19-06-2014

Apologies, j'ai pas

There are bands that have 10 albums out and been around for 20 years that I haven't seen once in my life. Then there's Apologies, I Have None. They just have a new EP out since their debut album London and I've seen them play 15 times maybe. I've lost count. Doesn't matter. Either they're insane or I am. I don't know.
They played Leuven's Rockcafé for the third time I think. The first time was one of the funnest shows I went to. I missed the second time. I was gonna miss the show yesterday as well but I unexpectedly got off work and Max Lasagne hooked me up with a spot on the reservations list. Much love, much obliged. Apparently like 10 people who reserved a spot didn't show up, that's pretty lame, but okay. Time to party.

Harsh Realms opened up. They're just so ruddy good. New songs sound promising, and the new full length is coming out on Shield so that's a guarantee it's gonna be a banger. Anyway, great show, great Bouncing Souls cover and they have a new split 7" out so check it out!

Next up was the Lowest Standard, another bunch of Dutch people. Good band but too slow and too safe. Not really my vibe.

Apologies, I Have None just flippin' killed it. The new songs don't translate as well as the jams from London, but they fit in very well in the set. Two Bombs In A Box and Coffee, Alcohol, Codeine, Repeat definitely do their job in the live setting, moreso than on record. The energy is higher. They intertwined beautifully witht he other songs. Great set, went on pretty long I reckon, but it didn't necessarily bother me so that's a good sign. Lotsa dancing of all sorts, singing along to the tunes and wrecking the place just a tad.
Crowd was excited, the place was nicely filled but not too packed, v. hot and steamy and everyone was having a wee fun time on an otherwise regular Wednesday night.

Gnarwahls

Last Friday night was one of those Friday nights. I finished my academic career by half-arsedly filling in an exam in the afternoon, then I drank some Punk IPA's on a balcony, ate some fries with some friends and went to see a couple of radical bands.

When I arrived at Kavka, Coldsore was playing. Last time I saw them they were an acoustic outfit, now they've seemingly upgraded. It sounded alright but I went to say hi to some buds and drink a beer outside.

I drank a bunch of beers. Inside, outside, on all the sides.

Cheap Drugs played next. I love Cheap Drugs. Show was good. That is all.

Off The Charts rules as well. I guess The Ignored did good as well, don't think I saw them though.

Gnarwolves ruled. Everthing in fries of one and all that. Had a good dance, a good singalong. It was pretty gnarly. They're an amazing band like.

Then I got drunk on more beers and weird cocktails and had a headache till 5 pm the next day.

hashtag punx

06-06-2014

...without dicks

You know, how sometimes you're like "eh..." and then you decide to get out and you're all "yeah!". Well, I had such a yeah-Erlebnis last Friday. Eglantier basement show. Always the best ones.

It started out with a French band called Sevices. Powerviolence/hardcore. Fast, pissed, all that stuff. Sounded good. I wasn't blown away, but I was enjoying it quite a bit.

Wrong Decision, from the other side of our Belgian language barrier, came to Antwerp to rock out with their mosh out. Hard and heavy old school hardcore with an attitude. Pretty cool, not really into it but I can assume people would dig this a lot.

Another French band, from Lille to be precise, was Anxiety Attack. Short, fast hardcore bursts. I missed the beginning but the sounds coming from the basement lured me downstairs, in time to see them play some rad songs and some Surf Nazis Must Die covers, which is definitely applaudable. I Am Angry, what an incredible song. Anyway, really liked it, bought the new EP, it's cool.

Imaginary Dictionary closed off the show. One of my favourite current hardcore bands. Stijn Reproach on vocals because the usual guy was still somewhere halfway around the world. Such a fucking energetic, fast, angry band with the right amount of party-inclination. Rad. Great show,

02-06-2014

AGNSTM!

I’d never seen Against Me! live. They’ve been one of my favourite bands for years, mainly based on their first 2,5 records, but I had never seen them play live. Until yesterday.

My friends in Silver & Gold managed to get the opening slot for the show, after a lot of hassle and asking around. Really stoked to see them play again, and they were good. A short and vibrant set, including the Husker Du cover and some promising new tunes. Really happy for those guys.

I saw a bit of INVSN, but I saw enough of it after a few songs, energetic new wave with a punk feel.
But hanging out with friends outside was fun too. Cool to see some people again.

Against Me! fucking ruled. They started with a new song, I think FuckMyLife666. I just had a new beer, and they started playing Cliche Guevara, so me and Jordi got all excited, started the mosh and I lost my new beer. No worries, the next song was a new one again, so I went to get a new beer. Same thing fucking happened all over again, this time to the sound of Walking Is Still Honest. They continued this strike of last-three-records-song/first-three-records-song for a while, even playing Turn Those Clapping Hands Into Angry Balled Fists, one of my favourite Against Me! songs. I absolutely loved hearing classics like I Still Love You Julie and the likes. The last part of the set was mainly new songs that I don’t know or care too much about, although some tunes like Black Me Out, True Trans Soul Rebel and Drinking With The Jocks. This last one was part of the encore, together with Pints Of Guinness Make You Strong, Sink Florida Sink and some acoustic song, making the encore almost cooler for me than the entire set.
Notable fact: the bass player is undoubtely Dee Dee Ramone or his son or something.

As I said, I’m a huge fan of pre-Searching For A Former Clarity Against Me!, less so of the records/sound since that one. I got pretty sad when they played I Was A Teenage Anarchist, cause now you see the band that was all about wanting "a band that played loud and hard every night” and didn’t "care how many people are counted at the door” touring in a tourbus 10 times the size of a regular van and having a management that decides support acts for sold-out shows that costs 15 euros to get into. I have no problem with that, I’m really stoked Against Me! is able to do this stuff, that they get the recognition they deserve, but the irony of the band’s folk-punk/anarchist era makes me a bit bummed out is all.
They certainly did reinvent Axl Rose, maybe not how they originally set out to do. But they did a good job.

Great show, best band, loved it.

Unposh

Wednesday night was fun. Some people came all the way from the UK to play songs in Leuven. Weird, right? Totally weird.

Trails played first. Not my jazz, but it was a good show and they had some cool parts.

Dead Neck second. Cool skatepunk/melodic something punk/hardcore. Loud, fast, all that stuff. It was cool.

Beans On Toast played his tunes. Apparently he’s on Frank Turner’s label or something. His songs are pretty rad. Just really quirky and down-to-earth and fun. Lots of drugs-themed tunes. He did a reggae song with a reggae voice, which people liked for some reason. Fun show, very entertaining man.

Migre Le Tigre closed off the night. Lots of whoa’s, some really cool songs and a throat to say ‚you’ to.