97-08-15 Abhinanda – Veil – Facedown – Spineless – Reiziger – Endstand – Clouded – Purification – Instinct

Introduction => 97-08-15&16&17 HardCore – The Next Generation festival

The Czech zine Barricada #2 mentions ‘Starmarket’ switched places with ‘Endstand’…

‘Instinct’ was a – “positive old-school” (Steve Noyelle’s words) – band with people from my hometown Tielt (and Deinze). Alex Dierickx & Thomas Hauttekeete played guitar, Vincent ‘Pit’ Maes sang (was also in ‘Hundred Years Of Forgetting’, later ‘The Deal’ & ‘Rise And Fall’), Pedro Tallieu did the bass and the drummer was Tuur Delodder. They’d played the V.V. before (probably a few times that year: 97-03-01, 97-06-27 & 97-07-12)… They did a 7” on Marc Decaigny’s label Braveheart recs, entitled Friendship, A Lifetime Commitment (release-party 98-04-18).

On the internet (the German Outspoken forum – outspoken.de) one could read “In 1997 Purification made it to the most important European hardcore festival of those days, the Vort’n Vis fest in Ieper (Belgium).”.

‘Purification’ was a Roman vegan sXe metal-core band and they were inspired by (hardline and pro-life bands) ‘Vegan Reich’ & ‘Earth Crisis’, and influenced by American Straight-Edge. The members were: ‘Puritan’ Maurizio ‘Er Vegano’ Ricci (vocals on the demo and here aswell) – later Matteo ‘Cumenda’ Ferrari (‘P Bird’ or ‘Caustic Bird’, switched from bass – which he played here – to vocals), Andrea ‘Monster’ Campanelli (guitar; later together with Emiliano ‘Er Frusinate’ De Santis), Fabio ‘Kappa’ Cappabianca (drums; Demian Campora informed me he wasn’t in the band at that time). They did a demo in 1996 entitled Arkangel. The Vessel Of Wrath 7” was released on Maurizio Ricci’s label Surrounded recs (xCatalystx recs in the US) in 1998. They also had a track on the Animal Truth compilation that SoberMind recs did. Hans also released their 1996-2000 compilation-CD in 2001.

Barricada #2: “I was really curious about ‘Purification’ because their demo is really good. But I was surprised when the new songs turned out even better than those on the tape. A sympathetic band that talked a lot about veganism and ecology. They also played an ‘Earth Crisis’ cover, The Order That Shall (from the compilation Stones To Mark A Fire). Their performance may have taken a wrong turn with the infernal dancing of the Italian fans, but otherwise I was content.”

‘Purification’; courtesy of Adam Malik

‘Clouded’ was a “new-school” metal-core band from Antwerp (Kontich) with Björn Van Loy (bass), Jeroen Verelst (vocals), Serge ‘Serch’ Carriere (drums) and Wout Bosschaert (guitar; he replaced Kurt). They started rehearsing November ’96 and did their first show March ’97. The 7” Inheritance was released by Genet recs in ‘98. They played a show at the V.V. pub (98-05-10) and also did the ’98 & ’99 fests.

‘Endstand’ was a HC/punk band from Riihimäki consisting of Jani Kivijärvi (drums), Janne Tamminen (vocals), Joel (Asseri) Sipilä (bass) and Mika Kaukonen (guitar). They’d done a demo-tape (Fear Of Future) in ’96. A split-7” with the Swedish band ‘Outlast’ came out on Grey Days recs / Bridge Of Compassion (‘97). The same year as their Tolerance 7” (on Arto Savolainen’s label Rising Justice recs). The next years there was the Freedom mCD (’98, on Impression recs, the later Lifeforce recs) and a split mCD with ‘Aurinkokerho’ (Halla Julkaisut ‘99). Learn more about the band’s history from the documentary Fire Inside that is on the www.

Barricada #2: “I went to relax in the car when ‘Starmarket’ was supposed to play. About half an hour later I went to the hall and I was horrified: instead of the Swedes, ‘Endstand’s show was in full swing. I only saw the last 6 songs but these were full of energy, which was evidenced by the people piling up on stage. The guys in the band said it was their best concert ever.”

‘Endstand’; (1)&(2) from Hobson’s Choice #4 zine, (3) by JanCoert Toerse

‘Reiziger’ evolved from ‘Kosjer D’; their music was described as “post hardcore” and “emo-core”. I think they were an ‘indie’ band on the edge of the DIY scene… The band consisted of Sven Gielen (drums), Pascal Hens (guitar), Kristien Hendrix (bass) & Geert Plessers (guitar/vocals). At this time I think they were about to release their 1^st (12”) EP Don’t Bind My Hands (Genet recs)… They’d just done an intimate show at the V.V. pub (97-06-14) and would return for the ’98 fest.

