Ignite, Terror, Strung Out, Death Before Dishonor, Burnt The 8Track, No Turning Back - A night full of hardcore violence
Well not every Wednesday night there's a package in your neighbourhood that contains Ignite, Terror, Strung Out and Death Before Dishonor so it was pretty obvious I just had to be there when this package went onstage in Tilburg. Oh by the way, if you've had read the live view of Gilles, I can tell you he's insane calling Strung Out a band for your 14 year old sister.
The night (read: afternoon) started with the locals No Turning Back. For everybody who doesn’t know this band: they are probably the best thing Holland has got to offer in the hardcore scene. These friends of Death Before Dishonor brought us some nice hardcore songs, including new ones from their, yet to be released, new album Stronger. There weren’t many people in the venue when NTB started their set. The people who were present though were not hiding in the back, but were standing in front of the stage, showing their loyalty to these four guys. After a nice instrumental intro they performed killer tracks like ‘Stay Away’, ‘Picture Perfect Smiles’, ‘Never Give Up’ and some new ones, like ‘Same Sad Song’, which was dedicated to DBD, and the title track of their new effort. Some negative points about their performance were the quality of the sound in the 013, the bassist whose backing vocals could barely be heard and the amount of people present, but except for these things I truly enjoyed their music and for me this tour started off very well! – Gilles
Because this tour started off very early we had to miss Burnthe8track, because also a reviewer needs some food once in a while. When we returned this band was just playing its final song and I must say that I think it was a good decision to grab something to eat, because they sounded really bad… – Gilles
Next up were the guys from Death Before Dishonor. I saw these Boston hardcore guys a couple of months before, in the same venue during the Persistence Tour, and back then they blew me away. Today the show was a little less attended than the Persistence Tour, but again they gave away everything they had to give. With songs from both their albums they tried to convince the audience, but once again the sound wasn’t optimal. The backing vocals were almost not audible and everything sounded from time to time very blurry. The reactions from the crowd were positive, but with a better sound they would have been so much better. Too bad the sound can fuck up such great bands, but although this show wasn’t memorable: I’m still a big fan of this band or as they say themselves: “Fuck It All!” – Gilles
The last band before the headlining acts was Strung Out from California. These punkers were a nice relief after all those hardcore violence of this night and of course a great support to Ignite. With a great amount of energy Strung Out started their set and although they had some sound- and guitar problems they convinced me immediately to get some of their music. During the show it was obvious Strung Out was only here for the fun, creating their own little party. A party that would end later as planned, considering the fact that the stage manager was telling them to stop over and over again, but Strung Out didn’t give in and finished their set in style. – Niamen
The first (and ‘till now only time) I saw Terror was at the Waldrock festival ‘07. Back then they had one hour to prove the metalheads what hardcore is all about, but unfortunately they left the stage after just half an hour. Unfortunately they did the same thing tonight. Playing a set just over half an hour isn’t (co-)headliner-worthy… They played a varied set with songs from all three releases, but I had hoped for something more. Besides their playing-time and again the sound, also the venue and the stage were too big for Terror. Scott Vogel repeatedly asked everybody to get up and to crawl on somebody’s head, but with the barricades and the high stage that didn’t succeed. The songs that were played were impregnated with a lot of energy and power, but for me they couldn’t deal with my high expectation pattern. There were many fans present and breakdowns during for example ‘Strike You Down’ were adopted for some nice violent dancing, but Terror came, saw and left too early… Too bad… – Gilles
With Terror playing only half an hour, Ignite would have more playing time. The only question was: Would Ignite take advantage of that time? Well luckily they did, which resulted in a set that was longer than the usual. Starting with the same intro song as their album followed by ‘Bleeding’ the atmosphere was great from the beginning. During the show Ignite played a nice mixture of both old and new songs. With ‘Ash Return’ they even played their first song ever and Ignite lifted the curtain for their upcoming album with ‘Junksick’. After a political statement of Zoli ‘Poverty For All’ was started and was followed by a drumsolo and eventually ended in ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’. After this, Ignite went offstage and a guy from Sea Sheppard held a little speech to raise some money for the good cause. Finally it was time for the encore which meant an acoustic version of ‘Slowdown’ and ‘Better Days’. With ‘Where Are You Know’ the set of Ignite ended in style. A great closure of a night full of hardcore violence. – Niamen
