Venue: Gala hala / Ljubljana / Slovenia
Concert date: 15.07.2015
Ticket price: €20 / €24
On Wednesday, July 15, Convict and Agnostic Front rolled through Slovenia.
Convict kicked things off. They’re currently signed to “Strength Records”, the label owned by Roger M. (Agnostic Front). They play a kind of mix of punk and hardcore, with the occasional “heavier” riff thrown in. They started off pretty confidently, and the tight, well-rehearsed lineup laid down a solid sonic foundation for the vocals, which live turned out to be anything but easy on the ears. The band has this particular vocalist in order to sound fresh, but despite the good intentions, the whole thing comes off as rather forced. The frontman’s banter fell flat too, with his humor never rising above: “I’m the smallest Belgian, I’m 160 cm tall” .
After a short break, we got the godfathers of New York hardcore, whose set kicked off in true chauvinistic fashion with the classic entrance of guitarist STIGMA onto the stage. After a few seconds of showing off, the rest of the band took the stage, with Roger Miret stepping out last. His vocals sounded way more confident live than they do on the records, and together with the band’s great live groove, that made for a great atmosphere at the show. Besides the current material, they gave us more or less all the classics, plus a cover of the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg bop”. It’s also worth mentioning guitarist Craig Silverman, who’s more or less the only guitarist in this band who actually plays the songs all the way through, while Stigma would rather kick around in the air and enjoy the show in his own way.
The relatively short setlist ruffled the feathers of some in the crowd, but sometimes it’s got to be “short and sweet”.
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