Barricada #2: “Things calmed down a bit with ‘Reizger’. Pleasantly affectionate emo!”

‘Reiziger’; pics courtesy of the band

‘Spineless’ (from Kortrijk) played their first gig at the Vort’n Vis on the fest in August ’96. They were Kristof Mondy (bass; Yoda zine; later ‘AmenRa’), Colin H. Van Eeckhout (vocals; later ‘AmenRa’), Pedro ‘Fifi’ Fioen (guitar; also ‘Congress’), Mathieu Vandekerckhove (guitar; replaced Koen Sandra ex ‘The Jedi’ in ‘97; later ‘AmenRa’) and Stefaan Buyse (drums). Their music was brutal sXe H8000 metal-core. After their initial demo (’96) Hans Verbeke of SoberMind recs released the Painfields 7”/mCD (1997) and the A Talk Between Me And The Stars album (1998).

Barricada #2: “After peace had filled our hearts, a more violent band came along. A very compact mix of HC and metal, in the vein of ‘Morning Again’. Their new MCD is very brutal.”

Not the first time for ‘Facedown’ (‘new-school’, metal-influenced, vegan SE-HC band from Kontich, near Antwerp) either… Thomas Baeken (bass), Youri Baeken (drums), Daniel Mies (vocals), Niko Poortmans (guitar) and Geert Ceuppens (guitar) saw the Ferket brothers (Evil Twin recs) release their 7” Friendship Is Everything (recorded at Studio 195 in July 1996) but Bruno re-released it – with some additional tracks – on Genet recs this year… … The same for the split-7” with ‘Earthmover‎’ (on Moo Cow recs). “Powerful, brutal, moshing emo-core”…

Barricada #2: “Evening fell when ‘Facedown’ came up. They surprised us last year but now it was really worth checking them out. The whole hall rumbled when they played songs from their EP and also new ones that should appear on the new album. As a bonus, they added ‘Earth Crisis’ Firestorm – that was screamed along by all.”

‘Facedown’; by JanCoert Toerse

The 3^rd appearance (after 94-08-20 & 95-08-19) of the Swedish SxE band ‘Abhinanda’. In ‘96 they had released their self-titled CD. As Mel Hughes put it: “hardcore passion…metallic riffs speaking to you in poetic tones; fuelled by the power of ‘Verbal Assault’, ‘Shelter’ and ‘Inside Out’…”. It was recorded with José Saxlund (vocals), Pär Hansson (guitar; replacing Kris(tofer) ‘Stone’ Steen), Adam Nilsson (guitar), Mattias ‘Abris’ Abrahamsson (bass) & Daniel Berglund (drums; replacing Jonas Lyxzén). When they recorded in spring of ’98 for the album The Rumble, Niklas Rudolfsson played guitar instead of Adam. Niklas also played at this gig. Their set was recorded on video.

Barricada #2: “The Swedes appeared with a new guitarist and drummer. During the first riffs everything seemed calm but as soon as the singer started, a wave of people rose and made their way to the stage, striking the microphone. The musicians disappeared in the piles of people, sometimes the guitarist and the singer peeked over the heads of the crowd. They played songs from the last album but also old hits such as Senseless or Needle. All rocking and thrashing. The classic Let’s March! dragged some 100 people along. The best show of this Friday – as could be expected.”

‘Abhinanda’; (1) courtesy of Adam Malik, (2) by JanCoert Toerse

Two years after their first performance ‘Veil’ (from the Hannover area) returned. Jens Lauterbach (bass), Flo(rian) Schul (drums), Raoul Festante (vocals) and Nils Nordmann played metallic hardcore. In 1996 Ferry Krop (of ‘Crisis Of Society’) had released the 7” Time Will Tell (Threesome recs label) after he did their first self-titled one. The same year their LP The Burden Of Life was released (Frontline).

Barricada #2: “They arrived last minute. People were screaming along to their best songs, such as Everyday or Time Will Tell. But it seemed to me that ‘Veil’ gave a bit extra that evening.”

Brob

It sure was quite an experience to play this festival in Ieper and I have good memories about it.

Joel (Asseri) Sipilä; ‘Endstand’ bassist

We did play at the V.V. in ‘97 (when ‘Abhinanda’ played there as well)… Actually we arrived so late that they were forced to play before us, so we ended up being the headliners of that night… I remember that so well since we got out of the car (had an accident during the day which was a reason for the delay) after an 8 hour drive… When we finally arrived, we stretched out and and got right on stage. Holy moly! I’m pretty sure the first crowd-shot on the intro-page was during ‘Veil’s set.

Raoul Festante, ‘Veil’s vocalist

What I always remembered is the good atmosphere, the warm welcome by the audience. Not obvious at that time , ‘cause ‘Reiziger’ was not a typical hardcore-band.

