2000-08-20 As Friends Rust – [Walls Of Jericho] – Stigmata – Length Of Time – Reveal – Standing Tall – One Fine Day – Children Of Fall – Purification – [Chispa] – Inane – Course Of Action – Oil – Bobby Peru – Severance

Introduction => 2000-08-18&19&20 Ieperfest

Laurent Chopard & Olivier Bresson (from Besançon, France) wrote in their zine Co-existence:

3rd day: some interesting bands in the afternoon such as ‘Bobby Peru’ (hard rock’n’roll emo) or ‘Oil’ (original HC). For Laurent, ‘Children Of Fall’ gave the best concert of the festival, despite the vocal problems of the singer and especially the penultimate concert worthy of attention. ‘Stigmata’ gave occasion to a good bit of fun for most of us French, entering into some ‘caterpillars of death’ in the pit. We were waiting for ‘As Friends Rust’ but their gig was brief, since the police decided to put an end to the festival. A little disgusted but not too sad because there’s enough opportunities to see this band (that roams the old continent for quite some time).

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‘Severance’ (Brugge/Knokke-Heist) did a “blend of the post-hardcore thing with some indie rock”; they’ve been compared with ‘As Friends Rust’ & ‘Hot Water Music’. The band was started in 1998 by Bert Degraeve (guitar), Jochen Verledens (vocals), Koen Barbier (bass) en Pieter Deroo (drums). Tim Debrabandere became the 2^nd guitarist in 1999 and Ivo Debrabandere replaced Pieter on drums in 2000. Their first release was a split-CD with ‘DeathBeforeDisco’ on Eye Spy recs (2001). A couple of years later Genet recs would release their CD Let’s Talk About Us…

‘Bobby Peru’ – “Rock on emo-power!” –  (emocore from southern Germany) played a “frantic, chaotic style of hardcore; heavily influenced by the ‘Swing Kids’ and other San Diego bands of the time”. They – ‘Bobby Belmondo’ (bass), ‘Badass Peru’ (drums), ‘Bobby Fett Peru’ (guitar), ‘Cpt. Loco Peru’ (guitar) & ‘Byron J. Peru’ (vocals) – released 2 7”s: Liberate Tute Me Ex Inferis (Two Friends recs 1999) and The X-File Conspiracy (Strange Fruit 2001).

‘Chispa’ (from Hamburg) were people who’d played in ‘Loxiran’: Dennis Becker (guitar; he had been at the V.V. with ‘Lebensreform’ in ‘97), Norman Kolodziej (guitar), Oliver Koch (bass), Thomas Tröger (drums) & Ulf Stolley (vocals). “San Diego all over it!”… Markus Haas (Per Koro) released their 7” Obstinator (’99) and there was a split-CD with ‘Enfold’ on Bloodlink recs. They were announced but didn’t actually play.

‘Inane’ (from Bottrop, Ruhrpott area, Germany) – “Mörser with grunts” – playd brutal metal/death-core with frantic drums/guitars and hellish vocals. Their album Zeitraffer was released on Sascha Franzen’s label Alveran recs in 2000. Markus Haas (Per Koro) did their second – Kill ‘Em & Grill ‘Em – in 2001. There was also a 7” on Autumn Leave Network… The band consisted of ‘Ollie’ Oliver Hapke (bass), Oliver Hemker (guitar), Jörg Fenhoff (guitar), Michael Heidenreich/Christian S (drums) & Heiko Nickel (vocals). No idea who Wes was (see guestbook).

‘Course Of Action’ (from the French-speaking part of Belgium: Wavre/Louvain-La-Neuve) played “technical/melodic metal-core with the emotion and intensity of bands like ‘Converge’ or ‘Morning Again’…”: ‘JP’ Jean-Pascal Bolle (drums), David Scurr (bass), Tiago Lemaitre (guitar), Phyl Bautzer (vocals) & ‘Max’ Maxim Polya-Vitry (guitar/vocals). They put out a self-released tape (entitled Ocean Of Despair) in ’98). Then there was the CD No Redeeming The Sunlit Path Of Bliss ‎(Hellbound Corporation, ’99) and GoodLife recs released the Carving Our Way By Tearing Our Faith ‎CD (2001). They came for the fest in 2001.

The album Definition Delta by ‘Oil’ (from A’dam & R’dam) was recorded July 2000, with guitarists Jasper Uhl & Robin van der Kaa, bassist Peter Heemskerk, drummer Marcel Wiebenga (also ‘Das Oath’) and singer Nicholas van den Doel. It came out on Jeroen Vrijhoef & Marcel Palijama’s label Coalition recs. They were a hardcore band; in Bruno’s marketing-lingo: “Like ‘Rocking From The Crypt’ going old-school.”.

