This year The Powerfest took place at the Melkweg for the 6th time. The Max, Oude Zaal and Theater were full of bands between 13.45 until somewhere like 23.00. So this would be a long day full of metal, core, punk and a little dubstep.

The opener of the day was Rolo Tomassi, a mathcore/progressive hardcore band. Although I’m a huge fan of hardcore, I’m definitely no fan of Rolo Tomassi. I did like the screams, but In my opinion the music just didn’t fit. It didn’t fit at The Powerfest and every instrument didn’t fit another. They’re probably good in their genre, but it’s just not my thing; I had to walk away after two songs. Though some people we’re enjoying it and I saw some Rolo Tomassi shirts, but most of the people just walked away after a few songs.

The second band for me was My Passion, an emo/electronic rock band. They opened the stage of the Oude Zaal, which was full of young screaming girls. Because those girls all knew the band so well, there finally was some interaction with the crowd. There were some sing-alongs and every song ended with a lot of screaming by the girls, and also applause from others in the venue. I had only heard the name of the band once before, so I wasn't familiar with their music, but I expected some emo music because of the name. And as said before, I was right and normally this isn’t my genre, but they convinced me a bit. Even though the music was quite nice, I missed some energy from the band. Overall, it was a good show and it would be nice to see them once again as opener for a show.

My Passion played about two more songs, but I moved to Rise To Remain. Rise To Remain is a metalcore band from London. From the first note you could see people moving around because of the music, some people were head banging while the first real mosh pits also took place. While they were still playing the first song, you could see by the face of the drummer something was wrong. As it turned out, he had already broken his two bass pedals during the first song, which he held high afterwards. Because he couldn’t play further the guitarist did a solo for a few minutes, showing that he was very good and handy with his guitar! After the solo the drummer got some new pedals and the set went on. I didn’t know any song, but I do know they played very well and convinced the crowd! I’m really looking forward to see them again together with In Flames and Trivium.

After this warm-up it was time for the first band that I knew before The Powerfest the post-hardcore band Adept. These young guys from Sweden played at the Oude Zaal and it was pretty crowded: many people came to see this band today. There was a mosh-pit during every song, even some hardcore moshing took place while this wasn’t allowed, which in my opinion is a ridiculous rule. I only knew their last album and half of the playlist sounded familiar. They mixed old and newer songs really well. The crowd didn’t seem to care which album was played, mostly because almost every song was full of mosh-pits and head banging. I really don’t know what else to say about the show, I can’t wait to see them again. It was just awesome.

Then I had to miss D.R.U.G.S. and Young Guns because I went to have some dinner at the big yellow M. I could have seen a little bit of Young Guns, but I decided to sit in front of The Max and wait for Anti-Flag. This punk band formed in 1988, but already disbanded in 1989. In 1993 they started again and from 1999 the members of Anti-Flag didn’t reform anymore. You could really see most of the people enjoy their punk music, The Max was pretty crowded and there were mosh-pits and circle pits constantly. The highlight of their set was the song 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go', originally played by The Clash, and the drummer entering the crowd for the last song. I had never seen a drummer placing his drumkit in the crowd and just play what he had to play, while he was crowded by bodyguards and fans. It was one of the best bands for me today. I hope I will see them again someday.

After this up-tempo punk, it was time for some dubstep. Tek-One was playing in the Theater and they had to move their instruments so more people could join in. Probably the reason why they are so popular on The Powerfest is their famous remix of 'Sleep With One Eye Open' of Bring Me The Horizon. The popularity of Tek-One was the reason why it was so crowded and why it was so very hot in the Theater. But it was a great atmosphere with the hit single 'Broken String' and of course their remixes of BMTH, Skindred and many more.During the remix of 'Sleep With One Eye Open', Oliver Sykes from BMTH joined in to sing his own vocals. This was just one big party with a lot of jumping around, I really didn’t know that so many metal fans could enjoy dubstep. Next time this band comes to Holland, I’m definitely there.

After two very good bands I went on to Escape The Fate, a band I expected a lot of. Maybe because of my high expectations, it was one big disappointment for me. They played OK, nothing more than that, but it just didn’t reach me. How they stood on stage wasn’t quite convincing either, maybe other people did enjoy this set, but I definitely didn’t. I’m probably going to see them again, but I have nothing positive to say about this show.

After I left early from this big disappointment, it was time for one of my highlights of the evening, called Your Demise. This hardcore band wasn’t an expected highlight for most people, I don’t know why it was so empty at the Oude Zaal (maybe people wanted to see Haribo Macht Kinder Froh, wanted to stand in front for BMTH or went home early) but this band deserves more. I saw them live a half year before this show and they really convinced me to listen to their music. This show was about the same quality. Even though the singer was as stoned as hell, he sang very well. Although it was empty, there was a good hardcore mosh, and there were some stage divers. Hits such as 'Miles Away', 'The Kids We Used To Be' and 'Like A Broken Record' could count on massive sing-alongs. It was a very good show, too bad so many people missed it. It’s definitely becoming one of my favourite bands, can’t wait to see them again with my brand new shirt.

Last but not least was Bring Me The Horizon. I saw them live in January and it was a very good show, with a very good Oli. Today his looks were a lot better, he was smiling and really enjoying this show, although in the beginning he wasn’t enjoying the crowd that much, because he wanted to see more movement. It was too bad that Oli couldn’t reach the good notes most of the times. He just didn’t do the deep and high screams and let the crowd sing that parts, which consisted of half the songs sometimes. After songs like  'Fuck, Diamonds aren't Forever' and 'Pray For Plagues', I really had to leave. Those are the better songs of BMTH but in my opinion he just fucked it up this time. He couldn’t perform every good scream and he even sang some scream parts clean. I couldn’t accept this and sadly had to leave. However, most people in the crowd didn’t seem to care and it was a good atmosphere. There were also good mosh-pits. But a Wall of Death during every song? I don’t know, I hope Oli is better by voice again on Graspop.