Sven Gielen, ‘Reiziger’

Our record Our Kodo was just out then… I remember we were the ‘the odd one out’… Geert started our performance with “Hello, we’re ‘Reiziger’ and we’re gonna play half an hour of pop-music for you.”. It was a legendary gig, incredible ambience, very hot on stage, warm reactions afterward aswell. One can hear on the compilation that Bruno released, that Geert’s voice was broken…

Pascal Hens, ‘Reiziger’

I don’t remember that much gigs we played with ‘Clouded’. But the ones I will never forget are the shows at the Lintfabriek in Kontich (our second home) and at the Vort’n Vis festivals. I think we played there the last two times before the festival moved outside, to a much bigger location. We still played in the barn (no other way to call it), with sweat dripping of every wall, people diving from the ceiling-beams,… Chaos, but in a very contagious way. It was amazing to see how much people actually fit in that barn :-) … I remember being knocked out after our show – too many people, too much sweat, too little oxygen – but also kind of high on adrenaline at the same time. The Fest always had the most receptive and the most enthusiastic ‘crowd’. People were singing along with songs we played for the very first time. Songs that had no lyrics yet (I just shouted something). When ‘Kindred’ and ‘Culture’ played (my favorite bands back then), the barn just exploded.

I don’t know what it’s like nowadays, but back then all the bands (also the American ones) stayed at the same camping-site. We all hung out in the city and we played soccer together. I made friends in Ieper that I’m still in touch with 20 years later. Sweet memories.

Jeroen Verelst, ‘Clouded’ singer

What I particularly remember of that show is that we, being a young band, got a lot of support from the audience. Our song Positive Kids was enregistred that day and used for the H8000 sampler.

Alex Dierickx, ‘Instinct’

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

additions wellcome!…

95-08-19 Veil – Concrete – Doughnuts – Rancor – Mainstrike – Blindfold – Comrades – Kosjer D – Congress – Abhinanda

Intro: 95-08-18&19&20 Hardcore Festival

Vik B. crowdsurfing + Letske M. (L) smiling – during ‘Veil’s set?  (pic by Patrick Federli)

‘Veil’ (from the Hannover area) were: Jens Lauterbach (bass), Florian Schul (drums), Raoul Festante (vocals) and Nils Nordmann (guitar). They played metallic hardcore. Around that time they the Dutch (Sittard) label Threesome recs (Ferry Krop of ‘Crisis Of Society’) put a self-titled 7” our (recorded in April). In 1996 Ferry did another one entitled Time Will Tell… and their LP The Burden Of Life was released by Frontline. The band was also on the bill of the 1997 HardCore – The Next Generation festival…

‘Veil’, photographed by Steve Lammertyn

‘Concrete’ was a (screamo) “chunky” hardcore band from Rome. Their line-up: Cristiano ‘Capoccia’/‘Nerone’ D’Innocenti (drums; later ‘Comrades, ‘Los Vaticanos’), Cristiano Fini (guitar; also ‘Comrades’), Giorgio Gregorio ‘Greg’ Luciani (bass; also ‘Comrades’), Matteo Fadighenti (guitar), Tommaso ‘Tommy’ Garavini (vocals; tommasogaravini.com). At that time I think they had released, a demo (’93), The Sound Of Rome 7” (’94; mentioned on cristianodinnocenti.blogspot) and the Patior Ergo Sum 10” (recorded Nov ‘94) on Paolo Petralia’s SOA recs. Their next release was the Sescenti Sexaginta Sex 7” (recorded Feb ‘96) on Hailey recs.

‘Concrete’, pic by Steve Lammertyn

‘Doughnuts’ was an all-women vegan SxE (metal-influenced) hardcore band from Umeå (Sweden): Asa Forsberg (vocals), Linda Lundberg (drums), Sara Almgren (guitar; later in ‘Saidiwas’ & ‘International Noise Conspiracy’, and a bunch of mainstream acts), Sara Sjögren (guitar; on the 1994 CD) and – I think – Jenny Johansson (bass; replacing Helena Löfgren). In 1994 Desperate Fight recs put out their 1^st CD called Equalize Nature (recorded March ’94). The following years Victory recs did their albums The Age Of The Circle (1995) and Feel Me Bleed (1996). They had just come back from a US tour with ‘Snapcase’ when they played here.