‘Purification’ – “vegan straight-edge mosh metal terror” – played already on the fest in 1997 (97-08-15)… This Roman vegan sXe metal-core band, I believe, consisted at that time of Maurizio Ricci (vocals), Paolo ‘Uccello’ Castagna (bass), Fabio ‘Kappa’ Cappabianca (drums), Emiliano De Santis (guitar) and Andrea ‘Monster’ Campanelli (guitar; also ‘Comrades’). They did a split-CD with ‘Unborn’ in 2002. Watch their set…

‘Children Of Fall’ (“emotional metal-core”; from Malmö) did several records; one of which was on Genet recs (2000): Riding A Broken Vehicle. A later album was also released on tape by Marko Rusjan (Choose Life label). The band was: Olle ‘Hård’ Johansson (guitar; ex ‘Serene), Anders Näslund (vocals; ‘Serene’), Emil Björkander (bass; see below) & Linus Rösell (drums). Olle got replaced for this show (see comment below).

‘One Fine Day’, a “post-hardcore” band, had already played at the ’98 fest already. In 2000 they released a split-7” with ‘Dead Inside’ The band consisted of Adriano ‘Baulo’ Fontaneto (guitar), Alessio Fornasiero (bass), Andrea ‘ics’ Ferraris (guitar; also ‘Burning Defeat’, ‘Permanent Scar’, etc.), Luca ‘Mouth’ Fontaneto (vocals; editor of the zine Outlet) and Stefano Bosso (drums). In 2002 they would release a CD on Bruno’s Genet recs: “Mixing heavy ‘Botch’-esque sounds with more rocking ‘Swing Kids’-alike madness.”. Their set here was video-taped: 1^st part & 2^nd part.

‘One Fine Day’ (pic courtesy of the band)

‘Standing Tall’ (Gainesville, Florida) – ‘Starkweather’ meets ‘Converge’! – had 2 releases on Genet recs: the album Swallow The Gods (released right in time for their European tour 2000) and the EP To Suffer Discomfort For Compassion (’99). The band consisted of Larry Watts (guitar/vocals), Tony DePaolo (bass/vocals), Louie Gonzales (drums; he replaced Andy Seltzer); don’t know if guitarist Ruben Lopez was in the band at this timepoint. The guestbook was signed by Lew (Larry), Luis, Tony & Dani (read below). Their music was described as “wicked, discordant and messy HC” and also as “destructo-core influenced by ‘Starkweather’, ‘Botch’, ‘Coalesce’…”.

‘Reveal’s second appearance (first one: 99-08-21). “Driving hardcore/noise whirlwind, new LP/CD out now!”. They’d left GoodLife and switched to Genet recs for the To Explore The Invention, To Create CD (2000). Maarten van Oers (drums), Mischa van Rodijnen (guitar), Geert van Hoesel (vocals) & Dave van Beek (bass), from the south of The Netherlands.

‘Length Of Time’ was a metal-core band from Brussels with Michel Kirby (guitar; ex ‘Mental Disturbance’, ex’ Deviate’), Yves ‘Ross Demon’ Van Geel (vocals), Christian Zegers (drums) & Vince(nt) Meseeuw (bass). They did 2 albums and an EP for GoodLife recs between 1998 & 2000. Someone wrote about them: “Our lives were full of agony until we heard this magic band.”…

Michel Kirby (source unknown)

‘Stigmata’ was a hardcore band from Albany, New York; with Bob Riley (vocals), Buddy Armstrong (bass), Jason Bittner (drums; later ‘Overkill’ etc.), Jason/Jay Sunkes (guitar) and Mike Maney (guitar). In 1999 Victory recs had released their album Do Unto Others…

‘Stigmata’ (source unknown)

‘Walls Of Jericho’ – announced as “Ex ‘Earthmover’, brutal mosh metal with harsh female vocals” – was a metalcore band from Detroit. At the time of this fest they had a demo out, a 7” (A Day And A Thousand Years) and an album (The Bound Feed The Gagged, on Trustkill recs). At that time: Candace Puopolo/Kucsulain (vocals), Aaron Ruby (bass), Wes Keely (drums; ex ‘Earthmover’), Kevin Kroeger or Chris(topher) Rawson (guitar) & Mike Hasty (guitar; ex ‘Earthmover’). ‘W.O.J.’ didn’t actually make it here. ‘Earthmover’ played an earlier fest on 98-08-15…

Damien Moyal sporting a ‘Liar’ T-shirt (source unknown)

‘As Friends Rust’ had been here the year before aswell: “Melodic, fastforward hardcore harmonies! A pleasure to have them back!”. Another band from Gainesville, Florida! Damien Moyal (vocals: ex ‘Culture’/‘Shai Hulud’/‘Morning Again’) was the main man. After a major line-up change the double-7” God Hour (GoodLife recs 1999) and the 8” As Friends Rust (Doghouse recs 1999) were released. The line-up at that time was James Glayat (guitar), Joseph ‘Joe’ Simmons (guitar; also ‘Culture’, ‘Morning Again’), Kaleb Stewart (bass) & Tim Kirkpatrick (drums).

