HYPODILE, KONTROL, REVIEW
22.05.2009, ‘Winter Palace’, Sofia - Bulgaria

С‚words by Nikola Shahpazov, photo: Diamond_Adi

We knew this was going to be big even when this concert was only a rumor some two months ago. It sounded impossible even – a live reunion of Hypodile and Kontrol plus Review with Milena on vocals? And still it did happen – louder, sweatier and more euphoric than we imagined.

It is not every day that we see such a fuzz around a Bulgarian concert – around 6 p.m. the Winter Sports Palace is surrounded by long-haired metalheads screaming SLAYEEERRR, red-haired punks wearing The Exploited t-shirts, ideologically tattooed skins and all sorts of merry fans sipping beer and singing 'Bii Hlapeto'('Beat the shit out of the kid').

We make our way through the crowd just in time to catch REVIEW’s 'Sharenata Sianka' – welcomed by a deafening roar from the 6000 strong crowd – goddammit, this feels like an Iron Maiden concert. Milena and Vassil Giurov feel right at home and it shows – they slam '1968', 'Zakuska' and 'Director na Vodopad' before they leave the stage to Kolio The Gillan.

KONTROL take the stage sooner than expected and people come running from the beer stands to the front of the stage. And even though it is hard and unfair to stress upon any band tonight, it is Kontrol who make the biggest impression on me. It is mighty hard ti believe these guys haven’t been playing live for some 4 years now – and we welcome them and say goodbye in a likely loud fashion, maybe because we might never see the band playing live again.

So we scream and jump and sing 'Jiva Da Ne Biah', 'Olele Kolko Sam Pian' and join with "Oi-Oi-Oi" on the chorus of the fabulous 'Seek and Destroy' cover.В В 

We have no clue we’d be able to continue after pogoing to the sound of Kontrol but we do. For HYPODILE are irresistible. After the mighty threesome of 'Momicheto', 'Jenata' and 'Babata' the guys contunie with their very special brand of oldschool alcho-aggro-porno-punk plus newer tracks 'Skakauec' and 'D’ska'.

While leaving the hall and struggling for a breath of fresh air, we’re already comparing this concert with 2006’s Review, Upsurt and Hypodile gig. Back then, we though we would never see a bigger Bulgarian concert. Well, we were very wrong!

GALLERY