, check it!
Next: The Accelerators. They're a great band, but I didn't care to really check them out at the time. Sorry guys.
The Hotlines, though, they killed it. Wow, what a fucking awesome show. Including all their hit songs, 2 Queers covers (Psycho Over You and See You Later Fuckface) and a keyboard player.Song For All The Girls is such a great song. Great show, danced a lot, sang a lot, had a fucking lot of fun. WHOO!
The Real Danger put on an insane show, including OpIvy and Undertones covers, great songs of their own.
The Priceduifkes started World War III, with punk rock music. I think they played a House Boat cover, I could be wrong though. Insane either way, they're sooooo good.
I don't really have words for the show Mikey Erg did. He started out with Introduing Morissey, went on to play Hey Jealousy on request, WHICH WAS THE BEST THING EVER IN MY WHOLE LIFE AND NOTHING WILL TOP THAT. Then hit song after hit song, Ergs! songs, solo songs, covers, and as encore he played some Dopamines songs, while the crowd was on stage singing, he played a Copyrights song, he played all these bitchin' songs and it was the best thing ever. I almost cried I think. Da is echt nen hele goeie mens.
I'm sad I couldn't see his acoustic show yesterday, but I loved every minute of his show.
Thanks a whole fucking lot, Lost Youth Records, Crossbonefest, for my favourite weekend ever.
I don't want stuff like this to end, it's just perfect. I'm watching punk rock shows, I'm hanging out with some of the coolest people ever, I meet so many new people, I get fucking shitfaced, I laugh my ass off, I fall on my baking house (dutchism) a whole lot and I don't give a fuck about anything but having fun.
Punk rock is literally the best thing that happened to me. I'm getting emotional now.
AND I DOUBT THAT YOU'RE THINKING OF ME, BUT IT'S NICE TO PRETEND THAT YOU MIGHT BE.
25-03-2012
CROSSBONE FEST - fridayayayayayay
Without any doubt one of the best weekends I will have this year. (Other contestants are th Groezrock festival and the Summer In October festival)
Let's start off by giving "mad props" (this means "a lot of praise") for everyone who helped to set up Crossbone fest. Holy fuck, it was insane.
It all started on Friday, which is hardcoreday. After eating a pizza that was way too cheesy (no pun) I arrived at the venue in time to catch the first band. That was Trapped Inside. There's a girl singing, and some dudes playing hardcore music. I'm not a hardcorekid, and the hardcore I do listen to will probably be frowned upon by the hardcorekids, so I'm just gonna go with 'good show'. I don't really know. Could've been really great, could've been mediocre. It wasn't bad!
DRS/Dr. Schnabel played next. They're a couple of kids from the other side of the country coming to play fast trashy hardcore. That's cool!
I didn't really get Conviction. Not the cup of tea of mine.
Get Wise was cool. I don't know. they had a good vibe. I was getting pretty drunk. Good music to hit people by.
Shredder was cool and all.
Rebuild played a home game. I moshed and got hit in the head a lot so I stopped. I'm a fragile kid, and Rebuild's fans aren't. Awesome show, this is an amazing band. I finally managed to get the EP, stoked! You should get it too! And if you're a tough dude, you should mosh at their shows!
Insanity Alert was really awesome. Crossover band with Heavy Kevy/Kevin Aper/Kevin Stout. He rules, and the rest of the band as well. Really cool songs, cool performance and all that.
Didn't really see Vitamin X.
Mikey Erg & the Pricepigeons played a set of hardcore and punk classics which was great. Started out with Project X, and further on they covered Descendents, Minor Threat, 7 Seconds, Psyched To Die and Black Flag I think. It was great. It's fun to dance to Straight Edge Revenge while being shitfaced. It's also fun to dance, period. Mikey Erg is a really good person.
Afterparty was good, don't remember a lot. Jelle Gommers took over the DJ booth so it must've been good. Danced, got drunkererer and eventually just left for no reason. Kinda weird.
Slept horribly, but felt really great.
Let's start off by giving "mad props" (this means "a lot of praise") for everyone who helped to set up Crossbone fest. Holy fuck, it was insane.
