The last couple of weeks were pretty calm for me. Not a big list of concerts but finally some time to relax and rest. But on the other hand it was great to have a weekend loaded with concerts again. This past weekend was filled with three shows in two days. First up: Poison The Well in Amsterdam supported by My City Burning and Rise A Thousand. With their new album Versions coming up April 1^th I travelled to the capitol, interviewed drummer Chris and watched a short but powerful and impressive show.

First band on stage was Rise A Thousand from Den Bosch. This emo, screamo band played together with some big names like 36 Crazyfists, Silverstein and Johnny Truant before and now they can add Poison The Well to their list. The band played a solid and tight set and they actually managed to play decent like they do on their free download demo. Not really my kind of stuff but it's cool to see a band from my almost hometown to improve their sound every time I see them. If this band will continue to develop their sound and stage performance we might even see them at some of the (smaller) summer festivals this year.

After Rise A Thousand it was time for My City Burning to enter the stage. This band hails from Amsterdam and includes the bassist of Demia on a part time bases. Their formula is clear and effective: straight in your face, simple and loud modernized (thrash) metal. If you bring along fans (a.k.a. friends) and create one hell of a party people will go along and have a lot of fun. My City Burning really knows what to do to get the crowd moving. But still their music isn’t that original and towards the end of the show a big part of the crowd dozed off. They can create one good party, but still need to fine tune their music if they want to grow within the big world of bands that is out there nowadays.

Headliner of the evening was of course Poison The Well. After seeing them in Utrecht a couple of years ago supporting The Dillinger Escape Plan, where the band disappointed me, I was curious if they could leave a more positive impression this time. Due to the fact the guys were headlining this time the sound and light were much better. Songs that were played mainly came of the first two (real) albums The Opposite of December and Tear From The Red. The songs played from their upcoming release Versions seemed to be played a bit faster so the band was able to keep up the tempo of their set.  After 45 minutes of aggression the fun was over and the crowd went home with a big smile on almost every face I saw. Hopefully the band will return later this year, perhaps in September as drummer Chris told me.