Unlike previous years when the annual punk/hardcore festival in Varna, BulgariaВ would get cancelled by the authorities due to various reasons, this year the event took place without any problems.

"The only now was that we exceeded the 11 p.m. time limit we had agreed on with the authorities for the first day," said the festival's organizer George from Area 51 Booking. And there's no reason not to believe him. East Noise Attack Fest II took place with no problems regarding the organization at all.

The show began at 4 p.m. on August 18, 2007. The first band was Mindown who, despite putting out a really decent performance, just didn't receive any reaction at all by the fans who were still slowly gathering at the venue. Yeah, it sucks to be a festival's opening act... Next were One Faith, who left quite a nice impression, but forgot to introduce themselves and remained a mystery to everyone not from their hometown of Varna. G.O.T.C. also impressed everyone who heard them for the first time with their brutal style, somewhat similar to Napalm Death.

The night's first foreign act was Deadrise from Serbia. The dudes from the band (featuring members of Fullsize) couldn't understand why there was no moshing in front of them at all. "Come on! This is Bulgaria," the frontman yelled, expecting the same insane moshing he had seen at performances of his other band here. Surprisingly for a hardcore show, there weren't many people dancing at this festival.

There were some, though. During Envy's performance, for example. The band caused the first real moshpit, despite the fact that they were the first to be let down by the equipment. The one of the two vocalists couldn't be heard at all, but the audience still reacted well.

Plastic Bo., as well as Pizza, were also able to enjoy a really good reaction to their ska performances. The latter probably left the best impression of the evening. The first day was closed by Death Squad and Indignity who, despite delivering awesome performances, were forced to end their sets earlier due to the passing of the above mentioned 11 p.m. time barrier.

The second day seemed to be the stronger one. Most of everyone's favourite bands were scheduled for August 19, even though the 2 bands from the USA - The Wanters and PRF - cancelled their sets. A little later it was also revealed that Empty Face won't play due to health problems that band's guitarist Ivan was having.

The show was opened by the band Underdogs, featuring some familiar faces from other bands. They played some kind of metalized hardcore with some really interesting lyrics, among whom the song "A Cunt Once, A Cunt Forever" stood out. Overdawn from Russe performed songs from their debut CD 'Bleeding Wounds" and also a few brand new ones that were actually even better. They deserved the applause and good crowd reaction they got.

This was a more special performance for Brothers in Blood - their last with longtime drummer Sasho. The Pleven-and-Sofia-based band played their songs that pretty much everyone was familiar with from their recent dozens of shows. During their set the band's bassist, also named Sasho (also in Empty Face), announced that the latter won't be playing. And, by the way, according to unofficial sources, Brothers in Blood's new drummer won't be called Sasho...

Obviously, B.F.D.M. weren't aware that they had to start earlier due to the canceling of the 3 other bands. They had to be gathered from beaches and rest rooms for the show to go on. After a prolonged pause they played their songs, but it seemed the audience didn't forgive them for the wait and remained rather indifferent to their performance.

That was not the case during Sofia hardcore leaders Last Hope's set. Non-stop moshing, diving and absolute hardcore insanity accompanied their performance. That's what it is all about after all!

This didn't stop during the following last acts - Cold Breath, Crowfish (on the small pic at the top) and Outrage. Crowfish played a few songs from their upcoming new album. If you weren't aware that this release has the potential to be one of the Bulgarian scene's best ever, after hearing them you should be. Pretty much everyone used their last chance for dancing during Outrage's performance. Sadly though, the band wasn't allowed to play a few more songs due to the time limit being passed, even if the crowd really wanted them to.

And sooo... To draw the line - two days, 23 bands, around 450 attendants, not so much moshing... and a lot of beer and fun when things worked right. Such moments were present, even if they weren't many. And once again, the most important thing is that this year the fest did take place without any problems. Hopefully this will become a tradition.

Words & photos: Stefan Topuzov / Tangra Mega Rock