‘Doughnuts’, pictured by Patrick Federli [1-2] & Sarah Van de Mosselaer [3]

The Dutch ‘Rancor’ had played the V.V. a couple of months before (with ‘Strain’, see 95-04-09). They were Michel ‘Mike’ Senden (guitar; also ‘Bloodsport’), Fabrice Zander (bass), ‘R2D2’ (drum-computer) and Pascal Crombach (vocals). Later it was intended that Armand ‘Persecution’ would take over the bass so Fabrice could play guitar… They recorded a CD entitled Distinguish, released in ’97 by Lifeforce recs (Leipzig). Mike & Fabrice had the idea to do a label, One Solution recs…

‘Mainstrike’ (The Netherlands) also played the above-mentioned gig (95-04-09). Jeroen ‘Beertje’ Vrijhoef (guitar), Jasper Meijerink (bass), Jonas Moberg (guitar), Roland ‘Big’ Roller (vocals) and Pepijn Oostenbrink (drums) had this ‘practice’ a few weeks before they recorded for their 7” (Times Still Here). On the back-cover there’s a photo of the pit during ‘Mainstrike’s performance here… (also on the insert there’s pics from the V.V.). I read somewhere that “When the microphone broke down during their set, they played a three-song cover-set with a crowd of hundreds singing along.”… Later that year they would do a brief tour with ‘Onward’ (95-10-20).

‘Mainstrike’, shots by Steve Lammertyn

‘Blindfold’ were one of the Vort’n Vis’ ‘house-band’s. Hans, Wim & Sascha were also volunteers at the autonomous centre. Hans and and his sis Saskia also had a big hand in the ‘organising’ of this fest. The band came back from a summer-tour. Mike Warden (Conquer The World) traveled with them but I can ‘t recall if he was here. Mich Decruyenaere (guitar; also in ‘Fungus’ and later vocals for ‘Hitch’) played on their German tour but wasn’t on the LP (Astreroid 164) that had been recorded..

‘Blindfold’, stills by Patrick Federli [1 (with an admiring Vique Martin) + 2 (with an enthusiastic Joeri Hoste)] & Steve Lammertyn [3-4]

‘Comrades’ (Rome) was the band of Paolo Petralia (vocals; SOA recs). He told me that at that time the others in the band were, Cristiano Fini (guitar; also ‘Concrete’, ‘Bruma’), Andrea Marra (bass), Giorgio Fois (drums; singer of ‘Timebomb’) and Greg of ‘Concrete’ was the other singer. This was one of their last shows, I guess, ‘cause they split up in September 1995 (to re-form later). Their music was harsh, crusty grindcore with dual vocals. Their early work was released on SOA recs (a self-titled 7” in ’97 and a split with ‘Eversor’ in ‘98). Later they did a few splits (with e.g. ‘Agathocles’, and ‘Cripple Bastards’; there is also one with ‘Los Vaticanos’ – Cristiano’s other band – on Fulvio Dogliotti’s label Angry recs).

‘Comrades’ (from Ludovic Hache’s zine Ras L’Bol #5)

‘Kosjer D’ had played here a couple of times before, even a month before this fest (95-07-02) and their last would be 95-12-03. They started out as a 3-some (acoustic guitar, bass & drums) and then Arne (Van Petegem; who was in a mainstream pop-band before and nowadays known as the person behind the indie/electronic/dance project ‘Styrofoam’) joined. The name was originally ‘Kosjer Dill’ (nickname of the singer’s girlfriend, who was from San Diego). They were an emo band (personal lyrics) hailing from Limburg, with (besides Arne – guitar/vocals), Geert Plessers (guitar/vocals), Stijn Persoons (drums; ex ‘Dawn Of Liberty’) and Kristien Hendrix (bass). The band did some recordings and asked Bruno (Genet recs) to release them as a 7” (entitled True?). People can read about how it came about in Wim ‘Blindfold’s zine Reminder #5…

‘Congress’ were regulars… Joost ‘Josh Fury’ Noyelle (guitar), ‘Uniform’ ‘UxJx’ Jan Vandekerckhove (bass), ‘Pitbull’ Pierre Vanrumbeke (vocals), Ilja ‘Chill Jay’ De Ceuleneire (drums) and guitarist Michael ‘Micha Soprano’ Pintelon. This was the Blackened Persistance (should actually be ‘Persistence’) period. The album is supposed to be released in ‘95 on GoodLife but actually the label started officially on Jan 1^st ‘96…

some material from Steve Lammertyn’s ‘Congress’ collection… [J-F Fleury was video-taping the show but unfortunately the footage got lost… According to U.J. the bassplayer in the 2nd pic was Fabrice from ‘Rancor’, he did the soundcheck because “no one could see me before I got on stage”]

UxJx ‘Kiss’ Simmons ;-) (pic by Roel Brals)

‘Congress’ (UxJx & a constipated Pierre) (pic by Jean-Paul Frijns)

Another Euro tour for ‘Abhinanda’ (named Ever Increasing Bliss) and the second time at the V.V. (since 94-08-20). The EP Neverending Well Of Bliss was recorded in April 1995 with Mattias ‘Abris’ Abrahamsson (bass), Jonas Lyxzén (drums), Adam Nilsson (guitar), Pär Hansson (who had replaced Kris(tofer) ‘Stone’ Steen) and José Saxlund (vocals). There’s a video of their performance at this fest.

