When our Belgian friends from The Setup entered the stage to kick off this edition of the Persistence Tour in Holland I was amazed by the people already present. Last year, when the Dutch hardcore act No Turning Back opened, there were only about 50 people present at the beginning of this hardcore tour. But now there were definitely 4 times as much people. With this reasonable attendance, the band was motivated enough to give it all and tried to make the audience dance and bang their heads already. To be short: they succeeded. With songs like ‘Winter’ and ‘Burial Ground’ from their killer record Minister Of Death they did a great job opening this great initiative of M.A.D. Tourbookings. (Gilles)

Next band up, War Of Ages, also succeeded in pleasing the audience. For some they were “a bit too metal”, but that was just a minor part of the crowd (I guess). They started their 25-minutes long set with the opening track of their latest record, ‘All Consuming Fire’, and this resulted in a heavy and satisfying moment. Only negative point about the show was the sound of the bass, but for the rest it was just a great and representative gig of where War Of Ages stands for. Most songs played were from their Arise & Ruin-record, but the successful final chord came from an oldie: ‘Stand Your Ground’. Definitely recommended. (Gilles)

 

When I found out that H2O participated in this edition of the Persistence tour I knew I had to be there. Seeing them live in June last year made me realize that this band is doing one hell of a comeback. Especially since Nothing To Prove is probably one of the best hardcore albums of last year. When Toby and his friends entered the stage there already was a nicely packed venue. After the first couple of chords the first kids got their feet off the ground and when Toby requested the rest of the crowd to come upfront the first party of the night was a fact. The great mix of old and new songs made it easy for H2O to continue the party. Especially since Toby stood on the barricades for several times just to let the fans sing along with the catchy music of H2O. With a guest performance of Lou Koller from Sick Of It All during ‘What Happened?’ the show ended in style. (Niamen)

 

As being quite a new jack when it comes to hardcore, tonight was the first time I saw the band Discipline. Together with Born From Pain, Discipline was the second band on the Persistence Tour representing the Netherlands. A quick glance at their Wikipedia page reveals to me that they have been around since 1990. I guess I should be ashamed of myself. Tonight this band couldn’t really impress me nor the audience with their Oi!-punk. It’s not that they performed badly...they just had to warm up for Born From Pain and Terror. (Mordecai)

The latest album of Born From Pain did raise some expectations for this show, especially since I hadn’t see them live with the new vocalist yet. At the start of the show it’s obvious that the theme of their latest album is also present in the show setting. During the entire show there’s a movie projected on the backdrop that shows footage of riots and other sorts of violent acts. But it doesn’t stop with this. During the entire show the vocalist is talking about taking the matters into your own hands and start thinking about where the world is heading to. He does this with such power and expression that every song that is fired after that, sounds even better. With every song Born From Pain is getting better and more brutal. When they reach the end of their set there’s carnage in front of the stage and Born From Pain is playing the soundtrack. (Niamen)

Terror. The expectations are always high when this band comes up on stage. Although they’re from LA, Terror has proven themselves in the last years to be named among the biggest New York styled hardcore bands. With the very successful combination of hardcore punk and thrash metal, Terror figuratively destroyed the stage this evening. Born From Pain was great, Terror overclassed every band playing earlier tonight. Scott Vogel, vocalist of the band, seemed really entertained by the amount of stage diving kids. Even though the security, standing between the barrier and stage, tried to avoid this. Titles like 'Always The Hard Way', 'Last Of The Diehards', 'Let Me Sink' and 'Overcome' were great hearing live, the audience loved it, and went nuts. If Terror comes back to The Netherlands headlining in a smaller venue any time soon, I’ll be there. (Mordecai)

 

Up next was Heaven Shall Burn. I’ve seen them live two times before and those were definitely positive experiences. Also their latest record, Iconoclast, is my personal favourite record of the year. The only thing I question though, is why on earth someone put them on the bill of this edition of the Persistence Tour (in between the shows of Terror and Sick Of It All)?! They did a decent job on stage, but the venue was noticeably less crowded than during Terror’s show. Nobody was waiting to see these Germans play tonight. Even if they would have played their best show ever, it wouldn’t have been enough. They just didn’t fit this package; end of story. (Gilles)

 

Well finally the last band of the night, the almighty Sick Of It All. They have the name of always giving 200% at a show and this night wasn’t an exception to this. The only major setback were the problems Armand Majidi suffered with his bass. After this little problem, it was on with their set that existed of a mixture of their latest album and some early works. Although Lou Koller did everything he had to do to fire the audience up for every song, it just didn’t seem to work. Of course there was a moshpit and when the band requested a circle pit, the circle pit was made, but overall the greatest part of the audience was bruised and battered by all the previous bands. With ´Scratch The Surface´ and ´Us vs Them´ another edition of the Persistence Tour came to an end. A great evening but personally I wouldn’t complain if there were 1 or 2 bands fewer on the bill. (Niamen)