Brob

I have very good memories regarding Ieperfest and the Vort’n Vis. I was indeed the guitarist – later bassist – of ‘Oil’. As it happens I missed the concert on Ieperfest in 2000 because I was ill. Nobody replaced me, I was such a limited guitarist that they could do with the one giutar.

Robin van der Kaa, ‘Oil’

Wasn’t the ‘As Friends Rust’ concert interrupted by the cops because of complainys about the ‘noise’?

Nikos Houzet, drummer ‘Eliottt Ness’

I have memories of Damien ‘A.F.R.’ singing through the kick-drum microphone when they played. The vocal microphone ended up getting smashed with all the people climbing the scene. Fantastic show and great guys!

I think Joakim did stand in guitar for Olle at the ‘Children Of Fall’. Not 100% sure though. He got a nasty infection on his leg after doing a huge tattoo while we were on tour. I think he had to cancel Ieper because of that and go home?

Gunnar Forsman, ‘Leiah’ drummer

Yes, it’s true that I had a medical condition that sent me straight back to Sweden and into hospital. It was actually a really bad tattoo infection But I don’t think the band cancelled any shows, the guys from ‘Leiah’ filled in for me when I went home…

Olle ‘Hård’ Johansson, ‘Children Of Fall’ guitarist

If Olle didn’t play that year and the band borrowed stuff of the ‘Leiah’ members, I’m totally sure I wasn’t in the band then already. I must have joined during the fall of that year, after the band had played that fest. Petter Karlsson probably played the bass instead of me.

Emil Björkander

Ieper was an absolute blast. It was built up in my mind from all the stories I heard from our friends in ‘Culture’ / ‘Morning Again’ / ‘As Friends Rust’ and when we got there it certainly did not disappoint. New/old friends, bands from all over the world and a great atmosphere both at the fest and in the city made Ieperfest a fantastic experience. One of my favorite things about the fest was the fact that there were so many bands from different parts of the world and how welcome everyone was made to feel. Our Belgium shows were some of my favorite of the tour due to the fantastic crowds that came out. Our Ieperfest crowd was among one of my favourite of my career due to the fact that they were so patient with us. We had no idea what we were doing as we had never played on a stage that big before. Add to that technical difficulties, rain and a non-English speaking crowd, and you get a potential recipe for disaster. We got the exact opposite and it was awesome. Our Ieperfest set also doubled as our CD release show for our second offering from Genet recs. If not for Bruno having faith in a bunch of kids from Florida, we never would have been there. That European tour was one of the best experiences of my life and kicking the whole thing off at Ieper was incredible.

The Swallow The Gods line-up was Larry, Louie and myself. Ruben and Andy had moved on at that point. The European tour was with Dani on vocals, a guy from Spain who came to Gainesville in early 2000. He hung out with us until his visa ran out and he had to go home. He played a few shows with us in the States but he went back to Spain a few months before the tour. We met up with him in Gent at the start of the tour and we played as a 4 piece.

Tony DePaolo, bassist of ‘Standing Tall’

‘Children Of Fall’ belonged to the Swedish emo-hardcore scene but played bone-hard live… One lump of passion. They became real friends and I drew the cover of their CD. ‘As Friends Rust’ was…a party on stage; poppy up-tempo hardcore with one of the best frontmen of that era (Damien Moyal). Awesome… Good time!

Kristof Mondy

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

additions wellcome!…

99-08-20 Hundred Years Of Forgetting – JR Ewing – Once Never Again – Surface – Hebriana – [Tumult] – Heaven Shall Burn – Discount – Sad Origin – As Friends Rust – Mainstrike – Hot Water Music

Introduction => 99-08-20&21&22 Ieper HC festival

Laurent Chopard & Olivier Bresson (from Besançon, France) wrote in their zine Co-existence:

(1&2) This year we went to the famous Vort’n Vis festival again. Our car was filled to the brim. After a long drive we arrived in the ever charming town of Ypres, where we had to find the new place where the festival was (the old one had become too cramped). This new place happened to be in the yard of an old school. The joys of the outdoors!

