Reflections Tour wrap up

Whereas I initially planned to be a part of this tour for all ten dates due to circumstances I only ended up attenting the first two shows of the tour and the last one. But hell it was a great time.

Reflections Records turned 15 years old this year. I still remember getting to know Reflections through the magazine they did which eventually grew into a label releasing bands like Reaching Forward, American Nightmare, Modern Life Is War, Paint It Black and No Turning Back to name but a few.

To celebrate this six current bands on the label played ten shows together all over Europe.

The whole thing kicked off in Ibbenburen Germany where a full crowd moved to the likes of Deal With It, Ritual and No Turning Back as you can see here:



The second date was in Mol, Belgium at the same venue where True Colors said goodbye last year. This show was great as well if only for the awesome hangouts behind the distro and the boys of Deal With It singing boisterous songs.

The next couple of days I couldn't attend but I sure as hell didn't want to miss the last show in Den Bosch. Deal With It did an impressive cover of Life Of Agony, Midnight Souls and New Morality both showed why they're the future of European hardcore each with a style of their own and Ritual raged as usual. No Turning Back finished it all off with one last set full of singalongs.

To have such a package of bands go on tour with only great shows... amazing.

Together - The Odyssey ep

When first hearing the bandname Together I expected a band inspired by Insted and Youth Of Today. After seeing them at the Midnight Souls release show I knew I was wrong, yet I was also hooked. The band played a great set of Defeater/Verse like hardcore with great melodies and lots of energy.

But as everyone knows there is often a difference between the live performance of a band and their recorded material. Based on the six songs available on 'The Odyssey' I have to say Together manages both tasks pretty well.

Songs like 'Love.Sinner.Thief' and 'The Odyssey'are as good as most material by Defeater. Which is in a way is also the only negative thing I can say about these Germans; they should work a bit more on their identity.

All in all Together is one of my favourite newcomers for 2010.

Touche Amore + Midnight Souls - November 18th - Tilburg

Another hardcoreshow that proved me there's still hope for hardcore in The Netherlands.

Rebuild, formerly known as Set It Off, opened up with their mix of Verse-like hardcore and more screaming parts. The band wasn't really tight but did their best.


Midnight Souls; I have seen them a lot of times this year and everytime their performance is good and different from the show before. Singer Donny spend most of his time off stage, stirring up the audience. The band played yet another energetic set. This in combination with the fact that all bandmembers seem to be nice guys, makes Midnight Souls one of my favourite new bands of 2010.


Germany's Lighthouse were up next. The very ugly merch of this band didn't set my expectations on a high level and after a song or two I was already bored. I don't really like bands who pretend to have a whole artistic thing going on. Just play good music or go home and make a painting.


Touche Amore is one of the most talked about bands around. I love their debutrecord and was curious to see how the band would do on stage. Tilburg isn't the place to play for hot and happening bands I thought, well I was wrong. There were a lot of kids at the show and they rushed the stage to singalong with songs like 'History Reshits Itself'. The band played a great set and singer Jeremy Bohm seemed to be really happy about being in Europe and playing great shows. The night ended with 'Honest Sleep' and on last assault on the stage, massive singalongs and all around chaos.



There is still hope for hardcore in The Netherlands.

All pics by Anne Kohler. See more here.

Ceremony - October 13th - Eindhoven

Unfortunately I wasn't able to go to the This Is Europe fest. So when the opportunity came along to go and see Ceremony a few days later I jumped in the Reflections van and went for it.

The Dynamo youth centre is a great place for hardcore shows. But you never know how the Dutch audience will respond to a band. Will it be 'let's stand and see' or 'let's have fun together'?

Midnight Souls opened up the night. Despite my review and interview the Dutch haven't warmed up to this band so far. Which is a shame if you aks me. Besides the bad sound and a bit of an apathetic crowd reception Midnight Souls played a pretty solid set.

Next up were Sabretooth Zombie. By far the worst band I've seen this year, though other people seemed to think differently. The riffs and weird song structures just aren't my thing.

So Ceremony. I actually only like their latest record a lot and was a bit sceptical about tonight's perfomance. Which soon dissapeared after the band pressed go and went for a highly energetic, entertaining set. A lot of younger kids went wild on the band. Massive pile-ons, weird stagedives and even weirder dances were introduced this night. All around mayhem. With suprisingly Get The Most/ Devotion drummer Aaron behind the Ceremony drumkit.

A nice way to spend a wednesday evening.







All pics are by Anne Kohler. See more here.

Up next: Bane this saturday in Gent and The Real Danger, The Fake Boys and Dave Smalley in Tilburg this sunday! Good times!

Midnight Souls release show - october 1st - Herenthout

Readers of this blog probably know I like the new Belgium band Midnight Souls a lot. Thankfully Johan Reflections asked me to go with him to the record release show in Belgium last friday. Upon arriving with the van we thought this show was going to be a disaster. No one was at the venue besides two or three guys from Midnight Souls. And we were already late.

At last the show started 1,5 hours after scheduled with Fundamental. This is a fairly new band form Belgium who remind me a bit of Rise and Fall. They played 'Paint It Black' by the Rolling Stones which is okay, but not if you fuck it up. Meanwhile the venue got more and more packed, I think in the end at least 150 kids were there. If this show took place in the Netherlands I think there would only be 30 people attending, so expectations were set for the rest of the night.


Belgium youngsters Accept the Change put up an impressing set. I'd seen the band before but love the new direction they're taking. Think Have Heart meets Undertow and done really intense. These guys should record these songs soon and get on the road. Definately a band that stands out in the crowd.