It all started on Friday, which is hardcoreday. After eating a pizza that was way too cheesy (no pun) I arrived at the venue in time to catch the first band. That was Trapped Inside. There's a girl singing, and some dudes playing hardcore music. I'm not a hardcorekid, and the hardcore I do listen to will probably be frowned upon by the hardcorekids, so I'm just gonna go with 'good show'. I don't really know. Could've been really great, could've been mediocre. It wasn't bad!
DRS/Dr. Schnabel played next. They're a couple of kids from the other side of the country coming to play fast trashy hardcore. That's cool!
I didn't really get Conviction. Not the cup of tea of mine.
Get Wise was cool. I don't know. they had a good vibe. I was getting pretty drunk. Good music to hit people by.
Shredder was cool and all.
Rebuild played a home game. I moshed and got hit in the head a lot so I stopped. I'm a fragile kid, and Rebuild's fans aren't. Awesome show, this is an amazing band. I finally managed to get the EP, stoked! You should get it too! And if you're a tough dude, you should mosh at their shows!
Insanity Alert was really awesome. Crossover band with Heavy Kevy/Kevin Aper/Kevin Stout. He rules, and the rest of the band as well. Really cool songs, cool performance and all that.
Didn't really see Vitamin X.
Mikey Erg & the Pricepigeons played a set of hardcore and punk classics which was great. Started out with Project X, and further on they covered Descendents, Minor Threat, 7 Seconds, Psyched To Die and Black Flag I think. It was great. It's fun to dance to Straight Edge Revenge while being shitfaced. It's also fun to dance, period. Mikey Erg is a really good person.
Afterparty was good, don't remember a lot. Jelle Gommers took over the DJ booth so it must've been good. Danced, got drunkererer and eventually just left for no reason. Kinda weird.
Slept horribly, but felt really great.
20-03-2012
ZINE-O-RINE-O #5
Zine #5 is out today! 50 cents, 20 A5 pages, black'n'white!
Includes:
- interviews with Alex "Jerk Store Zine" Leech, Like Bats, Be My Doppelganger
- write-up about Estonian hardcore by Bram
- various rantings about punkrock and related stuff
- record reviews
- downloadable mix .zip
#3 and #4 are also still available!
Includes:
- interviews with Alex "Jerk Store Zine" Leech, Like Bats, Be My Doppelganger
- write-up about Estonian hardcore by Bram
- various rantings about punkrock and related stuff
- record reviews
- downloadable mix .zip
#3 and #4 are also still available!
16-03-2012
Line Out+F.O.D.
Wednesday night I decided to check out Line Out and F.O.D. in Antwerp punk rock city. Antwerp is far from a punk rock city. It sucks. There were not many people in de Rots. Like, 2 or 3 I guess.
Line Out is an Italian punkrock band, on tour. They were super shy but put on a decent show. Taking sounds from power pop, melodic punk rock and straight catchy pop punk, they played some nice tunes I'd gladly hear again. unfortunately they didn't have any recordings (with them). Real cool band, and they even were kinda excited they got to play for a lousy 3 people, so I think that's admirable. Check them out please!
F.O.D. played a show. It was... "aight". Nothing more to say about it, haha. But they're really great guys and were pretty funny on stage as well. So check them out too, normally they put on a good show!
Line Out is an Italian punkrock band, on tour. They were super shy but put on a decent show. Taking sounds from power pop, melodic punk rock and straight catchy pop punk, they played some nice tunes I'd gladly hear again. unfortunately they didn't have any recordings (with them). Real cool band, and they even were kinda excited they got to play for a lousy 3 people, so I think that's admirable. Check them out please!
F.O.D. played a show. It was... "aight". Nothing more to say about it, haha. But they're really great guys and were pretty funny on stage as well. So check them out too, normally they put on a good show!
11-03-2012
What up hardcore?
Hardcore has a lot of things to offer. Good music, meaningful lyrics, a sense of unity, helpfulness, also parties, dancing in various ways and feeling emotions. Hardcore is about going through the motions.
Midnight Souls understood that.
Yesterday they released their first full length record "Going Through The Motions" with a bang. A show in 't Verschil, an awesome youth center, with 5 other bands among which headlining band The fucking Carrier, playing their last Belgian show ever.