(1) I was disappointed to have arrived too late to see ‘Hebriana’ that first day… We had to wait until a local thrash band (read: H8000) stopped playing to see the first interesting band: ‘Discount’ that I only knew by name until then. Poppy punk rock with female vocals. Nice surprise! Their gig was pleasant and many made a diary-entree because of the singer. ‘As Friends Rust’, who accompanied ‘Discount’ on this tour, gave a good concert musically (tinged with emo and metal), that brought the audience together. On the other hand, I was rather disappointed by the performance of the ‘old-school heroes’ in ‘Mainstrike’, compared to the concert they gave two years ago. Normally this was their last concert. The band of the day was undoubtedly ‘Hot Water Music’: they offered the audience an excellent energetic emo-rock concert. A lot of people were there for them and they even managed to convince the youth-crew 88 (like Olivier; who even bought their CD); congratulations guys!

(2) We weren’t hardly out of the car when metal chords of the worst kind reached our ears. A shiver ran through my body. Would I once again have to endure a treatment of metal during this Belgian weekend? Fortunately we were just at the end of ‘Heaven Shall Burn’ (phew!) The rest of the day (in my opinion) more accessible groups were scheduled. I was pleasantly surprised to discover ‘As Friends Rust’ and ‘Discount’ that I didn’t know yet musically. On the other hand the performance of the grandpas of ‘Mainstrike’ disappointed me a lot. It was super flabby. The last band of this first day was ‘Hot Water Music’ and something that didn’t really had to happen, did happen. It was a revelation. I’m still in love with it. Emo rock’n’roll at its best.

(1&2) After this busy first day we had to find the famous camping-site (where no one pays) and especially find ourselves a place, something rather difficult at past 1 a.m. Most seemed to believe that everyone had a soundproof tent. After this very ‘white night’, restless people had decided to skate at 7 a.m., destroying all chances to close our eyes…

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‘Tumult’ – “Ruhrpott powerviolence” – were announced but apparently didn’t play. It was a fast-core band from Bonn/Köln with Christian Czerwinski (vocals), Marco Andree (guitar), Dirk Weißenfels (guitar) and others. They did a few 7”s: The Heroic Bloodshed (Defiance recs ’97), a split with ‘Gomorrha’ (on Anomie recs & Marco Andree’s Bastardized recs ’98) & a split with ‘Yacøpsæ’ (Spiral Objective 2000); and a self-titled LP on Per Koro (2000). For some reason they didn’t show up…

‘Hundred Years Of Forgetting’ – “Rocking slomo emo HC.”. A Belgian SxE band. Vincent ‘Pit’ Maes, the singer of ‘Instinct’ was in this band… So was Bjorn Dossche (One Step Down zine). The band had a demo out. Both guys were later in later ‘The Deal’ & ‘Rise And Fall’.

‘JR Ewing’ – “Noisy & pissed off, feat. ‘Amulet’ member – split set with ‘O.N.A.’.”. Norwegian HC band with (at that time) Andreas Tylden (vocals; ex ‘Lash Out’, also ‘Amulet’), Erlend Mokkelbost (guitar), Martin Molden (guitar), Jonas Thire (drums) and Nils Petter Strand (bass). At that time they had 3 7”s (also compiled by Scorched Earth Policy) out on Dance Of Days Recording Coalition: a split with ‘Break (97), Integritas.Consonantia.Claritas. (98) and another split with the Belgian ‘S.Y.C.’ (99). Together with his gig they did 5 (!) other shows in Belgium (Kontich, Leuven, 2 in Antwerp & Tongeren).

‘Once…Never Again’ – “New school, CD presentation – split set with JR!”. A “heart-core band” (as their label dubbed them) from the Antwerp area. Originally a straigt-edge band but that changed… They did a CD entitled Others Came Along And Killed My Dreams (on Funtime recs, ‘99) which was referred to as resembling ‘Morning Again’. Members: Bram De Laet (guitar), Hans De Groef (guitar), Kristof Van Den Broeck (drums), Stijn Op De Beeck (bass) & Stijn Davignon (vocals).

‘Surface’ – “Metallic new school mosh!!”. Another “Ruhrpott metal-core band.” (with 5 sXe-ers): Frank Knöfler (drums), Sven Pust (bass), Thorsten Kleine-Hegermann (guitar), Boris Pracht (guitar) and Sammy Eftekhari (vocals). They did 2 albums on Mad Mob recs: To Millenium…And Beyond (’97) & Shadows Cast By The Light Of The World (’99); toured with ‘Snapcase’ in ’98.

