Written by: Dr Slobodan Kotlayich
Photo by: Dimitriye Petkovich, Ivan Voyvodich
All possible preparations for going to the capital of Serbia – Belgrade, to the sold-out concert of Madball and their friends, were done, and I should have been satisfied at the start, but the eternal skeptic could not be normal, considering that the Railway Station in Belgrade is a long time ago relocated, and this new bus station relocated too, only a few days ago, and it is…over there…in Block 42, west of Albuquerque… Well, it’s not politics gentleman, only reality in Serbia, and that was one of the many topics for conversation in the car really “…misliš iz Nis…”, Ivan Vojvodić and his junior, the son – Strahinja. Their car golf 5 was flying along the highway and we spoke a word or two about his former Total Klošari, today’s Polarni Fazani bands where Vojvoda was and still is the drummer, other bands from Niš and Serbia and from the rest of the Europe and the world, about some beautiful past times, and gloomy present. Under the assumption that chance wanted it so that this beautiful and sunny Tuesday, 08.10.2024. in the capital of the country of Serbia, marks 2 events with not the same, but somehow with a similar audience, because same night Rage with their special guests played in Božidarac, and Madball with their special guests also played same night, but in the club Zappa Baza in Belgrade.
Some haters would say say, it’s not the same, and they will be correct, it’s not the same music, genre, audience, but in the world of global events, it would be stupid to be strictly defined by genre, because the same division is not entirely possible, and somehow it’s not even healthy. There’s always a wide selection, everyone goes where they want, I’m the first one who likes different music genres, so here the term “somewhat similar audience” should be seen only as a synonym for the audience that likes metal/hardcore/punk music i.e. a aggresive style and sound because it’s all more or less the same thing. (if not really, but come on…) Anyway if you understood, you understood, it’s not the first time that somehow a similar audience is divided into 2 different concert addresses in Serbia in the same city and on the same day, sometimes it’s impossible to avoid, and there were many such examples in the past and somehow in the end of the whole story, the most beautiful thing of all is full of Božidarac from one side and the sold-out club Zappa Baza, on the other side…Old organizational “hooks” MM Concerts and Serbian hellbangers stand behind and in front of “Only the Hard Tour” – in Belgrade, and it is actually the only concert in the area of the former Yugoslavia, where some foreign languages could be heard in the audience. Precisely at the time, the young Macedonians Primitive Dread appears on the Zappa Baze stage. They’re not really that young, truth be told, and their style is a fusion of some metal / hardcore / crosdover with a solid performance in front of very few people. Their playing is not brutal and aggressive, but the specificity of the sound itself is uniform and unique. Hmm, did someone mention Hardfaced?
It’s always a problem with the majority of the audience entering only for the later performers in the clubs, and the extremely warm weather outside contributed to the fact that, undeservedly, only a small number of people saw this good Macedonian band that night. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Rob Franssen and his Dutch band Born from Pain. He gained weight in the meantime, and the band itself sounded quite strange to me this time, to say the least, because I’ve seen them for in much better releases. Occasional problems with one of the 2 guitars, weaker vocals in the public address or maybe the fact that all those bands when they have club gigs, put their stage equipment on stage, probably don’t sound check their equipment properly, then re-mount it right before performance, and mainly because ofit seemed to me that they couldn’t wait to finish their set and before they started, it was more than noticeable.