Upon arriving right before the first band was to play, there was already a lot of people. It's cool to see people coming early, being siked and the likes.
The Homeless kicked off the night. They're a good band. They are getting better it seems. The first couple of songs they played were really good. They played some EP stuff and some new stuff. The set was pretty intense, but it's not always easy opening so I think that kinda held them back? I don't know. I enjoyed the show. (Oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh.)
Next up were Daggers. Well... I don't know. Their music is good and all, but what the fuck? This set had more feedback in it than songs. This could've been a really, really good 15-minute set, but they made it a spun out and boring 30-minute set. I didn't get it, probably, but this was wack. Good band, there not from (dutchism), but I'd like to see them just go at it instead of doing weird interludes.
German time! Lasting Traces came up and they pretty much killed it. I wasn't blown away and they're not doing anything I haven't heard yet but they performed a really strong and intense set so that's definitely very cool.
More Germans! Together have played 't Verschil 3 times now, and I've seen 'em there 3 times, coincidentally. This band is so powerful. Their show becomes so much better every time and this was no exception. Such a great, great band, great riffage, great lyrics, great vibe. I love it. Modern Life Is War cover is still there, so that rules as well.
Then the Midnight Souls took over. I had been building up anger all afternoon and night (among others by drinking lotsa cheap beers) and at this point I felt I was angry enough to dance to the Midnight Souls show. Holy fuck. Their set was intense. Amazing. I think the Souls finally made a record you can mosh to, without losing touch with what they were doing. The new record is really off the hook. Accordingly, I moshed the hell out of me and others around me, played a lot of air guitar, sang along when I knew the words and got more angry by the minute. I loved it. They played Jawbreaker's Jet Black which was unreal. So awesome. It gave me shivers. The band obviously gave their all, like they always do, and it's cool to see them once again, now with a new record. They're definitely going a lot of places.
The Carrier concluded the night. Last European tour, last show in Belgium. I wanted to mosh but I was too tired to dance again so I just watched from the back. Great show, lotsa fun, lotsa emotions. I'm not so familiar with their latest record but everything sounded fine. Best moments were No 51 and Memoirs, those are probably some of my all-round favourite hardcore songs. Great band.
I need to work on my physique so I can dance more.
Midnight Souls understood that.
Yesterday they released their first full length record "Going Through The Motions" with a bang. A show in 't Verschil, an awesome youth center, with 5 other bands among which headlining band The fucking Carrier, playing their last Belgian show ever.
Upon arriving right before the first band was to play, there was already a lot of people. It's cool to see people coming early, being siked and the likes.
The Homeless kicked off the night. They're a good band. They are getting better it seems. The first couple of songs they played were really good. They played some EP stuff and some new stuff. The set was pretty intense, but it's not always easy opening so I think that kinda held them back? I don't know. I enjoyed the show. (Oh-whoa-oh-oh-oh.)
Next up were Daggers. Well... I don't know. Their music is good and all, but what the fuck? This set had more feedback in it than songs. This could've been a really, really good 15-minute set, but they made it a spun out and boring 30-minute set. I didn't get it, probably, but this was wack. Good band, there not from (dutchism), but I'd like to see them just go at it instead of doing weird interludes.
German time! Lasting Traces came up and they pretty much killed it. I wasn't blown away and they're not doing anything I haven't heard yet but they performed a really strong and intense set so that's definitely very cool.
More Germans! Together have played 't Verschil 3 times now, and I've seen 'em there 3 times, coincidentally. This band is so powerful. Their show becomes so much better every time and this was no exception. Such a great, great band, great riffage, great lyrics, great vibe. I love it. Modern Life Is War cover is still there, so that rules as well.
Then the Midnight Souls took over. I had been building up anger all afternoon and night (among others by drinking lotsa cheap beers) and at this point I felt I was angry enough to dance to the Midnight Souls show. Holy fuck. Their set was intense. Amazing. I think the Souls finally made a record you can mosh to, without losing touch with what they were doing. The new record is really off the hook. Accordingly, I moshed the hell out of me and others around me, played a lot of air guitar, sang along when I knew the words and got more angry by the minute. I loved it. They played Jawbreaker's Jet Black which was unreal. So awesome. It gave me shivers. The band obviously gave their all, like they always do, and it's cool to see them once again, now with a new record. They're definitely going a lot of places.
