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Roadburn 2015 Trip Pt. 2: Hard Rock Hideout at Cul de Sac

Bark Soundchecking (Photo by JJ Koczan)

04.08.15 — 23.32 — Wed. Night — Mercure Hotel, Tilburg

I was early to Cul de Sac, which was something I didn’t realize until I was already there that I had done last year. Same thing, too. I had it in my head that the Hard Rock Hideout — the free, official Roadburn pre-show — was an earlier night to lead the way into the fest proper, which starts tomorrow. Wrong-o. Hardly the worst fate in the world. I watched Antwerpen thrashers Bark, who’d share the evening’s bill with ripping countrymen Prematory, soundcheck, and sit for a bit to gather my head and make some attempt at conscious thought — a notion that, though the night was dedicated to headbang-ready thrash, made up for any doomed quota that one might’ve set.

That make any sense? I don’t even know anymore.

Didn’t seem it to me, since I’d been sitting there a while, passing the time chatting as coherently as I was minimally able with Pete Green and Lee Edwards, both from The Sleeping Shaman, both cohorts on the Weirdo Canyon Dispatch daily ‘zine, and both good dudes through and through. I moved down to the front, also early, and waited there for Bark to kick off the night. If this was clickbait, I’d say something like, “you won’t believe what happened next,” but it was a fucking show. The show happened. Use common sense.

Here’s how it went down:

Bark

Bark (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Kudos to whatever perceptive individual decided to call this band Bark. In vocalist Ron‘s shouting approach and in the quick, bursting nature of their songs, it made an awful lot of sense. Less ’80s in their style than Prematory, they were more metal, drawing my mind to some of the early, rawer moments of The Haunted, but any number of other comparisons from that era just before the genre went full-on retro would probably fit better, plus just a touch of what of course sounds to my ears like New York hardcore. They don’t have a record out yet, but they managed a set of 13 songs. Highlights were “Roll the Dice,” “Voice of Dog” — which is apparently the title of their forthcoming full-length debut — and the bigger groove of “Day of the Witch.” As a five-piece, their two guitars, provided by Rui and Martin, were raging and tight in leading the charge, and the rhythm section of bassist Jorn and drummer Ward was propulsive, but Ron took command of the stage early and did not relinquish. I’m not the hugest thrash cat in the world — this site would be a lot different if I was — but I’d have a hard time arguing against a delivery like that if I was remotely interested in doing so. Fortunately, I’m not. If the idea behind the Hard Rock Hideout is to launch Roadburn at full-speed, Bark were a boot to the ass to get the show on the road.

Prematory

Prematory (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Hard to tell if Leuven’s Prematory were young or if I’m just old, but they killed it with sustained windmill-headbang energy anyway, their riffing owing more to hardcore punk than they probably realize. Shades of more extreme metal showed themselves in a turn here or a move there as they ran through tracks mostly taken from their 2014 sophomore outing, Corrupting Influence, heads banging through razor-sharp punishment on “Toxic Experiment” and “Evil Perfection,” the latter from 2010’s full-length debut, Suiciety. Comprised of guitarists Joeri Van de Schoot (lead) and Jonas Van De Sande (rhythm), vocalist Simon Duson, bassist Alain Hulsbosch and drummer Thomas Wuyts, it was pretty clear they were drawing their own crowd to Cul de Sac; a few friends stood up front along with your more standard show-goers, the room by then was packed out. Prematory were dead on, metal thrashing mad and all the rest, and though I felt like I was going to fall over and pass out on the floor, I think that’s more my lack of sleep than any fault of theirs, considering the reactions of those around me. Again, it’s not really my thing, stylistically, but the appeal is writ large all over the fiery presentation and the intensity and immediacy of what they were doing.

A couple more pics after the jump. Thanks for reading.

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windmill

04.09.15 — 00.49 — Wed. Night — Hotel

I’d nodded off for I don’t know how long in the van from Schiphol Airport to Tilburg, but when I woke up, it was Lady Gaga on the driver’s radio. I was sitting up front, and in back were Arik Roper — who has a gallery show in town in collusion with Roadburn and with whom, coincidentally, I shared a ride last year — as well as Bongripper bassist Ron Petzke and his wife, Cath, who had both been on my connecting flight from Dublin. Pretty easy to pick out who’s headed to Roadburn by the time you get to Amsterdam. But go ahead and take a second and let the image soak in of that van ride, with “Poker Face” as the soundtrack. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, but I thought it was god damn hilarious, especially since I’ve never encountered that song without thinking of the Cartman version from South Park. Life is strange, but I was so happy to be back in the Netherlands that I was taking pictures of dirt by the side of the road. It’s a different color!

As it has eluded me on both flights, the second of which sat for an hour at the gate before taking off — because fuck you, existence — there wasn’t even a choice about sleep when I got to the hotel, around 15.00. I fell out not quite immediately but not far off from it and woke up at 7. The four hours bought me maybe three of energy, and I hit a wall pretty hard by the time Prematory schipolwere going onstage at the Cul de Sac, the Hard Rock Hideout going ultra-thrashy this time around. Last year I saw Death Alley there and that was a blast. Strange how things evolve sometimes.

Tomorrow, the above-mentioned Lee Edwards and I start work putting the final versions together of the Roadburn ‘zine, the Weirdo Canyon Dispatch. I’m very much looking forward to that. This year’s ‘zine seemed to come together exceptionally smoothly — I blinked and the issues were full; we have an expanded staff, and I’m thrilled to say everyone turned in their stuff — and while that could mean a printer breakdown or a piano falling on my head or whatever tragedy it might be is in the offing (my offing, in the case of that piano), I’m quite pleased with how it has turned out and I’m looking forward to sharing it, both at the fest and in this space.

So I’ll set the alarm to get up and go to the office at the 013 venue to do that, and then Roadburn happens. To say I’m looking forward to it is understatement, but it’ll have to suffice because I’m too beat to come up with anything else. Ha.

Don’t forget those show pics are after the jump.

Bark

Bark (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Bark (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Bark (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Bark (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Prematory

Prematory (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Prematory (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Prematory (Photo by JJ Koczan)

Prematory (Photo by JJ Koczan)

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