Right, so
whether you’re a regular reader of this blog (which I doubt…), or you just
stumbled upon it by accident this time, let me warn you first… Funtime Fest is my home game, on my
turf. I could piss out of my front door,
and hit ‘De Klinker’. It’s that
close. Take in account the fact that
every crippled old punk, more or less connected to the Funtime label, crawls
out of his couch on this occasion. Plus,
thanks to this amusing blog-thingy, and visiting a shitload of festivals and
smaller gigs this year, I’ve met quite a few (to me) new people along the
way. And don’t you believe it, they all
decided to pay Funtime Fest a visit last Saturday…
So here it
is, my everything bút neutral, completely biased, slightly troubled,
beer-soaked Funtime Fest 2013 review!
To start
of, a stroke of bad luck. Road
construction works in and around our town, combined with a huge bmx-happening
in the area, caused me to arrive seconds after El Mirage had already finished,
bummer. So I got to hang out in some
lovely sunny weather, looking at some skaters in the park, and seeing the first
familiar faces. We drag ourselves inside
the venue to check out Toxic Shock, who are also a bit delayed. I saw them at Brackrock earlier this summer,
so I knew I could expect some screamy trash/hardcore, related to Suicidal
Tendencies. But what the hell went on in
the singer’s head this Saturday, I don’t have a clue, and I don’t know if I want
to find out. He was angry, or should I
say furious. Abusing microphones, and
not making any friends with his quote “Not a lot of fun time going on!”, which
we heard two or three times… Next
please!
Then Off
The Charts take the stage. It is still
early afternoon, but a decent little crowd has gathered nevertheless. And rightfully so! We were treated to a very satisfactory
performance by a young band, about to release their debut album on Funtime
Records. We’ve heard people compare them
to the likes of Iron Chic, Nothington, Leatherface, … but this Saturday I couldn’t help but think
about Hot Water Music during their set.
Especially when it comes to the vocals, even though the sound people
needed some time adjusting the drummer’s microphone level. You should all really look into this band,
and definitely check that release in november!
F.O.D. is
next on the line-up, for their final performance before hitting the rehearsal
space, to work on some new, and without a doubt lovely, songs for all of
us. As a temporary goodbye-show, this
was another good one. The songs they
play are really starting to get recognizable, and it doesn’t bother me one
bit. In fact, I’ll probably miss some of
them once there are new ones finding their way to the setlists. As far as I could see, no one else had a
problem with it either. People were
clearly enjoying the show, and even worldfamous festival-friend, Roger, was
spotted dancing in front of the stage.
If you don’t know who I’m talking about, check the following
Facebook-page : “Roger Van Loon is a hero”.
Chances are that you have come across him before… Any resemblance with F.O.D.’s second voice,
Stijn De Waele, is said to be coincidental, but we’re not quite sure about that
yet.
I skipped A
Strength Within for the biggest part. It
had by then already become impossible to fully pay attention to the band
without getting distracted by people saying hi, bringing beers, hanging out…
The
Priceduifkes on the other hand, did make a mark! I can’t say I’ve seem them perform a lot, but
lately I’ve seen them a couple of times, and I think I can safely say that they
did their very best to make this a ‘special one’ for Funtime Fest. And how!
They turned up on stage in Hawaï-outfits, complete with flower-necklaces
and all! Beach balls were thrown into
the audience, along with some other inflatable items if I’m remembering it all
correctly. And all of that whilst
delivering an appreciated show! Think
Ramones meets Queers meets Teenage Bottlerocket… There was indeed a lot of fun time going on!!
The
Generation 84 crew, once again, does not disappoint either. I was singing along to all the lines I know
(or think I know), but I’m afraid I wasn’t paying as much attention as I
should’ve been… Because I found out
later, that Teun had been singing the entire set, suffering from a cold, and I
can’t say that I noticed any of that… J
I
completely let The Rocket pass by me then… (hah!) Out of curiousity, I went inside the venue
towards the end of the show, to check out the new singer. Can’t say he left much of an impression. Sorry.
So it’s
time for the Octopussys then. As a
Funtime band, they can’t risk to let us down.
So they don’t! Really good stuff
from Thibaut, handsome Mark & co.
The party by then was already well on the way, so I suppose they’ve
enjoyed themselves on stage. I do
urgently need to play that record a few times again, so I can also sing along
to these fine gentlemen the next time around.
Singing
along… That ain’t no problem at all
during a Skin Of Tears show. Having
lived their finest moments as a band, like what, fifteen years ago? But I was completely over the moon when they
decided to start performing and even touring again a couple of months ago. This was such an incredible party, we danced
from the first to the last note, I ran out of breath a couple of times, but I
wouldn’t give up. It was that kind of a show. Is that only sheer nostalgia? No
it isn’t, Skin Of Tears has some undeniable qualities, and their joy for
playing a punk rock show just radiates into the crowd. Let’s say there is a young skate-punk fan,
that has never heard of Skin Of Tears, and you play him one of their
songs. I bet he’ll react in enthousiasm,
rather then saying, mèh, what kind of old outdated stuff is this… Up The Cups, Need A Beer!
And by
then, the grand finale is still to come!
The Cornflames! No need for an
introcuction, this is thé band out of the Funtime roster everyone remembers,
and was whining about to have to reunite until they did last year. Let thàt attention go to Five Days Off from
now on… But we’re wandering off, this
bit was about Cornflames.
Charisma-machine Eppo Janssen and his crew had clearly set out to end
Funtime’s label night in a memorable way.
And did they? Boy did they
ever… I myself am not that familiar with
a lot of their material. But then again,
witnessing this show, watching this crowd of dedicated fans, in a completely
filled up venue, going berserk throughout the entire set, does leave an
impression. And what a great sound! Along with some kind of a magic vibe that was
going on, the band seemed to play under a divine glow, or were that just the
beers taking over?? There is in fact one
song I do know very well. The Speakers. So I want to take this opportunity to
officially say thank you to the Cornflames to make that their last song of the
set, and thus ending this year’s Funtime Fest with an unforgettable highlight!
And last
but not least, I want to put the entire Funtime-crew, led by the ever present
Johan Quinten, in the spotlights here.
They succeeded in making this an extraordinary great day! We all left wanting a lot more, and so I
suppose I’m not the only one looking forward to next year, when Funtime Fest
will celebrate its fifteenth anniversary…
P.S. : F#cking awesome pictures by Dieter Dejonghe !!
