92-02-22 Blindfold – Right Direction – 6 Feet Over – Burning Fight

Another gig with a mix of locals/regulars (‘Blindfold’ from Menen/Kortrijk & ‘6FO’ from Duncercque; just across the border in France) and ‘newer’ bands… Organised by the Touch My Heart Crew (basically an invention of Ed of ‘Nations On Fire’; more or less the forerunner of the H8000 Crew); who were promoting smoke-free shows.

Karl and his mates (Steph Cormary, Pierre Anne & Fred) were regulars, yes: this was their 3^rd gig and they’d just been here (92-02-09) and their 1^st appearance (91-06-08) was only half a year before this one here. It must’ve been the time their tape was available and right before they recorded their 7” (in Brussels) to be released on Panx recs…

‘Blindfold’s members Wim, Hans & Chat’n were V.V. shitworkers at that time… The band steadily became a established value. They’d done a few gigs here already (91-12-21 & 91-12-31), recorded the Deprogrammers 7” and some months later they would go into the studio for another 7”: Sober Mind Meditation released on Edward’s label Warehouse recs.

‘Burning Fight’ (from Oostende/Koksijde) was a SxE band (with connotations to hardline & Hare Krshna). I remember this young kid (at that time) – from the Oostende area – who used to write me – Keith Hioco – was their bassist. On the pic I also recognise Ilja De Ceuleneire (later drummer of ‘Congress’; nowadays a.k.a. Ill Jay) on vocals and Joost ‘Josh’ Noyelle playing guitar… In an interview in Wim Vandekerckhove’s Reminder zine, there’s mentioning of a gig which was their very first one (they “only had 2 songs” and were “all a bit nervous”). That was with Yoeri ‘TMC’ (vocals), Frederic ‘Fre’ (Flameygh) (drums; later ‘Vitality’) and Ilja ‘DAC’ (guitar)… In an other interview I read somewhere (blog.rwhaf.net) Joost (‘Congress’) says: “I knew Fre ([techno] DJ Flameboy) and Keith Hioco from the ‘Burning Fight’ period. I was in that band, which also had Ilja on vocals (!). Their bassplayer quit so I asked UxJ to join. He said yes but didn’t like the drummer, so Ilja switched from mike to drums and we had to find ourselves a singer to move on.”.

‘Right Direction’ from Maastricht played metal-influenced hardcore. The band soon outgrew the DIY scene… In 1991 they put out 2 7”s: The Struggle Continues, and No Reason To Laugh (with Daniel Immekeppel on bass, Richard Bruinen (a.k.a. ‘Ritchie Backfire’ – R.I.P.) on drums, guitarists Chris Immekeppel & Maurice Gijsbers, and Dave Reumers doing vocals. Their album How Many More Lies would appear on Old World recs the next year; it featured Dominique Katjili on lead-guitar and Chris Immekeppel on drums. After that they released stuff on labels such as Lost & Found and Victory recs…

Brob

Photos (kind donation of Bart Verelst):

‘6 Feet Over’ (Karl – Pierre – Steph)

‘Right Direction’ (UxJx bottom L)

‘Burning Fight’ (Joost – Ilja – Fré – Keith)

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

additions wellcome!…