‘Hebriana’ – “Rapid, distorted Merksplas emo-core.”. They’d just played the V.V. (99-06-27) supporting ‘Shai Hulud’. Stijn Colson (guitar), Sven Hoskens (bass/vocals; later ‘Confuse The Cat’), Peter Bols (drums) & Vaast Colson (guitar/vocals) came from a little town in the North of Belgium and were described as an emo/post-HC band with references to ‘Reiziger’. They did a split-7” with ‘Leiah’ (from Sweden) ‎on Genet recs in1999. A review mentioned their music is “herky-jerky post-hardcore with vocals that are pretty shouty, kind of Dischord-y”…

‘Heaven Shall Burn’ – “Blistering H8000 style metalcore.”. A “melodic death-metal/ metal-core” band from Thüringen (Germany). They’d released some demos, an EP (In Battle…There Is No Law) in ’98 and a split-LP (with ‘Fall of Serenity’) in ’99. At that time they were Eric Bischoff (bass), Maik Weichert (guitar), Marcus Bischoff (vocals), Matthias Voigt (drums) and Patrick Schleitzer (guitar).

‘Discount’ – “Poppy punkrock/HC, female vocals. Shake it up!”. In the band (from Florida) were: Alison Nicole Mosshart (vocals; nowadays ‘rockstar’), James Parker/Todd Rockhill (bass), Justin Focco/Bill Nesper (drums) & Ryan Seagrist (guitar). Comparisons with the melocic HC band ‘Tilt’ were made. To mention just a few of their relases: a split-7”with ‘As Friends Rust’ (GoodLife recs 1999), split-LP with ‘J Church’ (on Rugger Bugger Discs 2000)… In 1999 their album Crash Diagnostic was released (recordings with Alison, Todd, Bill & Ryan).

‘Sad Origin’ – “DMD brutal stomping HC – LP/CD presentation.”. Their album A Double Edged Sword In A Triangle of Emotions was released by Genet recs. They did a demo in ’96 and a ‎mini-album entitled Window Of Sarcasm on Inner Belt recs (‘98). The band (from Dendermonde) consisted of Robin ‘Robby’ (bass; replaced Peter De Bondt who played on 98-08-15), Wim Aerts (drums), Wesley Steels (guitar) and Hans ‘Link’ Teirlinck (vocals). Peter XKombatX did backing vocals on the Genet CD. Some people reviewed it as “metal with an early ‘Morbid Angel’ sound” or “metalcore with NYHC influences” or (On Display #3) “bad death-metal”. Alain Herszaft put out the split-CD with ‘Misura’ on Released Power Productions in 2000. Some of the members went on as ‘Die My Demon’.

‘Sad Origin’ (source unknown)

‘As Friends Rust’ – “Damien & co back in Europe!”. American punk/hardcore band founded in 1996 in Gainesville, Florida; with Damien Moyal (vocals: ex ‘Culture’/‘Shai Hulud’/‘Morning Again’). In early 1996 Jeronimo Gomez (bass), Henry Olmino (guitar) and Matt Crum (drums) were jamming and recruited Damien. After recording six songs and making a three-track demo, the band soon disbanded and was not picked up until 1998 when Damien revived it with new members, mostly from the breaking up band ‘Culture’. The new line-up recorded a single new song, and used four from the demo, to come out with the debut The Fists of Time (GoodLife recs). A year later, with a slightly different line-up, the split with ‘Discount’ came out and they quickly went on tour. Another line-up change and the new EPs God Hour and As Friends Rust were released on GoodLife recs. Damien posted a video of ‘As Friends Rust’ playing Encante at this festival here. They came back the next year…

‘Mainstrike’ – “Youthcrew masters.”. They played the V.V. before They did their last gig 99-10-30 at their hometown’s Goudvishal (where Pytrik Schafraad interviewed them for It’s Raining Truths #4) so this was probably their last Belgian show… On the www there’s a video of ‘Big’, Jonas, Jeroen, Johnny & Pepijn performing their song Break The Cycle… In May 1998 they’d recorded the album No Passing Phase. And in January & April 1999 four songs meant to be for two split-7”s (with ‘Ensign’ and with ‘True Blue’); but the band later decided to put all the songs on one record. The self-titled 7” came out in 2000 (a year later after they had already had broken up). Former V.V. gigs: 95-04-09, 95-08-19, 95-10-20 & 97-08-17.

‘Mainstrike’ (photographed by Marco Pasini)

‘Hot Water Music’ (pics courtesy of Stijn Vliegen)

‘Hot Water Music’ – “Leading Florida emo hardcore.”. Melodic punk/hardcore band. Releasing material on No Idea recs and more recently Epitaph recs. The band still exists (hotwatermusic.com). Members of the band are Charles Allen ‘Chuck’ Ragan (guitar), Christopher James ‘Chris’ Wollard (guitar), Jason William Black (bass) and George Rebelo (drums).

Brob

The first revived line-up of ‘As Friends Rust’ – the one that recorded Home Is Where the Heart Aches (1998) was me, Tim Kirkpatrick (drums), Joe Simmons (guitar), Kaleb Stewart (bass) & Gordon Tarpley (guitar). The ‘Discount’ split line-up (1998): me, Tim, Joe, Kaleb & Peter Bartsocas (guitar). The God Hour line-up (1999): me, Tim (drums), Joe, Kaleb and new guitarist James Glayat (guitar).