The Carrier concluded the night. Last European tour, last show in Belgium. I wanted to mosh but I was too tired to dance again so I just watched from the back. Great show, lotsa fun, lotsa emotions. I'm not so familiar with their latest record but everything sounded fine. Best moments were No 51 and Memoirs, those are probably some of my all-round favourite hardcore songs. Great band.
I need to work on my physique so I can dance more.
10-03-2012
Skagain
Thursday night Kickass did a Rock Café show for ska bands.
HOLY FUCK SKA IS HUGE.
No seriously, the place was packed, lotsa party and really most people I've ever seen at a rock café show I think.
Saw half of Bamboo Avenue's set which was good. With horn section.
Saw Swift Manouver's set which was also really good. They played a Black Sabbath cover and a Chuck Berry cover. Also ska songs. Without horn section.
HOLY FUCK SKA IS HUGE.
No seriously, the place was packed, lotsa party and really most people I've ever seen at a rock café show I think.
Saw half of Bamboo Avenue's set which was good. With horn section.
Saw Swift Manouver's set which was also really good. They played a Black Sabbath cover and a Chuck Berry cover. Also ska songs. Without horn section.
05-03-2012
Zele what the fuck.
Yesterday I was in Zele and I'm still not good of it (dutchism).
The punk rock/ska show was in Juvenes and it was the release show for CanIrepeed's demo. Cool!
First band was No Refund, youngsters out of Zele City. I understood it was only their third show or something. They're a pop punk/punk rock band. Their songs weren't half bad, I guess I liked what they were playing. They played a Dear Landlord cover which was really bad though and a cover of Country Roads that was not so good. But yeah, their own songs sounded alright, it wasn't tight but they're just starting out so I'll cut them some slack of course. I'm curious where these guys'll end up!
Second band of the night were the Morning Woody's. Ska in the pickitup-style. I mean, it's good but it gets pretty boring to me. But they were a fun band, so thumbs up.
Time for pizza. Whoo! With pepperoni, that shit was hot, but good.
Then the PDS played. I'd seen them the day before so I wasn't really in for any surprise. Best band, seriously. Danced like hell, which was pretty tiring because I just ate a whole pizza. Fell down a couple times, that shit's always funny. Mosh, stagedives, singalongs, high fives, whoo! Great guys!
Scheisse Minelli took the stage. Really drunk Germans playing fast hardcore. I think they're a real cool band, but they did smash a mic which makes them kinda assholes. On the other hand, when I went to buy a CD they gave me a shot of vodka, so that makes them awesome. Good band, good vibe!
CanIrepeed finished the night. I'm not a ska kind of guy. I used to listen to a lot of it, and nowadays I still like the skapunk/skacore kind of thing, the rough, gruffy and fast kind. I didn't know what Kanariepiet sounded like so I was surprised when I found out I really dug it. They have like 9 members, among which a horn section of 3 or 4. They sound ska-ish, but there's a lot more going on and most of the time it works a treat. The horns were really good actually, quite creative. I really dug the lead vocalists' timbre and the harmonies with the backing vocals. All in all, one helluva par-tay, lotsa fun, and a great demo. Everyone go buy the demo!
The punk rock/ska show was in Juvenes and it was the release show for CanIrepeed's demo. Cool!
First band was No Refund, youngsters out of Zele City. I understood it was only their third show or something. They're a pop punk/punk rock band. Their songs weren't half bad, I guess I liked what they were playing. They played a Dear Landlord cover which was really bad though and a cover of Country Roads that was not so good. But yeah, their own songs sounded alright, it wasn't tight but they're just starting out so I'll cut them some slack of course. I'm curious where these guys'll end up!
Second band of the night were the Morning Woody's. Ska in the pickitup-style. I mean, it's good but it gets pretty boring to me. But they were a fun band, so thumbs up.
Time for pizza. Whoo! With pepperoni, that shit was hot, but good.
Then the PDS played. I'd seen them the day before so I wasn't really in for any surprise. Best band, seriously. Danced like hell, which was pretty tiring because I just ate a whole pizza. Fell down a couple times, that shit's always funny. Mosh, stagedives, singalongs, high fives, whoo! Great guys!
