Vort’n Vis; haven for travellers

Some people might not realize that besides the regular hardcore/punk shows there was a hell of a lot more going on at the Vort’n Vis. When there were no gigs, the bar was also open for the local ‘alternative’ crowd. And sometimes people (punx or other) who were travelling through Europe ended up there because they wanted to check out the place (not necessarily to see bands). They’d heard about it by hearsay or read about in publications like e.g. Book Your Own Fucking Life…
Brob

I stayed at the Vort’n Vis in 1996 on a bike-trip across Europe with a friend. We had only been biking for a few weeks at that point. A short stay in heaven! We were the only ones staying there at the time; there were dry beds (vs. rain), we ate hot food and met really generous/ cool/ interesting people. There was a radio powered by an onion and someone there [Jan Claus] worked at an observatory and took us at night to look through telescopes. I thought the horrible mattress someone mentioned earlier were great… and so was pretty much everything about the people and place.
I was just looking through an old sketchbook/ journal and read some things I wrote about my stay there…which was amazing. My friend knew of the space – I can’t remember how – we didn’t get to see anyone play.
My travel-partner was Adam. I knew him from Boston, where I lived at the time. But he was from Poland. We’re both from the punk-scene, I grew up in the punk-scene in Memphis (Tennessee). Nowadays I organise a small show-space (called Lalaland) in Fayetteville (Arkansas) where I live. I’m a painter…
Stephanie Pierce (stephanie-pierce.com)

 excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

The Pit’s aficionados performing @ Vort’n Vis

Around the same time of the conception of the Vort’n Vis, an ‘indie’ pub was set up in Kortrijk: The Pits (Actually it’s The Pit’s). People that frequented it and the bands that they invited were not necessarily hardcore/punk but there was an overlap…

From their history-writing: >> November 1^st 1988 Het Rond Vierkant [a local pub/hang-out] was officially buried but some of the loyal customers united in a non-profit organisation called Bang Zoom Noise (B.Z.N.) and opened their own pub, The Pits. The first intention was to organise concerts.<<

After cooperations with the local Limelight and De Kreun (commercial concert-places), and the 4AD in Diksmuide, B.Z.N. found themselves forced to organise their own space. This continues, even today… Check ‘m out on the www!

Some people that were active in and around the non-profit organisation that was the foundation for The Pits were also doin’ other sub-cultural stuff. On the local Radio Solar there was e.g. a 3h program called Blitzkrieg Bop (hosted by Joost Dierick, I believe) that highlighted mainly “alternative music” (info, theme-programs, ‘specials’) and lasted until it got banned (early 90s). They also did a free monthly newsletter that would evolve (I think) into the Pitstop (that you got free with a membership).

Within the boundaries of B.B. a man named Peter Arthur Caesens (“the local buffoon and author of bestsellers”; as Edward Verhaeghe described him in the 1^st issue of his zine Do It) was given the opportunity to do a 1h guest-appearance that he filled with “ranting and blustering”…

P.A.C. was a bit of a cult-figure in the Kortrijk area. He also performed at the Vort’n Vis a few times… On his website he calls himself an artist, poet, dancer, composer and performer.

Joost Dierick told me he had already been on stage with P.A.C.’s choir ‘Consortium Musicae Perversae’ at a gig with ‘Chronic Disease’ (90-02-24). ‘Bowy’ (Dirk Bauwens, one of the founding-fathers of The Pits) described these once as “the Dadaist realisation of the combined wet dreams of P.A.C. & Sid Veritas”…

Brob

I did 3 appearances, I think… Once I did a solo-act where I danced to the music of Bartok’s first concerto for piano, if I remember well… It was on a kind of international festival on a Sunday-afternoon; I believe it was a Straight-Edge concert [96-08-18; see guestbook-entry].

“On behalf of the institute for ponamology and as commander of the underground Revolutionary Military Forces for the promotion of Artisitc Muzak” [PONAM = Permanent ONterecht Afgewezen Minnaar; Permanantly Unfairly Rejected Lover]

But most legendary were the 2 performances with the vocal ensemble ‘Consortium Musicae Perversae’ (that originated at The Pits); under my direction. The first time there were a lot of people and they were stage-diving. The second time there was hardly no audience and one of my singers (‘Herr Brunkel’) was pretty drunk. He tumbled of the stage with a full glass of Duvel. The Consortium could’ve become a hype, if only the singers would have persevered a bit. The composition changed many times – upto 4 times over the years. ‘Sid Veritas’ (Thierry Meerschman), ‘Herr Brunkel’ (Christoph Bruneel); also Dirk ‘Bowy Bauwens in the beginning… We sang (a capella) our own kooky adaptations of a diversity of things (the midieval Carmina Burana, Bach, Boyce, folk-tunes and pure improvisation)…

Here’s a quote of my friend Herr Brunkel (February 2014): “Gig of the Consortium @ Vort’n Vis: full moon, poor organisation because unannounced concert, resulting in = public nihil. The singing incredibly out of tune, like a cat (not bad with a rotten fish – Vort’n Vis – dish) with a full moon of Duvels for ‘Brunkel’ and ‘blue clouds’ for Sid Veritas’…”

‘Ugly Papas’? I toured 2 years with them… Perhaps I played with them in the Vort’n Vis?

