25-07-2011

This Dispute Is Not Amorous

Last night I had a pretty weird/bad night's sleep. I was half asleep - dreaming - and half awake - push-pulling my sheets and getting bothered by mosquitos. And I dreamed Touché Amoré was playing my house, my room actually, and they were dragging all their gear in there and everything was really weird. I finally woke up, stoked as fuck because I was actually bound to see Touché Amoré today, together with some of the finest bands in modern hardcore.

Because no belgian dates for this tour fitted my schedule I had to resort to a Sunday evening show in the Netherlands, which turned out probably the better option. In Belgium they only play festival shows, but in Eindhoven, Kaffee Aloys was just about a splendid venue for this show. Small enough, decent sound, good location. Downside: expensive drinks.

This Routine Is Hell started the show. Local band in the vein of Ceremony. Great band with great songs. They opened the show alright, a little crowd reaction already, a Black Flag cover and lots of heavy, low and fast playing.

Death Is Not Glamorous is co-touring Europe with LD/TA. They are awesome. I had heard their Undercurrents EP a whole while ago and I thought it was great back then. I bought it, together with the demo a couple weeks back and I started checking them out more and more, until I finally had the chance to witness it live. And goddamn, did I witness them! They played as tight as underage vagina. (Well, I wouldn't know.) Either way, awesome setlist, old 'n' new songs, all with the same drive and power that their brand of melodic posi hardcore and/or punk rock can bring. The singer's pretty crazy, he was all over the place: jumping in the audience/on stage/back in the audience/on the bar/falling off of the bar/back on the bar/back on stage/… In the meantime 4 Norse gods (especially the lead guitar player, he's fucking huge!) created a sound that might be pretty unique, and if it's not unique it damn awesome.
They have a new record out, Spring Forward, which includes 7 songs of fun, positive thinking and dancing around in shorts and a sleeveless shirt.

I was less familiar with La Dispute and upon first hearing I wasn't that impressed. Music much alike Touché Amoré's or Grown Ups' perhaps, lyrically really poetic and conceptual stuff. Now, upon seeing it live, I was impressed alright, but I can't say I'm into it. Despite my general inability to recognize good music, La Dispute played a solid set, people sang along, danced around, had a good time. Touché Amoré's singer sang along on How I Feel and Why It Scares Me from the LD/TA split 7". (A highly recommendable record!)

I'm really really really into Touché Amoré. The moment I heard Honest Sleep last year I think was one of the best things that happened to me music-wise. And after seeing them perform in Mechelen I started to get into them more and more. Needless to say I was on the edge of every seat imaginable when they were setting up. Without warning they started ~ and most of the kids went nuts. I've heard stories about shows in the Netherlands that suck because of stupid crowds, but thank God that wasn't the case.
Anyway, with a new record under their sleeve they need to promote it and obviously they played a lot of songs from that one, without neglecting the older stuff. Both …To The Beat Of A Dead Horse as well as Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me are some of the best modern hardcore records. Opera magna, but short. They also played I'll Get My Just Deserve and I'll Deserve Just That from the TA/LD split 7", with the singer from La Dispute. Amazing.
Every song hit me and the crowd like a wave at sea: unpredictable, sometimes smooth, sometimes hard as fuck, sometimes careless, sometimes caressing. They're incredibly good songwriters and mind-blowing musicians. Insane drumming, awe-invoking bass parts and guitars that send shivers down your spine. And they combine that in a balanced way with throaty but understandable vocals. You need to here it to believe it. I can't praise this band enough, I think. (I can, but I won't.)
After an assault of songs to sing along to and mosh a bit, plus improvised stage-dive, they closed the set with, no doubt, Honest Sleep. Still gets me, and it still gets a lot of people.

Best show of the summer, hands down. (…if it weren't for the upcoming Hot Water Music show.)

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