Scheisse Minelli took the stage. Really drunk Germans playing fast hardcore. I think they're a real cool band, but they did smash a mic which makes them kinda assholes. On the other hand, when I went to buy a CD they gave me a shot of vodka, so that makes them awesome. Good band, good vibe!
CanIrepeed finished the night. I'm not a ska kind of guy. I used to listen to a lot of it, and nowadays I still like the skapunk/skacore kind of thing, the rough, gruffy and fast kind. I didn't know what Kanariepiet sounded like so I was surprised when I found out I really dug it. They have like 9 members, among which a horn section of 3 or 4. They sound ska-ish, but there's a lot more going on and most of the time it works a treat. The horns were really good actually, quite creative. I really dug the lead vocalists' timbre and the harmonies with the backing vocals. All in all, one helluva par-tay, lotsa fun, and a great demo. Everyone go buy the demo!
03-03-2012
Punkrock is your friend
After the mainstream monstrosity of Tuesday I got back in my comfort zone at a real punkrock show. All the ingredients were there: the venue was a regular youth center (Vleugel F), beer was cheap, entrance was free, there were people I knew, there were not super many people, and I got drunk. WHOO!
First band were the Leuven resident skatepunk foundation Face The Fax. They get better everytime I see them. I mean, I think they're better everytime I see them. The new songs sound really good so go check that out ( http://facethefax.bandcamp.com/album/reboot-restart ). They covered a This Is A Standoff song, one off of Be Excited but I can't recall which one. Good cover anyway. Rest of the set was great too, these guys are full of energy and amazing melodies.
Next band were The Sex Toys. I had seen them a couple weeks ago and well, it was quite the same thing obviously. Cool band, they've gotten way better nowadays and they play some bitchin' covers as well! I found myself singing along to some of their own songs as well, so that's pretty cool!
The last band were the Priceduifkes. Seen these guys a million times already, but they never bore me. I actually haven't seen them a million times, but, like, a lot of times. They play everywhere. They played a rockin' set, some cool covers and got the few people who were still there dancing. As I was already drunk and careless at that point, I danced too and almost broke my glasses twice. Next time I'll take em off, I don't know why I didn't.
Tonight Punk Rock weekend part II in Zele. Whoo!
First band were the Leuven resident skatepunk foundation Face The Fax. They get better everytime I see them. I mean, I think they're better everytime I see them. The new songs sound really good so go check that out ( http://facethefax.bandcamp.com/album/reboot-restart ). They covered a This Is A Standoff song, one off of Be Excited but I can't recall which one. Good cover anyway. Rest of the set was great too, these guys are full of energy and amazing melodies.
Next band were The Sex Toys. I had seen them a couple weeks ago and well, it was quite the same thing obviously. Cool band, they've gotten way better nowadays and they play some bitchin' covers as well! I found myself singing along to some of their own songs as well, so that's pretty cool!
The last band were the Priceduifkes. Seen these guys a million times already, but they never bore me. I actually haven't seen them a million times, but, like, a lot of times. They play everywhere. They played a rockin' set, some cool covers and got the few people who were still there dancing. As I was already drunk and careless at that point, I danced too and almost broke my glasses twice. Next time I'll take em off, I don't know why I didn't.
Tonight Punk Rock weekend part II in Zele. Whoo!
29-02-2012
And now for something completely different.
Hey guys, guess what?! I went to a rock show. A legitimate rock show. It was insane. In different ways. Here's the story.
My destination was the Ancienne Belgique (AB) in Brussels. A mega big venue, fit for rock shows. I've only been there one other time, for Broadway Calls/Alkaline Trio a couple years ago and that was fine. That was a punkrock show. But this was different. I arrived on the corner and saw all these people standing outside. Well, I'll be damned. I had to fucking wait in line to get in. It was like in the movies! Super bummed of course, what the fuck was up with that.
Anyway, I got in after a few minutes of waiting. I showed my ticket, everything alright. I walk up and what the flying fuck, I'm being checked. Like, the patdown they do on the airport. Holy smokes, guys, I though I was going to a rock show, not another continent. My bag's checked as well cause god forbid if I'd brought a drink in. I'd bring the whole place down to bankrupcy. Fucking hell.
