A dirty loathsome Monday at work. I feel like everyone is trying to push me to the fuckin’ limit - do this, do that… Around 6 p.m. I tell them to go screw themselves and head to the punk rock show - the one thing that would surely cleanse you from all of this everyday bullshit. They’ll cope just fine without me at work anyway…

On my way from work to the Black Box Club I see all kinds of punks, skaters and even metalheads heading towards the venue. Somewhere around the former King's Palace I see Svetlio form Monika Tattoo Studio telling some foreigners about the show. “Oh, yeah! Sure we’ll come! NOFX are good,” is their reply.

Around 7 there’s a considerable crowd gathered at the club’s entrance. There’s people filling pretty much all the space between the club and the nearby mall. Confused everyday shoppers can hardly make their way trough the fans who hang around with a beer or two… or ten. The doors opened sometime around 8, if my beer-soaked memory can be trusted...

First were Empty Face who, unlike previous times when they opened similar shows, didn’t play in front of an empty space. There were a lot of people at the club already. They performed all the songs from their debut EP “Waiting for a Sign”, as well as a new cut.

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Spot, who were joined by Crowfish’s George on bass, played a somewhat different setlist from what we're used to expect from them recently. People enjoyed their performance and started to move and dance a little.

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During C4’s set things really took the shape of a real punk/hardcore show - moshing, stagediving, singing along… Sadly though, there were fans who were taken out and beaten by the club’s security. What can you do? There are retards who really enjoy being in charge of enforcing their own law.

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Most of the people who I talked to at the show had come mostly to see Ignite. The Americans with Hungarian roots opened with “Poverty for All” - the song about the Hungarian anti-communist uprising in 1956. Communism, the past and how it should not be forgotten were among the topics that the band talked about between songs. After they finished their set a friend and I talked about how there’s no other band that can come from the other side of the world to sing about topics from our own past that even we aren’t completely comfortable with yet... The set was dominated by songs from the band’s latest album, “Our Darkest Days”, which is logical since it’s their most successful one so far. They also played a few older songs like “Veteran”. Ignite’s whole performance was perfect - good sound, playing, stage presence, communication with the audience. Awesome band!

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I won’t hide that I’m not a fan of NOFX. This show didn’t convert me into one neither. So much mumbling of complete crap between songs and so little playing… Were these jokes or insults? Were they drunk or high? It doesn’t matter. This was completely unnecessary. If it wasn’t for the report I’m writing now, I would’ve probably left the club as happily as I left work a few hours earlier.

In the few moments that NOFX did play some songs everything was OK, though. The sound was good and clear and people enjoyed the show and danced quite a lot. They even called them out for an encore. Fans seemed to enjoy this really. As for myself, I’m happy for seeing Ignite.

Words:В Stefan TopuzovВ / Tangra Mega Rock

Photos: Nicki Vassilev / Tangra Mega Rock

More photos, as well as NOFX's Sofia setlist, can be seen in our GALLERY.