The day before this night I went to the same package at the 013, but due to Terror’s great music I also went to their show, with amongst others Ignite and Death Before Dishonor, in Haarlem. The show didn’t start as early as in the 013, so I didn’t have to miss a band because I was eating or something. Unfortunately I did have to miss Ignite this night, because I was attending this gig by public transportation. This night started with Burnthe8track, which I had to miss the other day.
While listening to Burnthe8track’s music I realised it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but I didn’t like them at all. I was standing on the balcony watching over the venue and when they began to play there were no more than 25 people standing in front of the stage. It still was early, but the people who were already inside the venue were more interested in the merch or in a first beer of a new day. Except for one (!) zipper of Death Before Dishonor the merch was very ugly by the way. If every band would have played as good as their merchandise was beautiful I would have had a really shitty night, but fortunately that didn’t came true.
Okay, back to Burnthe8track. The positive thing about their show was their mentality. Although the venue was really empty the singer of this Canadian opening act was very enthusiastic and he really gave everything on stage. I guess this was to compensate his singing, because his high screams weren’t that good; think Ignite, but with a quarter of the quality. Their punk rock (with a minor hardcore twist) wasn’t that bad instrumentally, but it was a bit predictable. I read they’ve played with Sum 41 amongst others and I think they should stick to that.
Next up was the Boston hardcore band Death Before Dishonor. The day before I watched all bands from a distance, while drinking some beer, but tonight was a different night. Tonight I came to Haarlem to mosh ‘till I would drop dead on the floor. Unfortunately with DBD’s show this didn’t happen. The venue still wasn’t fully packed and people were still a bit afraid to show their faces up front. During the show there was Him – inside joke – and three or four others who were jumping, kicking and punching around, but that was about it. There wasn’t much activity amongst the audience and that this fact was bothering singer Bryan became really visible during their set. Furthermore DBD played some very tight hardcore anthems accompanied with a decent sound. There were songs played from both their albums and they had a lot of energy to give to everybody who was willing to take this energy, but unfortunately they didn’t get much back.
Seeing Strung Out twice in two nights was just too much for me. I’m not into their music and therefore I was bored like hell during their show. The venue was nicely packed by now, but we still had to wait for some action. Strung Out is more a band for your 14-year old sister, who just starts with listening to alternative music… If you want to read more about them I would refer you to the review of their 013-set by Niamen, which will be online soon.
Because I hadn’t seen a very active crowd so far I was a bit afraid of what was going to happen during Terror’s show, but from the start with ‘One With The Underdogs’ ‘till closer ‘Keep Your Mouth Shut’ all hell broke loose. There weren’t much stagedivers, but the moshpit was big and a lot of aggression was released in there. The short times I was standing still I was shouting along all the lyrics, but most of the time I was hitting everything I could possibly hit. The floor was a bit slippery, because of some beer-throwing, but that didn’t spoil the fun. Everything about Terror’s show was better in Haarlem than in Tilburg. The sound was way better, the audience was responding a lot more and the band played with even more energy. Terror also played a nice varied set with songs from all their albums. ‘Life And Death’, ‘Better Of Without You’ and ‘Push It Away’ of Lowest Of The Low were played and from One With The Underdogs they played the title track and also ‘Out Of My Face’, ‘Overcome’, ‘Spit My Rage’ and ‘Keep Your Mouth Shut’. From their latest release they played ‘Last Of The Diehards’, ‘Strike You Down’ and ‘Always The Hard Way’. In their set I really missed ‘Lost’ and secretly I was hoping to hear their new track ‘Relentless Through And Through’, but all in all I really enjoyed myself with this great band and I hope to see them again soon! If you’ve never seen them live: go see them soon!! Just the breakdown of ‘Strike You Down’ is for example already worth your money!
If you don’t like their music you always can go and see them for the vogelisms of course!
