Venue: Gala Hala, Metelkova, Ljubljana
Concert date: 01.05.2008
Attendance: 570
Ticket price: 16 € with reservation, 18 € on the day of the show
On May 2, the outdoor stage of Ljubljana’s Metelkova Gala Hala was once again buckling under the feet of California melodic hardcore heroes Ignite. It had been just over six months since their last visit here on September 3, 2007, but Ignite came back to the scene of the crime. This time, though, they shared the stage with Canada’s BurnThe8Track and Boston’s Death Before Dishonor.
Shortly before 8:30 p.m., BurnThe8Track broke the ice. They kicked off in front of a handful of people, but with real drive anyway. The band formed in 2001 and already has a colorful touring history behind it, both at festivals (Vans Warped Tour) and alongside much bigger names in hardcore and punk (Sum 41, The Ataris, Misfits, Comeback Kid, Ignite and others). The guys, who put out their debut album “The Ocean” in 2004, played their set with total confidence. Besides “Buried Beneath Us”, “The Full Retourn” and “The Ocean” (tracks from that debut), it also featured songs from their latest release, “Fear Of The Falling Skies” (2007) – “Equilibrium”, “The Waterfall”, “San Sebastian” and “Prototipe”.
Sadly, BurnThe8Track were the sacrificial lambs who opened the Friday show and got stuck with the toughest job – luring in and warming up the crowd in front of the stage. A few selfless souls did come to watch them, but most people were scattered all over Metelkova, since you could hear the guys even outside Gala Hala. Some support for the band, huh?
After a good thirty minutes, BurnThe8Track handed the stage over to Boston’s Death Before Dishonor. It turned out these guys are better known among Slovenian kids, because they pulled in a somewhat bigger crowd and heated the audience up to working temperature for the hosts of the evening. They focused mostly on newer tracks from the album “Count Me In” (2007) – “Boston Belongs To Me”, “Nowhere To Turn”, the title track “Count Me In” and “Break Thru It All”. Of course, their first single “Friends Family Forever”, from the self-titled debut that came out in 2005, was in there too. They also played “Born From Misery”, yet another excellent tune. With their quality hardcore, Death Before Dishonor can already hold their own against Agnostic Front, Champion, Full Blown Chaos and Terror. The crowd confirmed it too, especially the people right below the stage, since the shoving started soon after the guys walked on. So the warm-up was taken care of.
After roughly thirty minutes, Death Before Dishonor left us and a few minutes of waiting began. While the stage was being set up, the question hung in the air: could Ignite repeat the successful September show? Yes or no? There were a bit fewer people than in September, but that’s no reason for a gig not to work. After the hugely successful album “Our Darkest Days”, released in 2006, would they give us something fresh too?
Ignite took the stage a little after ten p.m. and opened with the intro from their latest studio album, “Our Darkest Days”. It flowed straight into “Bleeding”, one of the best tracks from that record, which they sent out into the world with a very realistic video (you can watch it on their Myspace), in which they make their disapproval of US President George W. Bush’s politics and the war in Iraq crystal clear. No surprise there, since Ignite are known for socially and politically engaged lyrics that tackle the pressing problems of today’s world. The guys had barely started playing when the crowd poured in front of the outdoor stage, and the first stage divers were already up there. Courage is a fine virtue, but health matters a bit more, since plenty of landings were successful by a hair’s breadth. Sadly, not everyone was so lucky. “Fear Is Our Tradition” pumped the adrenaline even higher, and the crowd went wild, singing along with Zoli. His clean vocals literally hook you, and before you know it you’re opening your mouth to sing. Then, with “Who Sold Out Now”, we went back to the slightly older record “A Place Called Home”, released in 2001. That album also holds their title track, which was the next song they played. Next up was another one of their bigger hits – “My Judgement Day”. The crowd shoved, sang and caught the eager stage divers. Adrenaline was at its peak, and plenty of people didn’t care whether they’d land on the crowd or on the hard concrete floor. Nothing could stop them. “Are You Listening?” took us back to the latest record, and “Let It Burn” followed from it. “Run” and “Man Against Man” were the next two songs, and their set would be incomplete without them. At every Ignite show we get to hear a cover of “Banned In DC”, originally by Bad Brains. Then came something we’re not used to from Ignite – Zoli and Brian played “Slowdown” in an acoustic version. It couldn’t have sounded better! “Poverty For All” is another hit from “Our Darkest Days”, which is considered one of the best hardcore albums of the last few years. “I can’t believe the news today, I can’t close my eyes and make it go away. How long, how long must we sing this song …” is the opening of one of the biggest hits by Irish rockers U2 – “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, another indispensable track in their repertoire. After a perfect intro, Ignite had to pause the show for a moment because of a nasty fall by one of the stage divers, even though Zoli had been urging the crowd to calm down a bit the whole time. Since kind words fell on deaf ears, an accident happened, though luckily without serious consequences. For most of the crowd, though, it meant the end of jumping on and off the stage, and only a few heroes still managed a leap or two despite the bans.
Because of complaints from local residents and their disturbing the peace, Ignite had to wrap up their show a little after eleven. After every main course comes dessert, and here Zoli and the rest of the band whipped up an acoustic finale with “By My Side” and “Know Your History”, which was a real balm for the soul. If anyone wondered during the show whether we’d get to hear anything from the upcoming new record, here was the answer. Right at the very end, Ignite played “The Walls” as a taste. Is that song perhaps a quiet hint that another album is coming, one that will have to find a place in my personal collection? Let’s let ourselves be surprised.
In just under a year, Ignite have played two very successful shows here, and to paraphrase Zoli, we’ll see each other again when the new album drops. See you then!
Text and photos: Lea Lesar
Setlist
Ignite:
1. Intro (Our Darkest Days)
2. Bleeding
3. Fear Is Our Tradition
4. Who Sold Out Now
5. A Place Called Home
6. My Judgement Day
7. Are You Listening?
8. Let It Burn
9. Run
10. Man Against Man
11. Banned in DC
12. Slowdown
13. Poverty For All
14. Sunday Bloody Sunday
15. Know Your History
16. By My Side
17. The Walls
Photo Gallery