It was the first year in that outdoor space. Great energy. I think that was sort of a peak year for us in Europe…

Damien Moyal

Actually I do have some pics and stuff of that festival. Stories too, cause we slept in our cars most of the time.

Sammy Heininger, ‘Surface’ vocalist

I know I have some pics from when we played that Vort’n Vis fest in ‘99. Just need time to find them…

Jonas Thire, ‘JR Ewing’ drummer

From 1999 on, when ‘ADESIATOE’ was recorded, Robin took over the bass.

Peter De Bondt, ‘Sad Origin’s first bassist

Bruno (Genet recs) asked us to do a split-set with ‘JR Ewing’… Can’t remember which band we had to replace. [Probably ‘Turmoil’ from Germany] Our band only lasted about one and a half year.

Stijn Davignon, ‘Once Never Again’ vocalist

One of our band-members had to work a bit longer than expected that day so we weren’t sure if we could make it in time. We asked the organiser (the Genet recs guy) what would happen if we’ld arrive later than planned in the time-schedule. He replied “If you’re to late, you won’t play. You hàve to be there in time otherwise you won’t play.”. I remember him being quite inflexible, not giving us the chance playing later, so we quickly decided to stay at home. We were really looking foward to play Ieper but that guy didn’t give us any leeway. Imagine us in a hurry arriving like 20 min late and that guy’s like “Tough luck, you’re too late.”. To avoid this awkard situation a.k.a. trouble we decided not to show up at the fest. That’s it.

Christian Czerwinski, ‘Tumult’ vocalist

I’m not 100% sure about our line-up because we had a change that year but it must’ve been me and Tommy on guitars, ‘Sabbel’ [Christian] doing vocals, Jens on drums and bassist Marco. That’s at least the line-up we recorded our LP with that year.

Dirk Weißenfels, ‘Tumult’ guitarist

I recall that we were all super nervous. It was our first ‘big’ concert (I was only 16) and everything was pretty overwhelming. Because of the tense nerves we played our set twice as fast. Actually one of our worst gigs ever. But we were, and still are, proud for being able to play the Vort’n Vis fest. And we could see the rest of the bands for free. A gift of the gods for a 16-year old with a flat wallet…

Hans De Groef, ‘Once…Never Again’ guitarist

We only played the festival in 1999 (and 2002), I believe. At least when I was in the band. Unfortunately I can’t say that much because we went there in an overnight drive, played in the afternoon and left in the early evening. We were supposed to play another festival in East-Germany the next day, early afternoon. I only remember that it was a rather bad show for us, but a good way to introduce ourselves to a wider audience. I wish we could have stayed longer and watch the other bands…

Matthias Voigt, ‘Heaven Shall Burn’ drummer

additions wellcome!…

2000-08-18&19&20 Ieperfest

From the www… >>The Vort’n Vis Festival is one of the biggest underground fests in Europe and can be found in Ieper. It exists a long time already, I think from the eighties. It used to be in the club called Vort’n Vis but since two years it has become an open-air festival at the music-school. The fest offers us a lot of styles of hardcore like old school, NYHC, emo, more metal stuff; and combines big names with lesser known names. The big names this year were Ensign, Good Clean Fun, Stigmata, Grade and As Friends Rust. Convinced, Walls Of Jericho, Out For Blood and Shai Hulud were bands listed on the bill but who couldn’t show up in the end, pity… The weather on this year’s fest really sucked, lotsa rain… But that couldn’t stop the fun. The atmosphere on the fest was good but not as good as last years. There were no fights or something but some people seemed to enjoy fucking things up at the camping. A lot of people showed up. They told me almost 1.500 people on Friday, about 1.700 on Saturday and the same for Sunday. Also a lot of people decided to stay on the camping.<< (author unknown)

Programme (full posts with photos of some bands can be accessed by clicking…):

Friday 18 August: Ensign (USA), Voorhees (UK), Reiziger (Bel), Out For Blood (Bel), Serene (Swe), Cast In Fire (USA), Building (Bel), January Star (Ger), Cataract (Swi), Lvmen (Cze), With Love (Ita), With Love (Ita), Ariel Kill Him (Swe), AmenRa (Bel)

Saturday 19 August: Grade (Can), Good Clean Fun (USA), Leiah (Swe) Sad Origin (Bel), Firestone (Bel), Withdrawn/Evanesce (UK), Knut (Swi), Born From Pain (Nl), Point Of No Return (Bra), Negate (Bel), Dawncore (Hun), Circle (Bel), Posession (Spa), 5 Day GetAway (Bel)