I'm finally inside of the venue and I realise why they check people for drinks. Drinks at the bar were fucking € 2,5 a piece. I can have a nice pizza for the price! I'm not a cheap prick but that's a bit much, no? Another impression was the Rise Against merch guy. I think he used to be a marketcramer (dutchism) because he was all yelling and selling t-shirts for 20 fucking euros. The fuck. At this stage I was almost regretting I ever came to a rock show in the first place. It's not my natural habitat. I had no company either, like a lot of times but it's pretty hard to meet people when there's 2000 of 'em, it's pretty hard to find people who you know are there to chat a bit, the show sold out in like 2 hours so some of my buds didn't get a ticket, and it's downright impossible to just sit at the bar and drink because I'll go out flat broke. I don't care about going to shows by myself, but it's pretty silly at such rock shows.
Anyway, cool thing about rock shows: they're organized damn swell. "19h15: first band" You can count on it. So no running late and ultimately missing some band because you need to catch a train. Nope, that was good.
Now, for the fun part of the evening: the bands. First up was one of my favourite bands nowadays: Touché Amoré. It's a complete enigma how they got on that tour but I'm stoked for them they get such a chance. I talked to their singer, Jeremy, for a minute after the show and he was also completely confused.
The show, as said, started at 19h15 and they blasted right into it with a song I didn't expect (i.e. not ~ or And Now It's Happening In Mine) but I don't remember which one. They were tight. They were amazing. Played through almost all of their songs in half an hour. Song by song they got me singing along, being glad to see 'em. It was intense. Of course, the entire stage was about as big as the venues they normally play, but that didn't affect their performance. They played a new song and that was probably the best part of the entire set. Epic, a long song for their standards and it got me goosebumps. "At least I tried." Wow. Then they raged through another batch of songs from both their albums and finished in style with Honest Sleep, something I did expect. What an amazing song, what an amazing band.
The 'kids' had no idea they had just seen the best band of the evening.
The next band was Architects. I had seen them at Ieperfest 2009 and I guess I though they were alright. So I was up for checking it out. Well, I guess 18-year old me was a silly fuck because holy smokes that was pretty bad. So I can be short about Architects: "not my thing".
The last band was Rise Against. They are a popular band now. I mean, they'd gotten pretty popular when they signed to Geffen for Siren Song I guess, but it seems to me Appeal To Reason and Endgame (for the people who stopped caring: those are the last 2 records) skyrocketed them into mainstreamspace. They played Rock Werchter, they have music videos and they can pull off selling shirts for 20 euros to hundreds of 'kids' (I saw an abundance of Rise Against shirts, it was almost sickening). I used to have 2 Rise Against shirts actually, but I gave them to a kid who started liking them more than me. He was also at the show but I didn't find him so that was a bummer.
Anyway, With the full Belgian Rise Against 'community' shouting 10 minutes before they had to play, the atmosphere was set. I was at an official, all-round, banal rock fucking show. People had the band shirts, they had banner AND I EVEN SAW GIRLS WITH SELF -MADE TANKTOPS AND WITH "<3 RISE AGAINST" FUCKING WRITTEN ON THEIR FUCKING ARMS LIKE THEY WERE FUCKING JUSTIN BIEBER. What the fuck. I don't have business with what the fans do but that was plain ridiculous. I'm pretty bummed I didn't see any boob flashes though.
As for the show: it was alright. Sure, they didn't play really tight. Sure, Tim's voice isn't what it used to be. Sure, the new songs all sound boring as hell. But it striked me better than expected. Vocals were really alright for me, Joe Principe is a hero and I'd sing along to the songs from The Sufferer & The Witness, aka "The album that's an exact copy of Siren Song Of The Counter Culture" aka "the album from when on they shamelessly started making the same record over and over again". Rise Against is now a rock band trying to write punkrock songs. It's a shame.
The setlist was a drag, they played Broken English off of Revolutions Per Minute, the only song of that record in the entire 1,5 hour set, 3 song off of Siren Song and a whole bunch of new stuff everybody was excited about except for me and a couple other 20-somethings probably. I was also really scared that, when he got out his acoustic guitar he'd play Hero Of Warn cause I resolutely don't like that song, but then he played the first few noted of Swing Life Away And I was all...
