As stated before the first band of the evening was the French metalcore band The Arrs. A name that didn’t sound familiar to almost everyone who visited the venue today. Therefore, it wasn’t surprising that only about 30 people were present when they started playing. Luckily for them, people poured into the venue like the poured out of the sky today: quickly. The most remarkable thing of this band was that they sounded pretty okay for an opening act, which doesn’t happen often on this tour. Not only did the band play pretty tightly, but also the sound in the venue was spot on from the very first moment. The band got some heads banging, but nothing more than that. This is a band that I would check out the next time I could see them, because I think they can perform even better.

Up next was the German band Nasty, which I had seen a few times before. Today was the first time for this band to make a good impression on me. The band played pretty tightly today and the first hardcore moshers also appeared on the floor. This band has quite a fan base in Holland and today I finally understood why they have such a fan base. They really worked for it on stage and received some energy back from their fans. Nevertheless, this show should’ve been played a little later, because it was too early for most people in this venue. However, it was the best show I’ve seen from them so far, and I was not the only one who noticed this.

After Nasty it was time to see a band that drew attention from a big part of the crowd. Ramallah started as a side-project by Blood For Blood guitarist/vocalist White Thrash Rob. He definitely earned his stripes back in the day and quite some people were looking forward to see him live (again). It was a pity that this was quite a big let-down for most people, because he really had to force himself to get the vocals out of his throat. Therefore the vocals didn’t drew people into the lyrics, and sometimes they weren’t even audible. The band, on the other hand, played well, but not perfect either. This was a very flat performance that missed the shine and energy the crowd had expected.

After being a little disappointed it was time to grab some food. I wasn’t the only one who had this idea: many people went out of the venue during Evergreen Terrace. This is a band that performs quite often in this country, but almost never seems to reach the standards they set on album. Nevertheless, it is an okay band as a support act to get the crowd started!

When we came back the band had already finished and Strife was putting their stage together. When the band started a sort of wave passed through the venue. This wasn’t going to be a flat show or anything, this would be a straight-in-your-face hardcore show, super tight and full of energy. Although this band has existed since the ‘90’s, they don’t visit this country very often and therefore it was a band that only some people had seen live before. They were probably the ones who started the moshpit, but the band deserved a lot more energy and received that of the rest of the crowd. During the song “Look Away”, drummer Nick Jett from Terror joined on stage to sing along and the band ended with one of their most well-known songs, called “Through And Through”. The best band so far already had to stop, leaving a very satisfied 013 behind.

After such a great performance it was up to Terror to prove the crowd that they could pull this off as well. But what is left to prove? Every hardcore lover knows Terror, has seen this band live and knows how good they are live as well. If Scott isn’t at his best with his voice, he will sweep up the crowd even more and people will see a great show in different way than tightness. Today was a good example of what this band like. The energy from the stage was tangible throughout the whole venue, there were many chances to sing along in the microphone, there was a constant pit and the band played a greatest hits set. Songs like “Keepers Of The Faith”, “Stick Tight”, “Overcome” and “Out Of My Face” were played and the moshpit kept on going. The band performed some songs from every record, but most came from their very first album. Therefore, the die-hard Terror-fan was blown away once again, not only by their energy, but also by the setlist on its own. After a very strong part of the set, “Live By The Code”, “Push It Away”, “Spit My Rage” and “Always The Hard Way” were played after each other, it was time for the last two songs. After “You’re Caught” and “Keep Your Mouth Shut”, the band had to leave the stage, but they won even more hearts today and they will probably be back soon.

After these two strong bands it was time for the headliner of this year’s EMP Persistence Tour: Suicidal Tendencies. A band that has existed for a long time now, because the band was formed in 1981! After many line-up changes the band is still going strong and even released a new album in 2013. Lead vocalist Mike has been in this band from day one, and if people doubt whether he can still pull it off: he blew all doubt away during the first song of the evening, called “You Can’t Bring Me Down”.  It was noticeable that some people had already left the venue right after Terror ended, which I did after half of Suicidal’s show as well. The reason for me was that ST isn’t my kind of band, and I’m probably too young, so I didn’t grow up with the band. On the other hand, the band played super tightly and every member showed that the band deserved this headline spot. After one of their most well-known songs, “War Inside My Head”, I left the venue with a very good feeling. It was a very good set, and the rest of it was presumably enjoyable, but I was quite tired and decided to go.

In my opinion, this was another great edition of this tour, maybe even better than the previous ones although the names weren’t as huge as in the past. After the show it was announced on Facebook that a fan had died after the show in Switzerland after stage-diving during the set of Suicidal Tendencies. May he rest in peace.