the ‘Abhinanda’ show, documented by Steve Lammertyn [1], Roel Brals [2] (‘porter’ Hans Verbeke with Adam Nilsson on his shoulders; Raoul Festante upper R-corner white T-shirt) & Sarah Van de Mosselaer [3] (Mattias Abrahamsson)

Brob

We had arranged a gig for ‘Blindfold’ in Haldensleben [Germany] but a few day before we got a phonecall from Marko Raboldt (Emotion X recs; who was arranging their tour) that it was cancelled because M.A.D. tour-agency [Ute Füsgen & her partner Marc Nickel from Berlin] had promised them more money elsewhere…

Kirsten Klatt; personal communication ‘95

Man, I miss those days! Such a great time at both festivals we played. A very special place for me. On the pic of ‘Mainstrike’s 7” you can see Big in the middle and the guy with the ‘108’ shirt that’s me… Peter Hoeren is also there… Man, that show was magic!!! I remember quite a lot about this event. There was a was very good fanzine called Statue and we got an interview in it. Then I remember that I slept on that stage because there was no free place anywhere else. It was pretty interesting to wake up and then perform on the same spot. I remember meeting the guys from ‘Mainstrike’ and how great they were and I wish someone took a picture of that super packed sleeping-place on the second floor of Vort’n Vis where all the band-members and friends slept and had farting-contests.

Raoul Festante, ‘Veil’

Probably it wasn’t the best line-up we had. Bad show as far as I can remember. It was the year full of Italian & Swedish bands. We were probably the only semi-grind ultra-core band and we were playing for Italians only. It was still at the V.V. but in that bigger place. We share a song on the first GoodLife compilation too: at that time all in the band were sXe. The other guys [e.g. Cristiano D’Innocenti (‘Concrete’, ‘Los Vaticanos’), Andrea ‘Monster’ Campanelli (‘Opposite Force’, ‘Bruma’)] joined later. We’re all still in bands even if we’re all over 40.

Paolo Petralia, ‘Comrades’ vocalist

I remember sleeping in the cold attic without a sleeping-bag, but we had immense fun. There was a Swedish invasion. I saw a green Straight Edge/Go Vegetarian shirt for sale there. I wanted it so desperately that I instantly threw away my sandwiches with salami…

Pascal, ‘Rancor’

About us wearing identical T-shirts: we might have found those on tour. Just a gimmick…

Wim, ‘Blindfold’

Indeed: halfway our set the mic got fucked up so we couldn’t play all those new songs. I was pretty pissed. But the fest was great!

Jonas Moberg, ‘Mainstrike’

The ‘Kiss’ face was done by Catherine Cabeza; good job – she did it without an example.

U.J., ‘Congress’ bassist

excerpt from the V.V. guestbook:

“Hello! This festival is completely cool!! Hope we will be back next year!!”

additions wellcome!…

97-08-15&16&17 HardCore – The Next Generation festival

‘Blindfold’ was supposed to play their “last show ever” but they still did shows, even toured during the summer, in ’98, their drummer Chatn informs. According to Hans their last gig was at ‘t Molentje in Kuurne. They recorded their live-LP (with 2 new songs only to be heard there) at the V.V.

Brob

We released our CD [Redeem The Monsters] at this fest but we didn’t actually play… Our singer Mark arrived with the first 500 copies, straight from the prsssing-plant and they were practically all gone in a day (sold to people attending and on consignment to various distros. We had to order a second pressing immediately. Crazy!

Sven Leys, ‘Rain’s guitarist

I ended up there with some SxE friends from Vienna (Daniel Eberharter of Eloquence zine), from Vienna (Austria), that were going to the fest. I was also friends with ‘By The Grace Of God’ (ex-members of the Louisville band ‘Endpoint’ [BTGOG had been touring earlier. They were already back in the states by August.]) who I think played the fest. They were on tour in Europe and I dragged along as van-duty, slacker, bad jokester for some shows. I toured with them on and off throughout the tour. We had a blast at Ieper and met great people. It was a nice meet-up of us all. I slept in the ‘loft’-area on an old couch. I had a giant necklace with a cock-ring on it. Good times! The venue was pretty unique in what I’ve seen around the world. It was impressive seeing the show set-up and so successful, especially with so many bands. The diversity in the punk-styles was evident and it was great to be apart of. There were New York style harcore, crust-punk and metal bands; and kids all hanging out.

