By Jase W
It’s the weekend, that means it’s time to do a big journey to the centre of the Netherlands (kinda) to Tilburg for Beartooth! These guys have been on a massive roll over the past couple of years and are building up an insane amount of speed that sees them doing multiple dates per city and Tilburg is another entry for that!
Tonight’s international metalcore gathering includes Australian outfit Polaris and French lads Landmvrks, both of which I’m a huge fan of and have seen already this year but I’m not someone who thinks that’s enough. Tonight is going to be a massacre of moshpit insanity and I can’t wait to see this place explode.
Bon Jovi’s ‘It’s My life’ booms from the speakers, signalling that it’s time for Landmvrks. Starting off with some rapid-fire French rapping, the others storm on just behind him, the riff hits and their brash riffy energy levels the stage right from the outset. They’re wasting zero time drawing out the chat between songs, the instructions for ‘Death’ for the crowd to join in with are short and to the point, anyway back to the RIFF.
As a show of how much of a great band Landmvrks are in addition to the incredible sound this venue has, they sound monstrous. Landmvrks even got the first crowd surfer of the show barely a few minutes into the show as well, neither the crowd nor the band are here to fuck about tonight, chaos is on the menu. They’ve clearly designed their shorter support slot to go for all of their huge bangers, ‘Visage’ as another great entry for that. Slightly frustrating that people don’t quieten down a bit during the acoustic song ‘Suffocate’ though.
That riff for ‘Lost In The Waves’ is unmistakable though, it starts just as I plough my way through the crowd back from the bar just in time to catch a crowd surfer coming overhead. You also don’t get many bands that can order a wall of death as an opener and have a packed venue immediately obey without hesitation. ‘Self-made Black Hole’ for the last song of the set and I see a mate of mine quickly zip off to the middle for a bit of casual pit violence, godspeed my man.
Landmvrks over the years have gone from a support act I first saw in a dingy Manchester pub to commanding thousands with complete ease. Truly a brilliant act.
It’s Polaris time and the screen at the back glows with their name in bright white letters, they kick off and the crowd surges forward! I won’t tiptoe around this, I absolutely adore Polaris and have taken every chance I can get to see them live. It’s time to lose my voice to ‘Nightmare’ now I guess, let’s fucking have it!
These guys are absolutely tearing it up right from the word go, technically brilliant riffs that barely need to direct the audience in any way. They’ve barely had to even indicate they want some pit action to the audience because they’re already taking the lead with beating the shit out of each other. The effortless way they direct a wall of death to start and the whole crowd hears the order and falls in line to clash is incredible. Crowd surfing, circle pits, screaming voices, Polaris elicit everything you want from a live show in heaps.
‘Masochist’ signals the run of songs that I’m going to fully blow my voice out to tonight, what an incredible chorus that you can hear so many belting out alongside the band. Yep, following through with ‘Overflow’ and another massive chorus I can feel the burn on my vocal chords but I’m pushing through because how else do you let a band know you love em?
We’re not done yet though, ‘Hypermania’ is here to finish off what is left of my voice, but we’re not done yet as we get a guest vocal feature from the Landmvrks vocalist too! Honestly I cannot get enough of this band, I could see them on several different tours and festivals within the space of a year (which I did this year) and still I would want to see them more. Nobody quite does it like these Aussies do, every show is a level of mania that is a true joy to be drowned in. Polaris are fucking fantastic and I will die on this hill.
And finally it’s time for the headliners of tonight, Beartooth. And right from the start I have to be very clear on this: I didn’t think much of Beartooth the last time I saw them supporting Architects in 2019 but this thunderous show has very much rectified that thought. The stage is set with large screens that run the big singalong lyrics across it with various glitchy images that pulse to the beat of each song.
Pillars of light across the stage next to a smattering of LED lighting that constantly shifts colours, this production is incredibly bright but not to the point of being blinding. The sound though: every single bass drum hit pounds my chest, the bass playing shakes my legs and the riffs are just a slice of real good meaty metalcore goodness. It’s so early in the set and I think I’m going to be repenting for my sins of not really giving them the time they deserve.
I’m stood in a bit of a different place to earlier as I’ve taken a higher place to get a better view and I can see the crowd going wild. I’m no stranger to do re but I didn’t expect the singer to brandish a flamethrower while singing at the same time, this is metal as fuck. Following this up with a laser display that would embarrass Enter Shikari too? Class act. As a self confessed fan of pop styled metalcore,
I am mentally kicking myself repeatedly for disregarding Beartooth years ago. How could I be so dismissive of a band that has pop vocals mixed with outrageous riffs like this? HOW?! Somehow at one point the singer manages to deftly avoid the focus of the crowd to end up on the front of the sound desk for an acoustic song, and not only that, it’s ‘Mr. Brightside’, and a bit more. The singer splits the room shortly after, the room obeys as he slowly struts back to the stage, leaving a wake of utter chaos behind him as the riff hits. This is true showmanship.
I do really feel like an idiot for writing these off because of a random show years ago, it solidifies to me that music taste is an ever changing thing. I’ve had a few moments of realization that a band has gone from something I feel indifferent to, to something that embeds itself as a mainstay of music that I love. Beartooth have truly surprised me in the best way tonight and I cannot overstate enough that people should revisit bands later in life. You truly do not know that one thing could change your entire perspective on a band and Beartooth have done just that.
This has been a stellar show that’s had me engrossed from the start and continuously drawn me further in as the show progressed. Incredible.
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