A lot of times I absolutely have no idea what is playing in the venues near me, even though the Netherlands has a decent amount of placed where you can enjoy music. It does help every now and then to open up the concert lists, sometimes it actually has some nice surprises in there.
I was super siked to see recently that one of my favorite New York Hardcore bands called E-Town Concrete was playing in a place near me. Not as a headliner but as a support act, which kinds of surprised me. I remember going to a show more than 10 years ago, where we drove especially to Germany with a a group of friends to see these guys. The Ruhrpot area had a very lively scene in this violent music style and the Germans would always show up big and dance like maniacs.
That show was big. The setting was big, the music was big. It was in some big basement of a place which had pillars in there and the whole venue was piled up. The crowd literally went bezerk and we all left the building totally pumped.
The contrast couldn't be any bigger with that show back then and this show in the small stage as a support act. The headliner called 'Lionheart' sucked donkeyballs and it made no sense at all that they were headlining if you asked me.
But E-Town Concrete....yeah...It was a bit rusty here and there, and I noticed I also hadn't been paying attention to their newer albums, but it was still super groovy. I guess the setlist was a balance of all of their albums and when you see how often they have broken up and gotten together again...the setlist also prooved a bit of that.
Let's have a look into their music!
Time 2 Shine
Coming from their debut album also called Time 2 Shine which is already from the mid 90's this song is for me is a prototype of their style. A bit of pumped tempo, some double bass here and there, decent dark breakdowns and lyrics which always go back to the streets.
Listing back to this album it is funny how good the guality of the recordings already was. Sure, nowadays this is bigger and thicker but this album feels like a classic
'All your life you hated those who had more but now you’re getting mine by taking yours time to shine'
Soldier
This song comes from 'the Second Coming' album which to me is my absolute favorite. It has a couple of more fragile songs but also a couple which are totally groovy. 'Soldier' is one of these songs that has everything in there. The intro is bold, the chugga-chugga pieces in between are the moments that I imagine seeing a venue be town apart. And what to think about the super groovy solo at the end of this song. Feeling some reggae Bad Brains vibes in there?
'When the world outside creates internal war. I know, i know what's right... i do the wrong thing.'
Stranglehold
I was always taken by the lyrics of this one, even though the album is album is already back from the year 2000. It starts as a super calm song where you can hear the pain and anger in there, but throughout the song it feels like it gets more heavy and more emotional. And I think if you even listen it to the end you hear Anthony Martini through his mic to the floor.
Everything in this song just feels sad, and that vibe is perfectly brought over. Sorry for the explicited lyrics!
'So you say it's love you show, huh? like you ain't know
You tortured my soul. every day stunting my growth.
Put me in a stranglehold, so you can control. eating me
Away you don't even know. you took my innocence,
Pissed on it and put your d&ck in.'
Argh so many songs to highlight...In their show there was also stuff from 'the Renaissance' album, but hey...stick to what is the classics!!
The show was good, and if they would show up again, I would totally join in again!