Sunday 20 August: As Friends Rust (USA), Walls Of Jericho (USA), Stigmata (USA), Length Of Time (Bel), Reveal (Nl), Standing Tall (USA), One Fine Day (Ita), Children Of Fall (Swe), Purification (Ita), Chispa (Ger), Inane (Ger), Course Of Action (Bel), Oil (Nl), Bobby Peru (Ger), Severance (Bel)

At least one critical visiter… “What are we all doing ???” ;-)

Some shots of the crowd & distro-stalls (source unknown):

An Caers & Nico Peeters (Day One distribution)

The ‘shit-workers’ in the shadow:

99-08-20&21&22 Ieper HC festival

(ieperfest.com)

‘Mörser’ (from Bremen, Germany) played unannounced (as did probably some more bands; e.g. the local ‘Lifecycle’)…

‘Lifecycle’ (pics courtesy of Frederik Severijns)

This August fest was the 1^st time outside the Vort’n Vis premises (start of a new era ?) so I guess that’s why it’s sometimes referred to as Ieperfest. I had already parted with the event a few years before (because of the commercialism, violence, homophobia, sexism, etc. – see 96-08). Below are a few impressions of people who attended…

Brob

>> The leading European hardcore festival, the Vort’n Vis Fest in Ieper had to move to a bigger location. The festival was no longer in the ‘big’ barn behind the Vort’n Vis venue but was now held on a school playground. It was open-air and I thought that was odd as hell. A hardcore show in open air. I think this was the beginning of the end of the, once cool, festival. A lot of poseurs had shown up already and in the years to come things would get worse. These days the festival is fucking stupid and most of the bands playing suck. In 1999 only a few cool bands would play. Things I still remember from the ‘99 Vort’n Vis Hardcore Festival is ‘H-Street’ playing and getting a massive response to covering ‘Token Entry’s The Edge (a song that was one of my favorites that summer), being handed Like An Arrow issue #1 by Erik Tilburg, ‘Bloodpact’ being boring as shit and ‘True Blue’ playing a weird show. […]

I think this was the first time I saw ‘True Blue’ live. I was looking forward to seeing them live, but I was a bit let down that I didn’t see 5 dudes in ‘Cro-Mags’ or ‘Chain’ shirts jumping around like idiots and being as straight-edge as can be. What I saw instead were two longhairs with rings playing guitar, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes, and a singer with unposi leg tattoos featuring skulls and post-apocalyptic scenes. I was a bit baffled at first but eventually stuck around and started enjoying the show. I think a lot Ieperfest attendees were a little let down by this sight and performance as well, because the playground emptied pretty much after two songs that sunny summer afternoon. it must have been the lack of political statements. This proofs again that ‘True Blue’ was far from a popular band. There were only a few dudes moshing and I might have done the same had I had a clue as how to mosh (to ‘True Blue’), but the only true moshers doing their thing were Mark Stroeken, Pieter SDC and Erik ‘Arrowman’ Tilburg, all three ‘True Blue’ Army. Mark was dancing like an asshole, like he always did, and probably still does, Tilburg brought his signature ultra-classic T. mosh and Pieter SDC was doing something between clumsy and cool. Other than that BXL Crew jerk Bayram was bashing some innocent bystander’s head in on the tunes of ‘God Of Wrath’ (PK mid-breakdown quote “Relax buddy” addressing some Bayram pit/pit-side beef, can still be heard from time to time during ‘Rise And Fall’ shows when some pit-shit hits the pit-fan) and I think Diamond Dave was just standing in the middle of the pit being hard. Other than that there was a big horseshoe in front of the stage. ‘True Blue’, the band that gets jocked so much and would get a huge pit-response these days, brought the greatest mosh-parts of Ieperfest 1999 and no one cared. Besides the ones I just mentioned. I remember seeing my (then soon to be) homeboy Bjorn Dossche (who was in mosh-tirement from 1997 till 2000) chilling on stage next to Jan ‘Blindfold’ behind some amps and thinking “If these dudes are checking out this band they must be cool.”. […] <<

Comment by anonymous: >> The Vort’n Vis Festival in 1999 took indeed place in a somewhat odd location, and it was the last time I visited the festival. I don’t remember all the bands. ‘Mainstrike’ were at their peak. ‘Ensign’ – whom everybody seems to have forgotten – played a crazy show with a huge circle-pit. ‘Bloodpact’ were originally not scheduled to play; I liked their set a lot at the time, they played a ‘Man Lifting Banner’ cover and I bought their split LP with ‘Varsity’. Not too sure, if I still like ‘Bloodpact’. Haven’t listened to them in many years. ‘As Friends Rust, ‘Get Up Kids’, ‘Mörser’, ‘Spirit 84’, ‘Liar’, ‘Arkangel’, ‘Reaching Forward’ and many other bands were playing; but most of those bands didn’t leave much of an impression. ‘H-Street’ were indeed playing as well: they played this curious mix of rock’n’roll and youth-crew. They were nice guys…not sure what they are up to nowadays.

