28.12.2012 // 12.15
Day_three
Woke up on Wednesday morning around 10.30, had some delicious breakfast and left Positive Youth's headquarters in order to start our trip to Novi Sad. The engine of the van couldn't start for about half an hour and we got a little bit worried about this situation but after a while everything's was fine. So, we arrived in Novi Sad around 17.30 and met with our buddy Boyan outside of his house. There was warm vegan food inside and a bunch of sofas for us to rest and even fall asleep for seconds, tired as we were. Next stop; Black Bull, a small basement pub downtown. We went into the usual procedure (unload the van - find a safe place for the van to park - set up the back line - set up the distro - have some drinks - wait for the show to start) until 21.30 that Helltard from Belgrade started to play their powerviolence / fast hardcore / grind core 18-song setlist. They were good enough and you should keep an eye on them if you are into that kind of stuff.
There was a funny incident during their set, though... A totally drunk police inspector approached Thanos and busted his balls for some minutes, asking about ancient Greece, and even offered to him to finish violently Helltard's set in order to watch Thanos playing with Alecto... There was a misunderstanding for a while and even cops arrived just before Alecto hit the stage, but nothing serious at all.
So, Alecto played a decent set full of intensity. I really love the energy this band unleashes.
After the second usual procedure (bring the van - load the stuff - drive to the place we are gonna sleep), we entered Black Sheep Collective's headquarters, that amazing hardcore 'office' located in the centre of Novi Sad town. But we weren't there alone. More than 20 people arrived and the place turned into a punk bar / party till 3.30 in the morning. One thing was in my mind the whole time, though... Sleep! And yeah we got what we deserved after a while.
Boyan woke me up around 9 and told me that we have to park the van in another place... So we did. Then we had some breakfast, talked a bit with Boyan, visited a music store to buy some stuff that Thanos needed for the drums and we left Novi Sad around noon. The road to Romania was more than bad so the 150km were equal to 3 hours driving. Fortunately we had no problems at the Serbian - Romanian borders. You know the deal, they force you to open the van, they ask what's inside, you say 'we are musicians', they ask you if you carry drugs and weapons (!), you answer no and you leave.
So, we entered Timisoara around 16.00 and went straight to a house where our friend Alec and the rest of the Cluj - Napoca crew were staying (and cooking for us). We stayed there for half an hour and then headed for a walk. It was freezing cold so we stopped at the first ...mall we found and did some shop-seeing before having a warm coffee. Then we returned to the aforementioned house, had some dinner and drove to Atelier DIY, the place were the show was about to take place. Atelier DIY is located in an industrial spot outside of city's center and it's definitely one of the most underground places I have ever been to. Tavi from Pavilionul 32 (and also local hero) was waiting for us and right after we were the ones waiting for the show to start, while people starting coming in. Clitgore played first, a gore grind duo with drum machine... Then Vera Renczi from Cluj, feat. ex- Stuck In A Rut members, delivered their powerviolence / fast hardcore set (they covered Charles Bronson, as well) and left the stage to Intakt from Belgrade. Intakt is a crust metal / punk trio and were definitely the best band of the show (excluding Alecto, of course!). Alecto got on stage around 00.30, a time when almost everyone in the room was absolutely drunk. I was expecting a boring show, but on the contrary, the people seemed to enjoy Alecto's set and the stage-dives had no ending.
Pavilionul 32 played last, a type of punk / hardcore that is not my cup of tea, but they were just OK.
We left the place around 2.30 and drove downtown in the house that we crashed.
The rest is history that you will probably read soon.
Van essentials: Suicidal Tendencies, Last Witness, Valient Thorr, Deez Nuts, Doomriders, Vision.