Rob’s call for people to come closer was in vain, cause the crowd saving themselves for Madball. However, in the 10 or so songs they played, the best of their nearly 25-year career was captured. They start with Death and the City, Rise Or Die, Antitown. It seems that the stage is really small for Rob because he can’t jump, but what’s there is. And he himself is an important organizational key in the entire Only The Hard Tour story, throughout Europe, so nothing can be blamed on him. Born From Pain continue with Black Gold, True Love, The New Hate, followed by a salute to the main organizers of the concert with Eyes Of The World, Reclaiming the Crown, Marching to the beat of… and finally Final Collapse. The biggest surprise of the evening for me was the performance of the Belgian band Nasty. When I saw them Last time in Serbia (Novi Sad 2013 – Enter the NU Breed Tour, with a similar team of bands, and they were once again in 2017 at Electropionir in Belgrade), unlike the previous time, this time an exceptional performance and I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect them to grow that much, although that is considering years of experience quite normal thing. Musical beatdown hardcore with the extremely friendly attitude of the charismatic singer Matthias “Matthi” Tarnath, who is a completely positive person. In a hoodie with a hood over his head, he arranged and placed part of the protective barriers so that it would be easier for people to stage dive, he arranged the stage equipment and the drum on the stage, and when the gig started, it become absolute darkness. Nasty start their performance with Ultimate, Reality Check, Chaos, Fire on the people. Followed by At War with Love, Ressurection, in front of The Boys, Marty appeals to all participants in the stage diving, crowd surfing and circle pit to take care of each other, invites people closer, to make it a complete experience. Total Domination, Shokka, 666 and Slaves To The Reach, followed by at the end. Extra gig! It took a little longer to get everything set up on stage for the main stars of the night when the dashing Freddy Cricien came out with his crew. There seems to be a big problem with the long-term bassist who will replace Hoya, it was already obvious last year when he announced his departure and I don’t know if this is just a temporary or really forced solution, but it served its purpose in Belgrade, cause Born from Pain guitarist Pete Goerlitz played bass for Madball in Belgrade, while the two-foot-tall Mike Gurnari on guitar and Mike Justian, the drummer for 15 years, together at first glance seem more like a basketball team than a harmonious ensemble, but that’s just at first glance so..With the intro of “Ruff Ryders Anthem” by the New York rapper DMX who passed away, and with the first seconds of the song Set It Off, the club Zappa Baza’s was boiling on 1000 degrees. The sound, at least 20 percent stronger and better, and clearly in a good mood, Freddy immediately jumps into the audience (classic stage diving jump) and returns without sneakers…Who still needs them when the classic take off with and without socks starts with Smell the Bacon, Lockdown, then an eruption of delight and one of the many boiling points with Heaven & Hell… You can hear the chorus cheering “Freddy Srbine”, from the audience which of course he does not understand and admits it publicly, but he also says that he loves the guys who sing it to him, and all this happens at the moment when he welcomes his special guests Primitive Dread, Born From Pain and Nasty. Madball is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of the Set It Off album this year, so I probably thought that the set list would be based on that, but it can be said that this was somehow a real best of the greatest hits, which is logical because it follows songs such as Get Out, Freight Train, Infiltrate The System. After determination in the audience how many times Madball has been seen before, and who is watching them for the first time, after that Freddie sarcastically concluded that the fans who have seen him more than one time looks older, and that he looks younger and through a smile and just a positive mood continues the festival of hardcore sound with Across Your Face, Face To Face, Hold it Down, and a real explosion of adrenaline was seen with Born Strong, and especially with New York City. Yes, this is New York Finest and the song Can’t Stop Won’t Stop is used to slow down the tempo and regulate the atmospheric pressure in the club, showing mutual respect and love for both the old and the new hc school of the Serbian audience that is up in the air, but again it’s a problem for those with heart problems when Pride (Time Are Changing) came next. Shots from all their weapons were heard with Rev up, which was the introduction to the last part of the concert just like Look My Way, Down By Law, For My Enemies, and finally Doc Marten Stomp. It was physically impossible to with stand the extra more songs after regular gig, cause I would see each of you after an hour and ten minutes of jumping, and the next gig on the tour is usually the next day. Hectoliters of sweat and an energy bomb in the form of Freddy Cricien, who is still 49 years old today, and take my word for it, he is still physically more active than all the people I know who are that age, and when he is on tour, he runs around the stage for dozens kilometers every day in an hour, and you have to endure it…More than 550 people enjoyed themselves in the right ways, with a great team from the field of hardcore sound and at least for a moment they left a real life. All things considered, a tiny number of people radiate a golden glow in 2024. in Serbia, we have to apostrophize it. I’m personally very happy because I saw a lot of friends that I haven’t seen for years and all in one place, alive, healthy, hey, that’s great…!?
Very good organization, a great concert and a wonderful picture of a full club promises new surprises for new generations in the form of new future concert activities of MM Concerts because they are a harmonious team through the years. Until some new concerts and festivals cheers and all the best!