Together is a band from Germany. I never heard of them before but boy did they also play a solid show. Defeater and Verse come to mind when seeing this band. They have a new record coming out which I'll definately check and it was great to see the mayhem when they kicked in a Modern Life Is War song.


Though the crowd was moving and appreciating all the bands, none got as much response as hometown heroes Midnight Souls. Stagedives and singalongs, pit action and all around chaos ensued when they started playing. They gave everything and received even more from the kids. This set alone was worth the drive.


A hard task for Ritual to finish up the night. But if there is one band capable of doing so it's them. They played lots of songs from the awesome 'Beneath Aging Flesh and Bone' record and some songs from the upcoming 7". This band is such a tight live unit it's incredible. I will for sure check them out this saturday at This Is Europe Fest.

With the show over, it was time to put the merch back in the van. That's when we noticed it was pouring. After an okay drive back to Johan's place I got on my bike for the last fifteen minutes home. I was soaking wet when I got there, but it was worth it.

All pics by Nous Davidse. See more of this show here.

Midnight Souls - Colder - 7"

'And I curse every streetlight
Run away and find myself at the gates of Leon's old factory
Where my father used to work
Before they fired him
The economy takes its toll old man
Here's your check now raise up that chin'

Belgium's Midnight Souls have already made quite a name for themselves in their own country. With 'Colder' they show that they're ready to take the band to the next level.

There's no denying the band is influenced by the school of American Nightmare and Modern Life Is War. Especially vocalwise it could be Jeffrey Eaton behind the mic every now and then.

But to put the band aside as merely a clone wouldn't do them any justice. Midnight Souls bring their own history in the mix. Hence the lyrics about growing up in a Miners town on 'Black Lung Disease'. Much like the way Modern Life Is War described Marshalltown, USA on 'Witness'.

Songs like 'Black Days' and 'River Town Rains' show that Midnight Souls aren't afraid to step out of hardcore borders on their way to a style of their own. Though they aren't there yet 'Colder' offers five angry outbursts of life in Belgium. People into American Nightmare, Modern Life Is War, Touche Amore and The Hope Conspiracy can definately add this 7" to their collection.

And yes the artwork is done by Linas Garsys (known for his work for American Nightmare, Count Me Out, A Fire Inside and a dozen other bands), so you know it's good.



I have a white copy. Reflections also released a black version.

Midnight Souls - July 15 - Tilburg

It's bloggerin' time. My vacation is over, so it's back to the computer and back to my blog. Posts about Right Idea and Rearranged are coming up soon. But first I want to share the show of Midnight Souls in Tilburg on July 15.

Midnight Souls is the latest addition to the Reflections roster. A 7" entitled 'Colder' is coming soon with artwork by Linas Garsys.

The last time I saw the band was when they opened up for The Hope Conspiracy in Antwerp. Big stage, big venue so I was curious how these new Belgium heroes would do it in the small intimate setting of the Little Devil.

Boy they blew me away. Midnight Souls is somewhere between Modern Life Is War and American Nightmare. While many bands play a similar style, Midnight Souls bring something extra which makes them stand out from the rest of the wolfpack. They have a very intense show. The future is bright for these guys, though their lyrics are kind of dark.

Can't wait for the ep to arrive.

The Hope Conspiracy - January 9 - Antwerp, Belgium - show

When The Hope Conspiracy plays anywhere near your town don't hesitate. Go and see them. They don't play too often but, at least in my opinion, they're the only existing band to come out of the American Nightmare, Panic, Suicide File, Count Me Out - scene.

That said when The Hope Conspiracy plays an hour drive away from you but the weather forecasts are really bad, you must check all weatherforecasts from minute to minute to see if there's just a slight chance the weather will be better the next hour.

After some calls between Johan Reflections and myself we decided to try and get the new Reflections van on the road and see if we could arrive in Antwerp safe and sound. Well the roads were way better than the news told them to be (never trust the media, and yes I'm a journalist myself) so after only 75 minutes we arrived in Antwerp safe and sound. We unloaded the van and brought the crates filled with vinyl, cd's and books inside the club.

People started coming in shortly after and I guess there were at least 250 more kids who ignored the weatherconditions and decided they would take their change to see The Hope Conspiracy. Well not before Belgian bands had their say.

The show started with newcomers Midnight Souls who sound a lot like Modern Life Is War. Sometimes those influences were a bit to obvious but they did have a great presence on stage. I liked them better than the next band called The Jonah who were all about nineties hardcore riffs I couldn't stand back then and still don't enjoy. They played a way too long set before Teenage Lust hit the stage with their fast American Nightmare-esque songs. I love this band but think they could still improve writing songs that really stick in your head.

Then the audience was up for a surprise when Rain came on stage. This band broke up some 12 years ago and apparantly is now back. I liked the two new songs they played.

Rise and Fall are a worldwide hardcore machine by now but I think the amount of shows they play really takes its toll on singer Bjorns' voice. The new songs sound great though and they sure got the Belgian kids rocking.

But we were all in the club for one reason. To witness the band that released records like ' Cold Blue' and ' Endnote' a long time ago. The band that didn't play Belgium for the past six years: The Hope Conpspiracy.

And damn what a great performance. They played lots of songs of ' Endnote' with ' For Love' as a highlight as well as songs from ' Death Knows Your Name' and the ' True Nihilist' ep. It has been a long while that I saw an American band having so much fun on stage, playing their hearts and guts out. If this show was in 2009 I would have said it was the best show of the year. Since it's just early in 2010 I won't go as far as say that, but I predict it will be in my top 3 of the year.

After the show was over, Johan and me loaded the van and went back home. Both with a ressurected love for hardcore I guess.