Kevin Zelko; Wellfair? zine (also helped putting out ‘The Get Up Kids’ record)

Kevin Zelko & friends (Daniel Eberharter and Henrik from Stockholm)

I was at the Vort’n Vis with ‘Acheborn’… I have very good memories of sleeping in the park nearby in the festival. It was only us and another two people the first time The next year it was pretty full in there. The groundkeeper was actually so friendly that he almost didn’t let us go. A bit like in the movie Misery ;-) (Where a nurse takes care of an author that had a car-accident, in her house; and at the beginning she is all caring but then becomes this psycho who doesn’t let him leave her house, etc. We thought maybe he is all nice and then he won’t let us leave anymore…)

Here’s a few random memories:

There were 2 guys sleeping in the middle of the main square close to the venue because it was super-packed with people occupying every inch on the floor. We were walking past the main square when they were waking up and they were surrounded by market-stalls and people shopping. I guess they were too polite to wake them up to tell them that there is a market going on in their new bedroom….

There was this guy selling rare test-pressings of ‘Infest’, etc. for big bucks and American bands were spending a lot of money on it. I was sleeping at this guy’s house once on tour and he had hundreds of sleeves left and was making a test-pressing every once in a while. Power-violence hardcore capitalism…

And once I hitchhiked half way and was picked up by two guys from Munich at a highway-stop along the way but didn’t have a seat to get back. I didn’t really find anyone and at the last night there were four guys with a tiny car from Frankfurt that didn’t have any space as it was loaded with records that they were selling… Either way they squeezed me in and we all had records literally up to our nose driving for 6 hours or so. I think that was in the top 10 of the worst car-drives I ever had. but I guess that was the price to pay for going to the Vort’n Vis.

Christian Mix-Linzer (Outlet recs)

I was here aswell: I drove ‘Acheborn’. That was my first time at the V.V.

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

The persons (Jan & Jakub ‘Kuba’ Dušek of the sXe band ‘Balaclava’) that wrote a report in the Czech zine Barricada #2 mentioned that they got a discount on the admission-fee (a ticket for all three days costed 40 DM [20 Euro] – which was too much for them). The first day “of the three-day marathon” started about half past three. They spent the first (hot) night on the sand near the shore, and in the morning went skipping in the sea. They came back to the city and after lunch got ready for “the next round”. After day 2 they they left the hall “soaking in sweat and with torn earrings”, looking for a place to sleep in town. But there was hardly a place to lie down? “It’s not easy at all in this part of Belgium: there’s either cow-pastures and corn-fields surrounded by wire, or villages everywhere; but no forests where one can lay down one’s head.” After straying around for a long time, they found that single one place in the whole state and “slept the sleep of the righteous”. The last day started early right after lunch to get everything finished by nine o’clock… “Compared to the year before, there were fewer bands that took our breath. We probably also knew what was coming and the Belgian bands weren’t that big of a risk. But where else can you see so many wonderful bands and people together, find things you don’t know about, and especially to meet new friends and learn about European scenes. Beautiful memories…”

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

[‘Natural Order’ & ‘Timebomb’ were not listed on the poster but they signed the guestbook. They didn’t play… Some bands got switched around… ‘Lifecycle’ was added to the bill last-minute.]

97-08-15: Instinct (Bel), Purification (Ita), Clouded (Bel), Endstand (Fin), Reiziger (Bel), Spineless (Bel), Facedown (Bel), Abhinanda (Swe), Veil (Ger)

97-08-16: Thumbs Down (Bel), ODK Crew (Bel), Metroschifter (USA), Intensity (Swe), Spirit Of Youth (Bel), Serene (Swe), Sektor (Bel), Blindfold (Bel), Kindred (Bel), Liar (Bel), Culture (USA)

97-08-17: Lifecycle (Bel), Acheborn (Ger), Starmarket (Swe), Deformity (Bel), Mainstrike (Nl), Rubbish Heap (Bel), Vitality (Bel), Congress (Bel), Morning Again (USA)

crowdshots by Sergi E. Costa

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

visiters from the Czech republic; some of them wrote a review in Barricada #2

‘Roman vegan sXe legion’

militant… or hardline…?

all sorts of visiters…

additions wellcome!…

 

95-08-18&19&20 Hardcore Festival

Local (Menen/Roeselare) straight-edge hardcore band ‘Regression’ was announced but didn’t play. Perhaps because they just switched drummers? (Bjorn Lescouhier, ex ‘Shortsight’ replaced Raf – who played in ‘Liar’.)

‘Steadfast’, a band playing “powerful new-school sXe hardcore” from the Osnabrück/Munster region, didn’t play either. Their guitarist Stefan Uhe and bassist Volker Pohlschmidt (R.I.P.) did visit.