If I remember correctly, ‘True Blue’ were not scheduled. They played in the early afternoon and virtually less than a dozen people were moshing; there was a big empty space in front of the stage. I was also surprised to see a long-haired metal guy on stage. I kinda liked their set, but – as you rightly said – it would have been a killer show if it would have taken place a few years later. At the time, very few people cared. When the 7” came out, I felt that it was a bit of a letdown; I have rarely listened to it. There was a peculiar aura surrounding that tape that could not be replicated. […] <<

lionsandcheetahs2011.blogspot (2011-05-14), by Bart De Duytsche (Crucial X Culture zine)

I made the trip to Ieper from Switzerland mostly to meet friends from around Europe and to possibly enjoy some music from the few good bands booked that year. The festival of the Vort’n Vis was like a punk Mecca, it really had a certain mythical appeal to it, although in reality the punk factor wasn’t shining terribly bright, with all these atrocious moshcore bands wearing Nike and Lacoste sweaters. I remember Christophe from Stonehenge/ ‘Fingerprint’ even boycotting that year’s edition and selling his records on the floor right outside the main entrance. The whole thing was very clean, very safe and overall not very exciting. Well, ‘Mörser’ from Bremen did play a surprise gig if I’m correct; that was fun. But I never came back.

Vincent de Roguin, Genève

I remember there were massive circle-pits during ‘Ensign’ :-)

Michael Kopijn, Groningen

Personally I think this was the last cool Ieper festival. Small bands still had the change to play there. Nowadays it sucks totally. I’ve been there two or three times after that but the old comradery is gone. It’s just a mere festival. ‘True Blue’ was really great, I bet people were shocked. They were ahead of their time. ‘Mainstrike’ rocked the show, I think they just came back from their American tour and it was their second to last show before they split up.

Peter Hoeren, Crucial Response recs

review in the Swiss Evil zine (#2); courtesy of Vincent de Roguin

Photos courtesy of Vincent de Roguin:

Vincent ‘Vinnie’ Royers (‘Rubbish Heap’ guitarist), Joris De Buysser (Conspiracy recs) & Tom Verstraete

Jeroen ‘Beertje’ Vrijhoef (‘Mainstrike’ guitarist, Coalition recs)

Markus Haas (Per Koro)

Marc Hartmann (Scorched Earth Policy, ‘Man vs Humanity’ drummer)

Fabien Thévenot (Molaire Industries, ‘Iscariote’ vocalist)

‘Sabeth’; L=>R: Sebastian Busch (friend), Felix Böhlken (guitar/vocals), Thomas Hahn (guitar)

attentive audience (L: Pedro Tallieu, ‘Instinct’ bassist)

Portugese crust vegan edge Rafael Brazuna, cooking macrobiotic in the old Vort’n Vis’ yard

The V.V. fest was outdoors for the first time and I couldn’t care less about most of the bands that played – a  shitload of sXe bands; just remember enjoying ‘Mörser’ & ‘John Holmes’. Still it was a nice trip with friends (Guilherme Charters, Afonso [Afonso Cortez Pinto; Freedom distro] and Hugo ‘Mosgo’ – the singer of ‘Simbiose’). The four of us drove from Lisbon to London by car to stay with some friends. We passed through Belgium for the fest and before that we stayed a couple of days at Jaak [ex ‘Nations On Fire drummer] ‘s house, which was fucking cool since he lived just above his health-food store, vegan paradise!

Rafael Brazuna

additions wellcome!…

(full posts with photos of some bands playing are planned…)

99-08-20: Hundred Years Of Forgetting (Bel), JR Ewing (Nor), Once Never Again (Bel), Surface (Ger) Hebriana (Bel), Tumult (Ger), Heaven Shall Burn (Ger), Discount (USA), Sad Origin (Bel), As Friends Rust (USA), Mainstrike (Nl), Hot Water Music (USA)

99-08-21: Ochtenddauw (Bel), H-Street (Öst), Stroke Of Grace (Bel), Redemption (Ita), Ananda (Fra), Sabeth (Ger), Product (Ita), Mörser (Ger), Reveal (Nl), Spineless (Bel), Bloodpact (USA), Thumbs Down (Bel), Pray Silent (Swi), Ensign (USA)

99-08-22: Instinct (Bel), Point Of Few (Nl), True Blue (Ger), Jane (Ger), Sunrise (Pol), Reaching Forward (Nl), Leiah (Swe), Vitality (Bel), John Holmes (UK), Facedown (Bel), The Get Up Kids (USA)