Agnostic Front’s previous concert in Bulgaria was a dream come true for many people who hadn’t even hoped they’d see such a band some day. And since the show in question turned out pretty awesome, it would’ve been illogical for the New Yorkers not to visit us a gain. And what better reason to do it than with their brand-new studio punch in the face, “Warriors”, and the supporting European tour?

But let’s follow the timeline. The show was moved from the well known Black Box Club due to ongoing repair works there. And so, while workers were installing fancy new chandeliers and ball night dress wardrobes in downtown Sofia, a horde of hardcorers went East to the 4th Kilometer Party Center, ironically exactly where ill thinkers think their place is (due to the fact there’s a mental institution nearby).

The Party Center is a former socialist army dining room turned into a night club. The place is pretty big, so this is good. But it has some king of fucked up achitecture with huuuge fat columnts taking almost half the space. A long story short - unless you were right in front, you had no chance of seeing the band playing. And if you’ve been at such a show you’d know there’s a lot of kicks and fists flying around up in front. So, if you had the idea of calmly watching Agnostic Front play while drinking a nice cold beer - forget it!

Good or bad, the place is what it is. There was a concert going on and it was surprisingly awesome. It was Asenovgrad-based cutthroats Missing the Point who took the stage first and they did a good job at getting the crowd moving. Unlike other shows, the opening band didn’t play in front of a completely empty club - there were plenty of people in already, enthusiastic enough to mosh a bit.

Second were Varna’s Cold Breath who caused a serious scale massacre in front of the stage with their traditionally well accepted in Sofia metalized hardcore. The crowd went nuts calling them for an encore and the dudes respectively went out for one… to be completely let down by the sound guy. I don’t know if he didn’t understand that they’ll play more, or wanted to stick to the schedule, or simply wanted to fuck their show, but after half a song with no mics on, the guests from Varna left the stage pissed off as fuck.

It was clear that Last Hope will crush everything in sight that could move. Besides tracks from “My Own Way” and “Test of Time”, they also performed two new songs that kick all colors of ass. The band had only one guitarist this time around, as Dobro had headed for the USA once again. The club was absolutely full now and the big scale pushing that wasn’t exactly moshing, as there was no space at all, began…

After a 20 minute pause, a little before 10 p.m., it was time for the main course of the evening - the godfathers of New York (and every other kind of) hardcore Agnostic Front. They were obviously happy to see us again too, as Roger Miret went on stage with a t-shirt saying “I Love BG”.

It started with “Fall of the Parasite” off “Another Voice”, and you can imagine the carnage that followed. It was one of these shows where everyone was excited and wanted to dance (kicking and punching that is…), but since there was never nearly enough space in front of the stage, there was mayhem everywhere - on the sides next to the speakers, in front of the bar, probably outside too.

Agnostic front took a trip through their rich discography and performed songs from before half of the show attenders were born, as well as new ones from “Warriors”. There was “New Jack”, “Eliminator”, “Addiction”, everyone’s favorite “Gotta Go”, “Riot, Riot Upstart”, and the mother of all punk and hardcore songs about beloved mayors - “Police State”.

The New Yorkers weren’t let go without the loudly expressed desire for an encore by the crowd either. Sometime around 11:30 p.m. it was all over though, as the happy fans slowly started heading to their homes, and some more stubborn ones waited for an Agnostic Front member to show up and get an autograph. The women who clean the place probably hadn’t seen so many broken bottles before. But they’ll get used to is, because on May 5, 2008 we’ll be all back there again!

Report & photosВ by Stefan Topuzov