They rattled through a bunch of other songs that were alright and finished the night with Give It All. I think. No encores, that was good. Unless they would have played an encore of, say, Halfway There, Tip The Scales and Blood-Red White And Blue*. But no. Let me be clear, it was not a bad show, I quite enjoyed it, bif it wasn't for Touché Amoré I had never gone to the show. I'll leave it for the 'kids'. The "punk rock" 'kids'.
Got back to the station alright and took the train back. I listened to Nerf Herder and thought about how I'd gladly pay 25 euros to just see them.
Note to Rise Against: next time, take Nerf Herder on tour (although that'd be difficult, since they're not quite touring anymore).
Note to Rise Against fans: get a clue.
* I almost jizzed my pants just thinking about that.
My destination was the Ancienne Belgique (AB) in Brussels. A mega big venue, fit for rock shows. I've only been there one other time, for Broadway Calls/Alkaline Trio a couple years ago and that was fine. That was a punkrock show. But this was different. I arrived on the corner and saw all these people standing outside. Well, I'll be damned. I had to fucking wait in line to get in. It was like in the movies! Super bummed of course, what the fuck was up with that.
Anyway, I got in after a few minutes of waiting. I showed my ticket, everything alright. I walk up and what the flying fuck, I'm being checked. Like, the patdown they do on the airport. Holy smokes, guys, I though I was going to a rock show, not another continent. My bag's checked as well cause god forbid if I'd brought a drink in. I'd bring the whole place down to bankrupcy. Fucking hell.
I'm finally inside of the venue and I realise why they check people for drinks. Drinks at the bar were fucking € 2,5 a piece. I can have a nice pizza for the price! I'm not a cheap prick but that's a bit much, no? Another impression was the Rise Against merch guy. I think he used to be a marketcramer (dutchism) because he was all yelling and selling t-shirts for 20 fucking euros. The fuck. At this stage I was almost regretting I ever came to a rock show in the first place. It's not my natural habitat. I had no company either, like a lot of times but it's pretty hard to meet people when there's 2000 of 'em, it's pretty hard to find people who you know are there to chat a bit, the show sold out in like 2 hours so some of my buds didn't get a ticket, and it's downright impossible to just sit at the bar and drink because I'll go out flat broke. I don't care about going to shows by myself, but it's pretty silly at such rock shows.
Anyway, cool thing about rock shows: they're organized damn swell. "19h15: first band" You can count on it. So no running late and ultimately missing some band because you need to catch a train. Nope, that was good.
Now, for the fun part of the evening: the bands. First up was one of my favourite bands nowadays: Touché Amoré. It's a complete enigma how they got on that tour but I'm stoked for them they get such a chance. I talked to their singer, Jeremy, for a minute after the show and he was also completely confused.
The show, as said, started at 19h15 and they blasted right into it with a song I didn't expect (i.e. not ~ or And Now It's Happening In Mine) but I don't remember which one. They were tight. They were amazing. Played through almost all of their songs in half an hour. Song by song they got me singing along, being glad to see 'em. It was intense. Of course, the entire stage was about as big as the venues they normally play, but that didn't affect their performance. They played a new song and that was probably the best part of the entire set. Epic, a long song for their standards and it got me goosebumps. "At least I tried." Wow. Then they raged through another batch of songs from both their albums and finished in style with Honest Sleep, something I did expect. What an amazing song, what an amazing band.
The 'kids' had no idea they had just seen the best band of the evening.
The next band was Architects. I had seen them at Ieperfest 2009 and I guess I though they were alright. So I was up for checking it out. Well, I guess 18-year old me was a silly fuck because holy smokes that was pretty bad. So I can be short about Architects: "not my thing".
The last band was Rise Against. They are a popular band now. I mean, they'd gotten pretty popular when they signed to Geffen for Siren Song I guess, but it seems to me Appeal To Reason and Endgame (for the people who stopped caring: those are the last 2 records) skyrocketed them into mainstreamspace. They played Rock Werchter, they have music videos and they can pull off selling shirts for 20 euros to hundreds of 'kids' (I saw an abundance of Rise Against shirts, it was almost sickening). I used to have 2 Rise Against shirts actually, but I gave them to a kid who started liking them more than me. He was also at the show but I didn't find him so that was a bummer.