‘Chokehold’ wasn’t announced but they showed up anyway; read the story below. Also ‘Solid’, ‘Concrete’ and ‘End In Sight’ were added to the bill…

18 aug ’95: The Jedi (Bel), Solid (Bel), Burning Defeat (Ita)

19 aug ’95: Veil (Ger), Concrete (Ita), Doughnuts (Swe), Rancor (Nl), Mainstrike (Nl), Blindfold (Bel), Comrades (Ita), Kosjer D (Bel), Congress (Bel), Abhinanda (Swe)

20 aug ’95: Churn (Bel), By All Means (Ita), Liar (Bel), Fungus (Bel), Timebomb (Ita), End In Sight (Swe), Chokehold (Can)

If I remember correctly Christophe Mora (‘Undone’, Stonehenge recs) was there. Henk Smit (Kangaroo recs) was selling records. Patrick Federli took photos… Yann Boislève from Rennes wrote a review about this fest in his SxE newsletter #13.

Brob

Mathias Hartmann and I attended together. The V.V. was too full, the weather nice, so we slept a few hundred metres away on some nice grass in front of a church, I think. People strolling by the next morning were not amused about us. ;-)

This summer-festival in the bigger ‘hall’ in the back of the V.V. I remember ‘Kosjer D’ and ‘Chokehold’ from Canada played there. The ‘Chokehold’ guys were coming from the train-station with their guitars and bass in hand. Their European tour [with ‘Feeding The Fire’] was a mess (some of the last gigs of their tour got cancelled) and they got robbed if I remember correctly. I felt sorry for them for having such a bad experience over here. They mention it in an interview.

Carsten Pötter, Frankfurt

If my memory serves me right, this was my first Ieper HardCore Fest. I turned 18 just a few months earlier, I had a very broad musical taste ranging from simple hardrock to the most extreme black/death metal, but it was just a year or so that I really started to appreciate the HC-scene and started to attend a lot more HC shows than metal. Because of the music and especially the very metallic sound of the H8000 bands, but also because the HC-scene was – in my eyes and at the time – a much more interesting scene with a lot more open-minded people (that was of course, pure bullshit, but it was a nice smoke-screen that got me fooled for a while :-) …). You soon learn that assholes are everywhere but so are nice people really… You just need to know who to avoid, that’s all. :-)

Anyway, I remember this fest as the most underground thing I had ever seen or been to… I just took a backpack with some basic ‘go-away’-stuff and just headed to Ieper… There was not really a camping back in those days. I remember people sleeping in the bar, the barn, on the upper floors. I remember those funny Hare-Krishna kids that seemed to attend every show in the whole Benelux (bands like ‘Abhinanda’ and other Umea-area bands were kinda the big thing then… So a lot of people became Krishna all of a sudden – LOL).

All the bands I have seen then performed legendary sets… I was just blasted away by the atmosphere … The barn was as full as it could get and then some more, people were flying all over the place, the pictures I have of that HC fest are still some of my favourite ones. It was pure madness!!! HC the way it should be! Massive mosh-pits, pile-ups, sing-alongs, circle-pits, you name it… From morning till evening, all day long. If I were to attend now, I probably would see 1 band and need 2 other sets to catch my breath… Yeah, we were young and unstoppable then :-).

I remember also ‘taking a shower’ on the Ieper market, in the fountains with a lot of people… It was a ‘group-shower’ (at least 30 people, strength in numbers huh?) in the morning. With all the soap we used, the market was quickly transformed into a big foamy place. :-) Lotsa fun, but not appreciated by the police… Ah well…what’s new???

Also, we met some nice gothic kids and had a very cool evening in their bar ‘Den Donkeren Helft’ [The Dark Half]… After an afternoon of HC-metal, nothing better than some wave/EBM/gothic to relax a little. :-). Since that day, I always go to that bar when I go to Ieper (I think it’s gone now…).

I have very fond memories of ‘Liar’, ‘Congress’, ‘Veil’, ‘Comrades’, ‘Mainstrike’, ‘Abhinanda’ and ‘End In Sight’. You can see me going nuts on the back of the H8000 The Way It Is – European SxE HC compilation-CD (GoodLife recs)… I’m in the picture with ‘Mainstrike’ playing in the barn at that fest. [Brob: There was also a pic ont the ‘Mainstrike’ 7”?] A lot of bands that played that summer in Ieper are on the CD.

After that weekend I got home with sooooo many adresses and phone-numbers, I didn’t know where to start… I made a lot of friends, had wonderfull conversations,… good times in general! From then on until 2005 I attended every single HC fest… but none were so memorable than my first one… And for me, the Vort’n Vis became an icon of underground DIY music.

Greg ‘DragonBreath’ (90s zine; Bruxel)

I’ve only been to Vort’n Vis once, back in the summer of 1995. I went there for, what we called then, the Vort’n Vis festival. I remember a lot of Italian bands were playing, so it felt like I knew half of the people at the fest. [Brob: Dario is Croatian but lived in Rome at that time…] It was almost 20 years ago, so my memory is a bit fading, but I believe ‘Concrete’, ‘Timebomb’, ‘Comrades’, ‘Burning Defeat’ and ‘By All Means’, all from Italy (the first three from Rome), played at the festival and it was bands whose members I knew very well. I remember spending most of the time with ‘Sardo’ from ‘Tear Me Down’ [Massimo ‘Il Sardo’ Leonardi, vocalist], and I recall the sleeping-place was upstairs and there were dozens of bodies and arms+legs everywhere – it was almost impossible to find a free spot to lie down.

