BIOHAZARD, Last Hope, Brothers In Blood
12.07.2009, Universiada hall, Sofia, Bulgaria

words by Stefan Yordanov, photo: Danny Boy.

20 years. It took 20 years to see Biohazard here in Sofia, Bulgaria. In fact the band themselves admit this fact from the stage tonight. I don't think I'm nostalgic of any kind, but i must admit that heading for the 'Universiada' Hall my head is ringing with clear memories of a dusty Sony tape I owned for a long time with the first Biohazard album recorded on it. I've had this tape since 1991. Not a lot of people know about Biohazard back then. One year later things radically changed 'Urban Discipline' and then 'State of The World Address' marked the generation of the 90's. Now, some 20 years later they are here the way they were back then- Billy, Danny, Evan and Bobby. They are headliners tonight and they have drown around 1000 people to see them, but if you want to know more, you have to wait.

First rule is the 'don't hurry' one. Everything here in Bulgaria starts at least half an hour later. Most of the people didn't seem to be affected. They socialized with each other outside. No tension. Obviously we have adapted with time plus no one tried to keep us away like kettle.

Brothers In Blood play in front ofВ  400-500 people. It's 10 minutes to 9. Shutta is a well known character, who always leaves the impression that any stage is too small for him. Sven, who occupies the right side, is the ideological and musical engine behind BIB. I can hardly measure their positive points tonight. They need more audience. Unfortunately the audience in question keeps hanging outside. A short and beautiful set that ends with somewhat unexpected guest performance from Iancho of Artery and his buzuki. Sounded a little bit of tune to me, but then it might have been a question of adaption. Sorry, I couldn't do that, but it was something cool to see.

At 9:30 PM sharp Last Hope positioned their forces on stage. Military analogies aside, but this band is really a blast. Their front man Alexander Boiadjiev (a.k.a. Chicko) summons the crowd to move in all directions and keeps building the tension up with his energetic 'Sof-i-a-a-a...' If there's one band in Bulgaria that always manifests stable development and deserves to be followed, that's them. LH sound better each and every time i see them. Their attitude cam pump even the people in the back of the venue. People in the front are practicing some weird sport activities that most probably would never become Olympic, but obviously that's not the point tonight. The only thing you can capture is the constant motion of human parts in different directions.Not exactly ballet, you know?

Next 30 minutes fly as fast as we wanted them to fly. The emotions have already erased the disappointment from the late gig.

BIOHAZARD!!! An epic intro and the forue men throw themselves into‘Urban Discpiline’. Then ‘Shades Of Grey’. Then ‘What Makes Us Tick’. Do you follow me? The crowd is celebrating in jumping euphoria. Everything is mess! Somewhere around ‘Wrong Side Of The Track’ Bobby advises us not to dive, as the distance is too long and there's a real danger of breaking a neck or something else. But it's a boiling pool out there upfront. Biohazard's Bulgarian show is one of those full of unexpected details gigs, that is simply interesting to witness. There are short conversations among band members between songs and even several arguments between Bobby, Evan and some of the security guards. And we were taught how to do a circle pit. If you're not doing this, tou're a faget, Evan says and then adds, Don't stay in the circle. Of you do this, you suck dick. Well, the usual Bulgarian guy likes to stay there, you know, so everybody can see the fucker. We do our own circle pits, Bulgarian ones. If everybody is running in one direction, there are always a couple of people who are running in the opposite one. Biohazard would not understand that. You have to see the traffic jams in Sofia to get it.

Biohazard take us for a ride back to their early days and then show us their own inspirations by executing a triple cover war (Agnostic Front, Cro-Mags и Bad Religion). ‘Tales From The Hard Side’ blows us away and then ‘Five Blocks To The Subway’ is being dedicated to its author- Bobby's father. Quite naturally, the big one tonight is ‘Punishment’.

The end is near. Billy asks to greet his new born son and capture the greeting with his mobile phone camera. Evan promises a new Biohazard album and then brings about 20 girls from the crowd on stage. This strong female presence soon becomes some kind of jumping pool and goes on like that for merely 2 songs. First is ‘I Ain't Goin' Out Like That’ of Cypress Hill and then everything ends with the emblematic ‘Hold My Own’. Some of the girls try to socialize with the band, others get their 5-minute-fame by shouting in the microphones. It's Ok with me, just don't make these duck voices any more, baby, thank-you-very-much. Biohazard won't play encores. Those times are gone or have never existed in the world of the real men from Brooklyn, NY. Don't forget that it was them who told us that music is for you and men, not the fucking industry. And they came to say it in our faces. Some 20 years later.

GALLERY