Peter Caesens

It was my idea to invite P.A.C. He also read from his own work, I believe. Happened at a few fests that I was involved with…

Edward Verhaeghe

The ‘Ugly Papas’ (also from the Kortrijk area) were in the final of Humo’s Rock Rally in 1990. They played “non-conventional, decadent but tight blues-rock with humour”. The band consisted of Dick Descamps (bass), Dr. Dekerpel (guitar), Luc Dufourmont (vocals; ex ‘Two Russian Cowboys’ – these had already performed at a Smurfpunx-gig: 88-10-23) and Eric ‘Rik’ Debruyne (drums). Did they perform here or just visit?

Brob

95-04-28 Seein’Red – Stack – Gluebag

First evening of the ‘Ceaseless Suffocation’ festival – no idea why Bruno made up this name – which was first intended as a one-day-er… This Friday evening in the pub was kind of a ‘preparation’ for the next day…

Lots of bands had been announced in previous newsletters: ‘Propagandhi’ (Can), ‘U.F.D.’ (Ger), ‘Los Sommros’ (Cze), ‘Porcos Sujos’ (Por), ‘Zemezluc’ (Cze), ‘Acme’ … No idea what kept them away…

Brob

‘Acme’ definitely didn’t play this one….

Bart Jansen, ‘Deconsume’ guitarist

We didn’t play that gig…it was planned, but did not realize.

‘Soty’, ‘Zemezluc’s bassist/vocalist

‘Stack’ (from Ludwigshafen/Kaiserslautern) was formed Dec 1993 when Corey and Bernd (a couple a that time) wanted to do something different from ‘Abolition’ (92-09-06) music-wise. The line-up here was: Bernd Bohrmann (screams), Ralf ‘Flowerviolence’ Bock (drums), Chris(tophe) Klimmer (guitar; ex ‘Nyctophobic’), Marcel ‘Croissant’ Hanneman (guitar) and Corey von Villiez (bass; replaced by a guy for 5 months, a bit later by Michael ‘Bpunk’ Bergweiler). In May ’94 they recorded a demo (white box with a red dot on the back – a ‘slight’ hint to their love for Jap-thrash). For those who don’t have the tape, check it out. Their music would be described as power-violence. From the review of this in my zine Tilt! #8 “Once in a while a person needs a brutalisation of the senses like this, to be able to feel human.”; the conclusion: “Essential material!”. A bit after this gig they did recordings for the split-7”s with ‘Seein’Red’ (called Backbone) and ‘Capitalist Casualties’ ‎(both on Equality recs, Corey & Bernd’s label). After the recording of this Corey left the band (which was in the Summer of ‘95) …

Apparently they played the next day => 95-04-29 photos ‘Ceaseless Suffocation’ festival

‘Seein’Red’ was on the We’re Punks Not Crusties tour together with ‘Stack’ (see pic that was on the split-7”). We’d seen the ‘brothers’ at various places but as far as I can remember this was only their 2^nd passage in the V.V. Off course everyone knows their vast discography but just to give an indication; they had just recorded for the Trefwoord Punk 7” (with the Dutch lyrics) and Wicked Witch recs put out the More Of The Same 7” that was recorded late ’94… Sascha May (Evilspeak zine) recorded their set here and put the tape out under the name Punk Is Verzet.

‘Seein’Red’ (Jos – bass & vocals / Olav – drums / Paul – guitar & vocals); pics taken by Marianne Waaijer

‘Gluebag’ (Liège) had played here already on 95-02-11. It was a ‘project that Phil, Willy and Jonas (who were or had been in ‘Hiatus’) did: playing punk à la ‘Disorder’… But it didn’t last very long… Wills had joined ‘Unhinged’ in the mean time, Jonas spent time with his mates of the Groninger squat-scene and Phil… Well don’t know what he was up to ;-)

Willy ‘Gluebag’ (source: the French zine Chill Out #3)

I’ve no recollections of this gig myself. I used to work weekend-/night-shifts in a hospital during that period: perhaps I wasn’t even there…

Brob

I found the master-tape of the ‘Seein’Red’ concert at the V.V. from 1995 (which Gregor [Kanitz] and me later put out as a benefit-tape)…

Sascha May (Evlispeak zine)

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‘Zemezluc’ (from the Brno area) played tuneful hardcore/ punk. They have a immense discography and the line-up changed quite a few times. At that time were (I think) ‘Soty’ Pavel Zachoval (bass/vocals), ‘Ruda’ Rudolf Pospíšil (drums) and ‘Eda’ Karel Florián (guitar/vocals). Most of their tapes/records are self-released. Since ’97 Pavel Friml released their material on his label Papagájuv Hlasatel recs (www.phr.cz). Apparently the bands still plays (zemezluc.net)…

‘Propagandhi’ had already been announced 95-03-05. I explained why they didn’t tour…

‘U.F.D.’ did a gig at the V.V. on 92-06-13

‘Acme’ had been here probably on 94-04-09. They’d probably split up by then – see ‘Acme’ interview in Tilt! #8.

‘Los Sommros’ was an anarchist HC-punk band from Brno, Czechoslovakia.

‘Porcos Sujos’ (“Dirty Pigs”; orginially ‘PSP’ or ‘Porcos Sujos Punk’), from Portugal, arose after the split of ‘Subcaos’. They were said to be influenced by Scandinavian HC.

Brob

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 excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

Yannick ‘Pikpik’?

additions wellcome!…