Everything was very DIY and there were several small distros, as well as bigger ones ran by Edward of GoodLife and Burkhard [Jünger] of GreenHell [label, record-store & mailorder in Münster, Germany]. I remember meeting one of the Boislève brothers [Yann & Pierre] for the first time at the festival, and that kid [Aaron Vyvial?] that used to make a really nice fanzine and later moved back to the US with ‘Hazel’ of ‘Rise Above’. ‘Mainstrike’ played one of their first shows and the crowd went pretty wild. I’ld see them later both in Italy and the USA. ‘Kosjer D’ were solid. I liked their first 7” a lot. I wasn’t impressed by ‘Doughnuts’ and I think I missed ‘Abhinanda’. I checked both ‘Liar’ and ‘Congress’, but that wasn’t really my cup of tea. I remember the ‘Congress’ bass-player was nice to us, but musically it’s nothing I would listen to at home…

Dario Adamic, Zips & Chains zine

I was there with Christophe (Mora). Brob, you were screaming against the business during the ‘Abhinanda’ show. I found your attitude so cool; I totally agreed with you!

Fabien Charlot, later vocals for ‘JeanxSEberg’, Bordeaux; personal communication spring ‘96

I only went to the festival on Saturday. I couldn’t stand it very long. Firstly: I felt very lonely; I didn’t feel like communicating. It didn’t feel right…the people that were attending, all that typical sXe fuss. I had the feeling that a lot of these girls and boys were just there to be seen. It seemed like a competition: who has the newest T-shirt, who can dance the hardest, who knows the most lyrics by heart? It all seemed so fake. I don’t want to generalise though: there were also kids that seemed sincere…

Dirk De Vriendt, Introverted Outlet zine; personal communication August ‘95

I was seriously annoyed: everybody’s speaking out against pollution, using big words; but for perhaps half of them it remains just that: words. Have you seen the public road? Simply outrageous! Do people still understand what HC is about? The ‘scene’ has grown enormously but the ideals haven’t evolved. I think it’s sick!

Nico Peeters, ‘Outrage’ bassist/Day One distro; personal communication August ‘95

I thought there were only few really good bands. ‘Kosjer D’, ‘Mainstrike’ & ‘Burning Defeat’ were cool though. I saw a video of the fest and it was cosy. There was a bit of a fight between ‘Rancor’s guitarist and someone. What struck me was that flirting with satanism seems to become popular…Scary, because it equals extreme rightist ideas (egoism, fascism, war, etc.).

Peter Kroes, Ruinerwold (NL); personal communication December ‘95

I’ve been at the Vort’n Vis once in 1995. I was young, my first festival abroad I think…travelling alone by train, by the way. I remember enjoying the concerts of ‘Abhinanda’, ‘Doughnuts’, ‘Congress’ a lot. There were many Italians there! ‘By All Means’ played a crazy show, ‘Timebomb’ were great. I remember buying the ‘Rorschach’ discography CD, great vegan food, soy-milk in stores (I was stoked: in Italy nobody knew what that was). I recall hanging out with several country-mates but also with the guys from ‘Abhinanda’ in some kind of disco. It was fun and I keep great memories of that weekend. I also think some of the Italian bands being pissed off for not being treated like the Swedish bands but I’m not totally sure about that, haha!!!

Borys Catelani, Montorsoli/Sesto Fiorentino (Ita), Agipunk recs

I have the worst memory so details are very sketchy! I had some amazing times at Vort’n Vis… Vique always drove and I spent a lot of time at the festivals (I was there in ’94 as well) helping out with her distro and checking out everyone else’s. In the pre-download/-streaming days it was amazing to be able to get hold of so much great stuff all in one place. My strongest memory from Vort’n Vis was ‘Kosjer D’ playing here… One of my favourite gigs ever. I think it may have been their last show… Anyway, it was so much fun – great band (totally under-rated) and an incredible moving joyous set.

Mark ‘Macca’ Wilkinson, Brighton

I think Ieperfest 1995 was my first time at the V.V. Jenni wasn’t there, I think ’96 was the first time for her.

Robert Matusiak, Refuse recs (at that time Warsaw, nowadays Berlin)

I was there to support ‘Veil’ (who had a 7″ on my label Thressome recs)

Ferry Krop, Sittard (NL)

excerpts from the V.V. guestbook:

organisers Saskia & Hans Verbeke (of course together with a whole bunch of other Vort’n Vis collaborators…)

additions wellcome!…