ON! FEST- THERAPY?, NAPALM DEATH, Bastardolomey, Collapso,В Svetlyo & the Legends

16.09.2011, Inter Expo Center, Sofia

words by Sftefan Topuzov, pictures: (TBA)

OK. Every report from a live event from Bulgaria turning into a sad review of the attendance and the quality of the sound is a clichГ©. But cliches become such exactly because of their steady repetitiveness, and when the the main impression you get stuck with after a show is the exact same thing again... well, there's no way around cliches.

So – the sound in Hall 5 of Inter Expo Center during last night's opening of On!Fest was ridiculous. Because of the venue's acoustics – and I guess it feels like you've read that one before. The hall is actually some storage place with sheet iron walls that ring like hell. The people attending were also fewer than what you'd expect the bends on the bill would attract – or at least that's how I feel. I start thinking about the ticket prices. Well, they aren't that high, I guess. Apparently people just don't have any money. Because they're probably unemployed. I start thinking macroeconomics and politics. But this may also be happening because there are people walking around, gathering signatures in support of Svetlio Vitkov's presidential candidacy and that kind of sets me in a political mood. Somehow I fail explaining to anyone I talk with why I'm not exactly feeling good about signatures for a political cause being gathered at a rock show. Especially after I mention I also signed the damn thing...

The crap aside – that was a show where some damn fine bands played and they managed to be awesome despite the circumstances. First came out Collapso from Plovdiv who played their equally interesting as well as well performed style of metalcore in front of an almost empty hall with probably only 30 or something of their friends watching. (Hey, apparently I' a friend of theirs!) It sucks not being featured on any of the posters or flyers and having every press release about the event (and therefore every publication in the media) say the show begins with the next band. And next are Bastardolomey whom we all know very well already. They play their very well known set, consisting of songs from their debut album “Plastic Pig Society” - for a moment there I think the sound quality has approved, but then I realize it is just because I know the songs.

During Napalm Death's set the amount of people in the hall hits its peak of somewhere short of 1,000. This is the band's fourth time in Bulgaria and the fourth time I'm blown away by the sheer power and inhuman energy they project live. Watching Barney Greenway go nuts on stage, totally possessed by his band's music – and you can even see him screaming the parts Mitch Harris sings – it is hard for me to imagine the dude, as well as the rest of the band, are over 40 now. And that is actually quite inspiring. Good sound or crappy sound, doesn't matter – Napalm Death still sound like the blast of a bomb with shrapnel from vampire zombie bones. On heroin. So, of course, in front of the stage it is real war – nothing like the three or something dudes pushing each other during Slayer that you can see on the Big Four DVD, but a real, bloody metal moshpit for fuck's sake. You can see the setlist below if you give such a damn what they played (or you couldn't recognize a single song because of the sound).

Therapy?'s musical concept is quite different, so instead of trying to kill each other the people sing along, jump and pump their fists. The dudes from Northern Ireland don't fuck around and bring us right back to their best years with opener “Knives” and a setlist, more than half of the songs in which are from “Troublegum”. We also get songs like “Stories”, “Rust”, “Diane” and a brand new tune. Therapy? haven't been to Bulgaria for what - 10 years? - and their fans, and there's plenty of them, are obviously happy to see them again. Pretty much everyone I know shouts in my ear at some point how fuckin' awesome the band is. And they certainly are. Before they close with “Nowhere”, Therapy? promise they'll be back, hopefully much sooner this time.

Svetlyo & the Legends' presidential-candidacy-flavored afterparty starts with “Bruce Lee” and continues by alternating between Hipodil songs and ones by the Legends. And along the election slogan of “I'll stick it to them with my candidacy” we also hear songs like “Fani”, “Ovci”, “Cherno More”, “Boli me G.Z.” and a cover of eternal teenage tearjerker “Nothing Else Matters” only with accordion before we reach the inevitable end with “Bate Goiko”.

And the end it is, because apparently there is no time left for D.S.O.L. (who drove all the way from Sevlievo for their performance and waited patiently for their turn until 3 AM – that's the time now) – the police shut the whole thing down. And there is no time because from the very start the show was running behind its previously announced schedule.

But then again when was the last time a show in Bulgaria started on time and ran by its schedule? Damn cliches!