Anyway, With the full Belgian Rise Against 'community' shouting 10 minutes before they had to play, the atmosphere was set. I was at an official, all-round, banal rock fucking show. People had the band shirts, they had banner AND I EVEN SAW GIRLS WITH SELF -MADE TANKTOPS AND WITH "<3 RISE AGAINST" FUCKING WRITTEN ON THEIR FUCKING ARMS LIKE THEY WERE FUCKING JUSTIN BIEBER. What the fuck. I don't have business with what the fans do but that was plain ridiculous. I'm pretty bummed I didn't see any boob flashes though.
As for the show: it was alright. Sure, they didn't play really tight. Sure, Tim's voice isn't what it used to be. Sure, the new songs all sound boring as hell. But it striked me better than expected. Vocals were really alright for me, Joe Principe is a hero and I'd sing along to the songs from The Sufferer & The Witness, aka "The album that's an exact copy of Siren Song Of The Counter Culture" aka "the album from when on they shamelessly started making the same record over and over again". Rise Against is now a rock band trying to write punkrock songs. It's a shame.
The setlist was a drag, they played Broken English off of Revolutions Per Minute, the only song of that record in the entire 1,5 hour set, 3 song off of Siren Song and a whole bunch of new stuff everybody was excited about except for me and a couple other 20-somethings probably. I was also really scared that, when he got out his acoustic guitar he'd play Hero Of Warn cause I resolutely don't like that song, but then he played the first few noted of Swing Life Away And I was all...
Got back to the station alright and took the train back. I listened to Nerf Herder and thought about how I'd gladly pay 25 euros to just see them.
Note to Rise Against: next time, take Nerf Herder on tour (although that'd be difficult, since they're not quite touring anymore).
Note to Rise Against fans: get a clue.
* I almost jizzed my pants just thinking about that.
25-02-2012
"punk rock rules, wijven sucks"
Thursday night is a night to go out, have a drink and generally enjoy yourself. And so I did. It all started with some fine punk rock. Punk rock is inherently a good time.
Rock Café was the place to have been.
I arrived a little bit into F.O.D.'s set, but ultimately I caught most of it I think. Coolness! Really dig these guys, good tunes, good show, solid skills, great energy and a fun sound. Some cover songs, like Frenzal Rhomb, Blink 182 and another one I guess. Their own jams were pretty damn good as well. The guys are on a roll, playing a lot of shows lately and I'm stoked I finally got to see one. Whoo!
Next band was the Slovenian band Real Life Version. As usual I had no idea what to expect other than "punkmuziek" and as usual I was like like "whoa, this is really good". And it was really good. Vocals didn't pull through entirely but I really dug this band. Fast riffs, nice melodies, pure punkrock. I totally forgot to buy a cd but I think it's a really good one! The second Slovenian band I saw in my life I think (the other one was Soey) but I'm thinking there's a good vibe in the Slovenian air.
Now here's a tip, for all of you: Go to shows. Support rdr-bookings.
Rock Café was the place to have been.
I arrived a little bit into F.O.D.'s set, but ultimately I caught most of it I think. Coolness! Really dig these guys, good tunes, good show, solid skills, great energy and a fun sound. Some cover songs, like Frenzal Rhomb, Blink 182 and another one I guess. Their own jams were pretty damn good as well. The guys are on a roll, playing a lot of shows lately and I'm stoked I finally got to see one. Whoo!
Next band was the Slovenian band Real Life Version. As usual I had no idea what to expect other than "punkmuziek" and as usual I was like like "whoa, this is really good". And it was really good. Vocals didn't pull through entirely but I really dug this band. Fast riffs, nice melodies, pure punkrock. I totally forgot to buy a cd but I think it's a really good one! The second Slovenian band I saw in my life I think (the other one was Soey) but I'm thinking there's a good vibe in the Slovenian air.
Now here's a tip, for all of you: Go to shows. Support rdr-bookings.
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